When Heath Ledger died on Jan. 22, Warner Bros. went into panic mode. The new Batman opus, The Dark Knight, with Ledger as the malevolent Joker would open in six months, and the image of Ledger’s Joker was a strong marketing tool. The image and advertising logo were slightly revamped, and the movie remains one of the summer’s most hotly anticipated flicks.
Nonetheless, films starring dead stars have reaped mixed box-office results. Among those on Hollywood’s “bucket list”:
JAMES DEAN — Dean’s unexpected death on Sept. 30, 1955, raised him from popular young actor to heavenly icon. Rebel Without a Cause, which became his signature film, was released a month after his demise and became a pop culture phenomenon. He was filming Giant when he died, and Dennis Hopper dubbed some of his dialog. Giant broke records when it debuted Thanksgiving week of 1956.
CLARK GABLE — The onetime King of Hollywood expired Nov. 16, 1960, after the strenuous filming of The Misfits with Marilyn Monroe and Montgomery Clift. Some claimed that Monroe’s erratic professional behavior contributed to Gable’s health problems. She would die in 1962, and Clift would follow in 1966. The Misfits was released three months after Gable’s death, and, while it still has its champions, it was only a modest success. The final scene of Gable and Monroe driving out into a star-filled night is doubly haunting, being their final cinematic image.
CAROLE LOMBARD — Gable’s most famous wife died in a plane crash on Jan. 16, 1942, during a war bond tour. Her final film, To Be or Not To Be, co-starring Jack Benny and remade in 1983 by Mel Brooks, opened two months later to a mild response. The unromantic truth is that moviegoers loved Lombard while she and Gable were an unmarried couple. Once they tied the knot, Lombard lost some of her box-office allure.
PETER FINCH — This colorful actor went to his reward on Jan. 14, 1977, just as Network was enjoying a successful national release. His earthly rewards included a best-actor Oscar, which did not please co-star William Holden. Holden had also been nominated and reportedly grumbled, “I lost to a ghost.”
NATALIE WOOD — The one-time child actress’s much-lamented drowning occurred on Nov. 29, 1981. She had a list of landmark films to her credit, including The Searchers, West Side Story, Rebel Without a Cause and Miracle on 34th Street. But her finale, the sci-fi epic Brainstorm, with Christopher Walken, was far from a landmark. After much re-shooting and studio infighting, it was finally released to public dismissal in September 1983.
RICHARD BURTON — A much-headlined star, Burton had fallen from critics’ graces and public favor when he met his Maker on Aug. 5, 1984. His final film, a well-reviewed version of George Orwell’s 1984, was expected to bring him back to favor with a possible best-supporting-actor Oscar nod. This didn’t happen, which daughter Kate thought was just as well. Said Kate, “Elizabeth (Taylor) and I agreed that he would never have wanted to be nominated in the SUPPORTING category.”
DAVID NIVEN — His mellifluous voice was heard no more after July 29, 1983. In fact, it was hardly heard at all when The Curse of the Pink Panther was released a month later to scant enthusiasm. He had been very ill during the filming, and Rich Little dubbed much of his dialog.
GARY COOPER — The High Noon icon faced his final showdown on May 13, 1961. James Stewart had hinted at the upcoming demise when tearfully accepting Cooper’s honorary Oscar two months earlier. Movie publicists tried to generate interest in the August release of his final film The Naked Edge by planting the seed that in his last role, he might play a villain out to murder wife Deborah Kerr. The public knew better and stayed away. They either knew Coop couldn’t play a wife-killer or else didn’t want to know if he did.
DOROTHY STRATTEN — This promising starlet was only 20 years old when murdered by estranged husband Paul Snider, who then killed himself. The murder-suicide, committed on Aug. 14, 1980, had lasting effects. It almost sabotaged the career of the former Playboy Playmate’s current love, director Peter Bogdanovich, who went into prolonged mourning and even married Stratten’s younger sister. When They All Laughed, which Bogdanovich directed and also starred Audrey Hepburn and John Ritter, was released in August of 1981, audiences stayed away despite the tabloid headlines. Bob Fosse filmed a Stratten biography, in 1983, with Mariel Hemingway as the ill-fated actress, and it also died at the box-office.
In broadcast network television, fame can be fleeting. Last year’s hot series can jump the shark before you know it, and few shows or stars truly pass the test of time.
