Tiscali Film - Hollywood RIP

Heath Ledger

Terry Gilliam is the unluckiest director in Hollywood, with his projects usually making the news for all of the wrong reasons. When Heath Ledger suddenly died in the middle of his new epic fantasy he had two choices: close production down or find a way to carry on. Friends in high places helped out: Jude Law, Colin Farrell and Johnny Depp all stepped in to Heath's suit, leaving audiences intrigued.

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Oliver Reed

Oliver Reed died in Ireland during a break from filming Gladiator: reportedly from a heart attack after beating five sailors at arm wrestling. Director Ridley Scott used CGI technology to replace him in missing scenes in the final film, which are still noticeable if you look carefully.

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Bela Lugosi

The Hungarian actor was a huge star in the early days of Hollywood, best known for his portrayals of Dracula. But by 1956 his career was on the wane and he was forced into working with Z-list director Ed Wood. His death made Wood not only change his plans for a vampire flick: he turned it into a UFO film and used a body double interspersed with shots of Lugosi: and so Plan 9 From Outer Space was born.

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John Candy

The larger-than-life Candy had made a big name for himself in a number of comedy roles when he died in his sleep during the making of 1993's Wagon's East. The film was still released however, as producers claimed all of Candy's scenes had been completed. Some viewers chose to disagree however and critic Roger Ebert called it 'a sad way to end Candy's career'.

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Bernie Mac

The American comedy star, who had his own TV show named after him and was breaking into films, died of pneumonia with 3 films in various stages of completion. All three, including Soul Men (in which his co-star Isaac Hayes died the day after Mac) were released and dedicated to his memory.

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Natalie Wood

Hollywood was shocked when one of its golden girls died in mysterious circumstances in 1981. Her final film, Brainstorm, was completed using body doubles and clever lighting, but very few people actually saw it.

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