Blind Item #7 - Reader Blind
This deceased tough guy actor was not what he seemed. In fact, his life can be divided into two parts - Prior to a serious accident and after a serious accident.
Prior to the accident, he played secondary roles, mostly henchman and other unsavory types. After the accident, he graduated to slightly meatier roles on TV and in film. His biggest roles came a little later in films shot in a foreign country of a specific genre that helped propel a permanent A++ actor into the stratosphere. This actor also benefited and he had a solid career as a lead in foreign films and later smaller roles in a film by a famous horror director and in another film with a popular action star. This film was later the inspiration for a brief TV series.
But the truth about the accident is the actor did not survive. It was a head-on collision and the actor was pronounced dead at the the scene. So who starred as the actor in the rest of his career?
The actor had a close relative who somewhat resembled the actor in the face. Two main differences 1.) The relative was a couple of inches taller 2.) The relative had bushier facial hair and thinner hair on his head. As the actor had several film commitments at the time of his death, his agent got the studio and the PR people to put out a fake story that the actor was badly injured but had survived and convinced the relative to take on the role.
The relative had his own business doing something unrelated but found he really enjoyed acting so began doing it full time under the name of his deceased relative. Only thing was the actor had a slight disfigurement the result of a small home accident and the relative had to have surgery so he matched this. Both men were alcoholics which ran in the family as well as heavy smokers so there was no difference there.
In regards to the actor’s marriage which had been under strain anyway, the first wife was paid off not to talk about the substitution and granted a divorce after the accident, his children were also convinced to along with the charade as well. The relative was married two more times as the actor. The third and most successful was to a woman he had dated as himself years earlier before he took on the role of the actor.
Prior to the accident, he played secondary roles, mostly henchman and other unsavory types. After the accident, he graduated to slightly meatier roles on TV and in film. His biggest roles came a little later in films shot in a foreign country of a specific genre that helped propel a permanent A++ actor into the stratosphere. This actor also benefited and he had a solid career as a lead in foreign films and later smaller roles in a film by a famous horror director and in another film with a popular action star. This film was later the inspiration for a brief TV series.
But the truth about the accident is the actor did not survive. It was a head-on collision and the actor was pronounced dead at the the scene. So who starred as the actor in the rest of his career?
The actor had a close relative who somewhat resembled the actor in the face. Two main differences 1.) The relative was a couple of inches taller 2.) The relative had bushier facial hair and thinner hair on his head. As the actor had several film commitments at the time of his death, his agent got the studio and the PR people to put out a fake story that the actor was badly injured but had survived and convinced the relative to take on the role.
The relative had his own business doing something unrelated but found he really enjoyed acting so began doing it full time under the name of his deceased relative. Only thing was the actor had a slight disfigurement the result of a small home accident and the relative had to have surgery so he matched this. Both men were alcoholics which ran in the family as well as heavy smokers so there was no difference there.
In regards to the actor’s marriage which had been under strain anyway, the first wife was paid off not to talk about the substitution and granted a divorce after the accident, his children were also convinced to along with the charade as well. The relative was married two more times as the actor. The third and most successful was to a woman he had dated as himself years earlier before he took on the role of the actor.
