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Buster Keaton had Undiagnosed Broken Neck. While filming a water spout scene for Sherlock Jr (1924), Keaton was slammed onto train tracks by a massive torrent of water, fracturing his cervical spine. He completed the film and only discovered the break more than a decade later via an X-ray.
WoeToHice
Has this gone through some AI filter or something?
fastjeff
Once in a while I watch the twilight zone episode he’s in and smile.
Sebastopol140
One of the true legends.
FrogSupreme
What, no sound?
SilentSam
such a badass
IliveIdyeIliveagain
Is he OK?
GuyLuomo
He's doo-in' gah-raate!
69Voltage
Brilliance
VictusVonGuyver
Some people are just built differently. Former wrestler Perry Saturn got shot in the shoulder and neck but didn't realize he had the neck wound until he went to get his shoulder checked out. It ended his career, but he got those wounds doing the heroic thing.
xizar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Saturn#Personal_life (evidence seems to be personal anecdote.)
barbarian818
I once broke two of my foot bones and didn't know it until a week later when I got a full body scan for a strained disk. Mind you, I had undiagnosed fibro and was using massive amounts of OTC anti-inflammatories with codeine to function.
sherlockhooves
I thought it was the railroad scene on the front of the engine where a railroad tie came up and smacked him in the head?
Aranon1183
How did he not feel the pain of a broken neck?
TheMayorOfTittyCity
I'm sure it hurt. But he also probably hurt after every other day of filming. Getting hurt was a large part of his job.
Aranon1183
Yea. He was more stuntman than actor. Lol
SirDaemos
Celebrate Buster Keaton. Do not celebrate the lax in safety standards that I'm sure went on for decades. Imagine all the people who failed at these types of stunts before proper safety standards came into being.
Jelhammer
Technically he failed, too. That wall stunt broke his arm
tzahtman
He also fractured his neck during the making of The General.
frightlever
Health and Safety Karen, above, would be complaining about everything from the declaration of independence to moon shots to sports in general. Buster Keaton was of his time and HE was the one pushing his medium forward. If you over-regulate everything new, you never get anything better.
SirDaemos
Yeah, fuck employees with dangerous jobs! The executives know what they are doing and definitely care as much about their employees as much as they care about making money. I guess you're right, no more safety standards. Stunt people, athletes, coal miners, luminous watch dial painters, all peaked decades ago. Damn those safety regulations!
FaeVikingPrincess
Safety regulations are written in blood.
weirldcitizen
You can see his influence in Jackie Chan movies. The slapstick and also stunts,acrobatics like the ladder scene
wisher1977
In 2007 I broke my neck and slipped 4 discs (4mm bulge) and was diagnosed 2 weeks later. After that, my body reminded me of my ailment and hasn’t let me forget…
svga
svga
forwardobserver
Buster Keaton did not break his arm in the house wall fall scene. That is a common misconception due to his moving his arm out of the way in the scene. He had a resurgence in television and film work starting in the 1950s. He famously appeared with a running gag throughout the 1966 film "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum ". The movie was filmed in 1965 when Keaton was ill. He passed away in 1966 from lung cancer at the age of 70. He had been a heavy smoker
MoreButterForMyHam
He also broke his arm filming the house falling on him scene. You can see that the widow frame strikes his left arm going down
bobthefunny
didn't they also nail his shoes to the ground to make sure he wouldn't move out of the "safe" area?
MoreButterForMyHam
Yep. They made it as safe as is practical, for a stunt that could definitely kill a popular star
Dolenmorgul
I don't want to look it up but how did this legend die?
firlefranz
I didn't feel like looking it up either.
v
Bhurano
He died of lung cancer at 70 years old, in 1966.
After loosing his job as a silent actor and being fired by MGM his life took a turn for the worse, including alcoholism.
But later in life, his third wife helped him salvaging his career and he went on to be a comedian until his death.
Dolenmorgul
many thanks
Bhurano
Addendum: He never knew that he had lung cancer, the diagnosis was hidden from him... and supposedly everyone else but his wife. He thought he had a bronchitis till the day he died.
Don't know if that was a mercy or not. Probably so, given how limited the treatment options were back then.
Jbelkin
Wasted in a bunch of beach movies in 1960s but it’s a living …