A show called Deadliest Catch is bound to take its toll on those who work on it, even if it doesn’t happen during the actual filming. Such is the case with the series’ Tony Lara, who passed away this weekend at the age of 50.
News about Lara’s death is fairly limited, and it still hasn’t been determined exactly how he died. The Deadliest Catch star was in Sturgis, South Dakota, for the 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and he apparently died early Saturday morning at a private residence. According to FoxNews, Meade County Sheriff Ron Merwin says they are waiting on results from an autopsy to figure out the exact cause of Lara’s death. No signs of foul play or anything of that nature were reported, so we can only hope it was a relatively peaceful passing.
Lara, a veteran crab catcher, was added to the Deadliest Catch crew back in 2011 as the skipper for the ship Cornelia Marie with captains Josh Harris and Casey McManus. Discovery released a mournful press statement, and the show announced the death through their Twitter page.
You can get a glimpse of what Lara was like in the video below, released soon after he officially joined the show.
This isn’t the first time that tragedy has struck Deadliest Catch over the years. The reality show also saw the 2010 death of the Cornelia Marie’s Phil Harris, who insisted crews keep filming after he had a stroke and was airlifted from St. Paul Island to Anchorage, Alaska, where he died days after brain surgery. As well, former Deadliest Catch producer Joseph McMahon was shot outside of his apartment last month, with the gunman later committing suicide. Here’s hoping Lara’s death is the last misfortune to affect the show.
Everyone at CinemaBlend sends our thoughts and condolences to the family and friends of Tony Lara in their time of mourning.
