4. Vic Morrow Decapitated By A Crashing Helicopter On Set Of Twilight Zone: The Movie
Who Are They?: A prolific American television actor, best known as the father of actress Jennifer Jason Leigh, and for the final movie that claimed his life.
Cause of Death: On July 23rd, 1982, Morrow was filming a scene for Twilight Zone: The Movie in California, in which he would be escaping from a U.S. Army helicopter in Vietnam, dragging two young Vietnamese children with him. However, the helicopter that was hovering above the three was damaged by a pryotechnic explosion, causing it to crash on top of the trio, decapitating Morrow and one of the children, while the other was crushed to death beneath the copter's landing strut. Video of the incident is viewable on YouTube, with freeze-frame images depicting the grisly moment at which Morrow's head was separated from his body, as well as the claim that an object seen floating in the water after the accident is in fact his head. After a nine-month trial, director John Landis was acquitted of manslaughter, though out of court settlements were paid to the families of the victims.