Stuntmen are a valuable piece to almost every action film in Hollywood. They help bring thrills and danger to movies, and without them, many of the most iconic action scenes we’ve witnessed may not have ever taken place.
While we enjoy watching these feats take place on the big screen, we sometimes forget that the risk involved in performing these stunts are very real. Sometimes, these acts get extremely hurt or worse. These stuntmen or women usually accept these risks.
Actors specializing in stunts are trained for the types of stunts they perform to help prevent them from being hurt, but sad mishaps have happened where they died while performing a dangerous stunt.
Sometimes, the family of these actors will file a wrongful death lawsuit, with work injury attorneys blaming the studios for the mishap. A good personal injury attorney can help in recovering damages for the family in cases where the studio or producers put the stunt person in harm’s way.
Here, we name movies or TV shows here a stuntman died while filming:
xXx
Actor Harry O’Connor was a former Navy SEAL before getting into the movie business as a stuntman. He last worked on the Vin Diesel action film “xXx” in 2002.
He broke his neck after he hit the Palacky Bridge while shooting a paragliding scene in Prague. He would tragically die from the accident at 45 years old.
He was just 1 of 500 stuntmen who worked on the movie, all of which walked away unscathed.
The deadly tragedy that killed the stuntman took place on O’Connor’s second attempt at the stunt. His attempt went fine and made the film.
Top Gun
A well-known stunt pilot died in the 1980s while shooting scenes for the Tom Cruise classic “Top Gun” at the age of 53.
Art Scholl was executing an upside-down spin in a biplane when it crashed into the ocean. Both the aircraft and his body were never found.
The Expendables 2
Kun Liu died while filming a scene in the Ognyanovo reservoir in Bulgaria where he was aboard an inflatable boat. The stunt included an explosion that went wrong, killing Liu and gravely injuring another stunt actor.
Liu was 25 years old. His family sued Millennium Films and Chad Stahelski, the film’s stunt coordinator, for wrongful death.
Exit Wounds
Seasoned stunt person Chris Lamon was killed following an accident during production for rapper DMX’s action movie “Exit Wounds” in 2000. He was 35 years old.
He was about to leap out of the back of a vehicle that was being pulled upside down along a street when he was struck in the head on the road. He had broken his skull and died six days later.
It was a rare occurrence, said Warner Bros.
Deadpool 2
Stuntwoman Joi Harris was a stunt double for actress Zazie Beetz in the 2017 movie “Deadpool 2“. She was killed during his first stunt when she was involved in a motorcycle accident.
During the stunt, she was thrown off her motorcycle and slammed into an adjacent building’s plate glass window.
Producers of the film were hit with a $300,000 fine for the accident.
Red Cliff
A stunt involving fire got out of control, killing one stuntman during the filming of the 2000 movie “Red Cliff”.
A blazing ship collided with another for a stunt at Xiotang Shan, near Beijing, but strong winds caused the fires to spread, resulting in both ships being set on fire.
The stuntman who died was just 23.
