10 Bizarre And Shocking Things That Happened On Film & TV Sets

While viewers may have emitted the occasional half-hearted chuckle as they watched Noel Marshall’s Roar, laughter was certainly not on the agenda for the film’s cast and crew members.

As well as directing, producing and writing the 1981 adventure-comedy, the ever-modest Marshall cast himself as the film’s protagonist, a naturalist named Hank who lives and works on a Tanzanian nature preserve. Marshall also fancied himself as the Cesar Millan of East Africa, which prompted him to take on the role of resident animal-handler on-set. Unfortunately, his confidence was severely misplaced, for around 70 cast and crew members were injured by wild animals during Roar’s production.

Lions seemed to take a particular dislike to Marshall, mauling him regularly. As a result, he suffered gangrene, blood-poisoning, near-amputation and various face and chest injuries while shooting. One particular incident saw an inquisitive lion chow down on his leg whilst taking a look at his anti-reflection make-up.

Although well-used to bird-related trauma, Marshall’s real-life and on-screen wife, Tippi Hedren, did not fare well either. As well as being scratched by a leopard, she was badly bitten on the head by a lion and on the chest by a cougar. To top it all off, her ankle was fractured when she was picked up and tossed by a five-ton elephant named Tembo.