# Really and truly dead movie characters
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 17, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961 "2016-05-17T03:41:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/1 "2016-05-17T03:41:41Z")
I was trying to come up with a trivia question. What do the following movie characters have in common:
Arch Stanton
Bernie Lomax
Then I couldn’t think of any more, and you can’t have a “what do they have in common” question with only two people in it.
They are, of course, dead. Arch Stanton is the grave that Tuco digs up at the end of _The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly_ expecting to find $400,000 and instead finds the body of Arch Stanton. Bernie Lomax is the dead body that gets carted all over the place in _Weekend at Bernie’s_.
Now, there are plenty of dead characters who, nonetheless, are active participants in the events of their respective films. Joe Gillis is dead at the beginning of _Sunset Boulevard_, and then the movie is a flashback of how he got dead. I’m looking for characters who are properly dead; corpses, with names, who are somehow involved in the plot.
I turn to my fellow dopers to help flesh out (sorry) the list.
I can’t remember if I’ve ever even seen most of _Weekend at Bernie’s_. Is he dead from the get go, or does he die partway through the picture?
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### Author:  [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/2 "2016-05-17T03:44:26Z")
Mr. Bates’ mother had a death problem, as I recall…
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### Author:  [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/3 "2016-05-17T04:09:59Z")
Harry Worp in the Trouble With Harry, I think.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/4 "2016-05-17T04:27:12Z")
Alex Marshall’s funeral is the event that initiates the get together in _The Big Chill._
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/5 "2016-05-17T04:28:50Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> I can’t remember if I’ve ever even seen most of _Weekend at Bernie’s_. Is he dead from the get go, or does he die partway through the picture?
Bernie is alive at the start of the movie.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/6 "2016-05-17T04:31:00Z")
The guy in the swimming pool in Sunset Boulevard? I mean, he’s the movie’s narrator…
Should I have put that in a spoiler box?
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### Author:  [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/7 "2016-05-17T04:35:49Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Bernie is alive at the start of the movie.
What about Jor El in the Superman movies? He’s technically dead after Krypton explodes, but interacts with his son.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/8 "2016-05-17T04:40:10Z")
Adam Hoskins and Mr. Spinalzo are two of the corpses requiring burial in the basement in _Arsenic and Old Lace._
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/9 "2016-05-17T04:40:55Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#):
>
> Mr. Bates’ mother had a death problem, as I recall…
Good suggestion, but do we know her actual name?
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#):
>
> Harry Worp in the Trouble With Harry, I think.
Also good. I haven’t seen the movie, but just read the plot outline on Wikipedia. It describes some of the events leading to Harry’s death; are those shown in flashbacks, or merely described by the characters?
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> Alex Marshall’s funeral is the event that initiates the get together in _The Big Chill._
Only seen that once, and it was ages ago. I don’t remember if his name is given in the film, either.
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> The guy in the swimming pool in Sunset Boulevard? I mean, he’s the movie’s narrator…
>
> Should I have put that in a spoiler box?
Not a spoiler box, but you might have read the OP.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/10 "2016-05-17T04:42:51Z")
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> The guy in the swimming pool in Sunset Boulevard? I mean, he’s the movie’s narrator…
>
> Should I have put that in a spoiler box?
> [@dasmoocher](#):
>
> What about Jor El in the Superman movies? He’s technically dead after Krypton explodes, but interacts with his son.
My understanding is that the OP meant to exclude such cases. As I understand it, “really and truly dead” characters are those who are never shown alive in the movie, even in flashbacks. They include only corpses.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/11 "2016-05-17T04:46:26Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Good suggestion, but do we know her actual name?
>
> Also good. I haven’t seen the movie, but just read the plot outline on Wikipedia. It describes some of the events leading to Harry’s death; are those shown in flashbacks, or merely described by the characters?
>
> Only seen that once, and it was ages ago. I don’t remember if his name is given in the film, either.
>
> Not a spoiler box, but you might have read the OP.
Norma is Norman’s mother…surprise. 🙂
And yes, at the funeral Alex’ full name is mentioned, and pretty much everyone calls him by his first name.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/12 "2016-05-17T04:48:56Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Only seen that once, and it was ages ago. I don’t remember if his name is given in the film, either.
I’m sure they must have referred to Alex. His full name is given in Wiki. Do they have to have full names mentioned in the movie itself?
Alex was famously played by Kevin Costner in flashbacks, but all the footage of him alive was cut.
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/13 "2016-05-17T04:56:33Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Also good. I haven’t seen the movie, but just read the plot outline on Wikipedia. It describes some of the events leading to Harry’s death; are those shown in flashbacks, or merely described by the characters?
I haven’t seen the movie for a long time but I don’t think he appeared alive. Philip Truex, who played the corpse, was uncredited in the movie. I assume he would have been credited if he actually appeared alive.
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### Author:  [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/14 "2016-05-17T05:11:00Z")
Ned Devine, whose lottery winning sparks 99% of _Waking Ned_ (alias _Waking Ned Devine_ in the States).
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### Author:  [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/15 "2016-05-17T05:14:26Z")
Old Sam is the defunct Indian who Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen deliver to Boot Hill against the town’s objections in the opening of _The Magnificent Seven_.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/16 "2016-05-17T05:16:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#):
>
> My understanding is that the OP meant to exclude such cases. As I understand it, “really and truly dead” characters are those who are never shown alive in the movie, even in flashbacks. They include only corpses.
Ideally, yes, I’m thinking of characters that are never seen as anything other than decomposing flesh, but might still be recognized from their respective films. Partly that’s because I think adding names like Joe Gillis makes the question too easy. (On the other hand, it often seems like my trivia questions are way too difficult.)
Now, one of the things I like about these boards is the way discussions can go beyond the OP in interesting ways. So any and all dead characters are welcome, really, but if I can come up with a list of properly dead ones that would be nice, too.
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### Author:  [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/17 "2016-05-17T05:28:59Z")
There are a lot of mummy movies, those are all about corpses.
Then you have Dracula, who is technically dead.
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### Author:  [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/18 "2016-05-17T06:29:28Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> . . . but you might have read the OP.
I did. What have I overlooked? The guy is dead…but narrates the movie. Why doesn’t that count?
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/19 "2016-05-17T06:45:56Z")
> [@Trinopus](#):
>
> I did. What have I overlooked? The guy is dead…but narrates the movie. Why doesn’t that count?
That’s just not the question I was trying to ask in the OP. For most of _Sunset Boulevard_ we see Joe during his lifetime, taking part in events and interacting with people; he is not an ex-screenwriter. He’s the example I gave in the OP of what I’m not looking for. It’s an interesting topic, and we could probably come up with dozens, just not the sort of thing I’m after.
I was wondering how many characters we could come up with who are never seen alive at all. A sort of (formerly) human MacGuffin, as it were; they don’t do anything but are still somehow essential to the events of the film, a reason for friends to get together to mourn, a grave that conceals buried treasure, that sort of thing.
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### Author:  [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)
#### Post date: [May 17, 2016, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-and-truly-dead-movie-characters/754961/20 "2016-05-17T06:51:11Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> Good suggestion, but do we know her actual name?
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#):
>
> Norma is Norman’s mother…surprise. 🙂
There’s a whole series about the life of Norman and Norma (when she was alive), called Bates Motel. It’s on Netflix streaming. Worth checking out.
Interestingly, the setting is unapologetically modern with characters using cell phones and the Internet, even though Norman is a teenager in it (though his mom still seems to dress like it’s the '40s). And the actress who plays her ([Vera Farmiga](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0267812/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1)) is adorable.
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