Vic Morrow was accidentally decapitated while filming a scene for Twilight Zone: The Movie when a helicopter hovering overhead crashed into him and two child actors.
Warner Bros. Vic Morrow in Portrait of a Mobster (1961).
Vic Morrow’s death on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie in July 1982 was by all accounts a tragic accident. During the scene, a helicopter crashed into Morrow and two young child actors. Morrow and one of the children were decapitated; the other child was crushed.
The Twilight Zone movie accident made headlines across the country and shook Hollywood to its core. Morrow was a successful actor who had appeared in films and television shows since the late 1950s; his two co-stars, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were both under ten years old.
The accident sparked an investigation which turned up ample evidence of misconduct and illegal activities on set. Despite a nearly year-long manslaughter trial, however, no one was convicted for the three deaths.
But Vic Morrow’s death did tighten regulations for the use of aircraft in movies — and prompted filmmakers to take greater responsibility on set.
From Driving Taxis In New York City To Acting Alongside Elvis Presley
Kathy LopezA young Vic Morrow on the beach in New Jersey.
Vic Morrow was born Victor Morozoff on February 14, 1929 in the Bronx, New York City. His parents, Harry and Jean, were Russian Jewish immigrants, and Harry worked as an electrical engineer. But Morrow would forge a very different path for himself.
At seventeen years old, Morrow dropped out of high school to join the U.S. Navy. Afterward, his service allowed him to attend Florida Southern College on the G.I. Bill. But though Morrow had planned to major in pre-law, he fell in love with theater after appearing in a production of I Remember Mama.
From that point on, Morrow decided to be an actor. He drove taxis in order to study under Paul Mann in New York City, and made his feature film debut in Blackboard Jungle in 1955. In the film, Morrow played Artie West, a thug who terrorizes the protagonist.
According to his biography on Turner Classic Movies, this initial role meant that Morrow was frequently cast as soldiers, gangsters, or cowboys. Morrow subsequently played a thug in the 1958 Elvis Presley film King Creole and the mafia man Dutch Schultz in Portrait of a Mobster in 1961.
Warner Bros. Vic Morrow (red shirt) in his first film Blackboard Jungle (1955).
Vic Morrow, with his bright blue eyes and intense performance style, captured audiences’ attention. Before long he was a major star.
Vic Morrow’s Rise To Fame In Hollywood — And The Personal Problems That Followed
In the second phase of his career, Vic Morrow began to shift away from film roles to television. He appeared in over 20 television shows as both a guest star and lead actor, most famously in Combat!, a World War II drama which aired from 1962 to 1967. Morrow played the lead role of Sergeant “Chip” Saunders and was lauded for his performance as a morally gray leader.
Selmur ProductionsMorrow as Sergeant “Chip” Saunders in Combat!
Despite triumphs in his career, however, Morrow faced challenges in his personal life. In the early 1960s, Morrow met and married fellow actress and screenwriter Barbara Turner. The couple had two daughters together: Carrie Ann Morrow and actress Jennifer Jason Leigh. But the marriage did not last, and the two divorced in 1964. The separation was rough for the family, and Jennifer Leigh became estranged from her father. Following his divorce, Vic Morrow then married Gale Lester in 1975.
Despite these challenges, Morrow was determined to continue his Hollywood career. After a dry spell in the 1970s, he was looking forward to revitalizing his career with a part in John Landis’s Twilight Zone: The Movie.
Vic Morrow’s Death On The Set Of Twilight Zone: The Movie
Warner Bros. / Amblin EntertainmentMorrow in his final film Twilight Zone: The Movie.
In 1982, Vic Morrow began filming the movie Twilight Zone: The Movie. The plot centered around his character, Bill Connor, who was a racist man thrown back in time in historical scenarios where he would experience what it felt like to be an oppressed group. In the film, his character became a Jewish man in Vichy France, a Black man at risk of being lynched by the Ku Klux Klan, and a Vietnamese man during the Vietnam War.
Around 2:00 am on July 23, 1982 at the Indian Dunes in California, Morrow prepared to film a Vietnam War scene alongside two child actors, seven-year-old Myca Dinh Le and six-year-old Renee Shin-Yi Chen. The scene would require Morrow to pick up both children and run through the water, as a helicopter pursued them and pyrotechnics exploded overhead.
Morrow purportedly had his reservations about the scene, and allegedly said: “I must be out of my mind to be doing this. I should’ve asked for a stunt double. What can they do but kill me, right?!”
Public DomainChild actors Renee Shin-Yi Chen (left) and Myca Dinh Le (right).
Tragically, Morrow was prescient. As he and the children pretended to flee from a helicopter hovering just 24 feet above their heads, one of the special effect pyrotechnics damaged the aircraft — sending it plummeting to the ground. It decapitated Morrow and Le, and crushed Chen to death.
Public DomainThe helicopter wreck following the accident.
Morrow was 53 years old. The two children, each under the age of 10, were working in violation of California state law. The helicopter accident that led to their deaths is considered one of the worst film set disaster in history, but no one was ever found criminally liable in the Twilight Zone movie accident.
The Aftermath Of The Twilight Zone: The Movie Tragedy
Following Vic Morrow’s death on set, an investigation into the Twilight Zone movie accident began to investigate how such a tragedy could occur. Ultimately, it uncovered a number of shocking oversights and illegal acts.
According to the New York Times, investigators discovered that the child actors were hired illegally and paid under the table. Child labor laws at the time did not allow for child actors to appear on set after certain hours and prevented them from working close to pyrotechnics and large machinery.
Los Angeles Times Photographic Collection at the UCLA LibraryJohn Landis, in the center with beard and glasses, and other defendants in the Twilight Zone movie accident trial.
Donna Schuman, a production secretary, testified in the following manslaughter trial that the film’s director, John Landis, told employees on set that he wanted massive explosions during the fatal scene.
“I want it huge,” Landis reportedly stated.
Schuman also testified that, shortly before the accident, Landis “threw his arms up and said, ‘Arghh! We’re all going to jail.'” She even asked the film’s producer, George Folsey Jr, what the punishment would be for having child actors on set illegally. Folsey replied that it would just be a “slap on the wrist” and a “little fine” unless anyone found out about the explosives.
In the end, Landis, Folsey, and others would face more than a slap on the wrist — but not the punishment that many thought they would deserve.
The Legacy Of Vic Morrow’s Death In Hollywood
After a ten-month manslaughter trial, Landis, Folsey, and three other defendants, including unit production manager, Dan Allingham, the special effects coordinator, Paul Stewart, and the helicopter pilot, Dorcey Wingo, were acquitted on all charges. That said, the parents of the child actors successfully sued Warner Brothers Production Company for $2 million each.
As for Vic Morrow, his daughters successfully sued the production company for negligence and wrongful death and received a settlement of $850,000.
Morrow’s family gathered to celebrate his life and legacy on July 26, 1982. He is buried at Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California.
Los Angeles Public LibraryA Rabbi spreads dirt on Morrow’s grave during his funeral. His daughter, Jennifer Jason Leigh, is at the center.
The deaths of Vic Morrow, Renee Shin-Yi Chen, and Myca Dinh Le had other impacts as well. For one, the accident inspired the Federal Aviation Administration to make new regulations on how aircraft can be utilized on film sets. Since 1986, any film set looking to use low-flying helicopters must receive waivers to avoid a repeat of the Twilight Zone movie accident.
Other filmmakers, such as Steven Spielberg, have also made public statements admonishing dangerous film sets that cut corners despite the potential high cost. In an 1983 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Spielberg spoke made his opinion clear.
“No movie is worth dying for,” Spielberg stated. “I think people are standing up much more now than ever before to producers and directors who ask too much. If something isn’t safe, it’s the right and responsibility of every actor or crew member to yell, ‘Cut!'”
After reading about Vic Morrow’s tragic death, dive into the story of Brandon Lee, the actor who died on set while filming The Crow. Then, read about 11 movie productions rumored to be cursed due to the eerie incidents that occurred during or after filming.
