A mournful movie list

Bernie Mac would be having a heckuva weekend if his life hadn't been cut short by illness in August.

He stars in "Soul Men" alongside Samuel L. Jackson and speaks for the father of Alex the lion in "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa." When Heath Ledger died in January of an accidental overdose, it raised the question about actors who had died during or shortly after filming.

A Jan. 25 story headlined "Movie afterlife keeps actors' work alive" mentioned such performers as Spencer Tracy, who died 17 days after filming on "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" was completed, along with Oliver Reed, John Candy, River Phoenix, Brandon Lee, Vic Morrow, Natalie Wood, James Dean and Jean Harlow.

You can revisit it at:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08025/852149-254.stm

Peter Finch, by the way, remains the only actor who was nominated posthumously for an Academy Award -- for playing mad-as-hell newsman Howard Beale in "Network" -- and won.