Drowned while filming a TV scene in Peru at age 41.
During Fleming's enlistment in the Seabees in 1942, his face was shattered when a 200-pound block of steel slipped from a hoist. A long convalescence and four plastic surgical procedures created the face familiar to "Rawhide" (1959) viewers.
Fleming was unmarried and had no children. He was to have married long-time companion Lynne Garber within two days of his death.
His mothers maiden name was Anderson.