Urban Legends & The Movies

Hey, did you know that in a scene from Three Men & A Baby, you can see the ghost of the little boy who lived in the apartment standing off to the side? Oh, and what about that munchkin who committed suicide on set during the filming of Wizard of Oz? And did you know about the curse set upon the people who acted in Poltergeist?

But, which ones are true?

Well, let's start with the first, Three Men & A Baby. Was there really a ghost captured on set? Well... no, sorry folks, this one is an urban legend. It's hard to make out in the movie, but once you really look at it, you can clearly see that there is a top hat on the figure's head, and what looks like a black jacket, and a white shirt.

The answer is simple- there was a movie prop of a small card board cut out of Ted Danson that was left on set one day. It was simply behind a curtain, and not easy to make out, but I can very clearly see the edge of a top hat in the image off behind the curtain in the first image that Snopes shows.

Ah, the munchkin in Wizard of Oz. This rumor has survived for years, with people saying that in the background of the apple throwing scene, you can see a body swinging back and forth. The body is that of a munchkin who committed suicide on set.

In the background of a roughly 30 second section of the movie, you can see -something- moving in the background. Was it a body swinging from the rafters, though? First lets look at the plausibility of it.

An actor, love sick over another actor, decides the best way to handle it is to hang himself on set, during the filming of a scene. So, who was the actor? No names have ever been attributed to the death that I can find. Or, better yet- let's say someone jumped and died on set, while the film is being shot.

How did that persons death go unnoticed by the actors on set? And how is it that the scene was not re-shot afterwards, with the death being removed? Who would leave a death in a movie for that long without noticing anything about it?

The rumors, and they are just that- false rumors, of the suicide didn't really come around until the 50th Anniversary release of the movie in 1989. Because it was missed in production, and because it's been 70 years since it was filmed, the truth of what IS moving is just speculation, at best. There were no stage hands coming out and saying, "Oh, yeah, I remember that, it was...."

It was simply an unnoticed background movement, most likely attributed to a stagehand who got caught on stage, and tried to hide. Or, another plausible explanation is a stagehand that fell out of the tree he was stationed in. Either way, this is no suicide. It's just someone caught on film who shouldn't have been.

The Poltergeist Curse. Has anyone heard this one? Supposedly, after the end of each film, one of the child actors has died suddenly, with no warning. To add credence to it, older members of the film have all died unexpectedly as well. There are different versions, with one of them stating that all the people who acted in the film died shortly after filming of the movie.

Now, obviously that last one isn't true. Craig T Nelson, Jo Beth Williams, and Tom Skerritt are all still alive and kicking. As to whether or not there is a curse, well, that's hard to say, isn't it? Who can say what is a curse, and what is just plain old bad luck.

There were deaths following the first and third movie. Most notably is Heather O'Rourke, who played the blond little Carol Anne in the 3 movies. At the tender age of 12, Heather came down with what was thought to be the flu. Unfortunately, it was not the flu. She had a bowel obstruction, which had made it's way into her blood stream. With toxins flowing freely in her young body, she died during an operation to repair the obstruction.

At the time of her death, she had completed the filming of Poltergeist 3, but it hadn't been released yet.

Another death was that of Dominique Dunne, who played Dana, the oldest of the Freeling children in the first movie. Dominique was strangled by her boyfriend on October 30th, 1982, and slipped into a coma. She died days later without waking up.

The little boy in the first movie, Oliver Robins, is still alive as well. He was not a product of bad luck, or a curse on the movie.

In addition to Dominique and Heather, two other actors perished around the time of the movies release dates. 60 year old Julian Beck died after filming Poltergeist 2, but before it was released. His death was not unexpected, as he had been battling cancer for 18 months.

Will Sampson, also from Poltergeist 2, died shortly after that during a surgery. His chances were small due to a frail condition before the surgery, including severe malnutrition.

So... while it is true that there have been a number of deaths surrounding the Poltergeist movies, I don't think there is anyway to say with certainty that it is related to a curse on the film.