No one’s invincible, not even the larger-than-life actors and actresses we see on the big screen. Death is a natural part of life, even on Hollywood sets.
Here are some of the best ways that tv shows and films have dealt with the unexpected death of an actor.
1. Carol Ann Susi (Mrs. Holowitz), “Big Bang Theory”
Big Bang Theory had to deal with the death of Carol Ann Susi, the voice of Howard’s mother, Mrs. Holowitz.
There’s a story about when the news first broke to the cast while filming the entire room broke down and for a few hours everyone told stories about experiences with her, reminiscing.
In the show they used it as a plot device to drop a bomb of sorts to completely overshadow all of the other characters petty problems, and bind them. At the end they had the whole cast of main characters in their apartment recreating that moment of storytelling except having the characters talking about Howard’s Mother.
It was done perfectly and as a long time fan of the series it tugged a few heartstrings, I don’t think they cracked one joke after they dropped the bomb. It ends with a toast from Leonard to her memory, saying that she was “a mother to us all.”
0ddStranger
2. Andy Whitfield (Spartacus), “Spartacus”
Whitfield got a bad bout of recurrent cancer after Season 1. The producers decided to make Season 2 a prequel to give him time to recover. When he ultimately didn’t recover and died they had to put Liam McIntyre in the titular role. No one lives up to Andy’s performance, but Liam did do a great job.
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3. Mako Iwamatsu (Iroh), “Avatar”
The Last Airbender died during the show. During the episode, “Tales From Ba Sing Se” there is a segment called “The Tale of Iroh” which was some of (if not the last) voice work Mako did, which was really touching, since it was about his character saying goodbye to his dead son.
The episode was dedicated to Mako. For the remainder of the show, the part of Iroh was recast to Greg Baldwin, who was a friend and student of Mako.
I think he did his best to remain true to Mako’s voice acting style. Of course it wasn’t the same, though.
In The Legend of Korra, they named one of the main characters after Mako.
PangeaWhiplash
4. Heath Ledger (Tony), “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
After the death of Heath Ledger, production was shut down for a few months. Then it was re-started when Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell agreed to complete Ledger’s role. The film’s fantasy premise, and some clever rewrites, let the actors play a man whose appearance changes as he travels between imaginary worlds.
Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law gave all the income they received for this movie to Heath Ledger’s daughter Matilda so that her economic future would be secure.
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5. John Spencer (Leo McGarry), “The West Wing”
John Spencer died during filming of”The West Wing.” They had already filmed his acceptance of the Vice Presidential nomination, his campaigning, and a Vice Presidential debate. He died before they filmed the final couple of episodes leading up to election day.
In the show they had him die on election night before polls were closed. Members of the opposition actually blame his death for hypothetical “sympathy votes”. Then there’s a post-election story arc about how to go about naming his successor and if he can submit a name to the electoral college or if a senate confirmation is necessary. It was very well done.
Dunaja
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6. Katy Sagal’s Miscarriage, “Married With Children”
Katy Sagal, Peg, was pregnant in real life so they included it in the script. She lost the baby in real life so they made it look like Al had a bad dream.
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7. Bill Owen (Compo), “Last Of The Summer Wine”
When Bill Owen died in real life of cancer, Compo died on the show. The writers hastily wrote an episode to account for this. In it, Ivy shows up on Compo’s doorstep in a sexy costume. Compo unexpectedly collapses and is rushed to the hospital, but dies when the doctors are unable to save him.
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8. Christopher Evan Welch (Peter Gregory), “Silicon Valley”
Welch died of lung cancer while the first season was still being filmed. In the show, Peter goes away on an African Safari, only for Richard to find a story on the internet reporting on Peters tragic death. According to the article, a hippo entered Peters tent and Peter died while running away from it.
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9. Nicholas Colasanto (Coach), “Cheers”
[It wasn’t until a few episodes later that the show explained that] Coach had died. They hung a picture of Geronimo on the wall that Colasanto kept for luck.
It stayed on display until the final episodes last scene when Sam (Ted Danson) adjusted the picture as he left. Woody Harrelson replaced him on the show.
AaronWyo
10. Gloria Foster (The Oracle), “The Matrix” & “The Matrix Reloaded”
Foster, who played The Oracle in The Matrix & The Matrix Reloaded, died in 2001 after complications related to diabetes. In The Matrix Revolutions, Foster was replaced by Mary Alice. When Trinity and Morpheus claim that they dont recognize her, it is explained that she doesnt look the same because her code had been altered.
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11. John Ritter (Paul), “8 Simple Rules”
Ritter died suddenly while rehearsing for the second season of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. The show went on, though the series was retitled as 8 Simple Rules after Ritter’s death.
The character played by Ritter was not replaced, rather his absence was explained by having the character also die unexpectedly.
AteeqAhmed
12. Redd Foxx (Alfonso), “The Royal Family”
Redd Foxx died on the set of The Royal Family during a rehearsal break. Foxx died between the seventh and eighth episode. On the eighth episode a new character was brought in to help the family deal with the death of Al Royal, the character played by Redd Foxx.
AteeqAhmed
13. Marcia Wallace (Ms. Krabappel) “The Simpsons”
After Marcia Wallace died, the The Simpsons did a really heartwarming tribute. At that point in the show she and Ned were married and at the end of an episode the cut to him remembering her.
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14. Nancy Marchand (Livia), “The Sopranos”
Marchand died after Season 2. They used some combination of old footage, CGI, and old audio to construct one last awkward conversation between her and Tony early in the third season, and then her character died as well.
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15. Phil Hartman (Bill McNeal), NewsRadio
In May of 1999, Phil Hartman was tragically shot to death by his own wife. The TV show would later reveal that his character, Bill McNeal, died unexpectedly of a heart attack.
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16. Will Lee (Mr. Hooper), “Sesame Street”
Lee, who played the shows beloved store owner Mr. Hooper, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1982. In 1983, Sesame Street aired an episode called Farewell, Mr. Hooper in which the characters acknowledge his passing and bid their final goodbyes.
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17. Corey Monteith (Finn), “Glee”
In July, 2013, the actor was found dead in a Vancouver hotel room after he overdosed on heroin and alcohol. The show aired a tribute entitled called The Quarterback in which the cast pays an emotional tribute to their lost friend. The cause of his character Finns death is never revealed, but as Finns step-brother says, “Everyone wants to talk about how he died too, but who cares? One moment in his whole life I care more about how he lived.”
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18. Oliver Reed (Proximo), “Gladiator”
In May of 1999, while taking a break from filming, Reed died of a heart attack in the middle of a bar in Malta. The film had to be completed using both CGI techniques as well as a mannequin. Reed was posthumously nominated for a BAFTA award for Best Supporting Actor.
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19. Brandon Lee (Eric Draven), “The Crow”
Son of the legendary Bruce Lee, Brandon died when he was accidentally shot by a magnum revolver. The gun was loaded with an improperly deactivated cartridge, causing Michael Masse to accidentally shoot and kill his costar. The movie was still released, using a stunt double and special effects to complete the filming.
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20. John Candy (James Harlow), “Wagons East!”
Legendary comedian and actor John Candy tragically died of a heart attack in Mexico City, just days before the filming of Wagons East was completed. The remaining scenes were completed using script re-writes, and stand-in, and special effects.
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21. James Rebhorn (Frank Mathison), “Homeland”
In March of 2014, Rebhorn died after a long battle with skin cancer. The show opened Season 4 with sending Carrie to Pakistan, thereby diverting attention away from her relationship with her father. But she returns to the US at the end of Season 4, where she ultimately grieves the death of her father.
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22. Jerry Orbach (Lennie Briscoe), “Law & Order”
Orbach’s death wasn’t entirely unexpected, and he’d left the main Law & Order show before his death, but the series finale had a touching scene with Benjamin Bratt and S. Epatha Merkerson where they reminisced about him. Curtis talked about how he’d seen Lennie right before he passed, implying that the Briscoe character died on the show as Orbach had died in real life.
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23. Chris Benoit, WWE
Benoit was supposed to win a title belt at a PPV. When he didn’t show up, he was replaced in the match with John Morrison, who won the title instead. It was revealed that he had died on Monday afternoon, so that night’s episode of Raw was a memorial episode dedicated to him. It was then revealed that he murdered his family before killing himself and he’s since been completely erased from WWE history.
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24. David Strickland (Todd), “Suddenly Susan”
On March 22, 1999, David Strickland hanged himself in his hotel room in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the episode in which his character Todd Stities death is revealed, Susan is desperately trying to find him. She asks his neighbors and friends, and as she speaks to them, she learns how Todd positively affected all of those who knew him. As the episode comes to a close, Todds favorite song, Praise You by Fatboy Slim, begins to play. All of his friends sit in a circle praying for his well-being, and then someones phone begins to ring. The camera cuts before Todds fate is revealed.
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25. Leonard Pearce (Grandad), “Only Fools And Horses”
They could have brought in another actor to be the same character but instead they had a funeral for him and then introduced an uncle character in that episode.
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26. Stanley Kamel (Dr. Charles Korger), “Monk”
Stanley Kamel, who played Monk’s therapist, died between Seasons 6 and 7. They had an episode where Monk had to deal with getting a new therapist.
I thought it was very well done, it really captured the struggles that someone like Monk would go through during a tragedy like that.
Tigerbulldog13
27. Vadim Schneider (Sebastien) & Jaclyn Linetsky (Megan), “15/Love”
There was this early 2000s Canadian kids’ show called 15/Love about kids at a private tennis academy – typical school, competition, and crush dramas. But midway through the first season, two of the teen actors were killed in a car crash on the way to the set for the show – Vadim Schneider and Jaclyn Linetsky. After a one-episode gap, they wrote it into the show, saying the two characters had been killed in a plane crash coming back from a tournament, and IIRC had a final title card commemorating the actors.
I was watching the show as a teenager who’d never gone through serious loss before, and seeing all of these characters and actors grieve for their friends on screen just left me wrecked and ugly-crying.
SimplyTheWorsted
28. Bela Lugosi (Ghoul Man), “Plan 9 From Outer Space”
Bela Lugosi [in his bed of a heart attack in 1956]. The director, Ed Wood, hired his wife’s chiropractor, Tom Mason, as a stand-in for Lugosi, even though Mason was taller than Lugosi and bore no resemblance to him, making him one of the earliest “fake Shemps”. Narration from Criswell was also employed in an attempt to better link Lugosi’s footage with the rest of Plan 9. Every last scrap of material Wood had of Lugosi was utilized in the theatrical cut of the film, including what are minor sprocket discolorations, film trims that would in a normal film be discarded as unusable. Cuts of the film on VHS during the 80s and 90s, the vast majority unauthorized bootleg dupes, varied drastically not only in quality but also in the amount of Lugosi material retained.
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