In 1969 Columbia Pictures along were preparing to film a
western in Spain. They had signed Euro-western veteran Jack Palance for the
lead role of Parson Josiah Galt and Jeffrey Hunter to play his son David Galt.
While in Spain in November 1968 to film Cry Chicago
(¡Viva América!), a story of the Chicago Mafia, Hunter was injured in an on-set
explosion when a car window near him, which had been rigged to explode outward,
accidentally exploded inward. Hunter sustained a serious concussion. According
to Hunter's wife Emily, he "...went into shock" on the plane ride
back to the United States after filming and "..couldn't speak. He could
hardly move." After landing, Hunter was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital
in Los Angeles but doctors could not find any serious injuries save for a
displaced vertebra and a concussion.
On the afternoon of May 26, 1969, Hunter suffered an
intracranial hemorrhage while on a three-stair set of steps at his home in Van
Nuys, California. He fell, knocked over a planter, and struck his head on a
banister, fracturing his skull. He was found unconscious by his wife and taken
to Valley Presbyterian Hospital where he underwent brain surgery to repair his
injuries. He died at about 9:30 a.m. the following morning at the age of 42.
Hunter was replaced in the role of David Galt by actor
Vince Edwards.
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