# Instances where a character with a terminal illness is still alive at the end (SPOILERS LIKELY) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500 "2018-09-17T21:46:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/1 "2018-09-17T21:46:23Z")
In creative works, one of the common rules is a character who either has or is diagnosed early on with a terminal condition will be dead at the end (i.e., [Chekhov’s Cough](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IncurableCoughOfDeath)). However, this rule is not a constant since there are times a doomed character will get a temporary stay of execution from his or her creator. This thread is about those exceptions. The first example that comes my mind is the lesser-known Burt Reynolds movie, **The End**. Burt’s character, a crooked real estate agent, is diagnosed with an unspecified incurable illness in the opening scene. He’s still running around when the credits roll. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/2 "2018-09-17T22:00:39Z")
_The Bucket List_. Jack Nicholson’s and Morgan Freeman’s characters are both being treated for terminal lung cancer at the beginning. Freeman’s character dies in the movie, but Nicholson’s survives until he is 81. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/3 "2018-09-17T22:03:55Z")
> [@NDP](#): > > … The first example that comes my mind is the lesser-known Burt Reynolds movie, **The End**. Burt’s character, a crooked real estate agent, is diagnosed with an unspecified incurable illness in the opening scene. He’s still running around when the credits roll. A similar plot is found in the Adam Sandler movie _Funny People_, though according to the Wikipedia article the character is told at one point that his fatal illness is in remission. The character was told early on that he had a terminal condition, so the movie may (or may not) fit your criteria. > **[Funny People](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Funny_People)** > > Funny People is a 2009 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by Judd Apatow, co-produced by Apatow Productions and Madison 23 Productions, and starring Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen and Leslie Mann with Eric Bana, Jonah Hill and Jason Schwartzman in supporting roles. The film follows a famous comedian who is diagnosed with a terminal disease and tries to fix the relationships in his life while befriending an aspiring comedian. > The film was released on July 31, 2009. It received gene... 2005’s _Constantine_ also features a character given a terminal diagnosis who is alive at the end (though through supernatural intervention in that case). > **[Constantine (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constantine_(film))** > > Constantine (/ˌkɒnstənˈtiːn/ KON-stən-TEEN) is a 2005 American superhero horror film directed by Francis Lawrence in his directorial debut. Written by Kevin Brodbin and Frank Cappello from a story by Brodbin, it is loosely based on the DC Comics/Vertigo Comics Hellblazer graphic novels. The film stars Keanu Reeves as John Constantine, a cynical exorcist with the ability to perceive and communicate with half-angels and half-demons in their true forms and to travel between Earth and Hell. Rachel... ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/4 "2018-09-17T22:09:33Z")
In the TV series _House_, the titular character’s friend Wilson was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer at the beginning of the last season. The series ends with the two of them on motorcycles, about to hit the open road and ride free for as long as they can. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/5 "2018-09-17T22:22:13Z")
Not exactly what you’re looking for, but Norman not dying at the end of On Golden Pond wasn’t expected. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/6 "2018-09-17T22:47:53Z")
In _Blade Runner_, replicants are only supposed to have a four-year lifespan, but Rachel is granted a longer life due to receiving memory implants. Gandalf came down with a terminal case of Balrog, but he got better. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/7 "2018-09-17T22:51:49Z")
As the TV series _St. Elsewhere_ began, Dr. Daniel Auschlander (Norman Lloyd) had been diagnosed with metastatic liver cancer, with a very poor prognosis. Over the course of the series, his cancer went into remission, and the character survived through all six seasons of the series. In [the well-known series finale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Elsewhere#%22The_Last_One%22), Auschlander dies – but from a stroke, not cancer. However, when the final scene of the episode suggests that all of the events seen in the series have been in the imagination of Tommy Westphall (the autistic son of Dr. Donald Westphall), Auschlander is shown to be alive, and is apparently Tommy’s grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/8 "2018-09-17T23:00:13Z")
In some movies the effort to save someone with a terminal condition is the whole point of the plot, like _Lorenzo’s Oil_. These may not be in the spirit of the OP. Lorenzo, a boy with an untreatable fatal genetic disorder, is predicted to die within two years, but his parents figure out a treatment that saves his life. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/9 "2018-09-17T23:26:43Z")
Whistler has cancer in the movie _Blade_ but what eventually does kill him turns out to be temporary, hence his presence in the sequel. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2018, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/10 "2018-09-17T23:33:15Z")
We don’t see Walter die at the end of Breaking Bad. ---
**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:** [September 17, 2018, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/11 "2018-09-17T23:54:25Z")
There was a series of mystery short stories about a detective who got a terminal diagnosis in the first one and continued to solve crimes. I don’t recall the name or author. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/12 "2018-09-18T02:24:06Z")
Way back in the 1960s there was a series called [Run for Your Life](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058844/), where a terminally ill man decides to do everything he hasn’t done yet, going from place to place, touching the lives of everyone he encounters. Actually, it was _The Fugitive_, except instead of Lt. Gerard chasing the hero, it’s the Grim Reaper. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/13 "2018-09-18T02:59:34Z")
There was a movie with Queen Latifah getting a terminal (mis)diagnosis and choosing to blow all here carefully saved money on a fantastic trip. Only she’s not dying. StG ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/14 "2018-09-18T03:51:09Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > We don’t see Walter die at the end of Breaking Bad. Wait, what? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6AlEEcanbus/maxresdefault.jpg "Breaking Bad's Final Scene - Walter White's Death") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AlEEcanbus) ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/15 "2018-09-18T04:29:32Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Wait, what? > > [https://youtu.be/6AlEEcanbus](https://youtu.be/6AlEEcanbus) When asked about a sequel, Bryan Cranston has said “You didn’t see a body bag, did you?”, but he was joking. Characters only come back from being that dead in comic book and monster movies. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/16 "2018-09-18T09:56:18Z")
Blue Meth vs Godzilla! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/17 "2018-09-18T11:31:26Z")
In the remake of **D.O.A.** , Dennis Quaid’s character - poisoned at the beginning of the film - is still alive at the end but this probably doesn’t count because he’s still going to die later from the poison. In the original, however, the main character dies before the end of the film. **Joe vs the Volcano** - the terminal illness turns out to be fake, to the surprise of no one but Joe. And then there’s **John Dies At The End** … ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/18 "2018-09-18T11:56:09Z")
At the end of _Max Dugan Returns_, Max has stolen\* his daughter’s Mercedes convertible and is driving it down to Rio. \*_Technically_ he stole it. He _had_ just bought it for her that week. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/19 "2018-09-18T13:15:49Z")
Ron Woodruff (Matthew McConaghey) isn’t looking so good at the end of “Dallas Buyers Club” but he’s still alive and kicking. ---
**Author:** ![Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tired_and_Cranky)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500/20 "2018-09-18T13:45:18Z")
Creed features an enfeebled, cancer-stricken Rocky Balboa, who is declining treatment. As you would expect only in this thread, Rocky does not die. The film ends with Rocky doing a blistering training run up the “Rocky steps” in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Okay, it’s more of a hobble. And Rocky’s getting help from Creed. But he’s heading up those steps at least one more time. Sequel possibilities in which Rocky recovers the heavyweight championship are not yet fully eliminated. (I recommend Creed if you haven’t seen it.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/instances-where-a-character-with-a-terminal-illness-is-still-alive-at-the-end-spoilers-likely/821500.md?page=2)