Poltergeist curse

The "Poltergeist" curse is the rumor of a supposed curse attached to the "Poltergeist" motion picture series and its stars.

The rumor is superstition largely derived from the fact that four cast members died in a relatively short span of time (six years) between the release of the first film and the release of the third, with one dying during production of the second film. Two of them died at young ages, 12 and 22. It is not clear that these particular films are atypical in the number or nature of the deaths of their actors, and at least two of the supposed victims had serious health problems before becoming attached to the film series.

Actors

The actors who are supposed victims of the curse include:

* Dominique Dunne, 22-year-old actress who played the oldest sibling Dana in the first movie, died after being choked by a jealous boyfriend in 1982. ["Dominique Dunne, Actress, Dies After Being Choked," "The New York Times", November 5, 1982; [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001161/bio Biography for Dominique Dunne] on [http://www.imdb.com the Internet Movie Database] ] The boyfriend, John Thomas Sweeney, was later convicted and sentenced to six years in prison, though initially he only served two and a half years. [R. Arnold, "Strangled Actress; Did Slayer's Penalty Fit His Crime?" "Los Angeles Times", December 3, 1986; [http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/polter.htm Poltergeist Deaths] on [http://www.snopes.com the Urban Legends Reference Pages] ]
* Julian Beck, 60-year-old actor who played Kane in "Poltergeist II: The Other Side", died in 1985 of stomach cancer, with which he was diagnosed before he had accepted the role. [S. Freedman, "Julien Beck, 60, is Dead; Founded Living Theater," "The New York Times", September 17, 1985]
* Will Sampson, 53 years old, who played Taylor the Medicine Man in "Poltergeist II", died of post-operative kidney failure and pre-operative malnutrition problems in 1987. [B. Folkart, "Role in Cuckoo's Nest; Will Sampson, Gentle Indian Giant, Dies," "Los Angeles Times", June 4, 1987]
* Heather O'Rourke, actress who played Carol Anne in all three "Poltergeist" movies, died in 1988 at the age of 12 after what doctors initially described as an acute form of influenza but later changed to septic shock after bacterial toxins invaded her bloodstream. ["Heather O'Rourke, 12, Dies, San Diego Actress," "The San Diego Union-Tribune", February 2, 1988; B. Folkart, " [http://members.tripod.com/PoltergeistGuru/articles/index1.html?ageof12.html&0 Poltergeist Star Heather O'Rourke Dies at Age of 12] ," "Los Angeles Times", February 3, 1988] At the time, she had suffered acute bowel obstruction, initially diagnosed as Crohn's disease, which may have been the cause of death.

Other rumors and occurrences related to the films

Other rumors related to the film have been claimed as the cause of the curse. The most widely circulated alleges that real human skeletal remains were used as props in the first film, causing the angry spirits of the deceased to wreak havoc, according to actress JoBeth Williams in television interviews (most notably the "E! True Hollywood Story" episode "The Curse of Poltergeist"). Producers Mark Victor and Michael Grais stated that the skeletons used in "Poltergeist II" were real and actor Will Sampson had to perform an exorcism to protect the set from the spirits.

Other occurrences that have been attributed to the curse include:

* The house in Simi Valley, California used for exterior shots of the Freeling home was damaged by the Northridge earthquake of 1994.
* JoBeth Williams, who played mother Diane Freeling, claims she returned home from the set each day to find pictures on her wall askew. She would straighten them, only to find them crooked again the next day.
* Actor Will Sampson, a Creek Indian and shaman, performed an exorcism on the set of "Poltergeist II" to rid it of "alien spirits". A year after "Poltergeist II" was released, he died.
* During a scene when Robbie Freeling (Oliver Robins) was choked by a toy clown in his room, the mechanical prop malfunctioned and Robins was actually choked.
* During a photography session for "Poltergeist III", it was discovered that one shot of co-star Zelda Rubenstein had shining light obstructing the view of her face. Rubenstein claims the photo was taken at the moment the actress's mother died.
* During the making of "Poltergeist III", a movie set of a parking garage was destroyed by fire during shooting of a fire scene, injuring all but one of the crew.
* Brian Gibson, director of "Poltergeist II", died of bone cancer at the age of 59 in 2004.
* Heather O'Rourke once starred in a Rainbow Brite commercial with Judith Barsi. Judith died at age 10, five months and 24 days after Heather died. She was murdered along with her mother by her father.
* The "prop" skeletons emerging from the muddy swimming pool towards the end of the first movie were in fact real corpses - the cast and crew found this out later. Craig T Nelson has been interviewed saying they were all very angry when this was disclosed as the prop company's "mistake"Fact|date=August 2008.
*Geraldine Fitzgerald (November 24, 1913-July 17, 2005) was born a year before Beatrice Straight and appeared in "Poltergeist II", four years after the first film playing Gramma Jess. She passed away 19 years after the film's release, aged 91, four months shy of her 92nd birthday from Alzheimer's disease of which she had been suffering with for several years. Fitzgerald's passing came only four years after Straight's. In "Poltergeist II", she shared scenes with Heather O'Rourke and being the much older female of that film, she went on to outlive her young co-star. In 1940 she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the 1939 film 'Wuthering Heights' but she didn't win. She lost to Hattie McDaniel for her role of Mammy in 'Gone with the Wind'.
*Beatrice Straight (August 2, 1914-April 7, 2001) was born a year after Geraldine Fitzgerald and appeared in "Poltergeist" playing Dr. Lesh. She passed away 19 years after the film's release, aged 86, four months shy of her 87th birthday from pneumonia and four years before Fitzgerald. At the time of Straight's passing she had also been suffering from Alzheimer's disease of which Fitzgerald was going through and would eventually pass away from. In "Poltergeist", she shared scenes with Dominique Dunne and being the much older female of that film she went on to outlive her young co-star.She (like Fitzgerald) was also nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. In 1977 she was nominated for her performance in the 1976 film 'Network' but unlike Fitzgerald she won.

Other films and TV series to supposedly be cursed

The "Poltergeist" series is just one of a handful of movies and TV series that have been said to have been cursed. Others include "Rebel Without a Cause", "The Omen", "The Exorcist", "Diff'rent Strokes", "Seinfeld", "Bewitched", "Saturday Night Live", "The Crow", the "In the Heat of the Night" TV series, Twilight Zone: The Movie, and various Superman-related series and films.

References

External links

*http://www.snopes.com/movies/films/poltergeist.asp
*http://www.escendi.com.au/eyescream/movies/polt.html
*http://www.eightyeightynine.com/film/poltergeist.html
*http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/dunne.htm