From "Harry Potter" To "Gilmore Girls" – 19 Times An Actor Dying Has Had A Serious Impact On A Film Or TV Show

"If I had to do it again, we would've stopped for a very long time and probably not come back."

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Film and TV creators have to deal with constant change, but sometimes they have to deal with serious tragedies like the death of an actor. It's not uncommon, and film and TV series tackle these in different ways.

So here are 19 times filmmakers and showrunners have dealt with the death of an actor:

1. Richard Harris as Albus Dumbledore – Harry Potter

Warner Bros. Pictures

One of the most famous cases of an actor's death mid-way through a film series is of course the sad passing of Richard Harris. When Richard sadly passed away in 2002, having fallen ill after filming The Chamber of Secrets, he'd already starred in the first two Harry Potter movies as Professor Dumbledore. So, the studio had a lot to think about – considering there were still five books to adapt from the hugely popular book series. 

They decided to go ahead and recast the Hogwarts headmaster with actor Michael Gambon. Michael's casting came alongside a change in director and the combination led to a darker, more eery film than the first two, a style that remained for the next six movies. 

Michael's portrayal of Dumbledore was entirely different from Richards's. While some fans could argue that Richard's was more similar to the book's description of the wizard, Michael still very much became Dumbledore to an entire generation of viewers.

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2. Cory Monteith as Finn – Glee

Fox

It undoubtedly came as a shock to everyone when Cory tragically passed away in 2013 having suffered from substance addiction. With Finn being such a prominent character, the show wrote his death into the plot in what was episode three of season five, titled "The Quarterback." 

The emotional goodbye, which began with New Directions performing "Seasons of Love" at Finn's funeral, didn’t include a cause of death for Finn. Kurt instead said, "Everyone wants to talk about how he died too, but who cares? One moment in his whole life — I care more about how he lived." They'd filmed the episode just a month after Cory's death which cast and crew remember being incredibly difficult.

Despite the show going on for almost two whole seasons more, writer Ryan Muphy believes they probably should have ended it after Cory's passing. Here's what Ryan said: "If I had to do it again, we would've stopped for a very long time and probably not come back."

Here's Rachel's reaction in "The Quarterback"

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3. John Ritter as Paul Hennesy – 8 Simple Rules

ABC

The awful death of John Ritter was heartbreaking and also such a shock. After falling ill on the set of 8 Simple Rules, John was taken to hospital and passed away. Kaley Cuoco, who played John's daughter on the show, recalled how hard it was to deal with it, and talked about coming onto set the next day: "Everyone was just crying, bawling and then people started telling stories."

As one of the core characters, and being so irreplaceable, the show wrote-in Pual Hennessy's death, making for a highly emotional episode where the family had to begin dealing with his death. 

The show continued for one more season after John's death, but it decided to cancel it after that, fans would agree that it just wasn't the same without the brilliance of John.

Here's the emotional scene they all find out:

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4. Paul Ritter as Sam Dorian – Scrubs

NBC

It wasn't just 8 Simple Rules that had to deal with John's death – his talents were spread across a number of shows, and before he passed away he was also playing JD's father in Scrubs. 

Sadly, John only appeared as Sam in two episodes, but he was fantastic in both, and the show had plans for John to become more involved in the show, with Sam featuring more regularly. We'd have loved to see John become a more prominent character because the few scenes he had were hilarious. 

The show addressed the character's death, with Sam's death leading to J.D's brother, Dan becoming depressed and bath-bound.

5. Carol Ann Susi as Mrs Wolowitz – The Big Bang Theory

CBS

Sitcoms often choose to write in the real-life tragedies that occur, particularly considering the quick and reactive writing schedule. This was also the case with Howard's mother, Mrs Wolowitz, in The Big Bang Theory. 

When Carol sadly died in her sleep, the writers were faced with a decision. Unlike most cases of an actor dying, in this case, the audience had almost never seen her appear on the screen (apart from one brief moment in season six). She’d instead become a classic side character, mainly from comically shouting down to Howard at home, offscreen.

However, like Scrubs, they decided to write the death of Howard's mother into the script, leading, of course to the emotional journey that Howard went on, including having to eat all of her last bits of cooking as the freezer defrosted. 

Here's the scene when we find out:

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6. Nancy Marchand as Livia Soprano – The Sopranos

HBO

After a long battle with illness, Nancy sadly died in 2000 after two seasons of the show, and at a time when Livia and Tony's relationship was a prominent storyline, with Livia being a frankly abusive matriarch. Upon her passing, there was obviously no way they could recast her, and as it was between seasons, fans thought they'd have her pass in her sleep. 

This is what they eventually did, but not before they made the strange decision to CGI her onto a body double in order to give her and Tony's relationship more of a completion. The result (as it was rather poor CGI) was clunky, quite cringey, and in the end probably unnecessary. 

Here's the goodbye including the CGI:

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7. Oliver Reed as Antonius Proximo – Gladiator

Universal Pictures / DreamWorks Pictures

Ridley Scott's award-winning epic also had to deal with the loss of a cast member prior to wrapping up, when Oliver sadly died in a pub. Apparently, Oliver had promised not to drink while shooting the film, which clearly wasn't successful. 

Screenwriter David Franzoni described what happened in the bar, saying: "He’s in this bar in Valletta and this British destroyer is anchored in the bay and the crew comes in. He challenges the crew to some sort of drinking debauch. He drinks some, passes out and dies. I still have his bar tab, by the way."

Oliver played a crucial role as a former gladiator who buys and trains Maximus. His death meant that they had to rewrite the script and, instead of using a body double, they decided to digitally graft his face onto that of an extra and used previously shot takes to support these digitally imprinted scenes. 

Here's the digitised scene:

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8. Luke Perry as Fred Andrews – Riverdale

Netflix

When the Riverdale star suffered a stroke from which he died in 2019, the show was determined to give him and his character a fitting tribute. It was the season four premiere where the other characters pay their respects to Luke and his character Fred. 

Respectfully, Luke's family were consulted as much as possible in the writing of the episode, and they even read the full script beforehand. Furthermore, the pictures of Fred that Mary looks through were real photos of Luke that his family had provided. 

The fitting tribute also included a guest appearance from Shannen Doherty, who Luke had talked about getting on the show since season one. The episode was a tear-jerker alright, but it was also well and respectfully done. Riverdale continued until season six, with its final season in the works already.

9. Anton Yelchin as Jim Lake Jr. – Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia

Netflix / Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images

Anton's fatal accident in 2016 was shocking and awful. Anton left behind a number of completed and unfinished projects – including one of his final movies Star Trek Beyond which was released a month after his tragic death. 

What he hadn't finished, however, was his lead role in Guillermo del Toro's Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia, where he voiced Jim. Anton had recorded two seasons of the show before he died, and when the time came to record season three, they decided to recast the role, and it was Emile Hirsch who stepped in. Here's what he said about taking over:

“This is super personal for me. After my friend and fellow actor Anton Yelchin tragically passed away far before his time a couple of years ago, the creators of the Netflix show Trollhunters approached me about taking over what had been Anton's role of voicing Jim Lake Jr. It was important to them to have someone play Jim who was connected to Anton."

The show acknowledged the voice change in the scene below. 

Here's the voice change:

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10. Edward Herrmann as Richard Gilmore – Gilmore Girls

The WB / The CW

When a revival of Gilmore Girls called Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was on the cards, one tough thing to consider was how to handle the death of Edward, who played Richard Gilmore, two years earlier. 

Being such an important character, the writers felt like they had to address it, and we all agreed that it was the right thing to do, however sad it was. The death of Richard, although leaving Emily, Lorelai, and Rory devastated, also made them enter a new chapter of their lives while giving Edward and Richard the send-off they deserved. 

11. Paul Walker as Brian O'Conner – Fast and Furious

Universal Pictures

Paul's tragic death in a fatal collision was during a period of time-off filming Fast 7. Famously, Paul's brothers Caleb and Cody stepped in to help complete Paul's final movie, as Paul's face was projected onto their bodies in the final scenes left to film. 

Perhaps the most famous scene where the technique was used is the emotional farewell scene, with him and Vin Diesel's Toretto driving off down separate roads as they each go their own directions after showing a touching tribute to Paul. 

Paul's character, Brian remains alive in the Fast universe, however, and has been referenced in the movies since his death. 

Here's the scene:

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12. Marcia Wallace as Edna Krabappel – The Simpson

Michael Buckner / Getty Images / Fox

Marcia's role as Edna Krabappel, for which she won an Emmy, was a regular and iconic character in Springfield. Sadly Marcia passed away in 2013, and her death was acknowledged a month after on the show – as Bart wrote "we'll really miss you Mrs K" on the chalkboard.

Edna never had an on-screen death, however, seven years after Marcia's death she and Edna were given a real tribute. The reason for this was addressed by AL Jean: "she was so beloved by everybody that worked on The Simpsons, that we just sort of wanted to give her one last moment on the show in her memory." 

The show did include several scenes with Edna after Marcia had died, with previously recorded material, with the permission of the estate of course. 

Here are her posthumous scenes:

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13. Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau – Trail of The Pink Panther

United International Pictures

Peter's hilarious performances as Clouseau have made him synonymous with the famous inspector. By the time of his passing he'd appeared in a number of Pink Panther movies, but, oddly enough he would go on to appear in one made two years after his death. 

Trail of The Pink Panther starring Peter Sellers came out in 1982, with Peter having passed away 18 months before production. The filmmakers used clips that had been discarded and not made it into the previous movies in order to stitch together a film that they called a tribute to Seller's genius.

The film was poorly received, however, particularly by Seller's wife, who ended up suing the movie, and was awarded $1 million in damages.

14. Philip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee – The Hunger Games

Lionsgate

Philip's tragic death, which occurred as a result of a struggle with addiction, came when he'd almost wrapped filming the final two movies of the Hunger Games Sage. In fact, there were only seven days left, but it still significantly affected some important scenes. 

They were forced to change certain scenes, in one instance giving the lines that would have been Philip's to Woody Harrelson’s via a letter. They obviously also had to reduce the screen time for Philip's character, which Frances Lawrence regretted, saying: “I regret to have that … label of it being his last film. Because obviously, there’s not quite enough of him in it. I would have liked his role to be larger.”

In order to make certain scenes work, they also employed some digital tricks and cut together some unused footage as well. 

15. Marlon Brando as Jor-El – Superman Returns

Warner Bros. Pictures

One of Marlon's many famous roles was his portrayal of Superman's father in the 1978 film, Superman: The Movie. So, in 2006, when director Bryan Singer was making Superman Returns, he as planned the return the screen of his father, and for that, he needed Marlon.

Sadly, Marlon's death in 2004 prohibited Bryan from filming any new footage, but that didn't stop him. With the help of various bits of unused footage from the previous Superman films, they were able to digitally insert Marlon into the movie.

Here's how they did it:

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16. Andy Whitfield as Spartacus – Spartacus

Starz

Andy was sadly forced to step back from his role as Spartacus after season one, due to his ongoing battle with an illness that would eventually take his life. Starz made the decision to recast the role but felt like they needed Andy's approval. 

On the decision to recast, and the process of doing so, Chris Albrecht had this to say: "Since no one can really replace Andy, we realized that we should instead find an actor who can truly lead Spartacus forward. It was important to us to have Andy endorse the idea of recasting this part, which he did in the same heroic manner that he's dealt with his whole ordeal."

They brought in Liam McIntyre to take over the role in his own way, and Spartacus ran for two more seasons, coming to an end after its third. 

17. Peter Crushing as Grand Moff Tarkin – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Peter starred in the 1977 film, Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope as Grand Moff Tarkin, but it wasn't until 2016 in Rogue One that we'd see the character again (due to what happens in A New Hope). 

Peter sadly passed away in 1994, but 22 years on he'd be appearing in another Star Wars movie. They used Guy Henry as a body stand-in for Peter and then used facial movement trackers in order to animate photos of Peter, all with the consent of the estate of course. 

The use of these methods posthumously has come under a fair amount of fire, however, with people questioning the ethics of such a process. The Visual effects supervisor, John Knoll rejected the notion that they were doing anything unethical or disrespectful, saying: “We weren’t doing anything that I think Peter Cushing would’ve objected to. I think this work was done with a great deal of affection and care." 

Here's a clip of the digitalisation:

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18. Will Lee as Mr Hooper – Sesame Street

NET / PBS

Will played Mr Hooper from the creation of the show in 1969. When he sadly passed away midway through the 14th season of the show, the writers waited until a very specific date to deal with it on the programme itself. 

In fact, they waited until Thanksgiving to tell viewers about the death of Mr Hopper, as Donna Williams of Public Broadcasting Service explained: 'It's a family day. Parents would be there with their kids to answer questions.''

The show had a sequence where they explained Mr Hopper's death to Big Bird, and carefully described what death is and the thoughts and emotions that come with it. Producer Fran Kaufman said about being so frank about it: ''Sesame Street has always been honest and direct, not sugar-frosting on real life.''

Here's the episode:

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19. Christopher Allport as Andrew Campbel – Mad Men

AMC

Christopher's character, Andrew Campbell, was set to become a recurring role in Mad Men, but he ended up only appearing in one episode. Christopher died in a skiing accident in 2008, the writers decided it was right for his character to die with him. 

They had Andrew die on an American Airlines flight and they revealed afterwards that he had squandered his wife's fortune. 

How else have shows and movies dealt with the sad deaths of their actors? Let us know in the comments.

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