He was supposed to be on Pan American World Airways Flight 103 from London's Heathrow International Airport to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport on December 21, 1988, but missed the flight because his wife Nora, hadn't packed in time. The plane crashed over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland when a terrorist bomb exploded in the forward cargo hold, killing all 259 passengers and crew.
On acting: "I hated it. It was too long, too stressful; two minutes'
working day and 12 hours' fear and nausea. And no improvising; you're
just a hired robot. That might be all right for people that don't have
any kind of personality, but if you have anything going for your own
self, it's very, very frustrating that way."
