These celebrity deaths sent shockwaves throughout the entertainment industry. For this list, we’ll be looking at various television stars who passed away while their show was still in production.
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00:00Is that what you think? Well, if that is what you think, I have something to tell you, something
00:07that may shock and discredit you.
00:09Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the 20 TV stars who tragically
00:15died during production.
00:17I'm sitting here talking to a dumb frog.
00:19Thanks a lot.
00:20I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm awfully sorry about that.
00:23You just alienated all the frogs out there.
00:26For this list, we'll be looking at various television stars who passed away while their
00:30show was still in production.
00:32Do you remember your reaction to these shocking bits of news? Let us know in the comments.
00:39Lynn Figpen
00:40The District
00:42This actress is probably best remembered as the chief from the PBS game show, Where in
00:47the World is Carmen Sandiego?
00:49Carmen Sandiego and her slew of slippery sleazoids have struck again.
00:54This time they did the dreadful deed in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
00:58From the year 2000, she starred as Ella May Farmer in the CBS drama The District, which
01:04follows the small team of the Washington's police department.
01:08Figpen had filmed nearly all of the third season of The District before suddenly dying
01:13of a cerebral hemorrhage in March of 2003.
01:17She was 54 years old.
01:19Ella May was killed off on the show in response, with her character suffering a sudden stroke.
01:24Hello.
01:28Hello.
01:32Nancy.
01:34Chief.
01:38Ella's dead.
01:40The District aired one more season without Figpen before concluding in May 2004.
01:47Christopher Evan Welch
01:48Silicon Valley
01:50Throughout the first season of Silicon Valley, Christopher Evan Welch portrayed billionaire
01:55investor Peter Gregory.
01:56Here's what we will do.
01:58Monica, have one of the assistants go to the nearest Burger King location and purchase
02:05one of everything.
02:06Peter often clashes with rival billionaire Gavin Belson, and the two are both after an
02:11algorithm created by a man named Richard.
02:14Unfortunately, Welch was informed shortly after shooting the pilot that the stage 3
02:19lung cancer he had previously defeated was back, and had metastasized to his brain.
02:25Shortly after shooting the fifth episode of the season, the cancer claimed Welch's life,
02:30and he died at age 48.
02:32His character, in turn, passed away on a trip to the Serengeti.
02:36He was the smartest, shrewdest, strangest man I've ever known.
02:44I can't believe that he's gone.
02:47Miguel Ferrer
02:49NCIS Los Angeles
02:51Not only was Miguel Ferrer's death incorporated into NCIS Los Angeles, but so was his illness.
02:58Ferrer started playing Owen Granger in 2012, and appeared in over 100 episodes of the show.
03:04Around here we call him Granger Grumpy Pants or Hare Giesmeister.
03:08Assistant director will suffice moving forward.
03:11Oh, where were you on that one?
03:13Thanks for the heads up.
03:15Unfortunately, he was eventually diagnosed with throat cancer.
03:19To explain Ferrer's increasing hoarseness, his character also developed terminal cancer.
03:24The actor's final appearance is in the eighth season episode Payback, and, after his passing,
03:30he was permanently written out of the show in the following episode.
03:34Owen flees the hospital in which he's staying, and leaves behind a goodbye note for Hedy.
03:39Later on in season 9, it's confirmed that Owen died of his cancer.
03:44He died leaning up against the tree.
03:47Looking out at the valley.
03:49Nancy Marchand, The Sopranos
03:52A brilliant actress, Nancy Marchand portrayed one of the worst mothers in television history,
03:58Livia Soprano.
03:59Stop telling me how to live my life. You just shut up.
04:03I just worry about you.
04:04And don't start with that nursing home business again.
04:08Livia was one of the primary antagonists of the first two seasons of The Sopranos,
04:13and Marchand earned acclaim for her performance, including a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
04:19Livia's role was greatly diminished in the second season, as Marchand was growing increasingly ill.
04:25On June 18, 2000, she passed away from both lung cancer and emphysema.
04:30Her death was written into the third season episode Prochai Levushka,
04:34in which Livia is said to have died from a sudden stroke.
04:38She didn't want a funeral.
04:40She didn't want a remembrance of any kind.
04:42Why?
04:45She didn't think anybody would come.
04:46Her character was physically gone,
04:48but she continued to haunt her son Tony throughout the remainder of the series.
04:52Literally.
04:53Adam West, Family Guy
04:56While everyone knows Adam West as the campiest Batman,
04:59he also earned enormous popularity for playing comical versions of himself in various animated shows.
05:05Perhaps his greatest work was in Family Guy, in which he played the town's aloof mayor.
05:10I love this job more than I love taffy.
05:14And I'm a man who enjoys his taffy.
05:19West clearly had a ton of fun with the role, and he stuck with it to the very end.
05:24West passed away from leukemia in June of 2017 at the age of 88.
05:29He had recorded five future episodes of Family Guy prior to his death,
05:33and his character was written off for good in the 17th season episode Adam West High.
05:38Oceans apart, day after day,
05:44and I slowly go insane.
05:49Nicholas Colasento
05:51Cheers
05:52Following Raging Bull in 1980, Nicholas Colasento was preparing to hang up his acting hat.
05:58He had recently been diagnosed with heart disease and was having difficulty finding steady work due to his failing health.
06:04However, the role of coach Ernie Pantuso fell into his lap,
06:08and Colasento remained a regular on the show for three seasons.
06:12The whole league talked about the blind man who played shortstop for Topeka.
06:16Ernie, you're all confused.
06:18They called me the blind man because I sold Venetian blinds door-to-door during the off-season.
06:23His health declined even further as the series progressed,
06:27and his co-stars noticed both his weight loss and the difficulty he was having remembering his lines.
06:33Still, no one knew just how bad it was.
06:36Colasento died at the age of 61 on February 12th of 1985.
06:41Coach was written out of the show and replaced with Woody Harrelson's character, Woody Boyd.
06:46I'm a friend of coach's. Is he around?
06:49I'm sorry, Woody. I guess you hadn't heard.
06:51No, uh, coach passed away a couple months ago.
06:55But yeah, I'd like to think he's still around.
06:57Larry Hagman, Dallas.
06:59J.R. Ewing is one of the best villains in television history,
07:03and he was played to perfection by Larry Hagman.
07:06Who's there?
07:09Come on.
07:19Hagman appeared in every episode of Dallas, and he later starred in the 2012 TNT revival.
07:25Tragically, he was diagnosed with stage 2 throat cancer a year or so before the series premiered.
07:31He went into remission, but was later diagnosed with a type of blood cancer
07:35that developed into acute myeloid leukemia.
07:38He died from the disease on November 23rd, 2012 at the age of 81,
07:42and J.R. Ewing was subsequently killed off in the second season episode,
07:46The Furious and the Fast.
07:48Just remember, I'm proud of you.
07:51You're my son.
07:53From tip to tail.
07:57Thank you, daddy.
07:59That means a whole lot for me to hear you say that.
08:01Bill Paxton, Training Day.
08:04Back in 2017, CBS aired a follow-up to Antoine Fuqua's acclaimed crime drama,
08:10with Bill Paxton playing a morally corrupt cop
08:13comparative to Denzel Washington's character in the movie.
08:16This franchise officially closed due to numerous fire code violations.
08:20You think it's easy maintaining a professional standard down here?
08:23Yeah, well, as a great philosopher once said,
08:27Mo' money, mo' problems.
08:30The series debuted on February 2nd, 2017
08:33and made it just four episodes in before Paxton tragically passed away.
08:38He had undergone open-heart surgery to repair a faulty valve.
08:41The surgery was not a success, and Paxton suffered from fatal complications,
08:46including severe artery damage.
08:49Almost two weeks later, he died from a stroke.
08:52The remaining nine episodes of Training Day were aired
08:55before it was ultimately canceled.
08:57I don't give a rat's ass what these people do to each other.
09:00They just killed six of our own,
09:02so I'm gonna make damn sure they never see the inside of a courtroom.
09:04Red Fox, The Royal Family
09:07Red Fox was a provocative comedian who gained fame throughout the 1960s
09:11owing to his raunchy style of humor.
09:14He later found success on television
09:16by starring in the likes of Sanford and Son and The Royal Family.
09:20What's the matter with you?
09:21Them coffins, ain't they?
09:22Of course they're coffins, but they can't hurt you, Pop.
09:24Listen, come over here.
09:25Don't bother me.
09:26Would you come over here?
09:27The latter sitcom was created by Eddie Murphy
09:29and aired on CBS from 1991 to 92.
09:33On October 11th of 1991, Fox suffered a heart attack during rehearsals
09:38and dropped to the ground.
09:40His character on Sanford and Son was known for faking heart attacks,
09:44so everyone on set thought that he was doing a bit.
09:47However, it quickly became obvious that something was seriously wrong.
09:51Fox was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.
09:54Without him, the show rapidly dropped in ratings and was canceled.
09:59You mean to tell me you're going to sit there
10:01and defy the man that made love to you last night?
10:03Rolling over on me accidentally in your sleep ain't my idea of making love.
10:07Steve Irwin, Ocean's Deadliest.
10:10Few nature presenters have attained the enormous popularity of Steve Irwin.
10:15She's a little bit grumpy, this girl.
10:17You have, you know what, you have shockingly little control over that animal.
10:21Yeah, really, this animal has the capacity to, um...
10:25You're an idiot!
10:29I can't help it.
10:30This man impressed a generation with The Crocodile Hunter,
10:33which aired to great acclaim from the late 90s to the 2000s.
10:37Unfortunately, Irwin's dangerous line of work eventually got the best of him.
10:42He was filming a documentary called Ocean's Deadliest
10:45when he was pierced in the chest by a stingray and died of exsanguination.
10:49And that's left Australia a country in mourning.
10:52At Irwin Zoo, flowers and will-wishes.
10:55Even the Prime Minister left in shock.
10:57It's a huge loss to Australia.
11:01He was a wonderful character.
11:03The documentary was finished without Irwin
11:05and aired on both Animal Planet and the Discovery Channel in January of 2007.
11:10Over 300 million people tuned in to watch his memorial service online.
11:15Freddie Prince, Chico and the Man.
11:18Today, Freddie Prince's name is remembered through his famous son, Freddie Prince Jr.
11:23Before then, however, he was a popular actor from the NBC sitcom Chico and the Man.
11:28He played the titular character Chico Rodriguez,
11:31who works with Jack Albertson's Ed Brown in an East Los Angeles garage.
11:36When you get out of here, go back to your own neighborhood.
11:38This is my neighborhood.
11:40I grew up watching this garage run down.
11:42In late 1976, Prince's wife filed for divorce and left the actor despondent.
11:47Two months later, Prince took his own life.
11:50The third season of Chico and the Man concluded without Prince
11:54and would air one more season with a replacement character named Raul.
11:58However, the ratings plummeted without Chico
12:00and the show was canceled after its fourth season.
12:03It came to pass that the world got onto a bad trip.
12:06I mean, every dude was crude, lewd, and rude.
12:11People used to go into the art museums and throw mud on the paintings
12:14just so they could sit around looking at dirty pictures.
12:17Luke Perry, Riverdale
12:20Luke Perry is best remembered as Dylan McKay on Beverly Hills 90210,
12:24but he enjoyed a career resurgence in 2017
12:27when he started playing Fred Andrews, Archie's dad in Riverdale.
12:31I got a call from your coach today.
12:33He's under the impression that you can't play varsity football
12:36because I'm making you work for me.
12:39Which is odd because you made it seem like you couldn't work for me
12:42because you were playing football.
12:44In February 2019, the show was in the midst of its third season
12:48when Perry suffered a massive debilitating stroke
12:51that put him on life support.
12:53About a month later, he had a second stroke
12:56and his family decided to let him go peacefully.
12:59He was 52 years old at the time of his death.
13:02Riverdale mirrored his passing in the season four premiere
13:05where Fred dies in a hit-and-run.
13:07The episode was dedicated to Perry's memory
13:09and his Beverly Hills 90210 co-star Shannon Doherty
13:13even made an appearance to pay her respects.
13:15Are you Archie?
13:17How do you know my name?
13:21Your father told me.
13:22Cory Monteith, Glee
13:24Finn Hudson was one of the breakout characters on Glee,
13:28but unfortunately, Cory Monteith only stayed with the show for four seasons.
13:34It's my life, it's now or never
13:39I ain't gonna live forever
13:42The young actor struggled with a substance use disorder
13:45throughout most of his life.
13:47In fact, Monteith's role was briefly diminished in the fourth season
13:51so that he could receive treatment.
13:53Just two months after the season four finale, however,
13:56Monteith died of a fatal drug overdose.
13:59Production on Glee was briefly delayed
14:01and Finn was given a touching goodbye in the quarterback.
14:04Seasons of love
14:13This episode was reportedly very difficult to film
14:16and many supporting actors requested that they be included in the episode
14:20to honor Monteith's legacy.
14:22John Spencer, The West Wing
14:24In 2002, John Spencer won the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series
14:30for playing White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry in The West Wing.
14:34I'm Leo McGarry.
14:36Yes, sir.
14:38I wanted to meet you and I wanted you to meet me.
14:42Yes, sir.
14:43The actor's six-year tenure on the show came to an end in 2005
14:48when he passed away from a heart attack just four days shy of his 59th birthday.
14:53In response, the character of Leo McGarry was written out of the show
14:56and died off-screen, also from a heart attack.
14:59Leo?
15:01Leo!
15:03Somebody help me!
15:05Call 911!
15:07He's down! He's down!
15:09The West Wing carried on for just a few more episodes
15:12before officially coming to an end with the seventh season finale on May 14, 2006.
15:18Mary Kay Bergman, South Park
15:21For the first three seasons of South Park,
15:23Mary Kay Bergman served as the show's primary female voice actress.
15:27She voiced the likes of Sharon and Shelley Marsh,
15:30Wendy Testerberger, and Leanne Cartman, among many others.
15:35I want to know where I came from.
15:37Oh. Hmm.
15:39Well, you see, Eric, sometimes when a man and a woman are attracted to each other,
15:45they want to be close to each other.
15:48Uh-huh.
15:49However, you won't find Mary Kay Bergman in the credits.
15:52Instead, she was going by the stage name Shannon Cassidy
15:55in an effort to remain anonymous due to her work as the official voice of Disney's Snow White at the time.
16:01Bergman suffered from both bipolar disorder and anxiety,
16:05and she hid this from everyone.
16:07Sadly, her mental health only worsened after her mom was diagnosed with cancer,
16:11and on November 11, 1999, Bergman took her own life at the age of 38.
16:17Wendy!
16:18Hi, Stan!
16:19You said we were going to be Raggedy Ann and Andy, remember?
16:22Yeah.
16:23We were going to enter the costume contest as a pair.
16:25I know, but then I guess I just realized how stupid we would look.
16:30You what?
16:31John Eric Hexham, cover-up.
16:33In 1984, model-slash-actor John Eric Hexham began playing Mac Harper on the CBS action series Cover-Up.
16:42Well, the pay here will be better.
16:44That is, if you get the job.
16:47Well, I don't know if I want the job. What is it?
16:49I thought you said you were up to a challenge.
16:51Well, the guy on the phone said it wouldn't be the usual kind of stuff you people do here.
16:55For one scene, Hexham was given what he believed to be a prop gun filled with blanks.
17:00To amuse himself during a lapse in filming, he played Russian roulette with it.
17:04The gun was actually a functional .44 Magnum,
17:07and when he put the gun to his temple and fired the shot,
17:10the wadding from the blank went right off into his head.
17:13The damage was extensive, and Hexham experienced brain death.
17:18The nursing supervisor here at the hospital tonight told me that Hexham is on a ventilator,
17:22that he needs that to stay alive.
17:24At the same time, the hospital is saying that tomorrow a major announcement,
17:27a decision will be made on Mr. Hexham.
17:29The speculation tonight is that he would be taken off that machinery.
17:33He was eventually taken off life support, and his organs were donated to those in need,
17:37including a five-year-old child who required a kidney.
17:41Cover-Up continued without him and was canceled after just one season.
17:45Andy Whitfield – Spartacus
17:48Throughout the first half of 2010, Andy Whitfield starred as the historical gladiator Spartacus
17:54in the first season of Spartacus titled Spartacus, Blood and Sand.
17:58There can be but one man.
18:00Spartacus!
18:02The season concluded in April of 2010,
18:05just one month after Whitfield was diagnosed with stage 4 non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
18:11The second season, Spartacus Vengeance, was already in production,
18:15but was subsequently delayed following the tragic news.
18:18Whitfield defeated the cancer in June of 2010,
18:21but it returned the following September.
18:23It was then that Whitfield stepped down from the role,
18:26and Liam McIntyre was recast as Spartacus.
18:29Whitfield passed at age 39 on September 11, 2011.
18:38John Ritter – Eight Simple Rules
18:40One of TV's most beloved actors, John Ritter famously starred as Jack Tripper on Three's Company.
18:47The last show he worked on was titled Eight Simple Rules,
18:51where Ritter played an overprotective father named Paul Hennessy.
18:55Sack lunches? Only losers bring their lunches to school.
18:58I brought a sack lunch every day all throughout college.
19:01Loser.
19:03On September 11, 2003, Ritter was rehearsing a scene
19:07when he started to experience severe chest pain and vomiting.
19:11He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was treated for a heart attack,
19:14then found to have aortic dissection.
19:17Despite attempts at surgery, Ritter died that night in the hospital.
19:21As for Eight Simple Rules, the character of Paul Hennessy
19:24was said to have collapsed in a grocery store.
19:26It's just so unfair.
19:28Honey, nobody said life was fair.
19:31I know that. I know that life isn't fair,
19:34but nobody told me it was going to be this cruel.
19:36Jim Henson, Sesame Street.
19:39This legendary puppeteer is known for creating the Muppets
19:42and turning Sesame Street into a national phenomenon.
19:45How's your love life?
19:47What?
19:49How's my love life?
19:51How's your love life?
19:52Listen, I work on Sesame Street.
19:53You don't ask a frog questions like that.
19:55While his work greatly expanded throughout the 70s and 80s,
19:58Henson remained tied to Sesame Street for the rest of his life.
20:02While Henson voiced a plethora of Muppets,
20:04his two biggest characters were Kermit and Ernie.
20:07Henson passed away in May of 1990
20:09under very swift and surprising circumstances.
20:12He had complained of a sore throat and fatigue,
20:15and in less than two weeks, he was coughing up blood.
20:18When he arrived at the hospital,
20:20it was only a few hours until he died from toxic shock syndrome,
20:23which resulted from a bacterial infection.
20:26Voice actor Steve Whitmire subsequently took over the roles
20:29of Kermit and Ernie and voiced them for decades.
20:32This is Kermit the Frog, and I'm here to find out
20:35why Oscar the Grouch likes public television.
20:38I don't like public television.
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20:56Phil Hartman, news radio and The Simpsons.
21:00Phil Hartman's voice can be recognized anywhere.
21:03This legendary comedian played both Troy McClure
21:06and Lionel Hutz on The Simpsons,
21:08and he appeared in over 50 episodes
21:10of the history-making program.
21:12Uh-oh. We've drawn Judge Snyder.
21:15Is that bad?
21:16Well, he's had it in for me ever since I kinda ran over his dog.
21:20You did?
21:21Well, replace the word kinda with the word repeatedly
21:24and the word dog with son.
21:27During the mid-'90s, Hartman also starred
21:29as the arrogant Bill McNeil on the NBC sitcom NewsRadio.
21:33Tragically, both roles were cut short,
21:36as Hartman was killed by his wife
21:38in the early morning hours of May 28, 1998.
21:41He was 49 years old.
21:43Hartman's character on NewsRadio was killed off,
21:46and his characters on The Simpsons were honorably retired.
21:50Was it just me, or did Dave's eulogy really suck?
21:53Totally suck.
21:55I think maybe Dave wanted the eulogy to be so good
21:58he just tried a little too hard and lost perspective.
22:00Is that why it was 2 hours and 17 minutes long?
22:24I don't know.