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If you were directing a film and the star suddenly died before filming was over, what would you do? Many directors have found themselves in this exact situation when a key member of their cast suddenly died. From Marilyn Monroe to Heath Ledger, some of the biggest stars in film history have met tragic premature deaths while working on major motion pictures. Their colleagues had to try and find creative ways to finish their movies in a way that made sense while paying tribute to the fallen star.

Click through this gallery for a list of beloved actors who left us before they could finish their final work, and how their movies were completed (or not) without them.

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James Dean was working on the movie 'Giant' when he died in a car accident in 1955. The 24-year-old star and racing enthusiast was driving his famous Porsche sports car when he collided with another car head-on.

▲Although he had finished most of his scenes for 'Giant,' the audio for one key scene was inaudible and needed to be re-recorded. Dean never got a chance to do so before he died. His friend and former roommate, the actor Nick Adams, was enlisted to provide new audio for the banquet speech scene.

▲Bruce Lee dropped dead at the age of 32 in 1973. It was believed that he died of cerebral edema (brain swelling), possibly caused by a reaction to over-the-counter painkillers. In 2022, researchers suggested that his cause of death may actually have been his “kidney’s inability to excrete excess water" he had drunk.

▲Lee was filming a movie called 'The Game of Death' in Hong Kong when he died. The director used archive footage and lookalikes to complete filming. Controversially, footage from Lee's funeral was included in the film.

▲Paul Walker tragically died in a car during the production of the seventh 'Fast and the Furious' movie. He was being driven by his friend Roger Rodas when they crashed. Both young men were racing enthusiasts.

▲Walker hadn't yet filmed many of his key scenes for the movie when he died. Walker's brothers Caleb and Cody stepped in as lookalikes, and with visual effects they were able to complete 'Furious 7.'

▲Natalie Wood died under mysterious circumstances on a yacht trip with her husband Robert Wagner and her co-star Christopher Walken. Wood and Walken were in the middle of filming the movie 'Brainstorm.' The story was that Wood fell overboard in the middle of the night and drowned. However, there have been repeated investigations into her death, and Robert Wagner was named a person of interest as recently as 2018.

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Wood's key scenes in 'Brainstorm' had already been filmed, but her sister stepped in to complete various "long shots and shaded profiles."

▲A sudden heart attack stopped John Candy from completing his role in the comedy-western 'Wagons East.' The actor had struggled with dangerous eating habits, smoking, and heart disease for much of his life. Tragically, he passed away in his sleep of heart failure in 1994 when he was only 44 years old.

▲The iconic Jean Harlow was the defining star of the 1930s. She was filming the movie 'Saratoga' in 1937 when she began to feel unwell. She was hospitalized and diagnosed with kidney failure, from which she died within a matter of days. Harlow was just 26 years old.

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The makers of 'Saratoga' wanted to reshoot with a new actress, but changed their minds due to public objection. They instead finished the movie by rewriting some of the scenes to remove her, and used lookalikes for the rest.

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The producers of 'Wagons East' determinedly tried every trick to finish the movie after Candy's death. They used stand-ins, rewrote scenes, and even hashed together new scenes by reusing some of Candy's footage. Unfortunately, it didn't come together all that well and was panned by critics.

▲While filming 'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus' in 2008, star Heath Ledger died suddenly of an accidental overdose. He was just 28 years old at the time.

▲Director Terry Gilliam adjusted the script of his fantasy movie so that Ledger's character changed appearance several times. Three of Ledger's friends (Jude Law, Colin Farrell, and Johnny Depp) played the character so that the movie could be finished.

▲Philip Seymour Hoffman died before he could finish his scenes for the two-part finale of the 'Hunger Games' film series. Like Ledger, he was found dead in his apartment after a lethal overdose. Hoffman struggled with substance abuse and had multiple drugs in his system including heroin and cocaine. He was 46 years old.

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His fellow cast and crew members on set were given shorter days to allow for mourning. His absence was covered up with subtle editing and the reuse of existing footage of Hoffman.

▲One of the biggest stars of all time, Marilyn Monroe died at the age of 36 while working on the movie 'Something's Got to Give.' She was found unresponsive after suffering an overdose at her home on August 4, 1962. Monroe struggled with mental illness and addiction to prescription medications, and it was ruled that she likely took her own life.

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'Something's Got to Give' was only partially complete at the time of her death. Filming was behind schedule, partly due to Monroe's erratic behavior in the weeks prior. In the end, they chose not to finish the movie rather than try to replace her.

▲Bruce Lee's only child, Brandon Lee, went on to become an actor like his dad, but tragically he also met a sudden and premature death. The younger Lee died of a gunshot wound while filming 'The Crow.' The gun was accidentally loaded with a real bullet instead of a blank. He was just 28 years old.

▲Brandon was buried next to his dad, who died 20 years earlier. The creators of 'The Crow' struggled to decide on the future of the film, but ultimately felt that Brandon would have wanted them to finish it. His stunt double stood in for some scenes where his character had his face painted, and digital effects were used for the rest.

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Heather O'Rourke was the star of the 'Poltergeist' horror movie franchise and was filming 'Poltergeist III' when she suddenly passed away in 1988. O'Rourke was rushed to the hospital one day and was discovered to have a congenital bowel obstruction. Sadly, the condition was complicated by septic shock, and she died at the incredibly young age of 12.

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Some of O'Rourke's 'Poltergeist' co-stars felt that it would be disrespectful to finish shooting the movie after the tragic loss. However, MGM executives insisted they complete the movie and cited their contractual obligations. A body double was cast for O'Rourke, who had already completed her major scenes.

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Oliver Reed appeared in dozens of films in the 1950s and was a well-respected actor, although he was known for his heavy drinking. Sadly, Reed died of a heart attack in 1999, three days before filming wrapped for 'Gladiator' (2000). He was 61 years old.

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Reed played the character Proximo in the epic feature. A stand-in and special effects were used to film two final scenes that rounded off his story.

▲One of Hollywood's biggest stars at the time, Tyrone Power died in 1958 on the set of the biblical epic 'Solomon and Sheba.' Power suffered from hereditary heart disease and had a heart attack while filming a duel scene. He was just 44 years old.

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Power had completed the majority of his scenes, but several key love scenes were yet to be shot. The director decided to film everything again with a different actor, as there was no way around it.

▲Vic Morrow's death is considered one of the greatest tragedies in cinema. In 1982, he was filming a scene for 'The Twilight Zone: The Movie' with two child actors. It involved a helicopter hovering above them, but the helicopter malfunctioned and crashed on top of them. Morrow and the two children were killed.

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The directors decided not to use any footage of the child actors, who had in fact been hired illegally, and rewrote the ending. Morrow's footage was still used.

▲Roy Kinnear was known for playing the role of Planchet in 'The Three Musketeers' movies. In 1988, during filming for 'The Return of the Musketeers' in Spain, Roy Kinnear was thrown from his horse. He was hospitalized with a broken pelvis and internal bleeding, but suffered a heart attack the next day and died. He was 54 years old.

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Kinnear's scenes in the movie were completed using stand-ins and dubbing from voice actors. His widow, Carmel Cryan, received a settlement of £650,000 (approx. US$800,000) from the production company for his death.

Sources: (BuzzFeed) (Eighties Kids)

Actors who passed away during production of their final film

Find out how their movies were finished without them

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CELEBRITY Deaths

Click through this gallery for a list of beloved actors who left us before they could finish their final work, and how their movies were completed (or not) without them.