-
(#1) 8 Simple Rules
- Katey Sagal, Kaley Cuoco, Amy Davidson
What Happened in Real Life: Star and sitcom legend John Ritter died in 2003 from an undiagnosed aortic dissection.
What Happened on the Show: The comedy series premiered its second season with the three episodes Ritter had already filmed, then after a month hiatus, Ritter's character is said to have died following a heart attack while shopping for milk at the grocery store. The show only lasted one more season.
-
(#2) Monk
- Tony Shalhoub, Bitty Schram, Ted Levine
What Happened in Real Life: Actor Stanley Kamel died of a heart attack in April 2008, filming his last episodes in season 6.
What Happened on the Show: Kamel's character, Monk's therapist Dr. Charles Kroger, also dies of a heart attack and is replaced by a new therapist. The show lasted for two more seasons. -
(#3) NewsRadio
- Dave Foley, Stephen Root, Andy Dick
What Happened in Real Life: Saturday Night Live alum Phil Hartman was shot to death by his wife while he was sleeping in May 1998. The fourth season of NewsRadio had already wrapped at the time of his death.
What Happened on the Show: Hartman's character is said to have died of a heart attack in the first episode of Season 5, and his character is replaced by one played by Jon Lovitz. Due to poor ratings and reviews, the show only lasted one more season.
-
(#4) Sesame Street
- Jim Henson, Frank Oz, Caroll Spinney
What Happened in Real Life: Actor Will Lee, who played the beloved Mr. Hooper, died from a heart attack in December 1982.
What Happened on the Show: An episode called "Farewell, Mr. Hooper," which aired a year of Lee's death, acknowledges that Mr. Hooper had passed, with the other adults explaining death to Big Bird. As of 2019, the show is in its 50th season.
-
(#5) The Sopranos
- James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco
What Happened in Real Life: Lung cancer took the life of Nancy Marchand, who played the feisty Livia Soprano, during the second season in 2000.
What Happened on the Show: In a rare move, the producers used CGI and existing footage to give Livia one final scene before the character dies in her sleep in the third season. The show went on to win numerous awards and lasted for a total of six seasons before ending as one of the most-loved shows in HBO history.
-
(#6) Suddenly Susan
- Joan Rivers, Brooke Shields, Ali Larter, Kathy Griffin, Judd Nelson, Sherri Shepherd, Eric Idle, Nestor Carbonell, Barbara Barrie, Andrea Bendewald, David Strickland, Rob Estes, Currie Graham, Lindze Letherman
What Happened in Real Life: David Strickland, who played rock music reporter Todd Stities, took his life in March 1999.
What Happened on the Show: The producers of Suddenly Susan decided to deal directly with Strickland's death on the show, but in an ambiguous manner. His character disappears in the third season finale, leading Susan and others to look into his absence. The episode ends without revealing what happened to the character, but an ominous phone call hints at the truth and footage of Strickland is shown. The fourth season saw a large chunk of the original writers, producers, and actors leave the show. Suddenly Susan only lasted a little longer - it was canceled after Season 4.
-
(#7) The West Wing
- Martin Sheen, Rob Lowe, Allison Janney
What Happened in Real Life: The West Wing's White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry was played by actor John Spencer, who died of a heart attack during the show's final and seventh season.
What Happened in the Show: Strangely, the McGarry character also suffers a heart attack, on election night, though he recovers. Actor and West Wing President Martin Sheen read a tribute to John Spencer before one of the show's final episodes.
-
(#8) The District
- Craig T. Nelson, Roger Aaron Brown, Sean Patrick Thomas
What Happened in Real Life: Actor and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego host Lynne Thigpen died suddenly from a cerebral hemorrhage during the third season of The District.
What Happened on the Show: Thigpen's character, Ella Farmer, dies suddenly in an episode shot about three weeks after her funeral. The show lasted for one more season. -
(#9) Cheers
- Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman, John Ratzenberger
What Happened in Real Life: Veteran actor Nicholas Colasanto played the charming "Coach" Ernie Pantusso on Cheers. Colasanto died of a heart attack during the show's third season.
What Happened on the Show: At the start of Season 4, "Coach" dies. In the episode, Woody Harrelson's character, who is Coach's successor, is also introduced. Cheers ran for 11 seasons and is considered to be one of the greatest sitcoms of all time.
-
(#10) Hill Street Blues
- Daniel J. Travanti, Michael Warren, Bruce Weitz
What Happened in Real Life: Michael Conrad played veteran cop Sgt. Phil Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues and was famous for his catchphrase "Let's be careful out there." He died from urethral cancer during the fourth season in 1983.
What Happened on the Show: In a surprising twist, Conrad's character dies on the show while having sex. The show lasted for seven seasons.
-
(#11) The Royal Family
- Naya Rivera, Redd Foxx, Della Reese, Larenz Tate, Jackée Harry, Barry Shabaka Henley, Mariann Aalda
What Happened in Real Life: The legendary Redd Foxx died in 1991 of a heart attack while rehearsing the first season of his comeback bid, The Royal Family.
What Happened on the Show: His character Al dies, as well, and is remembered fondly in a tribute episode. The Royal Family switched gears and tried to continue without Foxx but was canceled by the end of its first season.
-
(#12) Glee
- Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison
What Happened in Real Life: Glee's Cory Monteith died of an overdose in 2013.
What Happened on the Show: The character of Finn Hudson also dies, but the cause of death is not mentioned. The third episode of the fifth season opens three weeks after his funeral. Glee lasted for six seasons, with the high school auditorium named after Finn in the series finale.
-
(#13) Adventures of Superman
- George Reeves, Noel Neill, Bill Kennedy
What Happened in Real Life: It's debatable. Officially, George Reeves - the titular Superman - took his life. A lot of people - including his mother - think he may have been murdered.
What Happened on the Show: Because Reeves passed shortly after the show was renewed for a seventh season but before they began filming it, the death of Reeves was also the death of the show.
-
(#14) Dallas
- Larry Hagman, Ken Kercheval, Patrick Duffy
What Happened in Real Life: Jim Davis played Jock Ewing on the prime-time soap opera Dallas. Davis died in April 1981 during the fourth season from complications of surgery for a perforated ulcer.
What Happened on the Show: His character's disappearance was not explained for another season, when Jock Ewing dies in a helicopter crash.
-
(#15) The Waltons
- Jon Walmsley, Mary Beth McDonough, Eric Scott
What Happened in Real Life: Will Geer, who played Grandpa Walton on the hit series, died of respiratory failure in 1978 after filming Season 6.
What Happened on the Show: Grandpa Walton dies, as well, between Seasons 6 and 7. His character is mourned in the first episode of Season 7. The Waltons continued for nine total seasons.
-
(#16) Barney Miller
- Hal Linden, Abe Vigoda, Steve Landesberg
What Happened in Real Life: Jack Soo (Detective Nick Yemana on Barney Miller) died of cancer in early 1979 during the middle of season five.
What Happened on the Show: Breaking the fourth wall, Soo's castmates raised their coffee cups in tribute to the character in a special retrospective episode. Barney Miller ran for a total of eight seasons.
-
(#17) Chico and the Man
- Charo, Freddie Prinze, Della Reese, Jack Albertson, Scatman Crothers, Ronny Graham
What Happened in Real Life: Freddie Prinze - the titular Chico - took his life in 1977. Chico and the Man was in the middle of Season 3.
What Happened on the Show: This one is a doozy: the final episode with Prinze in it was taped just a few hours before Prinze's death. The show continued without him, explaining that the character moved to Mexico. A new character was introduced to take his place, but low ratings meant the show was quickly canceled in Season 4.
-
(#18) Gimme a Break!
- Nell Carter, Kari Michaelsen, Lara Jill Miller
What Happened in Real Life: Dolph Sweet ("Chief" Kanisky on Gimme a Break!) died of cancer in May 1985 after Season 4.
What Happened on the Show: The widower Kanisky also dies at the beginning of Season 5. The show lasted for six seasons.
-
(#19) Night Court
- Harry Anderson, John Larroquette, Richard Moll
What Happened in Real Life: Selma Diamond (the chain-smoking Selma Hacker on the show) died of lung cancer in May 1985 after the end of season two.
What Happened on the Show: Bailiff Selma Hacker is replaced with bailiff Florence Kleiner, played by actor Florence Halop, who also later died of cancer. She was replaced by Roz Russell (Marsha Warfield), who stayed with the show for the remaining seasons.
-
(#20) Passions
- Lindsay Hartley, McKenzie Westmore, Galen Gering
What Happened in Real Life: Actor David Bailey (the evil Alistair Crane on Passions) drowned in November 2004 after only a few months on the show.
What Happened on the Show: The role was simply recast, played by soap star John Reilly, who initially auditioned for the role against Bailey.
New Random Displays Display All By Ranking
About This Tool
Fictional characters can always exist in our memory. However, for real actors, this is not the case. They are as susceptible to age and disease as ordinary people. There have been many sad moments. Many actors passed away during the production of TV shows, and they never had the opportunity to watch their performances on the screen. The sudden death of a cast member often affects the production and filming progress of the show, this requires the coordination of the screenwriter, director, and other crew members to perfect it.
Moreover, in addition to the professional necessities that may change the storyline or delete the dead actor from certain scenes, directors, producers, and staff must also deal with feelings of loss and sadness. The random tool tells 20 untimely cast member tragic death and how the TV shows dealt with.
Our data comes from Ranker, If you want to participate in the ranking of items displayed on this page, please click here.