27. The Actress Who Drowned in Quicksand – For Real
Risk and danger have accompanied Hollywood and the film industry from its infancy. One of the earliest deadly tragedies to take place in the midst of a movie’s production, and one of the most unusual ones at that, claimed the lives of an actress and a camera operator on July 1st, 1914. It occurred on the set of Across the Border, which was filmed in the Arkansas River near Canon City, Colorado. In a freak incident, lead actress Grace McHugh and camera operator Owen Carter drowned in quicksand.
Twenty-six-year-old Grace McHugh had left her home in Golden, Colorado, three weeks earlier, to pursue her dreams of becoming a star. The aspiring actress signed up for a gig with the Colorado Motion Picture Company and was cast in a role for Across the Border, a silent film Western then under production. Little is known about the movie today, other than the deaths on its film set. As seen below, McHugh’s career did not last long and was cut tragically short.