10 Times Prosthetics Nearly Broke An Actor

This incident may not have involved the sort of prosthetics we're used to seeing today, but it still involved makeup very nearly breaking an actor.

Way back in the 1930's, Buddy Ebson was originally cast to play the role of the Tin Man in the now iconic The Wizard of Oz. However, his time on the project was dramatically cut short after a severe reaction to the makeup he was wearing.

This makeup contained toxic aluminium dust and Ebson had been inhaling it during the shoot. This led to him eventually being hospitalised and the actor later revealed in his book The Other Side of Oz:

'The cramps in my arms advanced into my chest to the muscles that controlled my breathing. If this continued, I wouldn’t even be able to take a breath. I was sure I was dying'.

Ebson was then replaced by Jack Haley in the role and a safer substance was used for his makeup in the film.

Prosthetics may be a pain in the arse for actors in 2020, but at least they aren't being put in risky situations like this anymore.