Heath Ledger not the first star who died before the release of movie

BY JANE FURSE
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Vaughan/AP

Heath Ledger in 'Dark Knight' (CLICK PHOTO FOR GALLERY OF OTHER STARS WHO DIED YOUNG)

Heath Ledger, whose performance 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 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."

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 martial 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: The comedian dropped dead in 1994 while on location filming "Wagon's East." Another Candy film, "Canadian Bacon," was released after his death.

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. His final film, "Almost Heroes," was released the following year.

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

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