Most humorous, dramatic, or realistic television series depict problematic characters based on pre-existing scripts. However, sometimes problems happen in real life.
In the 75-year history of American television, many actors have been entangled in unnecessary scandals or tragedies. But with some shows, more than one actor gets into trouble off set or worse. When that happened, the movie was labeled “cursed.”
Below are the movies that are considered to be the most haunted by curses.
Glee
Glee is a musical series directed by Ryan Murphy, broadcast from 2009 to 2015 on Fox. The film was highly appreciated by both experts and audiences. The film is about a music club in high school called Glee, gathering students with different personalities and stories but with a common passion for music.
Despite bringing fame to many young actors, Glee It is also their obsession when witnessing many deaths.
Naya Rivera (left), Cory Monteith (center) and Mark Salling all died young.
On July 13, 2013, Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson in four seasons, was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver (Canada) at the age of 31. The cause of death was determined to be drug overdose. Four months earlier, he had to enter a substance abuse treatment facility.
Mark Salling, who plays Stuart “Puck” Puckerman, was accused of sexual assault by his ex-girlfriend in 2011. He had to pay $2.7 million to settle out of court. In December 2015, Salling was arrested at his home in Los Angeles on suspicion of possessing child pornography. He was charged in May 2016 and pleaded guilty in September 2017. In January 2018, Salling hanged himself near his home.
The most heartbreaking is the case of Naya Rivera, who plays Santana Lopez. She died at the age of 33 on July 8, 2020 from drowning at Lake Piru in Los Padres National Forest in California. According to investigators, she and her son rented a boat to swim in the lake. Because they did not wear life jackets, the mother and child drowned. Rivera tried to push his son onto the boat and it gradually sank due to exhaustion. Later, people discovered Rivera’s 4-year-old son was still alive on the boat. The actress’s body was found 5 days later. No evidence was found that the ill-fated mother drank alcohol.
In addition, in June 2020, Lea Michelle (playing female lead Rachel Berry) was accused of bullying by co-star Samantha Marie Ware on the set of season 6 of Glee. Other actors, Heather Morris, Alex Newell, Amber Riley and Lindsay Pearce, later spoke out in defense of the victim. In the end, Lea had to publicly apologize.
Lea Michelle was accused of bullying her co-star. Photo: Fox.
Diff’rent Strokes
Diff’rent Strokes is a famous sitcom, shown on NBC from 1978 to 1985 and 1985-1986 on ABC. The film is about two children from Harlem (Todd Bridges, Gary Coleman) who are adopted by a wealthy businessman (Conrad Bain) and his daughter (Dana Plato).
For unknown reasons, the three child actors in the film all had problems with their personal lives, two of them died in pain.
Bridges (who plays Willis Jackson) began smoking marijuana during filming. In his 20s, he became addicted to cocaine and meth. In 1989, when he was just 24 years old, Bridges was arrested and charged with plotting to murder a drug dealer in Los Angeles. The actor was later acquitted by proving he was not present at the crime scene. However, he was arrested again in 1992 after Burbank, California Police discovered methamphetamine (a nervous system stimulant) and a loaded gun in his car. Bridges was released on bail and stopped using drugs the following year. He recounted all that embarrassing past in his memoir released in 2008.
Plato was kicked out of the film crew in 1984 after giving birth at the age of 20. Left Diff’rent Strokes , she struggled because she couldn’t find a job. In 1989, she posed for Playboy, then appeared in a series of B-rated movies. Throughout the 1990s, she repeatedly caused scandals, including robbing a video store in 1991 and forging prescriptions for tranquilizers. diazepam in 1992. Finally, in May 1999, she was found dead at the age of 34 in a car parked outside her mother-in-law’s house in Oklahoma. She was determined to have taken hydrocodone (pain reliever) and muscle relaxants. Police considered it a suicide, but some friends, including Bridges, disagreed.
The three child stars of Diff’rent Strokes all encountered trouble in everyday life. Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection.
Coleman (who played Arnold Jackson) was accused of assaulting fans at a California shopping mall in 1998. He filed for bankruptcy in 1999. In 2009, Coleman underwent heart surgery at the age of 41. In May 2010, he fell down the stairs at his home in Utah, hitting his head hard, leading to a brain hemorrhage. He was taken to the hospital, but his condition worsened and he had to be put on life support. He passed away on May 27, 2010, at the age of 42.
Family Affair
Family Affair is a comedy sitcom that ran on CBS from 1966-1971. The film is about talented bachelor Bill Davis (Brian Keith) who is assigned to take care of his brother’s orphaned children – 15-year-old girl Cissy (Kathy Garver) and 6-year-old twins Buffy and Jody (Anissa). Jones, Johnnie Whitaker) – in a luxurious apartment in New York.
Five years after filming ended, Anissa Jones was found dead at the age of 18 in the upstairs bedroom of a friend’s house in Oceanside, California. She went to the party and could never go home due to an overdose of cocaine, PCP (hallucinogen), Quaaludes (sedative) and Seconal (sedative). Family members cremated her body and scattered it into the Pacific Ocean.
Brian Keith died at age 75 by suicide in 1997, just two months after his daughter left the world. Before his death, he suffered from lung cancer and emphysema.
Family Affair actors (from left to right): Cathy Garver, Brian Keith, Sebastian Cabot, Johnny Whitaker and Anissa Jones.
Adventures of Superman
Adventures of Superman (1052 – 1958) was one of the first popular series on American television. The film is aimed at children, starring George Reeves as a superhero who helps the weak.
The film brought George fame in Hollywood, but was also the last work he participated in.
In 1959, one year after the film was canceled, George died at the age of 45 in the upstairs bedroom of his home in Benedict Canyon (Los Angeles) in the early morning. At that time, there was a party going on on the first floor. The police discovered a gunshot wound on his head.
To date, the cause of death remains a mystery. Police believe George committed suicide, but many people don’t believe it. Some pointed their suspicions at his fiancée, Leonore Lemmon.
His somber life and death inspired the film Hollywoodland in 2006, starring Ben Affleck.
George Reeves passed away a year after his role in Adventures of Superman ended. Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection.
Our Gang
Our Gang (another name is The Little Rascals , 1922-1944) was not produced for television, but generations of fans learned about it from watching it on local television stations. American comedy short series about a group of children in a poor neighborhood and their adventures.
Our Gang was filmed over 22 years, featuring a cast of child actors such as Carl Switzer as freckled Alfalfa, George McFarland as Spanky, Matthew Beard as Stymie, Norman Chaney as Chubby, Darla Hood as Darla and Billie Thomas as Buckwheat…
Switzer, was just 12 years old when he finished his role in Our Gang , continued to stay in Hollywood but was only given small roles in movies and television. He was married once but it didn’t last long. In 1958, he was shot in the arm outside a bar (the gunman was never caught). Later that year, he was arrested in the Sequoia National Forest for illegally felling 15 pine trees and was sentenced to one year of probation.
In 1959, Switzer was hired by his friend Bud Stiltz to train dogs. The dog then went missing, and although it was found again, it caused friction between Switzer and Stiltz over money. When Switzer drove to Stiltz’s house to demand money, he was shot in the groin by Stiltz and died on the way to the hospital. At that time, he was only 31 years old. The shooting was determined to be legitimate defense.
Tragedy also struck Norman Chaney (Chubby). He continued to gain weight uncontrollably, eventually reaching 136 kg despite a normal diet and regular exercise. Diagnosed with the disease, he received treatment at Johns Hopkins Hospital and lost weight to just under 63 kg. However, losing weight was too fast and had many negative effects on his body. He died of heart disease in 1936 at the age of 21.
Matthew Beard (Stymie) leaves Our Gang at age 10 and quit acting when she entered high school. He fell into drug use, became addicted to heroin, lived on the streets for a while, and then got into prison. In the early 1960s, he entered a drug rehabilitation program in Los Angeles, then appeared in small roles on television shows. Sanford and Son , Maude and The Jeffersons . He had a stroke and fell down the stairs just before his 56th birthday. In January 1981, he died of pneumonia.
From left to right: Mickey Gubitosi (Mickey), Billie Thomas (Buckwheat), William Laughlin (Froggy) and George McFarland (Spanky). Photo: Courtesy Everett Collection.
Robert Hutchins, who plays Weezer, did not pursue an acting career but joined the Air Force. In 1945, he was killed while trying to land a plane during a training exercise. At that time, he was only 19 years old.
William Laughlin was hit from behind and killed by a truck at the age of 16 while delivering newspapers on his motorbike.
Scott Becket (Scotty) is addicted to alcohol and drugs, has two failed marriages, has a history of violence and many run-ins with the law. In 1968, he entered a nursing home in Hollywood after being beaten. He died two days later at the age of 38. A suicide note and a bottle of medicine were found at his bedside, but the cause of his death was never officially confirmed.
According to NY Post
