Actors Who Tragically Died In Plane Crashes

Acting can be a tough business to break into, and an even tougher one to stay in. Playing pretend for a living has its benefits, though, such as being immortalized in film and television projects that can live beyond their initial release. Of course, when an actor passes away suddenly and unexpectedly, this can profoundly alter the experience of watching their old performances. It can feel strange to watch recently deceased celebrities appearing alive and well on the screen.

While car accidents are far more common than airplane crashes, those too affect the lives of normal people, including actors. Over the years, there have been several actors from the Golden Age of Hollywood to the present who have suddenly and tragically died as a result of airplane failure, and the list sadly continues to grow. These are some of the most notable stars who died as a result of a plane crash (and a few helicopter crashes, too).

It's not every day that an actor can claim to be a legitimate hero, but as one of the most decorated soldiers who fought during the Second World War, Audie Murphy certainly fits the bill. Murphy even received a Medal of Honor before leaving his combat experience behind to join the movie business. The soldier-turned-actor had an impressive career that spanned two decades, starring in pictures like "The Kid from Texas," "The Red Badge of Courage," and the short-lived television series "Whispering Smith." Though, perhaps Murphy's most notable role was playing himself in the autobiographical 1955 war picture "To Hell and Back."

On May 28, 1971, Murphy and five other people were killed in a plane crash somewhere outside of Roanoke, Virginia. While the exact location of the crash has been debated, the plane was a victim of the elements, which eventually caused them to crash into the side of the mountain. Murphy was survived by his wife of 20 years and their two children.

Joe Lara had an interesting career in the film industry that never quite took off. Known best for his work as Tarzan in the made-for-TV movie "Tarzan in Manhattan" and the follow-up (and very short-lived) television series "Tarzan: The Epic Adventures," Lara couldn't get past the King of the Jungle. For years, Lara starred in B-movies like "Steel Frontier," "American Cyborg: Steel Warrior," and "Operation Delta Force," all while appearing on shows like "Conan the Adventurer," "Baywatch," and "The Magnificent Seven." By the early 2000s, Lara left acting behind entirely to pursue a career as a musician, releasing his debut album "Joe Lara: The Cry of Freedom" in 2009.

In 2018, the same year he returned briefly to the screen for "Summer of '67," Lara married faith-based author and diet guru Gwen Shamblin (yes, the same one who is the subject of "The Way Down" documentary), and the two were married until their unforeseen deaths in 2021. On May 29, 2021, Lara, his wife, and six others died in a plane crash just outside of Nashville. He was survived by his daughter from a previous relationship.

Since the mid-1990s, German actor Christian Oliver fought to get into American movies. Possibly known best for his work in the long-running German series "Alarm für Cobra 11 – Die Autobahnpolizei," also known as "Cobra 11," Oliver also appeared in the 2008 live-action adaptation of "Speed Racer" as Snake Oiler. From there, Oliver made himself known in Bryan Singer's "Valkyrie," Paul W.S. Anderson's "The Three Musketeers," and the Watchowski-produced series "Sense8." Other notable appearances included NBC's "Timeless," Amazon Prime's "Hunters," and a brief voice role in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."

In addition to acting, Oliver was also a producer and brought horror films like "Animal Among Us," "House of Good and Evil," and "Wrong Turn" to life. But on January 4, 2024, Oliver's career was cut short when he, his two daughters, and their pilot were killed in a plane crash in the Caribbean Sea. "Hug your loved ones, tell them you love them, be kind to each other," Oliver's ex-wife Jessica Klepser wrote in a statement following the crash (via People). "And stop arguing and worrying about the small stuff. It's not worth it. Life is too precious and we are all in this together."

Named one of the greatest female stars of all time by the American Film Institute, Carole Lombard first made a splash on the screen at only 12 years old in the 1921 film "A Perfect Crime." From there, Lombard continued to wow audiences everywhere with her dazzling features and wild expressions in screwball comedies like "Hands Across the Table," "My Man Godfrey," and "Love Before Breakfast." The actress also played around with dramas, Westerns, and even horror during her time. In over 20 years, Lombard appeared in nearly 80 pictures and made a name for herself as a star.

But on January 16, 1942, Lombard was killed in a plane crash while traveling back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. A group of volunteers — including the actress' husband, Clark Gable – searched Table Rock Mountain for Lombard and the 21 other passengers (including her mother), but it was no use. The wreck had been fatal, and Lombard was buried at Forest Lawn cemetery in Glendale, California. While Gable would remarry twice more in his lifetime, upon his own death two decades later, he was buried next to his wife of only three years.

As a child, Ricky Nelson starred in "The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet" alongside the rest of his talented family, but eventually, the actor went on to become a pop sensation, recording songs like "Poor Little Fool" and "Garden Party," to name only a few of his hits. Of course, Nelson wouldn't fully divorce himself from appearing on the screen and even appeared alongside John Wayne and Dean Martin in "Rio Bravo," opposite Jack Lemmon in "The Wackiest Ship in the Army," and was featured on plenty of other television shows in guest roles.

On New Year's Eve, 1985, Nelson and his six friends, including his fiancée Helen Blair and members of his backup band, The Stone Canyon Band, were killed in a plane crash when their Douglas DC-3 attempted an emergency landing. While both pilots survived the crash, all seven passengers were killed before they could make it to Dallas, Texas, where Nelson was to perform a New Year's Eve concert. He was survived by his children and his ex-wife, Kris Harmon.

Frederick Stafford was an impressive man for a plethora of reasons beyond his acting ability: He earned a doctorate from the University of Sydney and could speak five languages fluently. But Stafford (who was born Friedrich Strobel von Stein) changed careers in the mid-1960s to become an actor and he didn't look back. Known best for his work in a host of European-made spy pictures, Stafford starred in "Agent 505 – Todesfalle Beirut," "OSS 117: Mission for a Killer," and Alfred Hitchcock's "Topaz," where he played the leading role of Andre Devereaux. "Topaz" would go on to become Stafford's most notable work.

A few years after his final film appearance in "Fear Runs Deep," Stafford was killed on July 28, 1979, at 51 years old in a plane crash in Switzerland. Unlike many of the aforementioned deaths, Stafford's plane crash involved a midair collision between two planes. He was survived by his wife and fellow actress Marianne Hold and their only son.

Will Rogers and Wiley Post were both Oklahomans who were proud of it. Rogers and Post — the former an entertainer and comedic commentator, the latter a known aviator and one-time actor — had been friends for a long time. After Rogers asked his pilot friend to fly him up to Alaska in search of new material to cover, it turned out to be their final adventure, together or otherwise. On August 15, 1935, smack in the middle of the Great Depression, Rogers and Post took flight, hopping from Fairbanks to Point Barrow, only for engine failure to bring them right back down. Both men died instantly and were nearly unrecognizable upon being discovered.

Before the crash, Rogers had been known for films like "Steamboat Round the Bend," "Judge Priest," and "A Connecticut Yankee," alongside about 50 other motion pictures; Post, considered one of the world's greatest aviators, only played himself in the film "Air Hawks."