The opposite of my other thread.
I’m guessing Bewitched (1964-72).
Alive: Tabitha (both twins), Adam (both twins), Betty (Darrin’s secretary?), Mrs. Tate 2, Dr. Bombay, Esmerelda
Dead: Samantha, Darrin 1 & 2, Larry, Mrs. Tate 1, Endora, Maurice, Uncle Arthur, Aunt Clara, Mr. Kravitz, Mrs. Kravitz 1 & 2, Darrins mom & dad 1 & 2.
Alive: 8
Dead: 15 (65%)
Bewitched ain’t exactly my definition of New.
Again, highest percentage goes to Wanted Dead or Alive* (1 cast member, Steve McQueen, deceased) and also to Have Gun Will Travel (one cast member, Richard Boone, deceased), both with 100% of the cast dead. HGWT ran until 1963, so Boone is ahead.
Rod Serling’s Night Gallery also has a 100% death rate for the only recurring part – Rod Serling. The show ran in 1970.
But the true champion has to be Alfred Hitchcock Presents. When it ran new episodes in 1985, the only regularly appearing character (Alfred Hitchcock) had been dead for five years.
Well if we can use the 70’s I nominate Chico and the Man '74-78
Credited cast*:
Dead: Freddie Prinz, Jack Albertson, Scatman Crothers, Bonnie Boland, Ronnie Graham
Alive: Isaac Ruiz, Della Reese, Gabriel Melgar. Julie Hill & Charo
Pretty hefty body count for a 10 person cast on a show only 25 years old
From the UK, Dad’s Army consisted of 7 men in the Home Guard in a show that ran from 1968 to 1977. By 1984, 5 of the 7 were dead, but the other 2 are still with us in 2003. There was an eighth character who was not in the “army” (he was an air raid warden), who is also still alive.
From the 80s,there was that spy show, COVER UP (iirc), which had three stars over its run:
Jon-Erik Hexum–dead, prop gun wound
Anthony Hamilton-dead, AIDS
Jennifer ??–alive, but did once shoot herself in the stomach.
66 1/3 % dead.
Didn’t Paladin hve a valet in the San Francisco hotel scenes who was (should have been) credited as a semi-regular?
Sir Rhosis
How about Bonanza? Ran until 1973
Original Cast:
Lorne Green (“Pa”): Dead
Michael Landon (“Little Joe”): Dead
Dan Blocker (“Hoss”): Dead
Victor Sen Young (“Hop Sing”): Dead
100% deceased
Most of the supporting cast is also dead.
Oh, I forgot Pernell Roberts (“Adam Cartwright”) is still alive, but I don’t know if he counts as a main star or supporting cast.
Pernell Roberts was billed as a lead for all six seasons he appeared in, so he was a “main star,” the sole survivng original one.
David Canary was billed in later years after the burning map, thus he was one of the show’s stars; don’t remember if Mitch Vogel was or not.
Sir Rhosis
Not only did Jennifer O’Neill shoot herself with a .38, she has survived being dropped to the floor by John Wayne, thrown from a horse, involved in an auto accident, and more.