Last performances by an actor or actress that were sad to watch.

[terrya]

For me, I remember the late Barbara Stanwyck apprearing in a horrible television spinoff of "Dynasty" called "The Colbys". It was so sad to see this great actress doing this monumental dreck.

Any other ones?

[NoPasaran]

1. Peter Sellers

In "The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu"

[mitchum]

2. Orson Welles' voice work in the "Transformer" movie

hard to beat that one

[BigMcLargehuge]

4. I think his pitchwork for crappy Gallo wine was just about as bad

[Goathead]

14. I had to look that one up.

That is sad, he played 'Unicron'

[BigMcLargehuge]

3. Ida Lupino in The Food of the Gods

Went out fighting a giant puppet rat head with a meat cleaver...

[RandomKoolzip]

5. Andrew McCarthy in "Weekend at Bernie's."

At least I HOPE that's his last role ever.

[jonnyblitz]

6. Joan Crawford in Trog.

sad.

[BigMcLargehuge]

10. Come on Trog... Come out Trog (waves carrots around)

she must have been wondering how the hell she ended up in that.

[terrya]

13. At least Bette Davis did "The Whales of August"...

A nice small film a few years before she died...co-starring Ann Southern, Vincent Price and Lillian Gish. A lovely drama.

But seeing Joan Crawford in "Trog" was really, really sad.

[jonnyblitz]

16. wow, how did I miss that one!

what a cast! I must see it now.

[Debi]

7. Rodney Dangerfield

as the voice of a dog on Disney's Phil of the Future. Didn't see the episode until after his death...seems somewhat prophetic...the guy's last gig is as a dog no one wants to play with...no respect man..none

[mitchum]

8. On Barbara Stanwyck:

as a kid, I was only familiar with her work on dreck like "The Big Valley" It wasn't until later that I discovered her brilliant work from the 30s and 40s. She was incredible.

[lpbk2713]

9. John Wayne in "The Shootist"

Even if he was a rightie. He was dying of cancer and portraying a man who was dying of cancer.

[iconoclastic cat]

11. Edward G. Robinson in Soylent Green

His performance was great, but the pathos was unbearable.

[Wickerman]

12. Bela Lugosi

Plan Nine from Outerspace.

hands down winner. Worst movie ever, biggest come down for a legend.

[hippiechick]

15. Even some of his earlier stuff was sad

The 'Return of the return of the son of the vampire doctor' type low budget flicks were just ... sad.


:hippie:

[derby378]

25. Bela was stereotyped by Hollywood

He acted in Shakespearean plays back in his native Romania.

He did get a chance to play a romantic lead in the Chandu cliffhanger series, but that's the only American departure from his creature features I can think of.

[johnnie]

17. Elvis' CBS special

Although seeing it now he didn't look as bad as I thought he did when I first saw it, it was a shock. After years of kicking ass, he sure looked bad on that last special. Of course, being 40 now I can now see that he was a 42 year old person at the time.

On edit:
I didn't see the actor or actress part. Well, I guess Elvis was in 33 movies, so that counts.

[Sanity Claws]

18. Elizabeth Montgomery

She starred in a tv movie shortly before her death. Her appearance had altered greatly and she looked deathly ill.

[DS1]

19. Brandon Lee

The Crow

[Beware the Beast Man]

20. Not necessarily an actor, but Johnny Cash in the "Hurt" video.

You could tell he was living on borrowed time, and that the "Man in Black" facade was crumbling.

[Left Is Write]

26. I agree. Along those same lines, I have a Frank Sinatra

Christmas CD, in which one of the tracks was recorded shortly before he died. He really sounds tired and ill, and I can't bear to listen to it.

[Bat Boy]

40. Me too...

Kinda grabbed my heart and twisted.

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

21. orson welles- transformers: the movie

from citizen kane to an movie-length toy commericial-how the mighty can fall!

[mattclearing]

22. John Ritter in Bad Santa

What an awful, awful movie.

It seemed like a great idea, but it was just so awful...we turned it off about halfway through when it became clear that it would never become funnier than it was painful to watch.

[libnnc]

23. Stanwyck's great performance in "The Thorn Birds"

Technically it wasn't her final performance but it's the one that gets me really verklempt. When she tells off Richard Chamberlin's character...her bright blue eyes filled with REAL tears--

"Let me tell you something Cardinal de Bricassart about 'old age' and about that God of yours. That vengeful God who ruins our bodies and leaves us with only enough wit for regret! Inside this stupid body, I'm still young! I still feel! I still want! And I still love you! Oh God how much!"---end scene :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

I never liked your politics, Missy but I still love you to pieces.

What a dame. She left us 15 years ago January 20.

[Left Is Write]

27. Oh, that is definitely a moving, painful speech.

I feel every bit of it.

[soothsayer]

24. Natalie Wood in brainstorm

That movie just made me bawl anyway.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. Katherine Hepburn made a cameo appearance in a really awful TV movie

about five or ten years ago. Her tremor was really noticeable, and the movie was not wothy of her.

[joeybee12]

32. What was worse was her appearance in Beatty's remake of An Affair To

Remember--an incredibly AWFUL movie--hate for that to be her last big screen performance. Really showed how minimally taleneted Warren Beatty and Annette Bening are.

[Bucknut213]

29. Judy Garland

Didnt' she run off the stage crying after failing to carry a tune? Doubt it was recorded but sad nonetheless. Of course the only performance I really liked of hers was Dorothy.

[LiviaOlivia]

30. Spencer Tracy and Henry Fonda and most of the cast of "The Misfits"

Tracy in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?"

Fonda in "On Golden Pond"

[JohnKleeb]

31. funny story about Stanwyck for you

I was talking to a friend of mine about serial killers, and I brought up the serial killer "Barbara Stanwyck" and she's like uhh Barbara Stanwyck is an actress, turns out that it was Barbara Stager who was poisoning her husbands. Heh, funny eh? Now lemme see, I wouldnt call Phil Hartman's last moments on the simpsons said though.

[libnnc]

33. lol

Although Stanwyck did do her share of killing on the big screen. Her best work in that realm in my opinion was when she shoved Anthony Quinn into the bottom of an oil rigging in "Blowing Wild"

cool scene. Sick, but cool.:evilgrin:

[JohnKleeb]

37. Yes, Ive seen Double Indemnity in a film course

What a murderess.

[terrya]

34. You had part of it right, John.

Funny story. :-)

Thanks
T

[JohnKleeb]

38. No problem

Just how did I confuse those two heh. Damn that name of Barbara and the "Sta"

[Blue-Jay]

35. Raul Julia as Gomez Adams.

Sure, he played the role well, but what a shitty way to go for such a great actor.

On a related note: I was sad to see Kubrick die after making that goddamn stupid Tom Cruise movie. It was like ending a seven course meal at a 5 star restaurant with a plate of candied dogshit. Or something.

[CBHagman]

36. Strange to laugh on such a thread, but...

...this set me off:

"On a related note: I was sad to see Kubrick die after making that goddamn stupid Tom Cruise movie. It was like ending a seven course meal at a 5 star restaurant with a plate of candied dogshit. Or something."

I guess it was the "candied dogshit" line.

[rppper]

39. julias last role was a villian in a jean claude van dam flick.....

named after some video game...street fighter i think....that was a real stinker...he couldn't even save it. he died right after filming it. what a shame. i actually liked him as gomez adams, and angelica huston made a fine morticia as well.

[Bat Boy]

41. Not a performance per se...

But This is Your Life did a piece on Laurel and Hardy.

Stan was barely there. Heartbreaking.