Marty Feldman - Death

Death

Feldman died from a heart attack in a hotel room in Mexico City on 2 December 1982, during the making of the film Yellowbeard. On the DVD commentary of Young Frankenstein, Mel Brooks cites factors that may have contributed to Feldman's death:

"He smoked sometimes six packs of cigarettes daily, drank copious amounts of black coffee, and ate a diet rich in eggs and dairy products". Plus, the high altitude of Mexico City (over 7,000 feet above sea level, where the air is about 20% thinner) probably added more stress on Feldman by forcing his heart and lungs to work harder. Michael Mileham, who made the behind-the-scenes movie Group Madness about the making of Yellowbeard, said he and Feldman swam to an island where a local was selling lobster and coconuts. Mileham and Feldman used the same knife on their lobsters; Mileham claimed he got shellfish poisoning the next day, and theorised that this could also have contributed to Feldman's death.

In an anecdotal story, cartoonist Sergio Aragonés was also filming nearby in a different production. While dressed for his role as an armed policeman, Aragonés abruptly encountered Feldman and, in introducing himself, frightened Feldman. Aragonés speculates that this possibly induced Feldman's fatal heart attack later in the evening. Aragonés has recounted the story with the punchline, "I killed Marty Feldman". The story was converted into a strip in Aragonés's issue of DC Comics' Solo.

He is buried in Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery near his idol, Buster Keaton, in the Garden of Heritage.