# What was the first "person decapitated by wire" usage in movies/TV?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-person-decapitated-by-wire-usage-in-movies-tv/961690>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, movies\
**Created:** [March 25, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-person-decapitated-by-wire-usage-in-movies-tv/961690 "2022-03-25T12:47:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-person-decapitated-by-wire-usage-in-movies-tv/961690/1 "2022-03-25T12:47:25Z")

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[Jumping off of this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-a-movie-motorcyclist-decapitated-by-plate-glass/961010/15), what was the first usage of this method of death? (deathod?)

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**Author:** ![Crane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crane/32/3495_2.png) [@Crane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crane)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-person-decapitated-by-wire-usage-in-movies-tv/961690/2 "2022-03-25T13:07:48Z")

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The first use I saw of the decapitating wire was in _The Counseler_ in 2013.

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**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\
**Post date:** [March 25, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-person-decapitated-by-wire-usage-in-movies-tv/961690/3 "2022-03-25T13:24:15Z")

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The earliest instance I know of was in Herschel Gordon Lewis’s trash-biker melodrama _She Devils On Wheels_ (1968).

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**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\
**Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-the-first-person-decapitated-by-wire-usage-in-movies-tv/961690/4 "2022-03-27T19:33:47Z")

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The Jan 31, 1975 _Chopper_ episode of _Kolchak: The Night Stalker_ is certainly a contender for first network TV series use of it a a plot device.

> **["Kolchak: The Night Stalker" Chopper (TV Episode 1975) - IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0621534/?ref_=ttep_ep15)**
>
> Chopper: Directed by Bruce Kessler. With Darren McGavin, Simon Oakland, Larry Linville, Art Metrano. Land development disturbs the final resting place of a headless, sword-wielding cyclist who hunts down and beheads the rival gang bikers who killed...

> **[Chopper](https://nightstalker.fandom.com/wiki/Chopper)**
>
> Kolchak comes to the aid of former gang members when they are targeted by a headless motorcyclist. Kolchak's Introduction "The teenage years: sixteen candles, fervent passions, aimless joy rides, and the forbidden taste of beer. A time the world...