Hollywood's Unhappiest Endings: Legends Never Die Updated

by Les MacDonald

  After a series of failed relationships, Natalie attempted suicide in 1966. She took time away from the movies and, in 1969, married British producer Richard Gregson. The union produced daughter Natasha but ended in divorce in 1971. A year later she re-married Robert Wagner and the couple also had a daughter. By the mid 1970’s, Natalie had been off the big screen for too long. The best female roles were now passing her by so she moved to the small screen and starred in mini-series From Here to Eternity. She attempted a return to the big screen in Meteor but the movie flopped. She would give it one more try when she signed on to a role in Brainstorm. The movie also starred Christopher Walken. Natalie stayed in North Carolina for two months during filming and then returned to Los Angeles. She brought Walken with her. The stage was now set for what would become one of Hollywood’s most enduring mysteries.

  Robert Wagner and Natalie owned a yacht that they called The Splendor. Dennis Davern was the ship’s captain. On November 27, 1981 the couple were planning to take the boat to Catalina Island for dinner. Natalie invited Walken to join them. The four dined on Catalina and all apparently went well. The good times ended when they returned. Wagner admits to arguing with Walken. It’s not clear what the fight was about but it’s probably safe to say that Natalie was the subject. What happened next has been the subject of many lively debates for more than 30 years. Robert Wagner maintains that Natalie must have slipped from the yacht into the ocean. Hours later, she was found floating face down in the water…and very dead. The investigation in 1982 surmised that Natalie must have been trying to leave the boat on a dinghy to get away from the argument. Her blood alcohol level was 0.24 and that scenario certainly seems plausible. The investigation ruled accidental death.

  The investigation was reopened in 2011. The Splendor’s captain, Dennis Davern has come out and publicly blamed Wagner for the death. The detective who originally investigated the case has said that he still believes Wagner’s version of events. Now, the kicker. In January 2013, a new coroner’s report claims that Natalie had bruises on her face and that they could have occurred “before” she hit the water. The medical examiner claims that the bruises could have been “non-accidental.” The verdict on Natalie’s death in 1982 was accidental. In 2013 that was changed to undetermined. Thirty-two years after the fact, there are still more questions than answers. Only three people know what happened on board the Splendor that night. Davern blames Wagner. Wagner and Walken aren’t talking…at least not publicly. Christopher Walken is now 70 years old. Robert Wagner is 82. We’ll probably never know what happened. The bottom line is that Natalie Wood was dead at 43 years of age.

  Natalie’s final film, Brainstorm, was released in 1983. It cost $15 Million to make and failed to break even at the box office.

  Sal Mineo…Sal was born Salvatore Mineo Jr. in 1939. Young Sal was a handful for his folks who emigrated from Sicily and settled in a particularly rough part of the Bronx. Sal was in a gang by the time he was eight years old and was arrested for robbery at the age of ten. His parents and the juvenile authorities could see where this was going so they gave Sal a choice…juvenile confinement or acting school. Not surprisingly, Sal chose acting school. He was in the right place at the right time when the Warner Bros. studio was looking around for tough gang types to cast in 1955’s Rebel Without a Cause. He snapped up the role of John Crawford aka Plato.

  Rebel was Sal’s breakout film. And he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Five years later he appeared in Exodus and received another nomination. The Oscar eluded him and he never did quite attain the heights that he did with those two movies. However, Sal remained busy and was in demand on the small screen. Throughout the 1960’s he appeared in many television shows such as Combat, Mission Impossible, My Three Sons and Columbo to just name a few.

  In 1969, Sal Mineo came out of the closet and acknowledged that he was gay. In this regard, Sal was far ahead of his time. When he wasn’t busy starring in television shows, Sal continued to find work on the stage. In 1976 he was starring in PS: Your Cat is Dead in San Francisco. The play was a hit and Sal received excellent reviews. When the play moved to Los Angeles, Sal moved with it.

  On February 12, 1976 after a night of rehearsals for the play, Sal was stabbed to death in the alley behind his apartment building in West Hollywood. He had been parking his car when he was attacked. The police at first thought that the murder might be related to his lifestyle. They had found gay pornography in his apartment. It took two years before they caught a break. Police in Detroit, Michigan reported that one Lionel Williams was bragging about the murder. Authorities in Michigan were holding him on fraud charges. It seems like Williams enjoyed writing bad cheques as well as murder. When his wife was questioned, it was found that she still had the murder weapon. Williams was found guilty and sentenced to life. In this case, life was 12 years. Yup, the killer walked in 1990. Sal Mineo was 37 years old when he was murdered. His killer was 33 years old when he was released from prison. One more note on Williams. The police in LA strongly suspect him in the murder of another woman who was killed around the same time that Sal was. The problem? They can’t find him.

  Nick Adams…Nick had a small role in Rebel but his light briefly shone bright in 1963’s Twilight of Honor which starred Richard Chamberlain. Nick’s performance in that film earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting actor. Nick spent quite a bit of his own money campaigning for the Oscar but eventually lost to Melvyn Douglas. Nick was unable to cash in on the movie’s popularity and his nomination. He did, however, continue to get many roles on television. On February 7, 1968 Nick was found dead in his Beverly Hills home. The autopsy found high levels of paraldehyde and promazine in his system. The famous “coroner to the stars” Thomas Noguchi was unable to determine whether Nick’s death was an accident or if he had taken his own life. Either way, Nick Adams was dead at 36.

  William Hopper…William also had a role in Rebel but would attain his fame on the small screen playing private investigator Paul Drake in the long running Perry Mason series. William suffered a stroke and died at the age of 55.

  Rochelle Hudson…Rochelle played Judy’s (Natalie Wood’s character) mother in Rebel. She died of pneumonia brought on by a liver disease at the age of 55.

  Anissa Jones (1958-1976)

  Anissa Jones really did get an early start. Her mother enrolled her in dancing classes at the age of two and, by the time she was six, she was doing commercials. Anissa came to the attention of television producers who were casting a sitcom that came to be known as Family Affair. The show starred Brian Keith (yes, the same Brian Keith who was Peg Entwistle’s stepson) who all of a sudden becomes the guardian of his two nieces and a nephew. Eight year old Anissa played Buffy who had a twin brother named Jody who was played by Johnny Whitaker.

  The show began in 1966 and was a surprise hit. It ran for five seasons before being cancelled in 1971. It had run for 138 episodes. Once the series was over, Anissa had hoped to act in movies. She was 14 years old when Brian Keith offered her another role on television. I was 1972 and the job would have been a recurring role but Anissa was adamant. She simply did not want to do any more television. The Brian Keith Show ran for three seasons from 1972-74 but without Anissa.

  Meanwhile, the big screen roles that the teen coveted were just not coming her way. In 1973 she auditioned for the role of Regan in The Exorcist. The trouble was that no one could see her playing the part of the possessed child. Hollywood could only see her as Buffy. Anissa was only 15 years old but was already typecast. The role ended up going to Linda Blair. With no roles forthcoming, Anissa dropped out of high school and even worked for awhile in a doughnut shop. It was at this time that she started using drugs.

  When Anissa turned 18, she was given her earnings from Family Affair which had been held in trust. She moved in with her brother Paul but now with the new money she drifted further into drug abuse. On August 28, 1976 she was found dead at a friend’s house. The coroner
said that it was one of the worst cases of drug overdoses that he had ever seen. There was cocaine, seconal, quaaludes and PCP in her system. Eight years later her brother Paul also died as the result of a drug overdose. Anissa was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

  River Phoenix (1970-1993)

  River got his start in Hollywood appearing in 21 episodes of the Seven Brides for Seven Brothers television series. He was 12 years old at the time. For the next few years, he appeared as a guest star on several television shows. In 1985 he hit the big screen in Explorers and then he hit his big break. A year after Explorers, he won a major role in the Robert Zemeckis film Stand By Me. The movie was based on a Stephen King story and proved to be the breakout film for River. Roles in Little Nikita, Running on Empty and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade furthered his reputation as a box office draw. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Danny Pope in Running on Empty. River made 13 movies between 1986 and 1993.

  River was a good friend of Michael “Flea” Balzary of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The pair were to appear together on stage together at the Viper Room on the night of October 30, 1993. At the time, the Hollywood club was partly owned by Johnny Depp who was also in the club that night. River’s brother Joaquin and sister Rain were also there. At some point, River went into the bathroom and snorted cocaine. A short time later he collapsed outside the club. Flea was on stage with Depp at the time and ran outside when word filtered into the club. Rain was performing CPR and River was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 1:51am.

  A sign was put in the window of the club. It read: “With much respect and love to River and his family, the Viper Room is temporarily closed. Our heartfelt condolences to all his family, friends and loved ones. He will be missed.” The club remained closed for a week and every year on October 31 the club closed for the day. That remained in effect until Johnny Depp sold his share in the club.

  River was filming Dark Blood at the time of his death. There was still about three weeks of shooting interiors left to complete the film when River died. It was completed 19 years later in 2012. River Phoenix was 23 years old when he passed away. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at the family ranch in Florida.

  Heath Ledger (1979-2008)

  Heath got the acting bug at the age of ten when he starred as Peter Pan in a school play. He had minor roles throughout the 1990’s mostly in Australian films and television shows. In 1999 he appeared in the Hollywood film 10 Things I Hate About You. The movie was a modest success but, more importantly to Heath, it gave him some much needed exposure in Hollywood. A year later he starred opposite Mel Gibson in The Patriot. The critical and commercial success that he craved came in 2005 with Brokeback Mountain. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his portrayal of a sexually conflicted cowboy in the 1970’s and 1970’s. The film won the Best Picture award at the Oscars. In 2007 Heath landed the role that he will always be identified with the most. Christopher Nolan was directing the latest installment of the Batman franchise to be known as The Dark Knight. Heath was to play Batman’s nemesis, the Joker. In an interview with Sarah Lyall of the New York Times, Heath said that he “played the Joker as a psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic with zero empathy.” It worked. The Dark Knight was a huge hit and easily the top moneymaker of 2008. There was just one problem. Heath Ledger wouldn’t be around to share in the accolades.

  Back in 2005, Heath had begun a relationship with Michelle Williams who he had met while filming Brokeback Mountain. Michelle quickly became pregnant and later that year gave birth to Matilda Rose Ledger. The couple ended their relationship in 2007. The split occurred around the time that Heat had finished his work in The Dark Knight.

  We’ll never know exactly what Heath’s state of mind was in January 2008. He had lived and breathed the role of the Joker and had stayed in character long after shooting. It’s a fact that the Joker was a very dark character. Is it at all possible that this plus his split with Michelle plunged him into a deep depression that he could not pull himself out of? In January 2008, editing was underway on The Dark Knight with an eye toward a summer release. Heath went right into another role in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. However, on January 22, 2008 he was found dead in his Manhattan apartment. A bottle of sleeping pills was found at his side. The official cause of death was “accidental overdose” of prescription meds. At the time that Heath was taking the sleeping pills, he was also using painkillers and anti-anxiety medication.

  It’s another one of those little coincidences that I am writing this on the fifth anniversary (July 18) of the US release of The Dark Knight. Michael Caine, who played Alfred in the film, had this to say about Heath’s performance: “Heath’s gone in a completely different direction. He’s like a really scary psychopath. He’s a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture.” High praise and Caine was 100% on the money. The critics raved about Heath’s performance. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and was only the second actor to win the Oscar posthumously. Peter Finch had done this for Network in 1976. He also won the Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and the Bafta Award…all for Best Supporting Actor.

  The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was partly completed when Heath died. Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell took turns finishing the role that Heath was playing. All three donated their salaries to Heath’s daughter Matilda. The director Terry Gilliam speaks: “ They didn’t take any money…it all goes to Heath’s daughter. That’s extraordinary and wonderful…and when you’re part of that, you think ah, this is maybe why I went into movies in the beginning. I thought it would be full of wonderful people.” For his part, Gilliam also did something pretty special. Gilliam: “The loss of Heath Ledger was such a blow that it was a kind of a test of everybody involved in the film. Whether in the kind of terribly difficult circumstances, we could continue and make a film worthy of Heath’s last movie. It’s why I couldn’t put a credit that was contractual on the film. The contract credit was “A Film by Terry Gilliam”…and I couldn’t do that. I just didn’t think that was right. And so one night the cast and crew were all gathered in Vancouver toasting Heath and saying what are we gonna do? And we all agreed to call it A Film by Heath Ledger and Friends. Forget contracts, for once let the truth speak.”

  Heath Ledger was just 28 years old when he died. After his death, his body was flown back to his native Australia where he was cremated. His ashes were buried next to two of his grandparents in a family plot.

  Author’s note: Every now and then you run across a story or an act that is sad but also uplifting at the same time. Heath’s story is indeed a sad one but the selfless acts of the three actors who finished his role for him and the director, cast and crew who paid tribute to Heath when it was all over…well, in my books they all deserve a standing ovation!

  Cory Monteith (1982-2013)

  Cory Allan Michael Monteith was born in Calgary, Alberta and grew up in Victoria, British Columbia. His parents split when Cory was seven years old and Cory, along with his older brother Shaun, were raised by their mother. Cory saw very little of his father as Joe Monteith served in the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry. Cory began having trouble in school and by the time he was 12 he was already drinking heavily. The booze led to marijuana and even more trouble ast school causing the troubled teen to drop out once he turned 16. By the time he was 19 years old in 2001, Cory was clearly in trouble. He turned to crime in an effort to finance his habit. His mother and friends set up an intervention which, at the time, may have saved Cory’s life.

  Cory drifted through a series of odd jobs until he caught a break in 2004. He was cast in an episode of Stargate: Atlantis which was shooting in and around Vancouver. The exposure led to more roles in television shows such as Supernatural and Smallville in 2005. He continued in those kinds of television roles for most of the decade. He also appe
ared in a few small movie roles such as Final Destination 3. Then, in 2009, Cory got his big break. He was cast as Finn Hudson in the television show Glee. Glee became a big hit. The show gave Cory some much needed security but it may have also led him into temptation..

  In 2011 he began a relationship with fellow cast-mate Lea Michele. Lea, like Cory, had been with Glee since its beginning.

  At some point in 2013 Cory was using again. He may have actually been using earlier than that but it is known that he entered a rehab facility in March. He left the facility on April 26. Less than four months later, Cory was dead. He had been staying in the Fairmont Hotel in Vancouver for the past week. On July 13, he was supposed to check out and when he didn’t, hotel staff found his body. An autopsy was performed two days later. The coroner determined that the actor had died from a “mixed drug toxicity”…heroin and alcohol. Cory was cremated in Vancouver. He was 31 years old.

  Cory Monteith has two movies that have been completed and are listed as being in post production. Both All the Wrong Reasons and McCanick are scheduled for release later in 2013. Glee Live! At Radio City Music Hall is also due to be released later this year.