He fell, knocked over a planter, and struck his head on the banister, fracturing his skull. He was found unconscious by Frank Bellow, an actor and friend of Hunter’s, who came for a visit, and taken to Valley Presbyterian Hospital, where he underwent brain surgery. He died at about 9:30 the next morning at age 42.

Jeff Daniels: No Oscar Attention–Yet Photo : ©Samuel Goldwyn Films/Courtesy Everett Collection Best Performance: “The Squid and the Whale” (2005) Distributed by: Samuel Goldwyn Films Written, Directed by: Noah Baumbach Role: Bernard Berkman Other notable performances: “Terms of Endearment” (1983), “The Purple Rose of Cairo” (1985), “Something Wild” (1986), “Speed” (1993), “Dumb and Dumber” (1994), “Pleasantville” (2000), […]

With his natural charisma and his fluency in English he scored a number of roles in Hollywood, including Rhapsody with Elizabeth Taylor and The Glass Wall before returning to Italy and the theatre.