The Alien franchise has employed hundreds of actors over four decades. Sadly, not all of them are around today... and there are more than a few deaths you might not even realize happened.
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00:00The Alien franchise has employed hundreds of actors over four decades. Sadly,
00:04not all of them are around today, and there are more than a few deaths you might not even realize
00:08happened. Harry Dean Stanton plays Brett in Alien, the first crew member of the Nostromo
00:13to be killed by the fully-grown Xenomorph.
00:15Still with us, Brett? Anything so bad, man?
00:17Right, yeah. Oh, I feel dead.
00:20In a film with some extremely memorable death scenes, his stands out.
00:24Expecting to find, at worst, a rabbit-sized monster, he finds a nightmare that could
00:28swallow his head with its hand. He looks as if the terror has completely shocked
00:32the human emotion out of him, and when the camera cuts away, his fate is clear.
00:36Stanton worked for decades in Hollywood as one of its most recognizable character actors,
00:39ready to steal just about any scene. He gives Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner a pair of pants in
00:442012's The Avengers, played a corrupt polygamist in HBO's Big Love, and was a regular in the films
00:49of David Lynch. Stanton died of heart failure in 2017 at the age of 91. Before his passing,
00:55the actor got the chance to lead his final film, Lucky, a drama in which he played the titular
00:59hero.
01:00Lucky fell down!
01:01Let's not make a production out of it.
01:04Logan Sparks, Stanton's friend and co-writer of Lucky, said in 2018 that making the film
01:09both scared Stanton and gave him a sense of peace. Sparks said Stanton knew it would be
01:13his last film, and that the subject matter — a 90-year-old facing his mortality — sometimes
01:17hit a little too close to home.
01:19The very first victim of the alien Xenomorphs is Kane, played by the late Sir John Hurt,
01:24whose grisly death remains the best kill in the entire Alien franchise.
01:28Kane survives a so-called facehugger, only to later die when the young Xenomorph
01:32implanted in him bursts out of his chest. He lives long enough to see the little monster,
01:36then dies. The year's bookending his Alien appearance were good ones for Hurt as far
01:40as the critics were concerned. In 1978, he was nominated for his role as a heroin addict in
01:45the prison drama Midnight Express, and in 1980, he was honored with a nomination for
01:49Best Leading Actor as John Merrick in The Elephant Man. Hurt brought an unforgettable
01:53presence to his roles, including the spiritual leader Gilliam in Snowpiercer,
01:57a devilish billionaire in Contact, and an expert wand-maker in the Harry Potter films.
02:02I wondered when I'd be seeing you, Mr. Potter.
02:06In 2015, Hurt revealed that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that he would continue
02:11his work during treatment. He died in early 2017, three days after his 77th birthday.
02:17Yavik Kotto appears in Alien as Parker, one of the final Nostromo crew members to fall
02:21victim to the Xenomorph. But Parker was just the first of a few high-profile spacefaring roles he
02:26was offered. Kotto turned down the chance to play Lando Calrissian in 1980's The Empire Strikes
02:30Back, and later said no to becoming the captain of the new Enterprise on Star Trek The Next
02:34Generation. While he expressed regret over passing on Star Trek, he was apparently fine
02:38with his Star Wars decision. In 2003, he told IGN that, after Alien, he, quote,
02:43wanted to get back down to Earth and was concerned about being typecast.
02:46It was the first time an African-American had been seen in a role like that. Thank you,
02:52Ridley. God bless you.
02:54Kotto didn't suffer too badly for leaving the stars. He's perhaps best remembered as Al G.
02:59Ardello on the acclaimed police drama Homicide Life on the Street. Some of his other memorable
03:03roles include a Bond villain in 1973's Live and Let Die, an intimidating FBI agent in 1988's
03:09Midnight Run, and one of Arnold Schwarzenegger's sidekicks in 1987's The Running Man. Kotto died
03:14in March 2021 at the age of 81. It's a testament to the acting talent of the late Ian Holm that his
03:21portrayal of Ash, the android who tries to kill Ripley, gives us arguably the most disturbing
03:25character in Alien, even when compared to the Xenomorph.
03:28You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism.
03:37It's precisely because of the trauma Ash deals her that Ripley is so hostile toward Lance
03:41Henriksen's android Bishop in 1986's Aliens.
03:44If you don't want some...
03:48Just stay away from me, Bishop. You got that straight?
03:51Holm was a revered actor, nominated for a Best Supporting Oscar for his turn as the
03:55outcast running coach Musabini in the 1981 sports drama Chariots of Fire.
03:59Fans of Peter Jackson's J.R.R. Tolkien adaptation certainly know his name,
04:03since he played the iconic role of Bilbo Baggins in 2001's The Fellowship of the Ring and 2003's
04:08The Return of the King, while reprising the role briefly for two of the three The Hobbit films.
04:13He made memorable turns in too many beloved films to name, including The Fifth Element,
04:17The Aviator, and Brazil. Holm died in June 2020 of a Parkinson's-related illness. He was 88 years
04:23old. One of the lesser-known Alien actors played the most important role. Standing at 6 feet 10
04:28inches, Nigerian actor Balaji Badejo did much of the physical work of the adult Xenomorph.
04:34They sent him to Tai Chi and to mime classes so that he could learn to slow down.
04:42While other actors, such as Peter Mayhew, Chewbacca of Star Wars fame,
04:46were considered to play the Xenomorph, the filmmakers needed someone who wasn't just
04:49extremely tall, but also very thin. Associate producer Ivor Powell said that they were
04:54thinking specifically of a praying mantis look for the creature. It was casting agent Peter Ardrum
04:58who discovered Badejo in a London pub. He called Powell right away and told him Badejo looked
05:03exactly like what the film needed. Alien was Badejo's only screen performance, but what an
05:08iconic one it was. He died of sickle cell disease in 1992 at the age of 39.
05:14Balaji Badejo wasn't the only guy wearing the Xenomorph suit in Alien. In some sequences,
05:18that job went to Hollywood veteran Eddie Powell, who returned as one of the beasts for Aliens.
05:23Powell had worked chiefly as a stuntman since the 50s. In particular, Powell became known as
05:27a regular stunt double for Christopher Lee in many of his films as Count Dracula,
05:31including Taste the Blood of Dracula, Scars of Dracula, and Dracula A.D. 1972.
05:37He also had a few mostly small acting roles under his belt. Most memorably,
05:40he co-starred with Lee as the Goat of Mendes in the 1968 British horror flick The Devil Rides Out.
05:46My God! The Goat of Mendes! The devil himself!
05:52Powell's last stunt work was in 1996, on the Sylvester Stallone-led disaster flick Daylight.
05:58He died four years later in August 2000 in Berkshire, England,
06:01of complications related to heart failure.
06:04Finding ourselves in the kinds of deadly situations that the characters of the Alien
06:07franchise endure would test our courage, which has at least something to do with
06:11why Bill Paxton's private Hudson of Aliens is so beloved.
06:14Check it out! I am the ultimate badass! Stay to the badass arc!
06:21Hudson is constantly fighting his dread and fear to help his comrades. Paxton died in 2017 at the
06:27age of 61 when he suffered a stroke after open-heart surgery. The actor left behind an
06:31impressive body of work that included playing the storm-chasing hero of Twister, the polygamous
06:36patriarch on HBO's Big Love, a morally conflicted bookkeeper in A Simple Plan, astronaut Fred Hayes
06:41in Apollo 13, and one of the most chilling villains to ever appear on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
06:46Well, I'm a bit of a sweet talker when I need to be.
06:49You wouldn't believe what I could talk this son of a gun into.
06:52He also boasts a unique honor of being the only actor to play characters killed by a xenomorph,
06:56a Terminator, and one of the hunters of the Predator franchise. Along with making a crazed
07:01last stand in Aliens, he's killed early by Arnold Schwarzenegger's T-800 in 1984's The
07:06Terminator, and plays a cop who falls victim to the monster in 1990's Predator 2.
07:11Perhaps one of the most surprising early casualties in Aliens is that of the cigar-chomping
07:15Sergeant Apon, played by the late Al Matthews. As a Marine sergeant who's chewing on his cigar
07:20literally seconds after waking from hypersleep, who delivers the kind of classic drill sergeant
07:24verbal browbeating that R. Lee Ermey became famous for after Full Metal Jacket, you don't
07:28expect much to be able to take down Apon. But he's one of the first to be captured and impregnated by
07:33the Facehuggers, when the xenomorphs ambushed the Marines early in the sequel.
07:37One of the reasons Matthews was so good in the role of Apon is because it was familiar territory.
07:41Matthews spent six years in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War,
07:45receiving two Purple Hearts and over a dozen Combat Awards for his service.
07:48In a 2006 interview, he said he helped teach the rest of the actors how to believably act
07:52like Marines. And that director James Cameron said that he would have made Matthews' part
07:56bigger if he'd known he would be so effective. Matthews died in 2018 at the age of 75.
08:02There are a couple of Marines in Aliens whose faces you see only briefly. In fact,
08:06you hear their names mentioned more after they're gone the way of most Alien characters
08:10than while they're alive. One example is Private Crow, played by the late Tip Tipping.
08:14Crown falls during the early ambush scene, and the only clear shot we get of his face is before
08:18the descent to LV-426 when the Marines are gearing up.
08:21But this isn't gonna hurt me in any way, is it, Tip?
08:23You bet it's gonna bloody hurt you, huh?
08:25But although Tipping didn't have the most famous face in Aliens, he was one of the most well-respected
08:30stunt coordinators in the entertainment industry. The former Royal Marine Commando had been doing
08:34stunt work since the late 70s, including on the second and third Indiana Jones films, Willow,
08:39Tim Burton's Batman, a number of James Bond films, and plenty of other movies and TV shows.
08:44Tipping died in 1993 while performing a stunt meant to reproduce a skydiving accident for
08:49the BBC docudrama series 999. He was 34 years old.
08:54If you're a character in an Alien film, there's a good chance you won't make it to the end credits.
08:58While Trevor Steedman's Private Where's Boesky isn't lucky enough to survive Aliens,
09:02at least he's killed quickly after a bag of ammunition catches fire and explodes,
09:06unlike many of his comrades who were captured and used as hosts.
09:09Like Tip Tipping, Steedman was a stunt performer. Unlike Tipping, Steedman landed a few acting roles
09:14in British programs like Doctor Who and Minder. He worked steadily up through the mid-2010s,
09:19with credits on films like Superman 4 The Quest for Peace, Children of Men,
09:22and Sherlock Holmes' A Game of Shadows. Steedman died in 2016 after suffering a stroke. He was 62
09:28years old. One villain who survives Aliens is Van Lewin, the corporate jerk heading the
09:33tribunal early in the movie who either refuses to believe Ripley's version of what happened
09:37on the Nostromo or, perhaps, considering the company's hopes for the Xenomorphs,
09:41pretends to not believe. There's a good chance you also know Maxwell from another turn as a villain.
09:46He plays the bad guy credited as Panama Hat in 1989's Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.
09:51That belongs in a museum! So do you!
09:56The Canadian-born actor appeared frequently in British television series,
09:59usually portraying American characters. He died at the age of 70 in 1991.
10:04Of the various corporate and bureaucratic characters who act as foils to Ripley throughout
10:09the Aliens series, perhaps the most sympathetic is Harry Andrews of 1992's Alien 3,
10:14played by the late Brian Glover.
10:15I try not to offend their convictions. I don't want to upset the order.
10:21I don't want ripples in the water.
10:24As much of a narrow-minded jerk as he seems — unlike other Weyland-Yutani
10:27stooges interested only in profits or learning from the Xenomorph at the cost of human lives
10:31— Andrews is the warden of a prison, and it's tough to blame him for wanting to keep the peace.
10:36Of course, that doesn't save him.
10:37Get that foolish woman back to the infirmary!
10:40Glover was one of a couple of actors in Alien 3 who weren't well-known in the United States,
10:46but enjoyed much more recognition in the UK. A former professional wrestler,
10:49Glover was beloved across the pond, particularly for films like the 1969
10:53drama Kess and the 1992 comedy Leon the Pig Farmer. Glover died in his sleep in 1997.
10:59He'd had surgery for a brain tumor the year before and was thought to be on the mend.
11:03But sadly, the illness returned and got the better of him.
11:06One of the more surprising castings in Alien 3 was that of Pete Postlethwaite.
11:11Like Brian Glover, Postlethwaite was much better known in the UK.
11:14Unlike Glover, his character in Alien 3, the inmate David, doesn't have many lines.
11:19David is taken out by the Xenomorph while being used as bait by Ripley and the prisoners.
11:23"'You three have channel closed!'
11:27"'I hope.'"
11:29After Alien 3, Postlethwaite made some much bigger splashes with American audiences.
11:33He played a formidable big-game hunter in 1997's The Lost World Jurassic Park,
11:37a British officer in 1992's Last of the Mohicans,
11:40and the villainous Kobayashi — if that was his real name — in 1995's The Usual Suspects.
11:45He earned a Best Supporting Oscar nomination in 1994 for his role as the wrongfully convicted
11:50Giuseppe Conlin in In the Name of the Father. Postlethwaite died in 2011 at the age of 64
11:56from cancer. In spite of her death in Alien 3, Ripley returns in 1997's Alien Resurrection
12:02as a kind of human-xenomorph hybrid clone. That's thanks to the efforts of mad scientist
12:07Dr. Mason Wren, played by the late J.E. Freeman. Freeman's final screenwork, the pilot episode of
12:12the medical drama Heartland, aired in 2007. He retired from acting after that and dove into
12:17poetry. Before his retirement, he had enjoyed memorable roles such as Harrison Ford's boss
12:22Marty in Patriot Games, Santos in David Lynch's Wild at Heart, and the chilling button man Eddie
12:27Dane in the early Coen Brothers film Miller's Crossing.
12:30You want me to shoot sailor in the brains with a gun?"
12:36In a letter to the editor at SFGate, Freeman wrote that he'd been discharged from the Marines
12:40at the age of 22 for being openly gay. He also painted a vivid description of his experience
12:45at the 1969 Stonewall riots. Freeman had been HIV-positive since the 80s and died in 2014 of
12:51AIDS. He was 68. While you didn't see Stephen Gilbourne in Alien Resurrection,
12:56you definitely heard his voice. In the film, Gilbourne voices the artificial
13:00intelligence system known as F.A.T.H.E.R. that's built into the USM Auriga.
13:04Your attention, please. Security breach. Med Lab Level 15.
13:09He reprised the role in the film's video game adaptation, but movies weren't where
13:13Gilbourne was best known. Throughout his career, he appeared in over 90 television series,
13:17including The Bernie Mac Show, The Wonder Years, NYPD Blue, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
13:22to name a few. Gilbourne's film career included a few notable productions,
13:26including The Brady Bunch Movie, Private Parts, and Dr. Dolittle.
13:30But Gilbourne is probably best known for his recurring role on Ellen, where he played Ellen's
13:34father. In addition to television and film, Gilbourne enjoyed working in theater,
13:38having starred in productions of The Temptist, Much Ado About Nothing, Into the Woods, and more.
13:42Gilbourne had an interesting career, but acting wasn't his first profession. Gilbourne initially
13:47worked as an educator, having earned degrees in English and a Ph.D. in dramatic literature
13:51from Stanford. He then taught humanities at MIT. He also taught at Columbia University and
13:56the University of California, Berkeley. Gilbourne continued acting until 2007, appearing that year
14:02in two episodes of Damages. On January 2, 2009, he died of cancer at the age of 72.
14:08Johnny Lewis played Ricky Howard in Aliens vs. Predator Requiem, but he's probably best known
14:13for his work on the small screen. Lewis played Kip Halfsack Epps for the first two seasons of
14:18Sons of Anarchy, and also appeared in numerous other series, including Drake & Josh, Smallville,
14:22and Criminal Minds. But his career, which spanned 2000 to 2012, was relatively short-lived.
14:28Lewis was in a serious motorcycle accident in 2011, in which he sustained a head injury. He
14:33was soon involved in activities that ran afoul of the law from 2011 to 2012. His legal trouble
14:39included assault charges and attempted breaking and entering. He was released from the Los Angeles
14:43County Jail days before his death. It was later suspected that undiagnosed head trauma,
14:47stemming from his accident, played a role in his psychological breakdown.
14:51On September 26, 2012, Lewis assaulted two people next door to the bed and breakfast he was staying
14:56in at the time, before jumping a fence and returning to his residence. Screaming was
15:00heard shortly thereafter. When the police arrived, they found Lewis and his landlady,
15:04Catherine Davis, as well as her cat, dead. The investigation revealed that Lewis killed Davis.
15:09They either fell or jumped from the house's roof to the driveway,
15:12dying as a result of the fall. His death was ruled accidental.
15:17There are many actors whose work in film and television is recognizable to viewers,
15:20even if they don't know their names. This is the case for Lloyd Berry,
15:23who appeared in over 50 movies and television series throughout his life. You've seen him in
15:27everything from The X-Files and Airwolf to the adventures of Captain Zoom in outer space,
15:32and the first Jumanji film. But he also played homeless Harry in Aliens vs. Predator Requiem.
15:37Let me just get my dog.
15:40Witch! Witch!
15:44That's not a dig at Berry's character. He's officially credited as Homeless Harry in the
15:49movie. Harry is the unfortunate victim of a xenomorph in the sewers. It was Berry's final
15:53film credit, followed only by a single-episode appearance in Supernatural, after which Berry
15:57stopped acting. Although it's unclear what he did during his retirement, it's noted in Berry's
16:02obituary that he helped develop the Burnaby Arts Center as supervisor of fine arts for 15 years,
16:07where he sponsored and developed all manner of artistic enterprises.
16:10Berry stopped acting at the age of 82, and on July 12, 2016, at 89 years old, he died.
16:16Berry was diagnosed with and received treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
16:20or COPD, and lung cancer, and it was the latter that ultimately claimed his life.
16:24Instead of a service, Berry requested that donations be made to the Canadian Cancer
16:28Society or the Nature Conservancy of Canada, two of the non-profits he supported.