A look inside Hollywood and the movies. : THE VANISHING : ‘Death Becomes Her’ and the Lost Ullman Ending

Comedienne Tracy Ullman is known for disappearing into her characters, but in “Death Becomes Her,� the dark comedy starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis, she disappeared from the movie altogether.

But her disappearance came at the hands of the film’s director-producer Robert Zemeckis, who, maybe, only coincidentally, is at work on his upcoming project, “Houdini.�

Those who saw the trailers for “Death Becomes Her� might have noticed Ullman in the role of a bartender who is also the girlfriend of Willis’ character, a hapless plastic surgeon caught between Streep’s and Hawn’s characters. But that was before Zemeckis (“Back to the Future,� “Who Framed Roger Rabbit�) changed the ending.

The discarded “saccharine� ending--to use Zemeckis’ adjective--showed Willis’ character running away to Europe with Ullman, in order to escape Streep and Hawn.

“The original ending was a more conventional, happy ending,� Zemeckis said. “It wasn’t the correct tone for the film.�

The director said he opted for the “dark tone� and “more risky ending,� which meant that Ullman’s character would have to go. “We were all heartbroken over losing the character. (She) was so great.�

But in the end, Ullman was only one of “seven or eight actors with speaking roles� who were cut out of the movie, Zemeckis says.

“Death Becomes Her� opened last weekend in first place at the box office with a hefty gross of $12 million.

As for Ullman, she may be unseen, but was heard by her spokesman to say: She enjoyed her two days of work on the film and did the role because “she and Meryl are good friends.�