Top 10 TV Stars Who Tragically Died During Production

saying goodbye to beloved TV characters is hard enough saying goodbye to beloved actors is even harder welcome to watchmojo.com and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 actors who died during their TV shows I really loved how he made me laugh for this list we'll be looking at the actors who tragically passed away while their TV shows were still running their co-workers not only mourn their loss but also had to get back to shooting the show without them that means making the character disappear killing them off replacing the actor or in some unfortunate cases canceling the series altogether since this list we'll be talking about many TV deaths a spoiler alert is in order what is it now mrs. Wolowitz number 10 Freddie Prinze Chico and the man let me take a look at the remains Freddie Prinze jr. is a well known film and television actor whose father Freddie Prinze was the star of the hit sitcom Chico and the man playing Chico come on flies let's go however at the age of 22 and only ten months after his son was born he put a gun to his head and shot himself in front of his business manager and I don't mind being a mechanic it's an honorable profession there's never been a Watergate to feel the tire rotation Prince had been dealing with depression for some time which was worsened by his drug use and by his wife filing for divorce the show continued for another season after his death with a 12 year old character named Raul introduced to fill the void left by Prince's death eventually Chico's passing was addressed in an emotional two-part episode and the show left the air after its fourth season he made me want to become a comedian and you know that and I've told you how much I father meant to me number nine Cory Monteith Glee speeding really hard it still feels like yesterday that the world collectively mourned the loss of this young actor who in 2013 was found dead from a drug overdose in a Vancouver hotel room for up to me we wouldn't have mandatory bi-weekly afternoon Locker chat I've never seen that before mr. Shue I swear it's not my fans not only cried over Cory's death they cried for his co-star Lea Michele who was also his real-life girlfriend production was delayed for several months until it was agreed that his character Finn Hudson would have to be killed off the show though his characters cause of death was never revealed an episode titled the quarterback aired as a tribute to him Finn was constantly remembered throughout the final two seasons including the glee series finale in which the school's auditorium was renamed in his honor to Finn Hudson auditorium number eight John Spencer the West Wing everything all right [Applause] yeah John Spencer had been a series regular on this political drama since its pilot episode he played Leo McGarry who starts out as the White House chief of staff and ends up eventually running for vice president the Republican Congress's attitude is if it ain't broke don't fix him his broker however after Spencer died of a heart attack in 2005 it was written that his character suffered the same fate before he could assume office the Emmy award-winning actor was loved and certainly missed by the actors he worked with fellow cast member Kristin Chenoweth even sang at his funeral and series star Martin Sheen read a special tribute at the start of episode 10 in the show's final season Johnny it seems we hardly knew you we love you and we miss you number 7 Mary Kay Bergman South Park besides the obvious what do the female characters on this controversial adult animated sitcom have in common not allowing our kids to watch this show is not enough we need to boycott the entire network well many were originally voiced by Mary Kay Bergman initially she was credited as Shannon Cassidy in order to avoid causing any problems with her other job as the voice of Snow White for Disney however Bergman unfortunately suffered from depression and bipolar disorder you saw some boy things got so bad for her that in 1999 after attending an event celebrating the 45th anniversary of Disneyland she returned home and shot herself other voice actresses were found to replace Bergman's characters but will never forget who gave life to the original Sharon and Shelley Marsh mrs. McCormick's wendy testaburger mrs. Cartman and Sheila Broflovski [Music] number six John Eric hexam cover-up I'm here for my lesson there's a lot of downtime for actors on set when they're not filming free time is often spent rehearsing or taking much-needed naps but sometimes there is nothing to do but sit and wait unfortunately young model and actor John Eric hexam found a deadly way to relieve his boredom during a lull in filming you expect me to walk through the hotel with our rope and a grappling hook man he decided to play around with a gun being used for a scene that contained a blank assuming it was harmless it wasn't he shot himself in the head with the blank causing significant brain damage and resulting in his death hexam's character was the male lead of the show so a new character and actor were brought in to replace him but the series was cancelled later in the season [Music] number 5 Nicolas Colasanto cheers on cheers Colasanto played coach Ernie Pantuso a bartender and the former baseball coach of lead characters Sam Malone listen we don't mean to intrude here you girls waiting for your husband's no neither of us is married coach was always around to lend Sam a sympathetic ear Edie offers some well-meaning though often addled advice look when you were a drunk and nobody told ya I told her you were a drunk good night I told you over and over and over again well you really were a drunk saying when Carlos Santo died of a heart attack at age 61 no one wanted to recast coach so they decided to send the character off to that great baseball diamond in the sky that's when woody harrelson joined the cast as the new bartender and coaches pen pal in the show's fourth season who arrives in town only to find out that his friend has passed away number 4 Andy Whitfield Spartacus [Music] whitfill portrayed the title character Spartacus the badass gladiator on the show's first season champion but when he discovered that he'd been diagnosed with non-hodgkin lymphoma production for season 2 came to a halt and II was eventually told he was cancer-free so filming began anew however he later found out that his cancer had resurfaced where's your world where is the world in order to be fair to the show and he graciously gave them permission to recast his role and Liam McIntyre took over since Andy Whitfield died the following year in 2011 he was technically no longer involved with Spartacus but his illness did impact the show and his absence was felt among his castmates your wound scratch first afterwards number three Jim Henson Sesame Street mr. Hoover's death in 1982 was a sad moment for Sesame Street Big Bird when people die they don't come back but an even bigger blow was saying goodbye to the voice of Kermit the Frog Jim Henson who was known for creating and bringing to life everyone's favorite amphibian worked on Sesame Street for 20 years Henson also came up with and voiced an array of other characters like Ernie you and me did you ever think of that you and me that makes two in the spring of 1990 he started experiencing flu-like symptoms but delayed going to a hospital for several days ultimately by the time he did go it was too late Henson died from toxic shock syndrome oh I'm good at Ryan's I do a rhyme all the time Henson's sudden death inspired many memorable tributes and while other voice actors took over his characters Henson's Kermit was unique and has never been forgotten obvious for victory and for very confused and so this is this is an eye tilted or it could be the number one but whatever it is it is not what it was a couple of minutes ago number two John Ritter 8 simple rules for dating my teenage daughter my case you may have known him from the hit 70s sitcom Three's Company but at the time of his death he was starring in another funny show in eight simple rules for dating my teenage daughter Ritter played an overprotective father of three teenagers you lost interest in soccer like that yeah the third grade the coach wouldn't let me play little I was afraid to send you in viewers were saddened to hear that Ritter had passed away during surgery for heart complications he suffered while on set his character Paul in turn died suddenly and two episodes were devoted to the aftermath of his death oh my god it says hi hi dad the kids grandpa and cousin CJ we're characters brought in to fill the void but Paul's absence was always felt and often brought up in future episodes before we reveal our number one pick here are some honorable mentions [Music] nobody could roll over you accident my mouth shut like a mute number-one bill Hartman The Simpsons and news radio I'm your host Troy McClure you may remember me from such films as the erotic adventures of Hercules and dial M for murderous Ness you may remember Phil from such shows as The Simpsons and Newsradio no this isn't a scheme we're really sinking his bill McNeal on the latter was a hilarious portrait of an egomaniac while his work on The Simpsons is also treasured by fans as he voiced characters like Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz with all due respect mrs. Simpson you're not a doctor the boys not a doctor I'm not a doctor the only person in this room who even comes close is this man there were even discussions about a live-action film about Troy McClure but those discussions were ended by the events of the night of May 27 1998 two creatures every creature even stink beetles especially stink beetle that's when Hartman's wife shot him in his sleep after an argument later killing herself as well his characters on The Simpsons were retired in the wake of his death bill mcneal was killed off of News Radio with a heart attack and Phil Hartman went down in history as one of the comedy greats what you need to invest as a team we can do it do you agree with our list which actors death hit you the hardest sesame seed they only grow in certain micro climates for more sentimental top 10s published every day be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com how would they know I'm not family unless they do DNA test [Music]

Channel: WatchMojo.com

Views: 6,619,270

Keywords: top 10, list, top 5, celebrity deaths, deaths, actor deaths, actors who died during TV shows, TV, television, actors who died during production, actors, Phil Hartman, The Simpsons, Jim Henson, Sesame Street, South Park, Mary Kay Bergman, NewsRadio, Cheers, Nicholas Colasanto, John Ritter, 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter, Cory Monteith, Glee, John Spencer, The West Wing, Andy Whitfield, Spartacus, Jon-Erik Hexum, Cover Up, Freddie Prinze, Chico and the Man

Id: R9H74Ws9a9I

Length: 13min 12sec (792 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 19 2016