MovieChat Forums > The Right Stuff (1984) Discussion > Actors who died before people they playe...

Actors who died before people they played


http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=834187

For example, Sam Shepard played Chuck Yeager in The Right Stuff. Sam died last month, but Chuck is still going. That's a pretty unusual situation, but it can't be unique, right? What are some other examples?

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I did a google search and found out that Heath Ledger played a Bob Dylan character in I'm Not There. Of course, Heath Ledger died shortly before Bob Dylan died.

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Bob ain't dead yet.

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Isn't he?

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I've amalgamated my replies to this into one post where I'll add any more that I think of later...

Haing S. Ngor died before Dith Pran, whom he played in The Killing Fields.
Natasha Richardson passed away in 2009 while Patty Hearst - whom she played in a 1988 film - is still alive.
Bill Paxton is gone but Fred Haise whom he played in Apollo 13 is still around.

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Richard Attenborough played Father Christmas in Miracle On 34th Street. Whilst, as we all know, the real Father Christmas is very much alive and well.

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LOL

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Another one just came to mind... Marty Puccio, portrayed by Brad Renfro in Bully (2001), is still alive (as he was granted a reduction of his death sentence) whereas Renfro sadly passed away in 2008.

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American Football player Floyd Little, portrayed by Chadwick Boseman in The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, joins the list now with Boseman’s sad passing.

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Another football example, Rocky Bleier outliving Robert Urich, who portrayed him in a 1980 made-for-TV movie. Urich died in 2002 while Bleier is at the moment, still alive and well at the age of 75.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Bleier

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_Back:_The_Rocky_Bleier_Story

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Every so often another of these occurs to me so I pop in here to add to the list...

Billy Hayes is still alive while Brad Davis, who portrayed him in Midnight Express, passed away in 1991.

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