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While only airing for three seasons, Gilligan’s Island has one of the most catchy and memorable theme songs ever recorded and the series has taken on a life of its own for decades. We take a close look how the seven castaways secured their place on the island, and made a real impact on pop culture.
On January 14th, 2009, the revered actor, Ricardo Montalbán, died from Congestive Heart Failure at 88 years old. Born in Mexico, he discovered a passion for acting while studying English in the USA. His natural charm and good looks mixed with an innate talent led to an on-screen career that spanned seven decades. As charming off-screen as he was on-screen, Ricardo masked a life-long struggle with chronic pain, and was compelled to use his place in society to forge battle against racism in Hollywood. Dr. Michael Hunter uses Ricardo’s Death certificate and first-hand accounts of Ricardo’s life to uncover the truth behind the devastating heart failure that killed this 88-year-old actor.
On January 22nd 1994, just one day after his 72nd birthday, actor Telly Savalas died in bed at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles, but he is immortalized in the most famous part he played, bald headed Detective Theo Kojak, the world’s best known and best loved cop. Telly rose from a roller coaster childhood which saw him pitched from private school and privilege into living in the harsh realities of New York’s Lower East Side during the Great Depression of the 1930’s. He never intended to be an actor but in his mid-thirties he attended an audition by chance and ended up winning the part which launched his on-screen career. He quickly won plaudits from critics and moviegoers alike as a screen heavy, playing chilling psychopaths who exuded an easy charm, before landing the part of hard-nosed but kind hearted cop Kojak on the small screen. He became an unlikely sex symbol, and embraced the Hollywood lifestyle eagerly, and that may have been his downfall. The death certificate states that he suffered kidney failure as a result of bladder cancer – but while almost half of those diagnosed with Bladder cancer survive for 10 years after diagnosis, Telly was dead within a month…and many still attribute his death to a different cause. What was the truth behind the rumors, and could his celebrated bald head be connected with what really killed him. World renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze every detail of Telly’s life to piece together the facts of what happened to end it.
On July 19th 2014, the world was shocked and saddened by the news that beloved American actor and producer James Garner had died at the age of 86. James had made a name for himself as one of the most genuine stars of his generation boasting a career that spanned 6 decades. Starring in over 85 movies and television shows James created some of our most loved TV characters including Maverick and Jim Rockford from The Rockford Files. Born into poverty, James had a difficult childhood growing up in the small town of Norman Oklahoma at the start of the great depression. His teenage years were tough due to an abusive stepmother and a lack of interest in any of the numerous jobs he tried. Then In 1950 he became the first man from Oklahoma to be drafted to the Korean War where he sustained numerous injuries. James then caught his first acting break by chance after discovering an old friend had become an actor’s agent and following a contract with legendary film company ‘Warner Brothers’ the role of Maverick catapulted him to Hollywood stardom. He was one of the few actors that made it big in both film and television, in a time when it was rare to do so. James became a folk hero to other actors when he won huge legal battles against two of the biggest studios, breaking his contract and clawing back hidden revenues. Known for his effortless acting and his humorous anti-heroes he was one of Hollywood’s highest ranked actors but behind James’ smile there was hidden pain and we discover he had secretly battled ill health for over 35 years. James suffered from multiple life-threatening conditions, he underwent numerous surgeries and struggled both mentally and physically. James died of a heart attack at the age of 86. Why did one of our most treasured actors succumb to this fete? And how did he battle ill health for so long? World renowned forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze James’ history, lifestyle and medical past in order to find the answers.
On July 3 2012, Americans were saddened by the death of Andy Griffith. Andy was notoriously private, and very little is known about what happened, or the state of his health in the last few years of his life. Dr Hunter will be analysing every detail in the available information, to piece together what led to his demise. In a career spanning almost seventy years, he had charmed audiences as an actor, comedian and recording artist. But it was his performance as Sheriff Andy Taylor, in The Andy Griffith Show, that catapulted him into the hearts of Americans everywhere. Beloved for this character’s gentle kindness and good humour, audiences believed he was their friend and father figure. But the public perception of Andy was at odds with who he was. Friends recall a Jekyll and Hyde personality and a man who became increasingly reclusive. Andy’s death certificate states that he died as a result of a heart attack, after years of suffering from other illnesses. Dr Hunter’s investigation builds up a picture of a man whose private habits and behaviours left him susceptible to heart disease in multiple ways. Though his death, at 86, may not have come as a surprise, what did raise eyebrows was the fact that he was buried in the grounds of his home within four and a half hours of the 911 call alerting the emergency services that he was unresponsive. As part of his investigation Dr Hunter will uncover whether this bears any significance on the manner in which he died.
In this investigative medical documentary series, we look at the lives and deaths of the biggest names in American entertainment history. Through a combination of interviews with family and friends, archive footage and dramatic reconstructions, we tell these stories and unpick the- sometimes mysterious- circumstances around their deaths. Larry Hagman is fondly remembered as playing the bumbling astronaut, Major Anthony “Tony” Nelson, in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. He had supporting roles in numerous films, including Superman, Nixon and Primary Colors. But he is best known for playing the king of all soap villains: the wicked, scheming, JR Ewing on the hit prime time soap Dallas. The subject of the biggest cliff-hanger ever, thirty million viewers from fifty-seven countries watched the episode where JR Ewing was shot, making Larry Hagman one of the biggest soap stars in the world. With a larger-than-life, fun-loving personality, Larry was a hippy at heart, belying the conservative facade of his oil baron character in Dallas. However, he was also a big drinker and was known to finish off five bottles of champagne a day during his Dallas heyday. This eventually resulted in severe liver damage and a life-saving liver transplant operation. Ever the optimist, Larry continued performing and played a vital role in the Dallas reboot in 2012 but died during filming the second season from complications resulting from throat cancer. We’ll explore what drove Larry to continue performing into his early 80s and what really led to his death in November 2012.
Patrick Swayze was a legendary actor, dancer and singer. His cult performances made him a global superstar. By the late 80s, Patrick was a celebrated Hollywood heartthrob, but the dancer and actor, probably best known for his roles in ‘Dirty Dancing’, Ghost and ‘Point Break’ died almost unrecognisable at his ranch in California at just 57 years old. Now, forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter will examine Patrick’s extensive medical records to unravel the truth surrounding his death and will attempt to reveal what really happened to this huge star.
On September 6th, 2018, news broke that Hollywood icon Burt Reynolds had died. Burt broke into the bigtime by winning the lead in gritty survivalist drama Deliverance in 1972, and became a household name in the late 70’s and early 80’s in light-hearted car chase movies such as Smokey and the Bandit, and Cannonball Run. Burt was box-office gold, but behind all the fame and fortune he was battling demons. Despite his easy-going image, Burt suffered panic attacks that were so severe that he needed to be hospitalised for checks. To combat this stress and anxiety Burt turned to large doses of anti anxiety medications. To make matters worse, to cope with the injuries he picked up doing stunts on film and TV, he added painkiller medications into the mix . His reliance on prescription pills turned into addiction and led to an overdose and a coma – but the star survived and went on to conquer his addictions after decades of struggle. Towards the end of his life Burt had appeared stooped and in pain in public appearances – so what had happened to reduce this former Hollywood hunk to a hunched, unsteady figure, and could it provide vital clues to his eventual death? World renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter analyses the crucial details of Burt troubled life to find the answer.
Sir Roger Moore died of liver cancer in 2017 at the age of 89. The famously modest and unassuming British actor had been many people’s favourite James Bond. Where Sean Connery had played 007 straight, Roger had played him for laughs. He’d identified the joke at the heart of the role – James Bond, the secret agent so familiar that everybody knows his favourite drink. For Roger Moore, Bond was a parody or he was nothing. But Roger’s swashbuckling, devil-may-care Bond had belied a life of serious health problems. He was not as robust as the movie image of indestructibility suggested. Roger’s life story read like a medical textbook with major ailments at every turn. It had started with near terminal double-pneumonia at the age of five – the doctor had told his father he’d be back in the morning with a death certificate. The son of a south London policeman, Roger had been forced to reinvent himself at RADA – the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art – after being told that his cockney accent wouldn’t do. This, coupled with his father’s advice to remember that success might be short lived fostered in him a sense of life’s precariousness. His international standard hypochondria and almost pathological self-deprecation were the consequence. His critics described his acting as wooden and shallow and deep down, he probably agreed with them. But as his friend, Sir Michael Caine says, making it look easy is the hardest thing. Sir Roger had made friends wherever he had gone, and long before the end of his life had been elevated to the status of National Treasure without ever quite understanding how. World-renowned forensic pathologist Dr Michael Hunter analyses the details of this fascinating case to unearth the truth behind Sir Roger Moore’s death. He had suffered years of ill health and fought three different types of cancer but had somehow made it to the age of 89. Maybe there had been more 007 in Sir Roger Moore than he had let on.
On October 31st 2020, the world was shocked by the news that legendary star of the silver screen and the man who optimized James Bond, Sean Connery, had died. As one of the original action heroes Sean had been dealing out thrills and spills to moviegoers for over sixty years by the time of his death. Born in the middle of the great depression Sean would rise from absolute poverty to become one of the most recognizable faces on the planet. When Sean was the first cast as Ian Flemmings literary super spy, James Bond, in 1962 he was relatively unknown, outside a few small roles on British television, but within just 7 short years, he would have five hit films with the franchise under his belt and millions in the bank as a wave of “Bondmania” took over the world. Life from the outside seemed to be all smooth sailing for Sean and he would die in The Bahamas surrounded by his loved ones at 90 years old. But behind closed doors, Sean suffered from cancer scares, potentially lethal throat polyps and in his later year’s severe dementia. Interestingly Sean’s death certificate would list old age as a contributing factor, this is unusual as old age itself is not a cause of death, no one dies from old age but rather the illnesses you contract in the later stage of your life and the bodies incapacity to deal with them. So if old age is listed as a cause, what did Sean do in his life to achieve such longevity and what really killed him? World-renowned forensic pathologist, Dr. Michael Hunter needs to analyze every detail available to piece together what was really happening in Sean’s body and how it lead to his death.
A Live Series following Law Enforcement Officers On Patrol across the country – all live and in real time.
A discussion of what’s in store for the upcoming episode of “On Patrol: Live” and a sneak peek of the departments and officers that the cameras will be following that night; the hosts also look back at the most memorable moments from past episodes.
A Live Series following Law Enforcement Officers On Patrol across the country – all live and in real time.
A Live Series following Law Enforcement Officers On Patrol across the country – all live and in real time.
