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While the actual cause of Charlton Heston’s death has not been released it is known that the actor was diagnosed with Alzheimers six years ago. This disease has also claimed the lives of many of Hollywood’s great stars, possibly the most tragic case being that of the beautiful screen goddess of the 1940’s and 1950’s - Rita Hayworth. Through her suffering the condition really came out into the open; for many years until her condition was formally announced she was accused of being everything from alcoholic to drug-hazed. Few knew at the time she was in the grip of this terrible condition.

Rita Hayworth was every man’s fantasy back in the forties, and no-one could doubt why. She was born Margharita Cansino and travelled vaudeville shows with her parents and their Spanish flamenco act ‘The Dansing Cansino’s’ even performing in countries such as Australia. She became Rita Hayworth after being discovered by Fox Studios in 1935. Rita was not without her demons; she doubled as her father’s dancing partner before she started in movies and it has been claimed that he sexually molested her as a young girl.

Rita led a tempestuous love life and, yes, was known to drink quite heavily as the years passed. As early as the late 1950’s her behaviour was noticed as becoming odd. Throughout the sixties she behaved more erratically as time passed and it was generally acknowledged that she was suffering from the effects of alcoholism. In 1976 Rita was booked to appear as guest presenter at the Australian Television Logie Awards in Melbourne. After boarding her flight in London for the trip she became increasing distressed and disoriented after which she was removed from the plane and her engagement in Australia cancelled.

This incident received worldwide publicity with many very cruel remarks reported. A year later in 1977 her daughter, Yasmin Khan, publically announced that her mother was suffering from Alzheimers Disease. She made fewer appearances in public until 1979 when she went into complete seclusion, she was never seen in public again. Her daughter cared for her until 1987 when Rita died.

Other stars who were Alzheimer sufferers…

* Ronald Reagan

* Billie Bird

* Charles Bronson

* Perry Como (singer)

* Aaron Copland (composer)

* Sugar Ray Robinson (boxer)

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I hope this is not too morbid a topic but in the world of entertainment it is interesting to note how many films were completed after the star had died; in the past it was just a process of replacing the deceased actor with a double and filming them from behind - or they just suddenly disappeared from the film by way of an accident or death.  Here’s a few films where the star died during production…

* Saratoga, 1936 - Actress Jean Harlow died aged 26 just a few weeks before completing her final scenes. A double was used in her place and you notice towards the end of the film that her character’s face is never shown and does not speak any lines. She appeared in the final scene when they used a scene that was intended for use earlier on in the movie.

* Solomon and Sheba, 1958 - Tyrone Power had filmed about 75 percent of his scenes when he was stricken with a massive heart attack, as he was filming a dueling scene with his co-star George Sanders. He died enroute to hospital. He was replaced by Yul Brynner to take over the role. Power’s closeups in the film were reshot with Brynner but the long shots featuring Power were kept; you can still spot Power in the long shots and even in a couple during the fatal dueling scene.

* Plan 9 from Outer Space, 1956 - a classic this one. Bela Lugosi died of a heart attack during production of Ed Wood’s cult film. It features footage of Lugosi interspersed with a double. Wood had taken a few minutes of silent footage of Lugosi, in his Dracula cape, and hired his wife’s chiropractor to double for Lugosi in additional shots. The double is thinner than Lugosi, and in every shot covers the lower half of his face with his cape. You can really spot the difference during his walk through the graveyard scene.

* Giant, 1955 - Actor James Dean only had completed his scenes with just some dubbing required when he was killed in a high speed road crash. His final scenes were shown in the film however his voice was dubbed by his friend Nick Adams; it is Nick’s voice you hear in Dean’s ‘drunken’ final scenes.

* The Misfits, 1960 - Clark Gable died of a heart attack after filming strenuous scenes in this western flick.  He had completed the film but a couple were reshot with a double.

* Canadian Bacon, 1995 - John Candy died from a heart attack during filming. A double was used in some scenes but the film was a flop.

* Twilight Zone, the Movie, 1983 - Actor Vic Morrow was killed, along with 2 children, during a scene. A helicopter hovering above crashed down into the actor and the two children. His episode in the film was included in the release but was edited to change the ending.

Actors injured during filming…

* Raintree County, 1957 - Handsome Montgomery Clift was filming when he was horrifically injured in a car smash after leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor’s house one evening. His facial injuries were severe and production was halted for several months while he recuperated. His face never looked the same afterwards though. He completed the film eventually but if you watch the film you can easily spot the before the crash and after the crash Monty in his scenes.

* I, Claudious, 1937 - Actress Merle Oberon suffered facial injuries in a car crash during filming; the project was abandoned and never released even though the film was well into production.

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The two have gone together, sadly, since the small backwater orange-growing town became the movie capitol of the world. The list of stars who topped themselves is a long one and, for those of you who are interested, here’s a sample of some of them…

Olive Thomas: 1894-1920

Olive was married to Jack Pickford brother of America’s Sweetheart Mary Pickford. However both Olive and Jack were both cocaine addicts. Olive was a young actress well loved by audiences of the silent film era and once married to Jack travelled extensively together. In Paris, staying at the The Ritz, she took a fatal overdose of mercury chloride which had been prescribed to treat Jack’s syphilis. Jack claimed it was an accidental overdose but many claimed she had been depressed and had in fact killed herself intentionally.

Lupe Velez: 1908-1944

Known as The Mexican Spitfire she enjoyed a tempestuous lovelife with her husbands including Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. She had an affair with Gary Cooper however this ended as he refused to marry her. In 1944 Lupe was involved with German actor Harald Ramand (also known as Harald Maresch) when she discovered she was pregnant. Harald refused to marry her leaving her distraught; she swallowed a massive amount of pills in an attempt to end it all. But sadly it did not go according to plan. She regained consiousness and stumbled to the toilet to throw up when she fell and hit her head on the bowl and ended up with her head caught in the toilet bowl where she drowned. She was discovered, dead, in this tragic manner at the age of 34.

George Sanders: 1908-1972

The handsome and suave English actor was married three times: 1) Madga Gabor 2)Benita Hume 3)Zsa Zsa Gabor, sister of Magda. He was famed for his beautiful rich voice and his ability to play the high-class cad in his films. He also provided the voice for the villain Shere Khan in the animated film The Jungle Book in 1967. Given to depression throughout his life he once remarked to actor David Niven in 1937 that he intended to kill himself before he grew too old. In 1972, in a hotel in Barcelona Spain, he did just that, with five empty nembutal bottles found by his side and this note: “Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored . I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.”

Jean Seberg: 1938-1979

The hauntingly beautiful actress of the 50’s and 60’s led a troubled life, particularly where relationships were concerned. She starred in the title role of Saint Joan and rose to prominence in the arty new wave films of French director Jean-Luc Godard (Breathless). She committed suicide in Paris in 1979, her body was discovered eleven days later in the back of her car in the 16 arrondissement after she had imbibed a massive combination of drugs and alcohol.

But this actress set a precedent in 1932 for ‘going out in true Hollywood style’…

Peg Entwistle: 1908-1932

Peg Entwistle achieved the legend and fame in her death in a way that she never would have as a struggling actress trying to crack the bigtime in 1930’s Hollywood. She became despondant and depressed at being unsuccessful at becoming the huge star she desperately dreamed of being - one of the many thousands who travelled to Hollywood from all over America in the hope of being A Star. On September 18th, 1932 at the age of just 24 she got into her car and drove to the top of Mount Lee, the slope overlooking Hollywood and which held the giant sign, which back then read, Hollywoodland.

She used a workmans ladder to climb to the top of the letter H and leapt to her death 100ft below in the ravine. It was found she did not die immediately, but slowly over two days from multiple fractures to her pelvis. Peg set a precedent; she represented the loss and failure of the hopes and dreams of all those young hopefuls who arrived in the town each week to become a star. Following in her steps, other young hopefuls who despaired of never making it killed themselves in the same manner as Peg Entwistle - from the top of the Hollywood sign. The letters, land, were removed in 1949 and the sign has stood as Hollywood to this day.

Carole Landis: 1919 - 1948

Carole Landis was one of the golden girls of Hollywood in the late 1930’s and 1940’s. She was nicknamed The Ping Girl’  and ‘The Chest’ due to her impressive 36 DD inch bust. Although she desperately wanted to be taken seriously as an actress she was willing to pose for endless cheescake photos if it helped her career. Carole’s trademark was a gold cross she always wore around her neck. The cross had been a gift from her friend Diana Lewis.

Landis appeared in a string of successful films in the early forties, usually as the second female lead. In a time when many actresses were dubbed in their singing roles, Landis’ own voice was considered good enough and was used in her few musical roles. Carole landed a contract with 20th Century Fox and began a relationship with Darryl F. Zanuck. She had roles playing opposite fellow pin-up girl Betty Grable in ‘Moon Over Miami‘ and ‘I Wake Up Screaming‘, both in 1941. When Carole ended her relationship with Zanuck, her career suffered and she was assigned roles in B-movies.

 Landis became a popular pin-up with servicemen during World War II. In 1942, she toured with comedienne Martha Raye, dancer Mitzi Mayfair and actress Kay Francis with a USO troupe in England and North Africa. Two years later, she entertained soldiers in the South Pacific with Jack Benny. Carole traveled more than 100,000 miles during the war and would spend more time visiting troops than any other actress. She nearly died from amoebic dysentery and malaria she contracted while traveling overseas.

She wrote about these experiences later on and they became the basis of a film ‘Four Jills in a Jeep’. Carole, who had suffered increasingly from depression, began an ill-fated affair with British actor Rex Harrison which ended bitterly when he refused to leave his wife, Lilli Palmer. Landis had threatened to expose their affair which threw suspicion on Harrison after Landis was found dead in her bathroom. Her death was declared suicide as she had left a note:

“Dearest Mommie - I’m sorry, really sorry, to put you through this but there is no way to avoid it - I love you darling you have been the most wonderful mom ever And that applies to all our family. I love each and every one of them dearly - Everything goes to you - Look in the files and there is a will which decrees everything - Good bye, my angel - Pray for me - Your Baby.”

However her family always maintained Harrison had a direct hand in her death claiming she was still alive when he discovered her collapsed.

RIP to all these people.

Above: Peg Entwistle and the Hollywood sign.

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