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(#2) Cory Monteith
- Dec. at 31 (1982-2013)
Cory Monteith died in 2013 at the age of 31 from a drug overdose. He passed before the start of Season 5 of Glee. Initially, producers opted to delay shooting the new season so they could figure out how to handle Finn Hudson's storyline. They opted to not mention Finn's death until the third episode of the season, after the two-part Beatles premiere episode. In the end, producers ultimately decided not to reveal exactly how Finn died.
In a move that mirrored real life, Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) sang the tear-filled "Make You Feel My Love." Finn's stepbrother Kurt said during the show's opening scene, "Everyone wants to talk about how he died, but who cares? It's one moment in his whole life." The show's lack of closure regarding Finn's death was met with some fan outrage. Glee's co-creator Ryan Murphy explained the producer's tough decision on how to deal with Finn's death: "How somebody died is interesting and maybe morbid, but we say very early on in the episode, 'This is about a celebration of that character's life.' That might be weird for some people, but it felt really exploitative to do it any other way."
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(#12) Diana Hyland
- Dec. at 41 (1936-1977)
Diana Hyland passed away in 1977 at the age of 41 due to complications from breast cancer. At the time of her death, she was playing matriarch Joan Bradford on the comedy Eight is Enough. Hyland only appeared in four episodes of the first season before falling ill. After her death, the producers opted to write her character out for the remainder of the season. At the beginning of Season 2, it is revealed that family patriarch Tom has become a widower.
He meets a schoolteacher/tutor and is married during a TV movie special in 1977. Eight is Enough remained on the air for five seasons.
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(#5) Nicholas Colasanto
- Dec. at 61 (1924-1985)
Nicholas Colasanto, who played the slow-witted but beloved Coach on Cheers, died from a heart attack in 1985 at the age of 61. Colasanto passed just before Season 3 wrapped on the NBC sitcom. The show never really explained exactly what happened to Coach. There is a scene during the Season 4 premiere where Sam simply tells Diane that Coach died.
Woody Boyd (Woody Harrelson) arrives from small town Indiana to visit his pen pal, Coach, not knowing that he has died. After Woody is told of his friend's death, Sam offers him a job at the bar. The sitcom remained on the air for a total of 11 seasons.
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(#7) John Spencer
- Dec. at 59 (1946-2005)
John Spencer died in 2005 at the age of 59 from a heart attack. At the time of his death, Spencer played Chief of Staff Leo McGarry on the political drama The West Wing. During Season 6 of the show, McGarry suffered a heart attack, a move by the writers that echoed Spencer's real-life heart issues.
McGarry recovers from his heart attack and runs as a vice-presidential running mate with Congressman Matt Santos on the presidential ticket. In real life, John Spencer passed away on December 16, 2005, and West Wing writers decided to change the planned narrative. On the night of the election, McGarry dies in his hotel room of a heart attack. Originally, Vinick/Sullivan was supposed to win the election, but the writers opted for the Santos/McGarry victory by a slim 30,000 vote margin in Nevada. It made McGarry the posthumous Vice President.
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(#10) Freddie Prinze
- Dec. at 23 (1954-1977)
Freddie Prinze, Sr., died in 1977 from a self-inflicted bullet wound to the head. The actor/comedian was filming the television show Chico and the Man at the time of his death. For most of Season 3, characters simply explain that Chico is away on business or visiting a relative.
The trend continues the following season, until the two-part episode titled, "Raul Runs Away," which airs almost one year after Prinze's sudden death. The episode reveals that Chico has passed; however, no explanation is given. The show was cancelled later that same year.
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(#8) Larry Hagman
- Dec. at 81 (1931-2012)
Larry Hagman died in 2012 at the age 81 from acute myeloid leukemia. At the time of his death, Hagman was once again playing oil tycoon J.R. Ewing in the revival drama Dallas. Ewing, this time around, is killed by two gunshot wounds.
J.R.'s funeral takes place during the eighth episode of the second season, and several of the show's original cast members attended. Following Hagman's death, the writers reworked the rest of the show's second season to focus on who shot J.R., a homage to the famous cliffhanger from the original series.
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No one can foresee death, some people can live life smoothly, and some people suddenly pass away at a young age. The tragic deaths of many outstanding actors on set obviously brought great shock and regret to the film and television industry. In addition to the grief of losing their lives, the deaths of these actors also left trouble for the directors and production team. Because they died unexpectedly during the filming of the movie or TV shows.
Film and television are with extremely high visual requirements in the entertainment industry. In order to create realistic and sophisticated scenes, actors often take risks and even die. Here the random tool lists 15 tragic deaths of famous actors that finally became storylines. Directors and crew staffs tried their best to perfect the plots.
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