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While reading today's nypost.com story of the woman who took pictures next to a cheetah (Warning: photos are a bit graphic):

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/internatio ... Qng7QMw7qL" target="_blank" target="_blank

It made me think about silent films and the number of films where I have seen actors right next to tigers, lions, bears, oh my!

Despite these animals being trained...I often wondered if any silent star was ever injured by these animals during the making of a film?

Hmm...

kndy wrote:While reading today's nypost.com story of the woman who took pictures next to a cheetah (Warning: photos are a bit graphic):

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/internatio ... Qng7QMw7qL" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank" target="_blank

It made me think about silent films and the number of films where I have seen actors right next to tigers, lions, bears, oh my!

Despite these animals being trained...I often wondered if any silent star was ever injured by these animals during the making of a film?

Hmm...

"Park manager Mike Cantor said it was not clear what had triggered the attack by the cheetahs, who had been hand-reared since birth and were considered extremely tame."

(Facepalm.)

kndy wrote:Despite these animals being trained...I often wondered if any silent star was ever injured by these animals during the making of a film?

Hmm...

It's said that comedian Billy Ritchie was kicked by ostriches while making one of his films, which ultimately caused his death. He didn't actually succumb until much later, and his death certificate doesn't mention an animal attack, but apparently the injury he sustained was essentially the cause.

Wm. Charles Morrow wrote:

kndy wrote:Despite these animals being trained...I often wondered if any silent star was ever injured by these animals during the making of a film?

Hmm...

It's said that comedian Billy Ritchie was kicked by ostriches while making one of his films, which ultimately caused his death. He didn't actually succumb until much later, and his death certificate doesn't mention an animal attack, but apparently the injury he sustained was essentially the cause.

AHEM. Although Ritchie sustained an attack by an ostrich, he died of stomach cancer. Yes, I did get his death cert and his gr-niece confirmed it. Another great Hollywood story down the drain.

Domestic beasts--horses--probably caused more movie-making injuries than all the wild ones put together, I very much suspect; but without making headlines, as getting kicked, bitten, stomped, thrown, was merely "all in a day's work."

Frederica wrote:

Wm. Charles Morrow wrote:

kndy wrote:Despite these animals being trained...I often wondered if any silent star was ever injured by these animals during the making of a film?

Hmm...

It's said that comedian Billy Ritchie was kicked by ostriches while making one of his films, which ultimately caused his death. He didn't actually succumb until much later, and his death certificate doesn't mention an animal attack, but apparently the injury he sustained was essentially the cause.

AHEM. Although Ritchie sustained an attack by an ostrich, he died of stomach cancer. Yes, I did get his death cert and his gr-niece confirmed it. Another great Hollywood story down the drain.

At the end of my post I considered hedging my bets: "Unless of course, the story is just one of those Hollywood urban legends." But I figured if it was, someone would tell me. Still, it does sound oddly credible, doesn't it? More so than the Munchkin suicide thing, anway.

Wm. Charles Morrow wrote:
At the end of my post I considered hedging my bets: "Unless of course, the story is just one of those Hollywood urban legends." But I figured if it was, someone would tell me. Still, it does sound oddly credible, doesn't it? More so than the Munchkin suicide thing, anway.

Compared to some of the more eye-popping Hollywood stories (wax statues of dead Valentino, anyone?), it's not even that outrageous. Hey, this is Hollywood! Print the legend.

Although she didn't get injured, Gloria Swanson described that scene in 'Male and Female' where the lion mauls her as having been just as scary to film as you might imagine.

I love that photo of Garbo sitting next to the MGM lion and looking like she's going to bolt any second. For some odd reason, when we visited Las Vegas a few years back, that photo was hanging on the wall in our room.

greta

Funny, we have a picture of my girlfriend's father at a South African wildlife park, and he's in a cage with a bunch of lions, and a lion cub bites him in the leg puncturing the skin. The photo was taken right at the moment of biting, and he's hollering in pain.

So...I guess the lesson is, don't listen to the staff of South African wildlife parks when they say, "Oh, they're harmless."

I worked in South Africa for a few months in 2006-2007, and visited a wildlife park several times. You would drive your (rental) car through the park, which took several hours. Of course the lions had their own section of the part.

The park staff said that every year, despite warnings, foreign tourists would get out of their cars and try to pose next to the lions. They do look very cute, and they move very slow, so I understand the confusion, but you would still have to be very stupid to try it. We observed their feeding time, and they looked pretty ferocious. People forget that it is the females that catch much of the food too!

silentfilm wrote:I worked in South Africa for a few months in 2006-2007, and visited a wildlife park several times. You would drive your (rental) car through the park, which took several hours. Of course the lions had their own section of the part.

The park staff said that every year, despite warnings, foreign tourists would get out of their cars and try to pose next to the lions. They do look very cute, and they move very slow, so I understand the confusion, but you would still have to be very stupid to try it. We observed their feeding time, and they looked pretty ferocious. People forget that it is the females that catch much of the food too!

They sleep 18-20 hours each day, but if they decide you look like lunch they can move real fast.

It's like my 12 year old cat. He's plump and lazy, but if he's irritated those claws strike like lightning.

Big cats are just not warm and cuddly. For that, bears are best.

entredeuxguerres wrote:Domestic beasts--horses--probably caused more movie-making injuries than all the wild ones put together, I very much suspect; but without making headlines, as getting kicked, bitten, stomped, thrown, was merely "all in a day's work."

In Buster Keaton's PALEFACE, when the tribe rides up to the land office, one of the riders can be seen falling off of his horse. But it's not just the people who suffer, in the Harold Lloyd film, GIRL SHY, the two driving horses have a bad fall and they are harnessed together, which ups the danger factor for them. In the film, Lawrence of Arabia, there is a scene where a group horses in a railroad car jump out of the car (they are being released) and one of the horses can be seen falling out of it.

Dangerous business movies; for women, men and beasts.

Joe Martin the Orang u tang (at least I think that's what he was) became very fond of Barbara LaMarr (understandably) during the filming of Rex Ingram's "Trifling Women" (1923). When Edward Connelly put a necklace around LaMarr's neck, Joe thought he was hurting her and attacked the actor, biting him and grabbing him tightly. The crew had some difficulty pulling Joe away from the terrified Connelly.
Henry Nicolella