The world is currently trying to come to grips with the recent death of the much-loved singer Glen Hansard after a motorcycle crash near the Wren’s Nest pub. I know how treacherous the roads around there are. I found this out the hard way myself, having had a car accident after coming out of The Wren’s Nest one night back in the 1980s.
I’ve been trying to think of all the film stars who’ve died in road crashes over the years. The first one that springs to mind is James Dean. Then there’s Grace Kelly, Jayne Mansfield, Nick Adams, Ernie Kovacs, Paul Walker and Ann Heche.
A lot of singers, like Hansard, died ‘on the road’ too, as referenced by The Band’s frontman Robbie Robertson in Martin Scorsese’s brilliant documentary about that group, The Last Waltz in 1976. He mentioned Hank Willams, Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis Presley.
He wasn’t speaking specifically of car accidents. Williams died in a car, but it wasn’t moving at the time. The cause of his death was substance abuse. Robertson used the term loosely to refer to the pressures of touring. That was also what killed Elvis, in his view, even though, like Williams, the immediate cause of his demise was substance abuse (and junk food).
Janis (Joplin) also died of a drug overdose, as did Hendrix. Redding and Holly were killed in plane crashes.
Though Elvis didn’t die in a car crash, another singer did – in the same week. Few people remember Marc Bolan now. His death was under-reported because Elvis was such a bigger star. Neither should we forget the two pedestrians that were mown down by a reckless driver at Elvis’ funeral.
I’ve been watching some films recently dealing with the manner in which car accidents impact on people’s lives. The best one was Sean Penn’s The Crossing Guard (1995). Jack Nicholson is tortured by the death of his daughter in a crash. He vows to wreak vengeance on the man responsible before a cathartic experience changes him.
Healing is also the theme of A Good Person (2022). A woman who’s engaged to be married (Florence Pugh) causes the death of a couple in a crash. She develops an addiction to opiates from guilt before a surprising bond with her would-be father-in-law (Morgan Freeman) acts as a catalyst to her recovery
Paul Haggis’ Crash, which won an Oscar for Best Film in 2004, chronicles the intersecting lives of a number of people against the backdrop of racism in Los Angeles following a crash and a car-jacking.
Rush (2013) deals with the on-track rivalry between racing supremos James Hunt and Niki Lauda, culminating in a crash that left Lauda with horrific injuries.
The life – and death – of another racing driver, Ayrton Senna, is covered in the compelling documentary Senna (2010) which even features footage from behind the steering wheel.
You can’t get more cinema verité than that.
