Death of An Actor

This web site is about Ken Steadman, a 27-year-old professional actor, who was killed while guest starring for Universal/MCA Television during the filming of their television series "Sliders". It is not just about his death. It is about what he stood for, what he accomplished, about how much he gave and how in the end the system failed him. It is about what we as parents expect when a tragedy like this occurs and what really happens. It is the story of our son, who we are immensely proud of, and whose death has shaken us to our foundations. Despite the fact that this is incredibly hard to write it is important to us and we think for Ken to make his story known.

It is our hope his death will not just become a statistic but bring to light changes that need to be made so that the unnecessary death of others does not occur. It is the hope that those in charge of safety and those whose job it is to enforce safety laws will in the future do their jobs and not just go through the motions. It is our hope that the movie and television industry will put more value on actors lives rather than what will save production dollars. Those responsible for ignoring the safety rules and trying to shift the blame need to understand that their actions resulted in our son's death and the most intense grief any parent can bear. It is impossible to explain to anyone who has not lost a child how deeply and intense the feeling of loss and grief goes. Add to that the frustration, anger, disbelief, and hopelessness a parent feels when they know the death was preventable and no agency or organization will do anything. They did nothing because they don't have time or because Universal/MCA Television is too big, too powerful, and has too much money for them to go up against. This also destroyed a lot of our belief in the "system".