A doctor said Power died of angina pectoris.
He was stricken while performing one of the most difficult and strenuous roles in the picture co-starring actress Gina Lollobrigida.
Gina on Set
Miss Lollobrigida was on the set with him when Power called for a halt in the filming and went to his trailer dressing room.
He asked Ray Sebastian, his makeup man and friend for many years, for a brandy. Sebastian said Power complained of difficulty in breathing and of pains in his arms.
Producer Ted Richmond saw Power and then called the studio nurse and a car. By the time the auto arrived Power was unconscious. |
Studio officials said Power had complained recently of not feeling well and had had a heart checkup a few weeks ago. Although some concern was felt about his health, no one dreamed his life was in danger.
Power, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, had complained of not feeling well this morning when he arrived on the set. But he insisted on going through with the duel scene in bitter cold temperature that had actors and actresses shivering in their flimsy Biblical robes.
Even for a man as athletic as Power, it was a difficult scene. It called for him to fall onto a stone floor, then writhe suddenly out of the way of an assassin's knife.
Waved Signal to Cut
He looked more and more distraught as the film progressed.
Hundreds of extras were on the set when Power suddenly waved a feeble "cut" sign and staggered to his dressing trailer.... (article continued on another page of newspaper, which was not in the scrapbook) |