20 Real Life Deaths That Were Written Into a TV Program

When an actor or actress dies during filming, it's then decided that their death should be written into the show. Of course, the cast will be devastated that they lost a fellow cast member. Acacia Deadrick, writer for MSN.com page Yardbarker, compiled this list of real life passings that were written into the TV shows

1. Cory Monteith

-Glee

-He played Finn Hudson. After he had died from a mixture of heroin and alcohol, resulting in an overdose. The writers of the show chose to honor his life in a touching episode called "The Quarterback". One of the songs the cast sung on that episode was James Taylor's "Fire and Rain"

2. George Cleveland

-Lassie

-He played Grandpa. While the show was still in its early seasons, George Cleveland died of a heart attack. His character was said to have died in the show. The writers honored his life with a funeral episode

3. Glenn Strange

-Gunsmoke

-He played Sam Noonan. He joined the cast later on. He was diagnosed with lung cancer and eventually lost his battle with the disease. The show's writers didn't immediately address that he had died. They chose to reveal that his character had passed

4. John Spencer

-The West Wing

-He played Leo McGarry. While filming the show, he suffered a massive heart attack and died. When fans learned of his death, they were devastated. It was written into the show that his character died during his bid for the presidency

5. John Ritter

-8 Simple Rules

-He played Paul Hennessy. He suffered a massive cardiac event and was rushed to the hospital, but died en route. His death was written into the show. It was turned into a two part episode, one part where his character passes and the other part paying tribute to him

6. Nancy Marchand

-The Sopranos

-She played Livia Soprano, Tony's headstrong, manipulative mother. When she died in real life from lung cancer, her character's death was written into the show. A CGI version of her was used during a final exchange between her and her son Tony

7. Will Geer

-The Waltons

-He played Zebulon Tyler Walton. Will Geer died from respiratory complications in the late 1970s and his death was written into the show. The characters said their tearful goodbyes to Grandpa Zebulon in the season 7 premiere

8. Karl Swenson

-Little House on the Prairie

-He played Lars Hanson. During the show, he suffered a heart attack and passed away. His death was written into the show and stated that Lars died from an undisclosed illness. Since the show was set in a time when people could die from simple illnesses that now have a cure, it was believable

9. Jim Davis

-Dallas

-He played Jock Ewing. In 1981, he lost his battle with cancer. His character was not present on the show for a time, but it was said on the show he died in a helicopter crash

10. Will Lee

-Sesame Street

-He played Mr. Hooper. He was a much beloved character on the show. He passed away from a heart attack in 1982. Several episodes aired without his character, but the writers used his passing as a way to say goodbye to his character and teach children about death and mourning in a very touching way. It turned out to be a very good episode

11. George Segal

-The Goldbergs

-He played Albert "Pops" Solomon. George underwent surgery in 2021 and died as a result of complications that arose. Writers included his passing in the show and wrote it into the season 9 opening episode to pay tribute to him

12. Carrie Fisher

-Family Guy

-She appeared as Angela. While her character was not a recurring one, the show paid tribute to Carrie Fisher by saying her character Angela died in an accidental drowning. Peter Griffin, one of the main characters, gave a beautiful eulogy that paid deep respect to both Angela and Carrie

13. Linda Porter

-Superstore

-She played Myrtle. She passed away in 2019 after a long battle with cancer. Her character was stated to have passed, but the cause was not mentioned. The Cloud 9 employees paid tribute to her with a hilarious but also touching moment when they think about all the moments that they had with Myrtle

14. Luke Perry

-Riverdale

-He played Fred Andrews. Writers wrote in Luke Perry's death as a car accident that kills Fred Andrews in Season 4. In real life, Luke Perry died from a stroke. The rest of the episode has the characters exploring the concept of death, mourning, loss and grief

15. Kristoff St. John

-The Young and the Restless

-He played Neil Winters. He appeared in just under 1,700 episodes of the show, making him a regular cast member. On the show, it was said he died of a stroke on the show. In real life, he passed away from heart disease in 2019

16. Adam West

-Family Guy

-He provided his own voice as Mayor West. Many thought it was in bad taste to pay tribute to Adam West's passing two years on the show after he really died. Adam West died of cancer in 2017, but his character was not written out until 2019

17. Carrie Fisher

-Catastrophe

-She played Mia. Carrie Fisher died in 2016 from a heart attack. Her death was written into the show. It was said her character also died from a heart attack

18. Carol Ann Susi

-The Big Bang Theory

-She provided the voice of Debbie, Howard's mother. You never saw her, but you often heard her arguing with Howard, saying things like "Close the door. You'll let all the bugs in!" with Howard responding back sarcastically "The only reason they would come in is because you're their queen!" or "Who's there? Is that a sex criminal?" and he would respond "Nobody wants to do that to you, ma!" Their arguments were often one of the funniest parts of the show

-Carol Ann Susi died in 2014 from cancer, and writers wrote her death into the show. Howard is at the comic book store with his friends when he gets a call from relatives. He finds out that his mother, who had gone down South to visit relatives, had gone to lay down for a nap and never woke up. The paid touching tributes to Susi and explored how Howard handled losing his mother in addition to how he handled life after losing a parent

19. Christopher Evan Welch

-Silicon Valley

-He played Peter Gregory. Suffering from lung cancer, he finally lost his battle in 2013. His death was written into Season 2 and honors his life with a funeral for the character

20. Christopher Allport

-Mad Men

-He played Andrew Campbell. He died when an avalanche hit him head on. The writers wrote his death into the show, saying he died in a plane crash. The entire episode was dedicated in loving memory to Allport

White Line Fever by Lemmy Kilmister and Janiss Garza

This autobiography allows Ian Fraser Kilmister, better known to the world as "Lemmy", to tell the story of how he came to be the front man for one of the loudest bands in the world, Motorhead. This book is hilarious in some parts, sweet in some parts and he does not mince words-he tells it as it is, no matter who it might offend

-He was born Ian Fraser Kilmister on December 24, 1945 in the city of Burslem, in Stoke-on-Trent, England. He grew up an only child in the city of Colwyn Bay in Wales. As he got older, he often ran into trouble at school, as a result of not wanting to follow orders from the teachers. He states the reason he got into music was to meet girls. Sure enough, when he got old enough, he bought himself a guitar and suddenly girls started noticing him

-Some of the first bands he played in included the Rocking Vicars, Opal Butterfly and Hawkwind. He worked as a roadie for Jimi Hendrix and he firmly states Jimi was one of the nicest guys he's ever met. He talks about seeing The Beatles live and how he was just blown away. He said The Rolling Stones were okay, but for him The Beatles were better

Opal Butterfly

The Rocking Vicars (the internet has the name spelled incorrectly)

-He had a short stint with Hawkwind, and that he was fired from the band for possessing cocaine. He states it was not cocaine, but amphetamine. He was crossing the border into Canada with the band and border patrol caught him. After testing the narcotics found on him, it came up positive for cocaine. He states the members of Hawkwind had been looking to fire him anyway. This now gave him an opportunity to form a new band, which he named Motorhead after the last song he wrote with Hawkwind, which was "Motorhead". He discovered that this was an American slang term for a meth user

-Some of the earliest members of Motorhead included Larry Wallis, Lucas Fox. He finally settled on Phil Taylor for drums and Eddie Clarke for guitar. They made quite a few albums, including Ace of Spades, Bomber, Iron Fist, Another Perfect Day. When Eddie left the band, according to Lemmy, Eddie left and came back multiple times, Brian Robertson of Thin Lizzy joined the band. Lemmy states Brian would dress oddly on stage, dressing in a way that heavily clashed with the look Motorhead was known for. Phil left for a short time in the mid 1980s, which meant a new drummer came in, one named Pete Gill. When Brian Robertson left, in came another guitarist named Michael Burston, who went by the nickname Wurzel. Lemmy often nicknamed Phil Taylor Clumso because he was so uncoordinated. Because of this, Phil ended up in a hospital almost everywhere they went. Lemmy jokes that they should have written a book about all of the hospitals Phil ended up in

Larry Wallis

Lucas Fox

"Philthy" Phil Taylor

"Fast" Eddie Clarke

Put the three together and you get Motorhead

Brian Robertson

Pete Gill

Michael Burson, aka "Wurzel"

-Lemmy is strongly supportive of women in music. He had wanted to make a song with Tina Turner, but never got the chance. Over time, he became good friends with all female hard rock band Girlschool. He states he would go to bat for them. It turned out that Girlschool and Motorhead were on the same label, Bronze Records, so that is how Girlschool ended up opening for and even touring with Motorhead

-He jokingly said one time he was ill and was told that his blood was so toxic that actual human blood would kill him. He was told that because of all the substances in his blood that fresh, pure human blood would actually do more harm than good

-As the 1980s progressed to the 1990s and 2000s, Lemmy would state that he and the band seemed to have issue after issue with management and labels until they found one that finally worked for them. As usual, they would record their albums and the fans would be happy, but the labels they were on were not pushing the album as the band had hoped. The band would also change lineups, bringing in new guitarist Phil Campbell and new drummer Mikkey Dee. Lemmy would see Phil Campbell leave and come back multiple times and Mikkey would be hard to understand when he talked sometimes due to his heavy Swedish accent

Phil Campbell

Mikkey Dee

-Towards the mid to late 2000s, Lemmy's health started declining. People started noticing how painfully thin he was getting. He was diagnosed with diabetes, meaning he had to strongly cut back on his iconic Jack Daniel's and Coke and he had to start taking better care of himself. He was doing good after a while, but he ended up getting diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He went in to his room at home to lie down for a while and never woke up. When the news of Lemmy's death hit the media, fans all over the world mourned his passing

Spongebob: Battle for Bikini Bottom (2003)

This game, for the PlayStation 2 system and other systems, involves Spongebob, Patrick and Sandy battling robots!

-You can pick up pairs of Golden Underwear to extend your life

-Regular pairs of white underwear are your lives. When those run out, you die and return to the game

-Pick up socks and give them to Patrick in exchange for Golden Spatulas

-Golden Spatulas are the rewards for completing missions

-Collect shiny objects and give these shiny objects to Mr. Krabs to get Golden Spatulas

-If you hit the Select button on the controller, you can go to the map, where you can choose to go to certain mission areas if you have the Golden Spatula

-When you see a sign with a ?, hit the button rotating above it to read them. The button rotating above it depends on the game system you are using. For PlayStation 2, the button is R1. You can also see and use the R1 button you see floating above people to talk to them

-Break the tikis to get shiny objects

-You'll need a certain amount of Golden Spatulas or shiny objects to unlock new areas. It will state how many are needed to unlock each new area over the taxi stand or next to a giant clam. Paying the golden spatulas or shiny objects will access new areas, fix broken items, activate machinery, bring down a bungee jump hook etc.

-Use the taxi stand to access new areas

-Almost each area has a specific mission within in. To collect a certain amount of items

-If you see a box, approach it. This will open it up. If you see another box, approach it to open it. This will allow you to teleport between locations

-Each level has what is called a Duplicatron 1000. These machines keep reproducing robots. Hit it and back away, as it will detonate

-This game is very much open world and all about exploring and completing missions

-As Spongebob, you can use the Cruise Bubble, which is a sort of guided missile you can use to take out enemies and obstacles. And you can use the Bubble Bowl, a bowling-like skill that also take out obstacles and enemies. As Patrick, you can lift heavy items and throw them. As Sandy, you can lasso items and use the lasso to glide for a short time

-Use the Bus Stop to change between Spongebob, Sandy or Patrick

-Use the Viking Helmet to go up and attack something above

-You'll be able to activate checkpoints should anything happen. When you approach them, you'll hear a duck quacking sound and see a massive orange sign saying CHECKPOINT pop up. If you should lose all of your lives, you'll restart back at the last checkpoint you activated

-Each level has areas within those areas. It's always worth it to explore

-There are various tikis you'll encounter, each one producing shiny objects. There are the brown wooden tikis. Then there are the Shhh tikis. These are gray with ears that flap. Sneak up on those to destroy them otherwise they disappear and reappear when you're gone. Thunder tikis are red and yellow and when you touch them, they will form a storm cloud over their head and will blow up. Stone tikis can only be destroyed by thunder tikis or the Cruise Bubble

Levels

Bikini Bottom

-The city Spongebob calls home

-You start off in Spongebob's house. It's a sort of tutorial. It shows you have to navigate, how to attack, how to read signs, etc.

-Exit Spongebob's house and go next door to visit with Squidward and Patrick. Enter Squidward's house and get a Golden Spatula by jumping around and annoying him. For extra giggles, jump and attack one of the pictures Squidward painted to draw a mustache on it

-In Patrick's house, there are only shiny objects. Hit the music player to start playing music. Hit the couch to destroy it and get a sock

Jellyfish Fields

-A beautiful, grassy locale with peaceful lakes, waterfalls and ponds and...jellyfish!

-You play as Spongebob and Patrick here. You must navigate through Jellyfish Fields to get to Jellyfish Mountain to get a bottle of King Jellyfish jelly for Squidward to put on his stings

-There is an area overlooking a waterfall. After paying shiny objects to the clam, down comes a bungee hook. Jump towards it to automatically bungee jump. Go down to catch the golden spatula

-There are several areas within Jellyfish Fields you will pass through. The initial area is Jellyfish Fields. Then you'll enter Jellyfish Caves. After passing through there and completing missions, you enter Jellyfish Lake. After completing missions here and one for Mrs. Puff, continue through the area to reach Mount Spork. Here you will meet Bubble Buddy, the creation Spongebob made as a replacement friend. He will give you advice about King Jellyfish being just at the top of the ridge. Attack him three times to defeat him. He will give you a bottle of King Jellyfish jelly to give to Squidward

Goo Lagoon

-The undersea equivalent of the beach

-Here your mission is this. Larry the Lobster says a robot took everyone's sunscreen and is holed up on an island too far from the shore. Use the lifeguard towers to redirect the sunshine on the reflectors out to sea

-When you hit the reflector in the right area, you'll get a good sound. If you hit the reflector in the wrong area, you'll get a loud buzzer

-In addition to the mission for Larry the Lobster, Mrs. Puff has a mission for you. It seems that the balloons given to children have been overinflated and are now carrying children around. Pop the balloons to save the children. Use the Viking Helmet to pop the balloons and save the kids

-Use the inflatables to cross the lagoon to reach the massive Sand Castle. Ascend to the top and cross the bridge. Now you enter the Lagoon Sea Caves. This will take you to the Amusement Park pier. Once you're at the Lagoon Pier, Mr. Krabs has a mission only Patrick can perform. He needs Patrick to save his business from the robots. Then you'll proceed through the pier, clearing out the robots from his business and the bumper cars. Jump on the trampoline to take you out to the island with the robot. Connect the final tower to destroy the robot. Use the trampoline to take you back to the mainland

Mermalair

-The underground lair of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy

-The items you have to collect here are security switches to shut down the security

-There are a few main areas here. The Main Entrance area is where you enter the Mermalair. Proceed through the area to reach Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. After that, you will enter the Mermalair Main Chamber. You'll be tasked with getting to the top of the computer area and hitting switches to shut down the security system

-Mermaid Man will give you the mission to hit switches to turn off the security system. Once complete, use a trampoline to bounce to a new area where Barnacle Boy now gives you a mission. He explains the mission is to have all of the towers face inward to harness their power. Missions from both characters result in Golden Spatulas

-The next area you proceed through is the Mermalair Security Tunnel. This is tricky only because of the robots. Then you proceed to the Rolling Ball Room. You must roll a giant ball through a maze reminiscent of the game Mouse Trap. Once the ball lands on a pressure plate, the glass dome will lift, revealing a golden spatula. To make this easier, clear out the Duplicatron 1000 and any robots in the area prior to doing this

-Once you complete this, you'll return to the Main Computer Area. Once the security system has been completely shut down, you can access the Villain Containment Area, where you encounter Prawn. Attack him three times to defeat him

Rock Bottom

-A spooky abyss

-Here the items you must collect is artwork. You immediately meet Mrs. Puff, who gives Spongebob the task of retrieving all of the artwork the robots stole from the Rock Bottom Museum. Once you find all the artwork, return to Mrs. Puff for a golden spatula

-Since this level is a dark abyss, it can be hard to see some of the areas. Keep a sharp eye out. There will be tons of robots here, mostly the robots called Sleepy-Time robots. The only way to take out these robots is to sneak up on them and attack or attack them from far away using the Cruise Bubble

-There are multiple areas within this level. The Trench of Darkness and The Museum. In the museum, you encounter Barnacle Boy, who gives you the mission to turn off the security system. Hit the buttons to turn off the laser grid security system. Proceed through the level, making your way to the upper levels

-Once you're out of the museum, you meet Mr. Krabs, who tells you about a golden spatula at the end of the slide. You're now in the Trench of Advanced Darkness. You'll meet Plankton who has a mission only Sandy can accomplish. This involves setting lasers into a central core to open up the area to exit the Trench of Advanced Darkness

Sandy's Treedome

-The underwater home of Sandy Cheeks, a Texas-born and raised squirrel

-She'll give you a mission to clear out robots to get a golden spatula

Downtown Bikini Bottom

-The downtown metropolis Spongebob calls home

-Here you must collect steering wheels so Mrs. Puff and others can evacuate the city

-When you see a Spongebob SpongeBall on the ground, run into it to turn into a ball. This is useful for getting around fast and getting through narrow openings

-At the Sea Needle, you need to destroy the tikis floating outside the window to get a Golden Spatula from Mr. Krabs

-Up on the rooftops, you play as Sandy. And you get a mission from Larry the Lobster upon entering the rooftops. He says he has a new antenna to replace and that it's too far. The camera will show the route Sandy needs to take. Navigate the rooftops and defeat the robots

-Inside the lighthouse, you must defeat level after level of robots, clearing them out

-Once you have all of the steering wheels, return to Mrs. Puff and get a Golden Spatula

Spongebob's Dream

-This is not as hard as you would think. There are slides and different obstacles to each character's dream. In Sandy's Dream, you'll encounter a lot of swinging with her lasso and Texas-themed decor. There's one area off of the main path that you must do a lot of lassoing to reach after paying 2800 shiny objects. There you meet up with Plankton, who wonders why her dream is so complex. She explains everything is bigger in Texas. There is an oil slick near by with two robot-producing Duplicatron 1000s and robots. Take them all out to get a golden spatula. Use the trampoline to go back to the path to continue. Follow the path until you reach a giant acorn where the golden spatula is

-In Squidward's Dream, it's all about music. You'll meet up with Mr. Krabs, who gives you the task of getting the golden spatula off of Squidward's nose. It's all pretty straightforward. Just avoid the orange notes, as they will sink under your weight. The small drums are trampolines that will bounce you in one direction or another

-In Mr. Krab's Dream, you must defeat robots to release the Krabby Patty ingredients, making a sort of staircase to one of the robot-producing machines. Keep taking them out to release one set of stairs. After taking out one machine, use the Cruise Bubble to take out the other machines and then take out the remaining robots to get a golden spatula from Mr. Krabs

-In Patrick's Dream, it's straightforward. DON'T GO INTO THE DARK!! YOU WILL GET LOST! Simply walk up to Patrick, who's standing under a single light bulb and talk to him to get a golden spatula

Sand Mountain

-A ski resort

-This level is pretty easy. The only tricky part is doing the timed ski runs on the slopes. You'll encounter Mrs. Puff, Larry the Lobster and Bubble Buddy. There are three levels of difficulty: Guppy Mound, where Mrs. Puff is, Flounder Hill, where Bubble Buddy is, and Sand Mountain, where Larry is

-On Guppy Mound, you'll have to beat Mrs. Puff's time of 1:21 to get a golden spatula. On Flounder Hill, you'll have to beat Bubble Buddy's time of 2:01 to get a golden spatula. On Sand Mountain, you'll have to beat Larry's time of 2:21 to get a golden spatula

-You can take out sand snowmen to get socks 

Kelp Forest

-A forest made of kelp

-One of the more difficult levels you'll encounter. What does not make it easier is that the level is set at night

-The areas you'll explore here are Kelp Forest, Kelp Swamp, Kelp Caves, Kelp Vines

-Here you must locate lost campers

-In the Kelp Swamp, you'll need Patrick to talk to Mr. Krabs. He'll give you a mission to go around the area and collect stone tikis to put on pressure plates. Once all of the pressure plates are activated, you'll be able to access a walkway that will take you to the Kelp Caves

-This area is the trickiest within this level. It involves a lot of precision with the Cruise Bubble and backtracking. Here you encounter Barnacle Boy, who gives you a mission to locate Power Crystals within the caves. There are six in total. Once all six are located, see Barnacle Boy for a golden spatula

-The last area is Kelp Vines. This is, by far, the trickiest sliding you'll be doing in all of the game. Mermaid Man is waiting at the top of the slide. Beat his time of 1:41 to get a golden spatula

Flying Dutchman's Graveyard

-A spooky graveyard

-You initially meet the Flying Dutchman. He task you with the mission of getting his ship back from the robots, who have built their own metal mechanical flying ship.

-Some of the areas here include The Entrance Area, The Graveyard of Ships, The Dutchman's Ship

-You'll need to Cruise Bubble here to take out enemies, hit buttons and do much more. In The Graveyard of Ships, you'll meet up with Squidward. Navigate through the area, dodging obstacles until you reach the next area. In The Dutchman's Ship, you'll meet up with Mr. Krabs, who gives you the task of reaching the Dutchman's ship

Poseidome

-Here you must defeat a robot that looks like Sandy. Use the moves you've learned throughout your playing. Pay close attention to determine the best move for the moment. Attack the robot 9 times to defeat it. The reward is the Bubble Bowl. Use this to take out tikis, robots and more

Industrial Park

-Here you must defeat a robot that looks like Patrick. This is a little trickier. You must dodge acid being spit by the robot and eventually dodge the lower levels which become filled with acid. Attack the paper-looking sign saying "Kick Me" on Patrick's back 9 times to defeat it. The reward is the Cruise Bubble, a controllable cruise missile made of bubbles

Chum Bucket Lab

-This is the boss of the game. Here you must use the Cruise Bubble to defeat the robot that looks like Spongebob. You have to defeat the Spongebob robot once on the inside and once on the outside. Once you beat him, the game is over