Interesting Article about Heath Ledger and many other actors

BY JANE FURSE
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Monday, July 21st 2008, 4:00 AM

Heath Ledger, whose performance as as the Joker in the summer blockbuster "The Dark Knight" earned rave reviews, died months before the film hit theaters. He is hardly the first movie star to die before release of a final film.

Here's a list of others:

AALIYAH: The R&B star died in a 2001 Bahamas plane crash before the release of vampire flick "Queen of the Damned."

JAMES DEAN: "Rebel Without a Cause" was released one month after Dean, 24, was killed in a 1955 car accident.

CLARK GABLE: Gable died of a heart attack at 59 before the 1960 release of the film "The Misfits."

RIVER PHOENIX: Died of drug-related heart failure four months before his film, "Silent Tongue," came out.

JEAN HARLOW: Harlow was just 26 when she died of kidney disease just a month before release of her 1937 film "Saratoga."

MARILYN MONROE: The sexy star died in 1962 from a drug overdose while still filming "Something's Got to Give," which was later redone as "Move Over, Darling."

SPENCER TRACY: The 67-year-old screen star died of a heart attack after completing "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner."

BRANDON LEE: The son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee died in a mishap on the set of "The Crow" just eight days before filming was to be completed.

BRUCE LEE: The marshal arts star died at 32 from a cerebral edema, one month before the release of his last film, "Enter the Dragon."

NATALIE WOOD: The "West Side Story" starlet drowned in 1981 just before the completion of the science-fiction thriller "Brainstorm."

JOHN CANDY: "Saturday Night Live" comedian dropped dead in 1994 while on location filming "Wagon's East."

TUPAC SHAKUR: The rapper, 25, was killed in a 1996 drive-by shooting after completing two films, "Gridlock'd" and "Gang Related," both of which were released the following year.

PHIL HARTMAN: SNL star was shot and killed by his wife, Brynn Hartman, in a 1998 murder-suicide two months before the release of his film "Small Soldiers."

CHRIS FARLEY: The pudgy SNL funnyman died of a drug overdose in 1997, just a month before the release of his 1997 film "Beverly Hills Ninja".

GARY COOPER: Screen legend died of cancer in 1961, just a month before the release of his British mystery film "The Naked Edge."