# Depictions of Death in books & film **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 2, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111 "2006-05-02T15:33:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/1 "2006-05-02T15:33:56Z")
Since I am currently reading two very good books with Death as a character - A Dirty Job and The Book Thief - I was thinking of the ways Death is depicted in various artworks, specifically in fiction. Most often portrayed in human form - Sometimes playing chess, often in long black outfit with scythe; sometimes as Brad Pitt. Can you guys remind me of other examples? Which worked well for you? Is Death ever portrayed in non-anthropomorhic form? Any other thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/2 "2006-05-02T15:39:03Z")
Death [as cute goth chick](http://julest.com/sandman/death/death17.jpg), for starters, and then Death [as vampy Elvira-esque chick](http://www.endlessworld.com/images/ladyd2set.jpg) (may be NSFW). Don’t forget the Death of Rats. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/3 "2006-05-02T15:40:52Z")
Ever since **The Seventh Seal** , the Pale White Guy in a long Ribe has been a widely used symbol of Death, probably because it’s easier to do (and relate to) than the skeleton in a robe (see the Dance of Death segment in **Metropolis** , for instance. Or DEATH in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels). others: – Lady Death – hot almost naked large-breasted albino-white chick in the comics. almost makes you not sorry to go, but I suspect she doesn’t deliver what she promises. – Ordinary Folks – Sometimes Death (or the Angel of Death)looks like anyone else. Robert Redford in that old episode of Twilight Zone. The folks in Dead Like Me. James Mason in Heaven Can Wait (and the other guiys in earlier versions) –the Gorgon – I’ve argued that the face of the Gorgon is the Face of Death. I’ll provide more details if you’re interested. But it’s not obvious. – Animals – sometimes death is suggested/personified by a Dog, and Owl, etc. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/4 "2006-05-02T15:43:28Z")
From\*\* Dead Like Me \*\* - Death as a socially maladjusted teenage girl forced to work in a crappy Office Space environment. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/5 "2006-05-02T15:44:26Z")
I just started **A Dirty Job.** Glad to see there are other Chris Moore fans. The classic portrayal of [Death](http://www.lspace.org/books/whos-who/death.html) is on the Discworld. Classic style: Tall, shroud, scythe, talks IN CAPITAL LETTERS, rides a white horse named Binky. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/6 "2006-05-02T16:28:27Z")
> [@well he's back](#): > > Sometimes playing chess or Battleship, or Twister… (_Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey_) ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/7 "2006-05-02T16:49:05Z")
Next Monday on “Medium” death will be Kelsey Grammar. Really – Fraiser Crane will never get a date now. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/8 "2006-05-02T17:26:25Z")
“Touched by an Angel” had the (appropriately named) [John Dye](http://www.touched.com/john.html), playing Andrew, the Angel of Death as a nice guy. There’s also **Death Takes a Holiday** and the Death-as-Brad-Pitt version **Meet Joe Black**. Though not specifically named as such, Mr. Jordan in **Here Comes Mr. Jordan** is clearly Death. He was played by Claude Rains, and his portrayal is influential. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/9 "2006-05-02T17:39:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Though not specifically named as such, Mr. Jordan in Here Comes Mr. Jordan is clearly Death. He was played by Claude Rains, and his portrayal is influential. Yeah – he’s one of the predecessors of James Mason I mentioned (but couldn’t remember). “Heaven Can Wait” was a remake of “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” (which would’ve been called “Heaven Can Wait”, only somebody else was using the title). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/10 "2006-05-02T17:42:27Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Yeah – he’s one of the predecessors of James Mason I mentioned (but couldn’t remember). “Heaven Can Wait” was a remake of “Here Comes Mr. Jordan” (which would’ve been called “Heaven Can Wait”, only somebody else was using the title). Ernst Lubitcsh, to be precise. I was going to mention Laird Cregar from that, but he was more Satan than Death. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/11 "2006-05-02T19:15:32Z")
And He Speaks In Capitals. :d ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/12 "2006-05-02T19:17:16Z")
Bother! Let’s try that again: ‘AND HE SPEAKS IN CAPITALS.’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/13 "2006-05-02T19:49:11Z")
Here’s death in the [appointment in samarra](http://www.lesekost.de/westeu/maugham/HHL868.htm) anecdote. And here is [one painting](http://www.univ-montp3.fr/~pictura/Images/NePasOuvrir/0/A0366.jpg) and here[another](http://www.parnasse.com/etinarc.jpg), each illustrating the Latin motto, “Et in Arcadia Ego,” one of the interpretations of which is that death is saying “I too am in paradise.” Death is represented by a skull or a tomb. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/14 "2006-05-02T19:52:43Z")
> [@Kythereia](#): > > Death [as cute goth chick](http://julest.com/sandman/death/death17.jpg) Hey babe, what’s your sign? Oh. I see. Gotta go- I have some stuff to do in Samarra. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/15 "2006-05-02T20:03:53Z")
While doing the play _On Borrowed Time_ I played death as an impeccably dressed, extremely polite older gentleman. Call it “Death as butler.” ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/16 "2006-05-02T20:10:00Z")
From the day I found myself face-to-face with it, I’ve always admired the depiction of Death in Bernini’s ornamental [tomb for Pope Alexander VIII](http://www.atmosp.physics.utoronto.ca/people/aldona/gallery/Rome/8.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/17 "2006-05-02T20:10:44Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > – Ordinary Folks – Sometimes Death (or the Angel of Death)looks like anyone else. Robert Redford in that old episode of Twilight Zone. The folks in Dead Like Me. James Mason in Heaven Can Wait (and the other guiys in earlier versions) Leaving aside the clearly absurd notion that the young RR looked “like anyone else” (minor swoon), Marvel in an old issue of _Man-Thing_ (at least that’s where I saw it) tried to establish Death in the Marvel Universe as something like this. There was Death, who appeared either as the classic skeleton-in-robe or as a beautiful woman (in the same robe), but there were also for lack of a better term “Angels of Death” who appeared as the person functioning in the role him- or herself perceived death to be. So there was a guy who found death to be fairly pedestrian, so he appeared wearing a white dress shirt and tie like a day at the office, whereas a woman who thought of death more exotically appeared in a skintight dress with long flowing magenta hair. No idea if Marvel has continued this sort of personification, what the relationship of these “Angels” is to the actual Death or anything, but I always thought that was a pretty cool concept. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/18 "2006-05-02T20:13:37Z")
In the movie _The Adventures of Baron Munchausen_ Death was a huge robed skeleton with a scythe and black feathered wings; really cool. In the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey, Death is called the Shadow-Lover and appears as an idealized member of whatever gender you’re attracted to. Death of the Endless looks like a pretty woman. Death of Marvel comics is a robed female with a skull face and skeletal hands, but noticable female curves under her robe. She sometimes takes on a human appearance, however. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/19 "2006-05-02T20:28:24Z")
In _The Hudsucker Proxy_, death is portrayed as a creepy bald janitor. He is opposed by the main character’s guardian angel, portrayed by Morgan Freeman. Which is a good example of why you should always be nice to the cleaning staff at your place of employment: you never know when they’re going to turn out to be anthropomorphic embodiments of abstract philosophical concepts. ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2006, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111/20 "2006-05-02T20:32:13Z")
No surprise to anyone, Jack Kirby gave us the most unusual image of death: A black man flying around on skis: [http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fastbak.tripod.com/bracer2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fastbak.tripod.com/racer.htm&h=224&w=177&sz=33&tbnid=K9CXk3AuIs\_toM:&tbnh=102&tbnw=80&hl=en&start=13&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%22black%2Bracer%22%26svnum%3D50%26hl%3Den%26lr%3Dlang\_en%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN](http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://fastbak.tripod.com/bracer2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://fastbak.tripod.com/racer.htm&h=224&w=177&sz=33&tbnid=K9CXk3AuIs_toM:&tbnh=102&tbnw=80&hl=en&start=13&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522black%2Bracer%2522%26svnum%3D50%26hl%3Den%26lr%3Dlang_en%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN) I mean really. Death Takes a Holiday in the 70’s Death was Monte Markham Was it “Always” in which Audrey Hepburn was death or an angel or something? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/depictions-of-death-in-books-film/355111.md?page=2)