Death of a Film Star

4.6 (26)
TV & Film
Series

From Heath Ledger to Marilyn Monroe, Chadwick Boseman to James Dean, these are the stories of the stars who will never fade – adored, unforgettable, unique. The inside tales, the scandals, the truth about who they really were.

Episode 1

Heath Ledger

When you see the news, his face stays with you. Heath Ledger as the Joker. Smeared in white grease paint, a slash of red across the mouth, a shock of dark blue around the eyes. When you take on a part so completely, it’s hard to get out. Things merge. Actor and character meet and mix. But Heath’s not that Joker. He’s another. Because he’s an actor who doesn’t play by Hollywood’s rules. He’s a man who doesn’t follow suit… Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 2

Marilyn Monroe

WARNING: this episode contains references to suicide. It’s not true to say there’s never been anyone like Marilyn Monroe. There’s always been movie stars. There’s been blonde ones. Ones with bodies that half the world wants to stare at and the other half want to ban. But no-one’s done it like her, and no-one’s paying quite such a price. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 3

Chadwick Boseman

There’s stuff you know about Chadwick Boseman – what he’s done as Black Panther, how good he was as James Brown in one biopic, as baseball hero Jackie Robinson in another, as judge Thurgood Marshall in his most recent. He’s different for the roles he plays, and different for what he does with them. But different, too, for all the stuff you don’t know. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 4

Brittany Murphy

For Brittany Murphy, Hollywood’s a hall of mirrors. There’s a different Brittany wherever she looks. For some she’s a comic sidekick, for others a screen siren. Is she on the rise or washed-up? Under-appreciated or over-promoted? A victim or part of the problem? Sometimes, in Hollywood, when you’re looking for reality, all you find are others’ reflections. And eventually even Brittany herself is lost... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 5

Robin Williams

When Robin Williams dies, you remember a connection. One that first forms in an empty mansion outside Detroit, and then reaches through the screen, big and small, into houses all over the world. President Barack Obama says what Robin meant to him. And to millions of others. “Robin Williams was an airman, a doctor, a genie, a nanny, a president, a professor, a Peter Pan, and everything in between. But he was one of a kind. He arrived in our lives as an alien - but he ended up touching every element of the human spirit.” WARNING: This episode contains references to suicide and addiction. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues we spoke about in this podcast or are worried about someone you love, please go to crowdnetwork.co.uk/helplines to find a list of people you can go to for help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 6

Cory Monteith

When Cory Monteith’s story goes public, people are shocked. To most of us, his death is… unbelievable. But that’s not the truth. The truth will force people in Hollywood to have difficult conversations. About addiction. About addicts. About stereotypes. Demons always catch up with you. It doesn’t matter who you are. What you look like. Or who people think you are. WARNING: This episode contains references to drug use and addiction. If you’ve been affected by any of the issues we spoke about in this podcast or are worried about someone you love, please go to crowdnetwork.co.uk/helplines to find a list of people you can go to for help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 7

Sharon Tate

There are no happy endings with Sharon Tate. No logic. This story is many things: the death of a young woman; the murder of a film star, a wife and a daughter. But it’s so much more, too. It’s madness come to La La Land. A cult leader gone crazy. It’s bad drugs and messed-up ideas and exploitation and carnage. It’s darkness descending over a town that’s meant to be all sunshine and dreams come true… WARNING: This episode contains graphic descriptions of murder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Episode 8

Sage Stallone

Stallone. It’s not even a real name. Really, it’s a brand. Blue-collar grit. Brawn over brain. An American dream. But what if that isn’t you? What if you don’t have a choice about it? Because this is the story of Sage Stallone, not Sylvester. The story of the son, not the famous father… If you’ve been affected by any of the issues we spoke about in this podcast or are worried about someone you love, please go to crowdnetwork.co.uk/helplines to find a list of people you can go to for help. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Trailer

Coming Soon (Trailer)

With a new episode every Tuesday, Death of a Film Star takes you inside the worlds of those superstars who make us believe in the greatest tales ever told – how they transformed themselves, how they made their roles real, the price they paid for giving so much of themselves to us. From the early stars of the silver screen, lifted from obscurity to unprecedented levels of fame, to the 21stcentury icons who remade our culture around them, these are their unforgettable inside stories – inspiring, tragic and unforgettable. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This brand new pop culture history podcast is nothing like anything you've heard before, and it's everything you need to understand the modern world. Katie Puckrik and Tom Fordyce, an American pop culture buff and a British music lover, have taken the smash-hit song by Billy Joel and turned it into a podcast. Billy lists 120 people, places, and things in 'We Didn't Start The Fire', and Katie and Tom will do an episode on every single one to create the most fascinating, random and original history of the post-war world. Over the next two and a half years, we're going to learn about politics, rock 'n' roll, sport, space, television, the Cold War, guided along the way by historians, eyewitnesses, and mega-fans. Billy started it. We're going to finish it. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @spreadthatfire, email us at fire@crowdnetwork.co.uk, and go to spreadthatfire.com to buy merch.

3.8 (116)

History
The Secret History of Flight 149 Imagine boarding a flight thinking you’re heading on holiday, but instead you get taken hostage by Saddam Hussein. It might sound far-fetched, but in August 1990 this is what happened to the passengers and crew of BA Flight 149. What followed has been dubbed the most shocking government cover-up of the last thirty years. Journalist Stephen Davis has been reporting on this extraordinary story for the past three decades. In this series you’ll hear directly from the hostages - the people used as human shields by the Iraqi regime, with horrific and traumatic consequences. But why was the plane allowed to land at all, putting so many lives at risk? Why have secrets and lies persisted for so many years? Join Stephen in his search to uncover the truth behind The Secret History of Flight 149. Presenter: Stephen Davis Producer: Samantha Psyk Mixing and sound design: Rory Auskerry

4.7 (101)

True Crime
KC is the American Vigilante - A hugely complex, intelligent, contradictory man who could save your life but end it too. Who leads a group of violent men standing on the blurred line between right and wrong, between revenge and redemption. A man you want on your side when it all falls apart. American Vigilante is true crime, but so much more. It’s saving abducted children, it’s stepping beyond the law. It’s rescue missions, assassination attempts and last-gasp protection. It’s all the stuff you hope never comes to you, until it does. Former BBC Journalist Sam Walker presents this Crowd Network original. She’s been speaking to KC for months and has recorded everything he’s told her. You’ll need to listen to make your own mind up, but you might never be the same again. It’s shocking, inspiring, frightening and thought-provoking. It’ll change how you see the world, and it might change how you move within it. Everyone thinks they’re safe, until they aren’t. Everyone thinks they know how they’ll react, until the darkness comes.

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True Crime
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Music History
Tanya Reynolds (Sex Education) stars in a dark, near-future science fiction fairytale about a robot who can feel, and the world that attempts to control her. When a robot called Eliza falls in love with Him (Arthur Darvill, Doctor Who), they work together to make her fully sentient. But consciousness doesn’t come without consequences. As Eliza gets caught in a web of both loving and abusive relationships, she has to fight to survive. #OneVoiceRaisesAnother Eliza is a Crowd Network original made in partnership with The Pankhurst Trust / Manchester Women’s Aid. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, help is available now. You can call the 24/7 national helpline on 0808 2000 247 and get free confidential advice at https://www.womensaid.org.uk If you want early episodes and behind the scenes content, subscribe now to the Crowd Stories channel. Full transcripts of all episodes are available on the Crowd website.

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Drama
Is the post-Cold War era over? In this brave new world, nothing is too small, or big, to be digitalised…including acts of war. Russian ransomware attacks almost doubled last year. At this very moment, cybercriminals are crippling schools, supermarkets, dentists, kindergartens, hospitals, oil pipelines - all in the name of money. Katie Puckrik wants to know who, and why. You can listen to the previous series of dot com on this same feed. Series 1 unveils the hidden army of volunteers behind the world's biggest encyclopaedia; and series 2 explores the heat behind the headlines of the US's 5th biggest social media website, Reddit. Dot com is presented by Katie Puckrik, written and produced by Anna Staufenberg, and edited by Crawford Blair.

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Technology

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4.6

out of 5

26 Ratings

Beautifully written and narrated

09/02/2021

mmmondayyy

I found this podcast from their other podcast, Death of a Rock Star. The narrator is captivating and the writer has such a sensual, reverent style. These are my new favorite podcasts
Amazing and truly well done.

07/13/2021

whynotpugs

This podcast is done with a balanced blend of solemnity and respect for the lives and deaths the people they feature. It’s informative without being needlessly gruesome or sensationalistic. I really enjoy the narrators and their pace of presentation. At the end of each episode, I feel I’ve learned more about the lives of actors than just the details of their tragic deaths.

From Heath Ledger to Marilyn Monroe, Chadwick Boseman to James Dean, these are the stories of the stars who will never fade – adored, unforgettable, unique. The inside tales, the scandals, the truth about who they really were.