Hollywood 9/11

The attacks of September 11th 2001 brought the entire world to its knees. 9/11 didn’t just effect the paths of politics, military and of course civilian life, but also the world of celebrity. Yes, it’s true, 9/11 effected the hemisphere of Hollywood just as much as it did the rest of the world.

It goes without saying that the attacks definitely effected film production and television broadcast. In addition to losing two of their cast members to untimely death, the production crew of the Matrix sequel The Matrix Reloaded had to push back production on the film after the attacks, nearly forcing the crew to discontinue the project, nevertheless they pressed forward and successfully completed the film, which ended up being a hit. Other films like Spider-Man (2002) and Lilo and Stitch (2002) had to have their trailers and footage augmented before their releases due to their display of imagery and sequences of violence that referenced the World Trade Center.

9/11 accounted for nearly 3000 deaths. Among those deaths were a number of minds and faces inside Hollywood. Four such faces were on board American Airlines flight 11, the first aircraft that was hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center. One of them was Emmy award winning television series creator David Angell and his wife Lynn. David Angell created some of the most memorable television sitcoms of the 20th century including Wings (1990) and Frazier (1993). Traveling with David and Lynn on American flight 11 was their friend and actress Berenthia “Berry” Berenson, who was the widow of the legendary actor Anthony Perkins. Also on board American 11 was Daniel John Lee, who was a crew member for famous music acts such as The Backstreet Boys and Janet Jackson. All four lost their lives when American Airlines flight 11 crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center at 8:46 a.m.

Casualties of fame could also be found at the World Trade Center. One of the many firefighters who died saving lives in the twin towers was Keith A. Glascoe. Firefighting wasn’t Glascoe’s only profession. He was also an actor and even had a co-starring role in the 1994 crime drama hit Léon: The Professional, written and directed by Luc Besson. This really struck a personal chord with me because this is one of me and my sister’s favorite movies from when we were kids, thanks to our mother, so I was very familiar with Keith Glascoe’s character in the film.

Tony award winning singer and actress LaChanze Sapp-Gooding is best known for her performance in the critically acclaimed broadway production of The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Unfortunately LaChanze was also impacted by the World Trade Center attacks as her first husband, Calvin Gooding was one of its victims. Calvin was a securities trader for Cantor-Fitzgerald in the North Tower who lost his life in the tower’s eventual collapse. LaChanze was pregnant with their second child at the time of the attacks.

You also had celebrities who witnessed the World Trade Center attack up close firsthand. One such person was Academy Award winning actress Sandra Bullock, who was in Manhattan filming her romantic comedy film Two Weeks Notice. As Bullock witnessed the attacks she aided in comforting bystanders who were distraught by the unfolding terror. Many other celebrities such as Seth McFarlane, Mark Wahlberg and Jackie Chan narrowly avoided dying in the attacks by canceling their reservations for or just overslept and ended missing American flight 11 that morning, which they all were originally scheduled to board. Pop king Michael Jackson originally had plans to attend a meeting at the World Trade Center that morning, but ended up having a change of plans prior to the 11th and the home of film star Wesley Snipes was destroyed in the collapse of the Twin Towers, but Snipes was in California where his wife was giving birth to their newborn child at the time, so he wasn’t present for the destruction.

Many of the thousands of lives lost on 9/11 left behind families as their footprints on this world. Through their children do a lot of these fallen live on and some of those children have found their way into the world of entertainment. Perhaps the earliest example here is Pete Davidson.

Scott Davidson is one of the firefighters who died saving lives in the World Trade Center on September 11th. Today his son Pete is one of the most popular young comedians of the now generation of comedy. He was a series regular on Saturday Night Live for eight years and has had guest starring roles on shows like Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Friends of the People, Guy Code, and Nick Cannon’s Wild 'n Out. In 2020 Pete Davidson and comedy filmmaking legend Judd Apatow crafted the film titled The King Of Staten Island which was inspired by Davidson’s own life growing up without his father after 9/11, the film received widespread critical acclaim and was a tribute to his father the late Scott Davidson.

Michael Trinidad was a telecom analyst for Cantor-Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He died in the collapse of the tower and left behind two children.

Michael’s oldest child was his daughter Thea. Michael and Thea were big pro wrestling fans. In the years following his death on 9/11 Thea made it a life goal to be a pro wrestler, doing what she and her father loved watching. Thea achieved her dream and eventually made it to the largely popular pro wrestling company TNA (Total Nonstop Action) and now she is currently one of the biggest female wrestlers in the world for the world famous wrestling brand WWE. She performs under the ring name Zelina Vega and she is one of my favorite modern day pro wrestling divas. She also started a career acting in films as well.

As anyone could’ve guessed 9/11 has found its way to the both the big and the small screens of Hollywood. In 2006 the first two major theatrical films about 9/11 were released, United 93 from Paul Greengrass and World Trade Center from Oliver Stone. Since then there have been plenty of films that have depicted or at least referenced 9/11 both fictionally and non-fictionally. If there is anything you should take from this article it’s that September 11th 2001 was truly the entire world’s trauma and that includes the wired of entertainment. It’s also another example of why we should never forget because even the world of manufactured drama such as Hollywood will never forget.

Dedicated to everyone in the world of Hollywood who was effected by September 11th 2001.