History Main / FatalMethodActing

* On August 20, 1994, during a performance at Circus International in Honolulu, Hawaii, elephant trainer Allen Campbell was crushed to death by an out-of-control elephant who had already attacked another member of the circus staff; the other man in question was lucky to survive the elephant's attack, and a bystander was also injured. The elephant did briefly get loose on the streets of Honolulu, but was tracked down and killed by police. The shocking incident and the subsequent revelation that the elephant had snapped after years of horrific abuse (with Campbell himself being among the worst culprits) led to massive public outcry and ultimately a statewide ban on the use of performing animals in circus acts.

If the audience doesn't realize what's going on, it's a RealLife example of AllPartOfTheShow. Can be a FunnyAneurysmMoment if they had acted such a scene in character or a comedian's routine involved jokes about their own death. For understandable reasons, a production where a near or actual death occurs is often a TroubledProduction. Film and television usually go around this with a FakeShemp.

* Attempted but subverted ([[MindScrew maybe]]) in ''Film/{{Birdman}}''. [[spoiler:Riggan's character is supposed to commit suicide via gunshot to the head. For the premiere, Riggan brings an actual loaded gun onstage and shoots himself with it. He survives, [[MindScrew maybe]].]]

* On August 20, 1994, during a performance at Circus International in Honolulu, Hawaii, elephant trainer Allen Campbell was crushed to death by an out-of-control elephant who had already attacked another member of the circus staff; another member of the staff was lucky to survive the elephant's attack, and a bystander was also injured. The elephant did briefly get loose on the streets of Honolulu, but was tracked down and killed by police. The shocking incident and the subsequent revelation that the elephant had snapped after years of horrific abuse (with Campbell himself being among the worst culprits) led to massive public outcry and ultimately a statewide ban on the use of performing animals in circus acts.

* On May 28, 2001, during a training session, Dalip Singh (The Great Khali) hit Brian Ong with a move called the flapjack, but Brian suffered a concussion and died. ''All-Pro Wrestling'' was found liable because the two did not train with protective padding and Brian had been ordered to continue training by the higher-ups despite having suffered a previous concussion.

* A historically significant one for the treatment of animals occured in ''Film/NeverSayNeverAgain''; the horse that Connery's Bond rode off the cliff into the ocean was ''actually'' killed by the fall to film that scene, and once news got out the media of the 1980's '''roasted''' the producers for cruelty. This lead to new policies across Hollywood that eventually '''mandates''' all filming of animals be monitored by the American Humane Association, and the associated "No Animals Were Harmed In The Making Of This Film" that follows the credits of almost every Hollywood film thereafter.

* On August 20, 1994, during a performance at Circus International in Honolulu, Hawaii, elephant trainer Allen Campbell was crushed to death by an out-of-control elephant who had already attacked another member of the circus staff; another member of the staff was lucky to survive the elephant's attack, and a bystander was also injured. The elephant did briefly get loose on the streets of Honolulu, but was tracked down and killed by police. The horrific scene and the subsequent revalation that the elephant had snapped after years of horrific abuse (with Campbell himself being among the worst culprits) led to massive public outcry and ultimately a statewide ban on the use of performing animals in circus acts.

* On August 20, 1994, during a performance at Circus International in Honolulu, Hawaii, elephant trainer Allen Campbell was crushed to death by an out-of-control elephant intent on escape; two others were seriously injured. The elephant did briefly get loose on the streets of Honolulu, but was tracked down and killed by police. (Incidentally, public sympathy overwhelmingly rested with the elephant after it was revealed that she had been severely abused, with many considering Campbell an AssholeVictim due to his role in said abuse.)

* Invoked in the ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutron'' episode "Lights! Camera! Danger!". Jimmy wins a screenplay contest and gets to act in a movie with his friends, but the director, [[AlanSmithee Quentin Smithee]], changes the script so the actors keep ending up in near-death situations. Their WireFu fails and drops them off a rooftop, the rollercoaster track for a love scene is busted, the actors are given robotic top hats that try to kill them during a musical number, and a giant robot snake tries to kill them during a scene at a wizarding school. It turns out that Quentin Smithee is actually [[MadScientist Professor Calamitous]] trying to destroy Jimmy and his friends.

* During production of Creator/SamuelFuller's 1969 film ''Caine'', stuntman Jose Marco was mauled to death by a great white shark that had broken through the production crew's protective netting. The attack was recorded on camera, and against Fuller's wishes, the studio chose to include the footage in the completed film, re-titling it ''Shark!'' in an attempt to cash in on the ensuing controversy. Fuller was so disgusted by this turn of events that he attempted unsuccessfully [[AlanSmithee to have his named removed from the credits]].

* During production of Creator/SamuelFuller's 1969 film ''Caine'', stuntman Jose Marco was mauled to death by a great white shark that had broken through the production crew's protective netting. The attack was recorded on camera, and against Fuller's wishes, the studio chose to include the footage in the completed film, re-titling it ''Shark!'' in an attempt to cash in on the ensuing controversy. Fuller was so disgusted by this turn of events that he attempted unsuccessfully [[AlanSmithee to have his named removed from the credits]].

* While on location filming ''Film/WagonsEast'', Creator/JohnCandy's obesity didn't sit well with the high altitude and desert heat, and he died of a heart attack shortly after completing his scenes.

!!Deliberate:

* The Romans would do this deliberately as a macabre form of execution. https://www.strangehistory.net/2014/08/05/roman-killing-theatre/

* The Romans would do this deliberately as a macabre form of execution. https://www.strangehistory.net/2014/08/05/roman-killing-theatre/

* The Romans would do this deliberately as a macabre form of execution. (https://www.strangehistory.net/2014/08/05/roman-killing-theatre/

* The Romans would do this deliberately as a macabre form of execution. (https://www.strangehistory.net/2014/08/05/roman-killing-theatre/|here)

* Creator/BrandonLee died of a gunshot wound on-set during the making of ''Film/TheCrow''. The crew needed some dummy rounds (with no powder or primer) for a .44 Magnum revolver but didn't have any on hand, so they made a batch by pulling the bullets out of live rounds, dumping out the powder, and fitting the bullets back into the cases. At some point, someone pulled the trigger on one of these rounds and set off its primer, generating just enough explosive force to push the bullet into the barrel and leave it stuck there. The revolver was later loaded with blanks to film the scene in which Lee's character was shot; when one of these rounds was fired, the powder charge propelled the stuck bullet out of the barrel and into Lee's chest, killing him. CGI was used to superimpose his face over that of a stunt double for the remaining scenes that were to include him.

* A prop gun misfire by Creator/AlecBaldwin on the set of the movie ''Rust'' killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins and seriously injured director Joel Souza.

* A prop gun misfire by Creator/AlecBaldwin on the set of the movie ''Rust'' killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins and seriously injured director Joel Souza. Allegedly, a live bullet had been loaded into a gun that was supposed to only have blanks.

* A prop gun misfire by Creator/AlecBaldwin on the set of the movie ''Rust'' killed director of photography Halyna Hutchins and seriously injured director Joel Souza.

* A prop gun misfire on the set of the Creator/AlecBaldwin movie ''Rust'' killed one crewmember and seriously injured another.

* Used several times in ''Manga/DetectiveConan'':

* Stuntman Tip Tipping was killed when his parachute failed to open while he was filming an episode of the British series ''999'', which was - ironically enough - a show with the premise of reenacting dangerous accidents.