Sometimes, sadly, an actor passes away during the show's original run. :(
A few come to mind. All shows, not just sitcoms.

Bewitched--Alice Pearce as Gladys Kravitz. Sandra Gould took over the role.

Alias Smith and Jones--Peter Duel committed suicide.

Barney Miller--Jack Soo as Sgt. Nick Yemana died of cancer.

Cheers--Nicholas Colasanto as Coach passed away from heart trouble.

Dolph Sweet--Gimme A Break
Bea Bernaderet--Petticoat Junction
William Frawley--My Three Sons
Freddie Prinze--Chico and The Man

David Strickland from Suddenly Susan commited suicide. Also, was Family Matters still on the air when Myra died of cancer?

Redd Foxx died on the set of "The Royal Family"

Will Geer,Grandpa Walton on The Waltons died during the summer hiatus in 1978.
Michelle Thomas who played Myra on Family Matters died while she was on The Young And The Restless

Sgt. Esterhaus on Hill Street Blues. Boy, did folks adore him.

I've never watched Suddenly Susan, but I remember people talking about an actor who killed himself.

Recently, Lynne Thigpen from the District.

One of my favorite cute guys ever, Michael Zaslow from Guiding Light, was fired from his job before he died, but I say that counts. Errr.

Then there are all those movies - Poltergeist, The Crow, TLZ, and whatnot. Scary stuff. Quit scaring me, man.

Jim Davis(Jock Ewing)--Dallas
Donna Reed(the 2nd Miss Ellie on Dallas from 1984-1985) died after the 1984-1985 season of Dallas

Phil Hartman from NewsRadio was murdered by his wife.

Joseph Kearns who played Mr. Wilson on Dennis the Menace died of a heart attack.

Smiley Burnett who played Charlie Pratt on Petticoat Junction died of leukemia.

Barton MacLane who played Gen. Martin Peterson on I Dream of Jeannie died of cancer.

Selma Diamond and Florence Halop - Night Court
Zara Cully - The Jeffersons
Colleen Dewhurst - Murphy Brown

I believe the neighbor on Mister Ed died during the show's run. Larry Keating, I think was his name.

Also, I don't know if this counts, but a guest star in an episode of Sliders died during filming of the episode. The episode still aired with him in it.

Josh Ryan Evans from Passions died the same day his character did, August 5th, 2002. It is really sad and Juliet Mills was so heart broken on the Today Show a few days after he died. It is sad, I believe he was only 21 years old. He had a heart condition.

Originally posted by *Chris*
Josh Ryan Evans from Passions died the same day his character did, August 5th, 2002. It is really sad and Juliet Mills was so heart broken on the Today Show a few days after he died. It is sad, I believe he was only 21 years old. He had a heart condition.

I couldn't believe it either. I was watching Good Day Live (which I'm rarely home to ever watch) and there was this snippett about it, and I was like WTF? lol. It's still sad. I used to really enjoy Passions, I say the show died the same day he did.

Actually you can count Michael Zasslow, because after he was fired from Guiding Light he was on One Life to Live & was there 'till at the time of his death.

Actually, Phil Hartman's death was a murder suicide,she killed him and then herself.

Originally posted by *Chris*
Josh Ryan Evans from Passions died the same day his character did, August 5th, 2002. It is really sad and Juliet Mills was so heart broken on the Today Show a few days after he died. It is sad, I believe he was only 21 years old. He had a heart condition.

i was gonna say that. that was wierd that he died the same day as his character.

Originally posted by TVJunkie101
I say the show died the same day he did.




So do I. I couldn't believe they replaced his character with Cracked Connie and Cecil. I also couldn't believe they let Cracked Connie put Josh's character, Timmy, down on the show that was ****ed up. Sorry for cussing, but that pissed me off. That is what turned me away from that show.

Originally posted by Crimson_and_Clover
that was wierd that he died the same day as his character.



Did you know, I read in magazines that because of that he made soap opera history. That is totally srewed up. I hate hearing about that.

Originally posted by Janice
Sometimes, sadly, an actor passes away during the show's original run. :(
A few come to mind. All shows, not just sitcoms.

Bewitched--Alice Pearce as Gladys Kravitz. Sandra Gould took over the role.

Alias Smith and Jones--Peter Duel committed suicide.

Barney Miller--Jack Soo as Sgt. Nick Yemana died of cancer.

Cheers--Nicholas Colasanto as Coach passed away from heart trouble.

Agnes Moorehead - who played Sam's mother, Endora on "Bewitched", also passed away during the show's original run.

Nancy Marchand - Livia Soprano of "The Soprano's also passed away.

Originally posted by Rob1


Agnes Moorehead - who played Sam's mother, Endora on "Bewitched", also passed away during the show's original run.

Moorehead died in 1974, Bewitched ended in 1972, so she died after

Ward Bond, star of 'Wagon Train' died of a heart attack in 1960.

Jon-Erik Hexum accidently killed himself on the set of 'Cover Up' in 1984. Not realizing how dangerous it could be, he shot himself with a gun containing blanks.
Here's his photo.

Sorry if I don't have the details straight but, Carrol O'Conner's son, Hugh,--In The Heat Of The NIght -- suicide.

I'm not sure if Rebecca Schaeffer was murdered while My Sister Sam was in production.

Madeline Kahn died of cancer during Cosby.

I don't know the details, but I think Ted Knight died as they were reworking Too Close For Comfort.

No, My Sister Sam was cancelled a year or two prior.

I am not sure if Jim Davis from Dallas was mentioned. I know Diana Hyland died after filming only about six episodes of Eight is Enough.

George Reeves from "The Adventures of Superman" died in 1959 while the show was preparing for another season. He was either murdered, or he commited suicide-it was never solved.



I know, I know, that show wasn't a sitcom (at least, they didn't make it a comedy on purpose-but it's funny anyway!!) but hey, some others are mentioning dramas & soap operas in this thread, when this thread is about SITCOMS, PEOPLE!!! so I may as well, too.

Originally posted by treky
some others are mentioning dramas & soap operas in this thread, when this thread is about SITCOMS, PEOPLE!!! so I may as well, too.
Actually, I started this thread and specifically stated all shows, not just sitcoms, so you get a pass. ;)

Ted Knight--Too Close for Comfort/Ted Knight Show
Chris Bernau--(Alan Spaulding) Guiding Light
Douglass Watson--(Mac Cory) Another World
Mary Stuart--(Meta Bauer) Guiding Light
Hugh Marlowe--(Jim Matthews) Another World
?--(Christopher Hughes) As the World Turns
?--(Caleb Snyder) As the World Turns
Charita Bauer--(Bert Bauer) Guiding Light

Originally posted by Kitt
Sorry if I don't have the details straight but, Carrol O'Conner's son, Hugh,--In The Heat Of The NIght -- suicide.

Hugh died in 1995. Heat Of The Night was cancelled in 1994.

Howard Rollins (Heat of the Night) also died after the series was over. (Lymphoma)

Bob Crane, from "Hogans Heroes" was either killed or murdered-it's never been solved, either. But that was AFTER the show went off.

Cleavon Little -True Colors
Nancy Walker- True Colors
Barbara Colby- Phyllis(after the first episode)
Judith Lowry-Phyllis
William Frawley-My three sons(A year after he left)