List of television performers who died during production: Difference between revisions

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The following is a list of television actors who died during production of the television show in which they were appearing. In many cases, a show will handle the death of an actor by killing off their character or otherwise writing them out of the show. In other cases, the show may recast the part with another actor. In extreme cases, the show may be cancelled outright.

List

Actor	Character	Show	Number of appearances	Date of death	Cause of death	Season in production	Effect on production
John Hamilton	Perry White	Adventures of Superman		1958	Heart attack		Character killed off and replaced as Daily Planet editor by his brother, portrayed by Pierre Watkin.
George Reeves	Superman	Adventures of Superman		1959	Ballistic trauma to the head	6	Series cancelled.
Joseph Kearns	George Wilson	Dennis the Menace	100	1962	Cerebral hemorrhage	3	Character written out. With Season 3 episodes still in production, the character of Mr. Wilson does not appear in the first two episodes filmed after Kearns' death, with no acknowledgement of why; starting with the season's last six episodes of Season 3, the character of John Wilson (Gale Gordon as George's brother is introduced and will remain for the rest of the series' run. George (along with wife, Martha) are officially written out in the fourth-season premiere as having moved, and are not referred to again.
Alice Pearce	Gladys Kravitz	Bewitched	Approximately 60	1966	Ovarian cancer	2	Character recast with Sandra Gould filling the role, starting with Season 3. With Season 2 production still continuing, an interim character – Harriet Kravitz (Mary Grace Canfield), Gladys' sister-in-law – is used in the interim, with the explanation that Gladys and her husband, Abner, are on an extended vacation.
Smiley Burnette	Charley Pratt	Petticoat Junction		1967	Leukemia	4	Character retired without explanation, and replaced by Floyd Smoot (Rufe Davis) and later, Wendell Gibbs (Byron Foulger).
Bea Benaderet	Kate Bradley	Petticoat Junction	163	1968	Lung cancer	5	No on-screen acknowledgement was given, although Kate's absence (and possible death) is alluded to in passing in the 1968-1969 season finale wherein two of her daughters, Billie Jo and Bobbie Jo (Meredith MacRae and Lori Saunders, respectively) reply wistfully, "Mom taught us to swim in that very same water tower." Benaderet's character was replaced by Dr. Janet Craig, played by June Lockhart.
Arthur Leslie	Jack Walker	Coronation Street		1970	Heart attack		Character killed off.
Pete Duel	Hannibal Heyes (Joshua Smith)	Alias Smith and Jones	33	1971	Ballistic trauma to the head, self-inflicted	2	Character recast with Roger Davis, the series' narrator.
Dan Blocker	Hoss Cartwright	Bonanza	400-plus	1972	Pulmonary embolism following surgery	13	No on-screen acknowledgement was given, although Hoss' death is alluded to in at least two episodes. A previous character – Candy Canaday, played by David Canary – returns to the series to replace Hoss; however, Blocker's death was partially cited as a reason for the series' ratings going into decline in the fall of 1972 and eventual cancellation.
Roger Delgado	The Master	Doctor Who		1973	Traffic collision	10	Character regenerated.
Patricia Cutts	Blanche Hunt	Coronation Street	2	1974	Suicide by barbiturate poisoning		Character recast, role taken over by Maggie Jones.
Freddie Prinze	Chico Rodriguez	Chico and the Man	62	1977	Suicide	3	Episodes completed prior to Prinze's death were aired on schedule. The first aired episode after Prinze's death included an on-air acknowledgement from Jack Albertson (Prinze's co-star) thanking everyone for their kind words and outpouring of sympathy. For the rest of season three, Chico's absence is explained as being "away" (either on business or visiting his father), with completed scripts focusing on other characters used and Chico's lines either removed or rewritten for other characters. Starting with Season 4, Chico was replaced by a 12-year-old boy named Raul (Gabriel Melgar), while other characters initially continued to explain that Chico was away. Finally, in the very special episode "Raul Runs Away," aired January 20, 1978 (nearly one year after Prinze's death), it is explained that Chico had died but with no explanation of the circumstances. However, the ratings declined and, with Prinze's death a primary factor, the series was cancelled in the spring of 1978.^[1]
Diana Hyland	Joan Bradford	Eight is Enough	4	1977	Breast cancer	1	Character killed off before the beginning of the next season. Joan's death is addressed in the second-season premiere, and a new character, played by Betty Buckley, is introduced early in the second season.
Zara Cully	"Mother" Olivia Jefferson	The Jeffersons		1978	Lung cancer	4	Character killed off and addressed briefly in an early Season 5 episode.
Will Geer	"Grandpa" Zeb Walton	The Waltons		1978	Respiratory failure	6	Character killed off, with his death addressed in the seventh-season premiere.
Jack Soo	Detective Nick Yemana	Barney Miller		1979	Esophageal cancer	5	Character killed off. A special tribute episode, with Soo's castmates giving out-of-character tributes to him, was aired in the spring of 1979.
Jim Davis	Jock Ewing	Dallas		1981	Multiple myeloma	3	Character killed off after an extended absence.
Will Lee	Mr. Hooper	Sesame Street		1982	Heart attack	15	Character killed off, with his death addressed in a very special episode, aired almost a year after his death. Shows featuring Mr. Hooper that were taped prior to Lee's death were aired, with no acknowledgement of the reason for his absence from between his final aired appearance (in early 1983) until the airing of the "Goodbye, Mr. Hooper" episode on November 24, 1983.
Michael Conrad	Phil Esterhaus	Hill Street Blues		1983	Urethral cancer	4	Character killed off. Episodes completed prior to his death were aired, with the first episode completed after Conrad's death addressing Esterhaus' passing.
Jack Howarth	Albert Tatlock	Coronation Street		1984	Liver complaint		Character killed off.
Bernard Youens	Stan Ogden	Coronation Street		1984	Gangrene		Character killed off.
Toke Townley	Sam Pearson	Emmerdale		1984	Heart attack		Character killed off.
Jon-Erik Hexum	Mac Harper	Cover Up	7	1984	Ballistic trauma to the head, accidentally self-inflicted with a blank cartridge	1	Character killed off and replaced by Jack Striker, portrayed by Antony Hamilton.
Nicholas Colasanto	Coach Ernie Pantusso	Cheers		1985	Heart ailment	3	Character killed off at the beginning of the next season and replaced as bartender by Woody Boyd, portrayed by Woody Harrelson.
Dolph Sweet	Carl Kaniski	Gimme a Break!	88	1985	Cancer	4	Character killed off, and his character's death was addressed in the fifth-season premiere.
Selma Diamond	Selma Hacker	Night Court		1985	Lung cancer	2	Character killed off and addressed in the third-season premiere.
Samantha Smith	Elizabeth Culver	Lime Street	4	1985-08-25	Crash of Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808	1	Production initially continued, but series cancelled after airing only five out of eight episodes produced.
Florence Halop	Florence Kleiner	Night Court		1986	Lung cancer	3	Character killed off and addressed in the fourth-season premiere. Her successor was played by 32-year-old Marsha Warfield, who remained for the rest of the series run.
Ted Knight	Henry Rush	The Ted Knight Show		1986	Cancer	6	Series cancelled; production was to have resumed in September 1986, with Knight planning on returning to work.
Jim Henson	various Muppets, most notably Ernie (Sesame Street) and Kermit the Frog	Sesame Street		1990	Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome	21	Replaced by other Muppet performers, including Steve Whitmire (who assumed the roles of Ernie and Kermit).
Arthur Pentelow	Henry Wilks	Emmerdale		1991	Heart attack		Character killed off.
Redd Foxx	Alphonso Royal	The Royal Family	7	1991	Heart attack	1	Character killed off; show retooled before being cancelled at the end of the season.
Phil Hartman	Bill McNeal	NewsRadio		1998	Ballistic trauma, inflicted by his wife, Brynn Hartman	5	Character killed off at the beginning of the season in a tribute episode. Long time friend Jon Lovitz joined the cast for the fifth (and final) season.
Phil Hartman	Troy McClure, Lionel Hutz, et al.	The Simpsons	54	1998	Ballistic trauma, inflicted by his wife, Brynn Hartman		Major recurring characters of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz retired, occasionally being used in background shots.
Nancy Marchand	Livia Soprano	The Sopranos		2000-06-18	Lung cancer and emphysema	3	Character killed off.
Lynne Thigpen	Ella Mae Farmer	The District		2003	Cerebral hemorrhage	3
Lynne Thigpen	Luna the Moon	Bear in the Big Blue House		2003	Cerebral hemorrhage	4
John Ritter	Paul Hennessy	8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter		2003	Undiagnosed aortic dissection	2	Character killed off, with his death explained in a subsequent episode. A new character, portrayed by James Garner, was introduced to replace Ritter's character.
John Ritter	Clifford	Clifford the Big Red Dog	68	2003	Undiagnosed aortic dissection
Richard Biggs		Strong Medicine		2004	Aortic dissection
Jerry Orbach	Lennie Briscoe	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	2	2004	Prostate cancer	1	Character never seen again; character's off-screen death mentioned on other shows within the Law & Order franchise.
Stan Richards	Seth Armstrong	Emmerdale		2005	Emphysema		Character killed off.
John Spencer	Leo McGarry	The West Wing		2005	Heart attack	7	Character killed off with a heart attack; running mate Matt Santos (portrayed by Jimmy Smits) wins presidential election.^[2]
Christopher Allport	Andrew Campbell	Mad Men		2008	Avalanche	1
Stanley Kamel	Dr. Charles Kroger	Monk		2008	Heart attack		Character killed off with a heart attack and replaced as Adrian Monk's psychiatrist by Dr. Neven Bell, portrayed by Héctor Elizondo.
Clive Hornby	Jack Sugden	Emmerdale		2008	Hypoxia		Character killed off.
Maggie Jones	Blanche Hunt	Coronation Street		2009			Character killed off.
Elisabeth Sladen	Sarah Jane Smith	The Sarah Jane Adventures		2011	Cancer	5	Production suspended before the commencement of filming of three planned 2-part serials, resulting in an abbreviated broadcast season and leaving some story arcs and plot points unresolved.
Betty Driver	Betty Williams	Coronation Street	2,800-plus	2011	Pneumonia		Character killed off.
Larry Hagman	J.R. Ewing	Dallas		2012	Acute myeloid leukemia	2	Character killed off with two fatal gunshot wounds (a reference to the "Who shot J.R.?" cliffhanger of the original series), an episode revolving around his funeral, and an episode detailing his master plan.
Richard Thorp	Alan Turner	Emmerdale		2013			Character killed off.
Cory Monteith	Finn Hudson	Glee		2013	Heroin and alcohol overdose	5	Production delayed; character killed off in a special tribute episode without specifying cause of death.
Lee Thompson Young	Barold "Barry" Frost	Rizzoli & Isles		2013	Ballistic trauma, self-inflicted	4	Production suspended; fate of character and series to be determined.
Marcia Wallace	Edna Krabappel	The Simpsons		2013	Pneumonia	25	Character retired.

References

^ Snauffer, Douglas (2008). The Show Must Go on: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. McFarland. p. 78. ISBN 0-7864-3295-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
^ Steinberg, Jacques (April 10, 2006). "'West Wing' Writers' Novel Way of Picking the President". The New York Times. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

External links

10 Actors who Died During TV Shows

[1] Snauffer, Douglas (2008). The Show Must Go on: How the Deaths of Lead Actors Have Affected Television Series. McFarland. p. 78. ISBN 0-7864-3295-0. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

[nytimes-westwing-2] Steinberg, Jacques (April 10, 2006). "'West Wing' Writers' Novel Way of Picking the President". The New York Times. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)

[1]

@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 | [[Cerebral hemorrhage]]
 | 3
-| Character written out. The character does not appear in the first two episodes filmed after Kearns' death, with no acknowledgement of why. Starting with the last six episodes of Season 3, the character of John Wilson ([[Gale Gordon]]) replaces George Wilson, who – as explained in the Season 4 season premiere – has moved with Martha to an unknown location; no references to either George or Martha are made for the remainder of the series' run.
+| Character written out.  character does not appear in the first two episodes filmed after Kearns' death, with no acknowledgement of why  with the last six episodes of Season 3, the character of John Wilson ([[Gale Gordon]]  George       the        with Martha            are    .
 |-
 | [[Alice Pearce]]
@@ Line 47: / Line 47: @@
 | [[Ovarian cancer]]
 | 2
-| Character recast with [[Sandra Gould]] filling the role, starting with Season 3. An interim character – Harriet Kravitz ([[Mary Grace Canfield]]), Gladys' sister-in-law – is used in the meantime, with the explanation that Gladys and her husband, Abner, are on an extended vacation.
+| Character recast with [[Sandra Gould]] filling the role, starting with Season 3.  interim character – Harriet Kravitz ([[Mary Grace Canfield]]), Gladys' sister-in-law – is used in the , with the explanation that Gladys and her husband, Abner, are on an extended vacation.
 |-
 | [[Smiley Burnette]]

Revision as of 17:10, 4 March 2014

List

See also

References

External links