# Difficult actors on TV shows whose characters are killed off **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 7, 2025, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674 "2025-01-07T14:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/21 "2025-01-07T16:16:25Z")
Jeff Garlin’s character on _The Goldbergs_ was killed off between seasons after Garlin was accused of unseemly on-set behavior. (This was apparently even more awkward for the writing staff because they’d just killed off _another_ main character whose actor had died.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/22 "2025-01-07T16:19:12Z")
From the OP I hadn’t heard Maclean Stevenson was difficult. He just thought he was destined for stardom on his own show and wanted to move on. There has always been speculation that Glenn Quinn was killed off of _Angel_ because of his drug use. I’ve mostly heard denials stating it was planned. It’s clear that everyone on the show loved him but his addiction made it hard for him to work. Because of their feelings for him I’ve never seen anyone involved in the show say anything bad about him. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/23 "2025-01-07T16:20:56Z")
Oh yeah, I can’t believe I didn’t think of him in my ‘off the top of my head’ examples in my OP. I seem to remember there a was wedding episode that they had _very awkwardly_ CGI’ed Garlin’s character into after he was already kicked off the show. Yep, here it is: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/S0vhMXLkUPY/maxresdefault.jpg "The Creepy CGI of Jeff Garlin from the Goldbergs") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0vhMXLkUPY) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/24 "2025-01-07T16:25:16Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > From the OP I hadn’t heard Maclean Stevenson was difficult. He just thought he was destined for stardom on his own show and wanted to move on. Yeah, “wanting to leave the show” isn’t necessarily being difficult, per se, but I’m allowing it, as in the Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje and Sasha Alexander examples above. If nothing else, they made things a bit more difficult for the showrunners. Maybe I should have said “actors whose characters were killed off because of real-life issues with the actors”. Also, I thought I had heard that Maclean Stevenson had gotten a bit difficult toward the end of his run on M\*A\*S\*H, having gotten a case of ‘too big for his britches’ syndrome. And that the writers killed his character off partly out of spite, so he could never do a sequel character, like “Trapper John, M.D.”. I could be wrong though. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/25 "2025-01-07T16:25:45Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I just remembered the actor who played Carla’s hockey player husband on _Cheers_. Aside: that reminds me of a scene when Carla’s ex came back and Carla wanted a place where they could be intimate. She asked Diane if they could use her apartment. Diane was sitting at the bar reading a book. Without looking up from the book, Diane hands Carla the apartment keys and then says, “When you’re through, burn the place.” 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/26 "2025-01-07T16:32:56Z")
> [@solost](#): > > > [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > > > Also, memorably, Sasha Alexander’s character from NCIS was killed off because she wanted out, doing the show was too much work. > > That’s odd, I did google this and that is the exact reason she publicly gave for leaving NCIS, but didn’t she immediately then get on Rizzoli and Isles, another network series? I would think one series would be about as much workload as another. I wonder if there was another reason she didn’t state publicly-- there was some bad blood between some of the other actors on NCIS. _Rizzoli and Isles_ was 7 years after she left _NCIS_ her family situation could change a lot in 7 years. Also _NCIS_ shot 23 episodes. R&I never had more than 18 in a season and the 1st season was 13. On an hour long drama that is a big difference in time. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/27 "2025-01-07T16:40:54Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > Wasn’t that Jay Thomas? I think he was a DJ in NY on 99X back in the 70s before he became an actor. I used to love his show back in the stone age. He was an actor all along. He was a regular on _Mork and Mindy_ in the 70s. I remember assuming he was black when he was on 92KTU. When the format changed his voice changed. Getting fired from _Cheers_ didn’t really hurt his career. He later won an Emmy on _Murphy Brown._ As a Christmas tradition Letterman had him come on every year and tell his Lone Ranger story, ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/28 "2025-01-07T16:41:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > _Rizzoli and Isles_ was 7 years after she left _NCIS_ her family situation could change a lot in 7 years. OK, I didn’t realize she left NCIS after only season 2- I thought she had been on the show longer, and I thought I remembered her popping back up on R&I pretty quickly afterward. Faulty memory on my part. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/29 "2025-01-07T16:43:43Z")
Denise Crosby played Security Chief Tasha Yar on the first few seasons of _Star Trek the Next Generation_ and was frustrated that her character wasn’t given much to do except occasionally fire a phaser or something. So she asked to leave the show and her character was killed by an alien slime creature. She seems to have regretted the decision and asked to come back. Her character was used again in a time travel episode and she played her character’s daughter in a few other episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/30 "2025-01-07T16:49:43Z")
Denise Crosby also hosted _Trekkies_ and _Trekkies 2_; two very good documentaries on Star Trek fandom. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/31 "2025-01-07T16:56:32Z")
Isaiah Washington was written off of _Grey’s Anatomy_ after using a homophobic slur about a castmate. Never watched the show, so I don’t know if he was killed off. Valerie Hartman was killed off on the show _Valerie_ after contract negotiations failed between season 2 and 3. The show was renamed _The Hogan Family_. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/32 "2025-01-07T17:00:12Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Michael O’Hare on _Babylon 5_ was difficult to work with - not through any fault of his own, but because he was suffering from worsening schizophrenia. Apparently the other cast members were unaware of O’Hare’s mental problems at the time and thought he was just an asshole. You’re right that this was elegantly handled. O’Hare was concerned that his condition would put the series in jeopardy, risking the livelihoods of the cast and crew so he voluntarily left the show. Straczynski for his part was supportive and made a good faith effort to protect the dignity of O’Hare. They really took a bad situation and made the best of it. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/33 "2025-01-07T17:04:24Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Denise Crosby played Security Chief Tasha Yar on the first few seasons of _Star Trek the Next Generation_ and was frustrated that her character wasn’t given much to do except occasionally fire a phaser or something. So she asked to leave the show and her character was killed by an alien slime creature. She wasn’t difficult to work with though. From what I’ve read, she felt as though her character and the show wasn’t going anywhere. Given how bad the first season was, I don’t think she made an unreasonable decision. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/34 "2025-01-07T17:09:57Z")
My first thought when seeing this thread was Heidi Swedberg, George’s fiancee Susan on Seinfeld: > **[Jason Alexander: ‘Seinfeld’ Killed Off Susan Because Actress Was “F—ing...](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/jason-alexander-seinfeld-killed-susan-800031/)** > > The actor reveals that it was an offhand comment from Julia Louis-Dreyfus about sharing scenes with Heidi Swedberg that led to the character's demise. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/35 "2025-01-07T17:11:03Z")
Gavan O’Herlihy was the original Chuck Cunningham on _Happy Days_ (not the pilot from _Love, American Style_) and played the role for 2 seasons. He asked out when it was clear that the character was never going to amount to much. They recast the role for a few sporadic appearances, and then in one of TV’s great mysteries, Chuck just disappeared, never to be spoken of again. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/36 "2025-01-07T17:16:49Z")
> [@zimaane](#): > > Denise Crosby played Security Chief Tasha Yar on the first few seasons of _Star Trek the Next Generation_ and was frustrated that her character wasn’t given much to do except occasionally fire a phaser or something. So she asked to leave the show and her character was killed by an alien slime creature. It was just the first series (the character was killed off in S1e23 “Skin of Evil”), and although part of her complaint was that the writers didn’t seem to know what to do with the character, the writing as generally just awful for the first couple of seasons. Crosby was actually the center of what is generally regarded as the worst (or at least, most explicitly racist) episode of _The Next Generation_), “Code of Honor”: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/A-v3r6Cyv6s/maxresdefault.jpg "Star Trek: TNG Review - 1x4 Code of Honor | Reverse Angle") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-v3r6Cyv6s) Michael Dorn refused to appear in the episode, and several cast members have expressed regret about the story. At least Crosby chose to leave the show; before production began on Season 2, Gates McFadden was informed that her character would not be returning, apparently because the producers thought she was an uppity bitch for objecting to some of the terrible writing that made her both a terrible mother and an incompetent physician. Her replacement, Diana Muldaur, was never made a main cast member and apparently clashed with the other cast, so they brought McFadden back for the rest of the run and even gave her character a significant role in a few (if generally terrible) episodes, as well as briefly appearing in _Generations_ only to immediately be shoved off the deck of a holographic schooner, and then disappear for most of the rest of the film. So, not literally “killed off” but sent to a kind of actors’ purgatory where her character basically functioned as an exposition dump, even in cases where it really didn’t make sense for her to do so. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/37 "2025-01-07T17:22:49Z")
> [@solost](#): > > No, that’s fine. The only exception I’d make is, as when @FlikTheBlue mentioned Sean Bean, not characters who are killed off TV shows strictly as part of the plot, for example Bean’s character on Game of Thrones. Only characters who are killed off due to real-life issues with the actors. I was trying to be funny, mostly because of the persistent rumors that part of his contract for any role he takes is that his character has to be killed off. That probably doesn’t count as his being difficult, but if those rumors are true, it is in some sense due to the actor’s behavior rather than strictly because of a plot point. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/38 "2025-01-07T17:26:01Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > She wasn’t difficult to work with though. From what I’ve read, she felt as though her character and the show wasn’t going anywhere. Given how bad the first season was, I don’t think she made an unreasonable decision. Meaningless sidebar, but I met Denise Crosby at a comicon a bit over a year ago, and of the dozens and dozens of con guests I’ve met over the years, she’s in my top five for being friendly, inquisitive, talkative and just a delight to chat with. And we didn’t even talk about _Trek_ (we started with _Miracle Mile_ and touched on _NYPD Blue_ and _Suits_). I’d always heard the official explanation, namely that she wasn’t given much of import to do, and after meeting her, I’d be really surprised if she’d been anything like a diva about it. Back to the OP…Adric (Matthew Waterhouse) was written out of _Doctor Who_ with a noble death, but the actor had rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. It was Waterhouse’s first major acting job, yet he took it upon himself to critique the acting of guest stars like "the Academy Award-nominated) Richard Todd. He seems to have made peace with the BBC over it though, as he’s happily appeared in audio dramas and DVD bonus features since then. ---
**Author:** ![Stanislaus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stanislaus/32/3391_2.png) [@Stanislaus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stanislaus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/39 "2025-01-07T17:30:02Z")
Not a TV show, but it’s a tradition that goes back a long way: William Kempe, one of the original actors in Shakespeare’s company, was regarded as a great stage clown and was noted for his semi-improvised productions… He was (almost certainly) the original Falstaff, who was a big part of Henry IV Pt 1 and 2 but was completely and rather clumsily written out of Henry V. And indeed Kempe left the company at this time. It’s not clear why, but the instruction in Hamlet about the clowns not saying more than is written for them is generally understood to be a big hint about why the famous improviser parted ways with the famous playwright. > [@solost](#): > > As for Bean, that’s interesting that he’s rumored to have a contract stipulation that his character always gets killed off, I hadn’t heard that. I did know that his characters always seem to get killed off, but I thought that was just a weird quirky coincidence. Maybe it is, who knows. It’s televisual harmony. As Lt Richard Sharpe, he survived the thick of the action in every major battle of the Peninsular War, plus a number of informal operations all of which generally involved enough musketry, riflery, artillery and sabre-ery to wipe out a battalion. Every subsequent character death simply redresses the scales. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674/40 "2025-01-07T17:31:00Z")
> [@mtnmatt](#): > > My first thought when seeing this thread was Heidi Swedberg, George’s fiancee Susan on Seinfeld: Interesting, I hadn’t heard that scuttlebutt about the actor. I just thought her character was killed off as part of the show’s dark humor. I see from [her IMDB listing](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0842056/?ref_=fn_all_nme_1) she’s had a lot of various work, but only one or two episode appearances on TV shows or small roles in movies for the most part. Seinfeld looks like by far her biggest and longest-running role. > [@FlikTheBlue](#): > > I was trying to be funny, mostly because of the persistent rumors that part of his contract for any role he takes is that his character has to be killed off. That probably doesn’t count as his being difficult, but if those rumors are true, it is in some sense due to the actor’s behavior rather than strictly because of a plot point. Well, I was appreciative of your post in any case, since it made me realize that my original thread title was a bit too generic. As for Bean, that’s interesting that he’s rumored to have a contract stipulation that his character always gets killed off, I hadn’t heard that. I did know that his characters always seem to get killed off, but I thought that was just a weird quirky coincidence. Maybe it is, who knows. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/difficult-actors-on-tv-shows-whose-characters-are-killed-off/1012674.md?page=3)