12 Actors Who Sadly Passed Away Before Their Last Films Were Released

      Here are 12 actors who sadly passed away before their final films were released.

      Their deaths were sudden and unforeseen, leaving friends, fans, families, and collaborators in shock. In some instances, colleagues had to make difficult decisions about whether to complete their films without the deceased actors and, if so, how to proceed.

      May they rest in peace.

      James Dean

      James Dean was passionate about auto racing—so much so that Warner Bros., the studio behind Giant, prohibited him from racing during the film's production.

      Once he completed his scenes and the movie entered post-production, Dean resumed racing. Tragically, he was involved in a fatal crash while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder on the way to a race in Salinas, California, on September 30, 1955, at the young age of 24.

      Dean's friend Nick Adams was brought in to do some voice dubbing for Dean in Giant, which was released in 1956 and marked Dean's final film as a lead actor. It earned him a posthumous Oscar nomination.

      Natalie Wood

      Natalie Wood, who appeared alongside James Dean in 1955's Rebel Without a Cause and received a supporting actress Oscar nomination for her work, became one of Hollywood's most celebrated stars with films such as The Searchers (1956), West Side Story (1961), Splendor in the Grass (1961), and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969).

      While on a break from filming Brainstorm, Wood went on a boat trip to Catalina Island with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, and her co-star Christopher Walken, along with the ship's captain. She drowned on November 29, 1981, and the exact circumstances surrounding her death were never determined. She was only 43.

      Brainstorm faced delays but was ultimately finished with rewrites and her younger sister, Lana, stepping in for some scenes. The film was released in 1983 and dedicated "to Natalie."

      Clark Gable

      Gable, known as "The King of Hollywood," starred in iconic films such as It Happened One Night (1934) and Gone With the Wind (1939).

      He had just finished filming The Misfits with Marilyn Monroe when he passed away from a heart attack in 1960 at the age of 59.

      Gable had seen footage from the film and concurred with those who believed it to be his best work. The film premiered on February 1, 1961, coinciding with what would have been Gable's 60th birthday.

      While it initially underperformed at the box office, it later became a classic. Tragically, it was the final film not only for Gable but also for Monroe, who died in 1962 at 36.

      Bruce Lee

      The martial arts legend passed away at just 32 on June 20, 1973, during a trip to Hong Kong.

      Lee was filming Game of Death in 1972 when he received the opportunity to star in Enter the Dragon, the first kung fu movie released by a major Hollywood studio. He paused the production of Game of Death to film Enter the Dragon and died shortly thereafter.

      Enter the Dragon premiered in Hong Kong just days after Lee’s death and in the U.S. a month later, becoming the most successful martial arts film ever and one of the highest-grossing films of all time.

      His death led to a surge of “Leesploitation” films featuring lesser imitators, while Game of Death was finished using stand-ins. It was released in 1978, five years posthumously.

      Brandon Lee in The Crow

      In one of cinema's most heartbreaking stories, Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, also died young. He followed his father's passion for martial arts and became a burgeoning action star in the late 1980s and early 90s. His role in The Crow was anticipated to be his significant breakthrough.

      Tragically, he was killed in an on-set accident on March 31, 1993, at just 28. Lee had successfully filmed all his scenes for The Crow, and after some rewriting, his stunt double, Chad Stahelski, was used as a stand-in to complete the film.

      Watching The Crow is particularly poignant as Lee portrays a character who comes back from the dead.

      River Phoenix

      River Phoenix appeared in films such as Stand By Me, Running on Empty, and My Own Private Idaho. He was filming Dark Blood in 1993 when he died of a heroin and cocaine overdose at The Viper Room, a club in West Hollywood.

      Filming was stopped, and the version that was eventually finished was only shown at a few film festivals until it was released on DVD in Germany in 2018.

      A review from The Guardian noted that director George Sluizer shot scenes that couldn’t be filmed due to Phoenix’s death by reading out “descriptions of what is missing…