Claim: The Poltergeist film series is "cursed" and has seen several strange deaths occur among its cast members.
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Origins: What is seen as an unusually large number of deaths have occurred among the former cast of the Poltergeist trilogy. This occurrence has given rise to the rumor the productions were in some way "cursed" due to the nature of the films themselves, as if the evil spirits conjured in the make-believe world of the cinema have since reached out into the real world to claim what they might see as their rightful victims.
A poltergeist in folklore is a noisy and destructive (but usually mischievous, not malicious) ghost held to be responsible for unexplained noises and movement of objects within a home. It is hypothesized poltergeists are drawn to homes in which there are prepubescent children, especially girls. Three horror films based on this form of lore comprise the Poltergeist trilogy: image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/polter.jpg
Poltergeist (1982), Poltergeist II (1986), and Poltergeist III
(1988). Each recounts an episode in the lives of the Freelings, a
fictitious family who have the bad luck to take up residence in homes
inhabited by spirits intent upon kidnapping their children or sending
their kids to live in similar places.
Though coincidence is a much more likely explanation than a curse, there have been four deaths among the cast of this set of films: Dominique Dunne (Dana Freeling), Heather O'Rourke (Carol Ann Freeling), Will Sampson (Taylor, a good spirit), and Julian Beck (Kane, an evil spirit). Though two of the deaths were foreseeable (expected, even), two others were not. It's the combination of the two unexpected deaths that lies at the heart of every rumor about a Poltergeist curse.
Dominique Dunne, the 22-year-old actress who portrayed big sister Dana Freeling in the first Poltergeist film (released in June 1982), died on4 November 1982 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles , four days after her boyfriend choked her into a coma from which she never awoke. Weeks earlier, Dunne had ended her abusive live-in relationship with Los Angeles chef John Sweeney, but on the night of 30 October
1982, he dropped by their former shared residence to plead with her to
take him back. The conversation did not go as he'd hoped, and the
encounter ended with him strangling her for what was later determined to
be 4 to 6 minutes, then leaving her for dead in her driveway.
image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/dunne.jpg
Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, sentenced inNovember 1983, and released in 1986 after serving only 3 years, 8 months of a 6½ year sentence. His short sentence and early release remain subjects of controversy.
Heather O'Rourke, the child actress who played Carol Anne Freeling throughout the Poltergeist series (starting when she was six years old), unexpectedly passed away at the age of 12 when she died of septic shock on1 February 1988 at the Children's Hospital in San Diego.
What had been thought to be a bout of ordinary flu launched her into
cardiac arrest during the drive to the local hospital as bacterial
toxins set loose by a bowel obstruction made their way into her
bloodstream. Her heart was successfully restarted and she was flown by
helicopter to the much-larger Children's Hospital, where she underwent
an operation to remove the obstruction. The toxins rampaging through her
system proved too much, however, and she died on the operating table.
image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/orourke.jpg
The circumstances surrounding her passing rendered her death even more of a shock than it otherwise would have been, as she went overnight from a little girl who had the flu to a dead little girl who expired during a desperate operation to save her life. It's hard enough to accept that a child can die of an illness, let alone a healthy-looking youngster no one knew anything was wrong with. (That she looked healthy did not necessarily mean that she was. The year before her death she'd been diagnosed as having Crohn's Disease, a lifelong inflammatory small bowel disease which often first manifests in children and young adults.) Of course such an unexpected death would fuel rumors, especially when considered in conjunction with Dominique Dunne's murder only six years earlier.
O'Rourke had appeared in all three Poltergeist movies.Poltergeist III had yet to be released at the time of her death, leading to rumors that she
had expired during shooting and a double was used to complete the
picture in her place. O'Rourke's family and agent said at the time of
her death her scenes for Poltergeist III had been completed several months earlier (back in June 1987), but writer/director Gary Sherman has maintained filming of Poltergeist III had not yet finished when O'Rourke died, necessitating script changes to complete the film in her absence.
The other two deaths connected with Poltergeist were of seasoned actors well into their careers, both suffering from serious illnesses that would in time take their lives. Because their deaths were not unexpected, only rarely is either mentioned in connection with the Poltergeist "curse."
Julian Beck, the 60-year-old actor who played the evil spirit Kane in 1986's Poltergeist II: The Other Side, died of stomach cancer on14 September 1985 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York seven months before the film's May 1986 release. Unlike O'Rourke's death, his was not unexpected, as he had been battling cancer for 18 months.
image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/beck.jpg
Will Sampson, the 53-year-old Native American actor who portrayed the good spirit Taylor inPoltergeist II, died in a Houston hospital on 3 June
1987, about a year after the film's release. Sampson had received a
heart-lung transplant six weeks earlier, and the cause of his death was
ascribed to severe pre-operative malnutrition and post-operative kidney
failure and fungal infection. It has been said he knew his chances for
survival were small due to his weakened condition prior to surgery.
image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/sampson.jpg
Like Beck, Sampson appeared in only one film in the series,Poltergeist II, released in May 1986. He was best known for his portrayal of the Indian who feigned being mute in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.
Zelda Rubinstein, the diminutive actress who filled the part of seer Tangina Barrons in all three Poltergeist films and reprised the role in the spin-off TV series Poltergeist: The Legacy, died in 2010. She passed away of natural causes at the age of 76, however, hardly the type of death one associates with a "curse" that supposedly causes unexpected and premature demises.
image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/zelda.jpg
Although he was not a cast member, English film director Brian Gibson, who helmedPoltergeist II, died of Ewing's sarcoma at the age of 59 in 2004.
In a popular form of the rumor, one of the child actors is said to have come to an untimely end after the making of each film, one murdered, one in a car accident, and one of a mysterious disease. Though it's true actresses Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke have since died, Oliver Robins, the child actor who played their characters' brother Robbie Freeling in the first two films, is still with us. No child actor from the Poltergeist series was killed in a car crash or died just afterPoltergeist II was completed.
An extreme version of the "curse" rumor asserts everyone who appeared in these movies is now dead. That news must come as quite a shock to numerous thespians, most notablyCraig T. Nelson (Steve
Freeling), Jo Beth Williams (Diane Freeling), and Tom Skerritt (Bruce
Gardner), all of whom think they're still alive and continue to ply
their trade in movies and television shows despite their deceasedness.
The February 2015 release of trailers for the upcoming a Poltergeist reboot/remake (with different cast members) prompted renewed interest in the original trilogy's supposed "curse."
Barbara "spirited" Mikkelson
Last updated: 23 May 2015
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Origins: What is seen as an unusually large number of deaths have occurred among the former cast of the Poltergeist trilogy. This occurrence has given rise to the rumor the productions were in some way "cursed" due to the nature of the films themselves, as if the evil spirits conjured in the make-believe world of the cinema have since reached out into the real world to claim what they might see as their rightful victims.
A poltergeist in folklore is a noisy and destructive (but usually mischievous, not malicious) ghost held to be responsible for unexplained noises and movement of objects within a home. It is hypothesized poltergeists are drawn to homes in which there are prepubescent children, especially girls. Three horror films based on this form of lore comprise the Poltergeist trilogy: image: http://www.snopes.com/movies/graphics/polter.jpg
Poltergeist (1982), Though coincidence is a much more likely explanation than a curse, there have been four deaths among the cast of this set of films: Dominique Dunne (Dana Freeling), Heather O'Rourke (Carol Ann Freeling), Will Sampson (Taylor, a good spirit), and Julian Beck (Kane, an evil spirit). Though two of the deaths were foreseeable (expected, even), two others were not. It's the combination of the two unexpected deaths that lies at the heart of every rumor about a Poltergeist curse.
Dominique Dunne, the 22-year-old actress who portrayed big sister Dana Freeling in the first Poltergeist film (released in June 1982), died on
Sweeney was convicted of voluntary manslaughter, sentenced in
Heather O'Rourke, the child actress who played Carol Anne Freeling throughout the Poltergeist series (starting when she was six years old), unexpectedly passed away at the age of 12 when she died of septic shock on
The circumstances surrounding her passing rendered her death even more of a shock than it otherwise would have been, as she went overnight from a little girl who had the flu to a dead little girl who expired during a desperate operation to save her life. It's hard enough to accept that a child can die of an illness, let alone a healthy-looking youngster no one knew anything was wrong with. (That she looked healthy did not necessarily mean that she was. The year before her death she'd been diagnosed as having Crohn's Disease, a lifelong inflammatory small bowel disease which often first manifests in children and young adults.) Of course such an unexpected death would fuel rumors, especially when considered in conjunction with Dominique Dunne's murder only six years earlier.
O'Rourke had appeared in all three Poltergeist movies.
The other two deaths connected with Poltergeist were of seasoned actors well into their careers, both suffering from serious illnesses that would in time take their lives. Because their deaths were not unexpected, only rarely is either mentioned in connection with the Poltergeist "curse."
Julian Beck, the 60-year-old actor who played the evil spirit Kane in 1986's Poltergeist II: The Other Side, died of stomach cancer on
Will Sampson, the 53-year-old Native American actor who portrayed the good spirit Taylor in
Like Beck, Sampson appeared in only one film in the series,
Zelda Rubinstein, the diminutive actress who filled the part of seer Tangina Barrons in all three Poltergeist films and reprised the role in the spin-off TV series Poltergeist: The Legacy, died in 2010. She passed away of natural causes at the age of 76, however, hardly the type of death one associates with a "curse" that supposedly causes unexpected and premature demises.
Although he was not a cast member, English film director Brian Gibson, who helmed
In a popular form of the rumor, one of the child actors is said to have come to an untimely end after the making of each film, one murdered, one in a car accident, and one of a mysterious disease. Though it's true actresses Dominique Dunne and Heather O'Rourke have since died, Oliver Robins, the child actor who played their characters' brother Robbie Freeling in the first two films, is still with us. No child actor from the Poltergeist series was killed in a car crash or died just after
An extreme version of the "curse" rumor asserts everyone who appeared in these movies is now dead. That news must come as quite a shock to numerous thespians, most notably
The February 2015 release of trailers for the upcoming a Poltergeist reboot/remake (with different cast members) prompted renewed interest in the original trilogy's supposed "curse."
Barbara "spirited" Mikkelson
Last updated: 23 May 2015
This material may not be reproduced without permission.
snopes and the snopes.com logo are registered service marks of snopes.com.
image: http://www.snopes.com/images/template/icon-sources.gif | Sources: |
Arnold, Roxane. "Strangled Actress; Did Slayer's Penalty Fit His Crime?" Los Angeles Times. 3 December 1986 (p. A1). Associated Press. "Poltergeist Actress in Coma After Being Choked on Coast." The New York Times. 1 November 1982 (p. A17). Associated Press. "Dominique Dunne, Actress, Dies After Being Choked." The New York Times. 5 November 1982 (p. D19). Associated Press. "Slayer of Actress Sentenced to 6 1/2-Year Maximum Term." The New York Times. 13 November 1983 (p. A28). Folkart, Burt. "Role in Cuckoo's Nest; Will Sampson, Gentle Indian Giant, Dies." Los Angeles Times. 4 June 1987 (p. A24). Folkart, Burt. "Poltergeist Star Heather O'Rourke Dies at Age of 12." Los Angeles Times. 3 February 1988 (p. A3). Freedman, Samuel. "Julian Beck, 60, Is Dead; Founded Living Theater." The New York Times. 17 September 1985 (p. B6). The San Diego Union-Tribune. "Heather O'Rourke, 12, Dies, San Diego Actress." 2 February 1988 (p. A3). United Press International. 2 February 1988 California; Regional News.
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