TV Shows Where The Main Character (in real life) Died

[bpatrick]

Rebecca Schaeffer (sp?)  My Sister Sam
IIRC, she was murdered.

[Ultimajock]

Rebecca Schaeffer (sp?)  My Sister Sam
IIRC, she was murdered.

...that series had been off the air for over a year by the time Schaeffer was murdered...

[cwf1701]

Jerry Orbach, Law and Order:Trial By Jury.

[MattParker]

As long as we are expanding the topic to included regulars or featured players, let's also include people who left a show because they were dying (and knew it):

William Frawley - My Three Sons
Allen Ludden - Password
Gary Moore - To Tell the Truth

[easttxtv]

Jim Davis (Jock, Dallas)


Lots of this over the years in daytime:

Don McLaughlin (Chris, As the World Turns)
Helen Wagner (Nancy, ATWT)
Michael Zaslow (Roger, Guiding Light)
Charita Bauer (Bert, GL)
MacDonald Carey (Tom, Days of Our Lives)
Frances Reid (Alice, Days)
Frances Heflin (Mona, All My Children)
James Mitchell (Palmer, AMC)
Ruth Warrick (Phoebe, AMC)
Hugh Marlowe (Jim, Another World)
Brent Collins (Wallingford, AW)
Constance Ford (Ada, AW)
Douglass Watson (Mac, AW)

[Tim from Springfield, IL]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned these two yet:

Cheers: Nicholas Colasanto ("Coach") (d. Feb. 1985)

Sesame Street: Will Lee (Mr. Hooper aka "Mr. Looper" by Big Bird) (d. Dec. 1982)

Also on "Sesame Street," Northern Callaway, who played David (who succeeded Mr. Hooper as the owner to Hooper's Store) passed away himself in 1990, but IIRC the script mentioned that he "moved to his grandmother's farm" (and his death was not mentioned).

[Tim from Springfield, IL]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned these two yet:

Cheers: Nicholas Colasanto ("Coach") (d. Feb. 1985)

Sesame Street: Will Lee (Mr. Hooper aka "Mr. Looper" by Big Bird) (d. Dec. 1982)

Also on "Sesame Street," Northern Callaway, who played David (who succeeded Mr. Hooper as the owner to Hooper's Store) passed away himself in 1990, but IIRC the script mentioned that he "moved to his grandmother's farm" (and his death was not mentioned).

Also for "Sesame Street," one could go as far to include Jim Henson in this list (he died May 16, 1990--the same day as Sammy Davis Jr.).  At the same time, "Muppet Babies" was still airing on CBS Saturday mornings.

Another cartoon voice who passed away while his show was on the air:

Wuzzles (CBS 1985-86, ABC reruns '86-87): Bill Scott, the voice of Moosel.  I have seem some claims that more episodes of the "Wuzzles" than the original 13 were to be produced for a second season in 1986 (and there were additional Wuzzle characters that came out in dolls and books than the original 6 that IMO probably would have been introduced to the show had there been a second season), but never occurred after Scott's death.

[azumanga]

Petticoat Junction--Bea Benaderet

In her case, I would also include "The Flintstones", where Bea was the voice of Betty. After her death, Gerry Johnson replaced Bea as Betty.

[landtuna]

Will Geer - The Walton's (1978)

[hipman2]

Jack Soo ("Barney Miller") 1979
Diana Hyland ("Eight is Enough") 1977
Dan Blocker ("Bonanza") 1972