Difference between revisions of "Real-world deaths"

Revision as of 18:39, March 9, 2012

The following is a list of real-world people who have worked on The Simpsons, but later died, whilst the show was still airing. It includes deceased voice cast, staff and guest stars. Often, subsequent episodes have been dedicated to them.

Deaths

Cast

• Christopher Collins, 44 (died June 12, 1994) - Provided several voices during season 1, including Mr. Burns in the episode "Homer's Odyssey" and the host of America's Most Armed and Dangerous in "Some Enchanted Evening", before leaving the show. Cerebral hemorrhage.
• Doris Grau, 71 (died December 30, 1995) - Provided the voice of Lunchlady Doris and several minor parts. She had previously served as a script supervisor. Lunchlady Doris was retired, but has since made appearances. "Team Homer" was dedicated to her. Emphysema.
• Phil Hartman, 49 (died May 28, 1998) - Hartman regularly provided the voices of Troy McClure and Lionel Hutz as well as other minor one-time parts. Following his murder, his characters were retired and "Bart the Mother" was dedicated to him. Murdered; gun shot.

Staff

• Edgar Allan Poe, 40 (died October 7, 1849) - Poe was credited with co-writing "The Raven" section of "Treehouse of Horror". Unknown cause.
• Michael O'Conner, 54 (died May 5, 1992) - O'Conner was a layout artist for season one.
• Michael P. Schoenbrun, 54 (died June 5, 1993) - Schoenbrun was Executive in Charge of Production at Gracie Films. "Homer's Barbershop Quartet" was dedicated to him.
• Ray Johnson Jr. (died 1994) - Johnson was a layout artist.
• Thomas Chastain, 73 (died September 1, 1994) - Co-wrote the story of the episode "Black Widower".
• Jackie Banks (died 1995) - Banks was an animation checker and scene planner, who worked on the show during seasons two, four, five and six. "Mother Simpson" was dedicated to her.
• Constantin Mustatea (died April 17, 1996) - was an animator for "Homer's Odyssey".
• Tom Coppola (died July 13, 1996) - was a layout artist.
• Ed DeMattia (died January 11, 1997) - was an animator for 3 episodes.
• Andy Houts, 31 (died February 26, 1997) - was a production assistant for 20 episodes.
• Phyllis Craig, 67 (died May 18, 1997) - ink and paint supervisor for 61 episodes.
• Lee Mishkin, 74 (died June 19, 2001) - Animation timer for "Bart Gets Hit by a Car" and "Homer vs. Lisa and the Eighth Commandment".
• Kent Holaday, 49 (died June 22, 2001) - Holaday worked as a lip sync for the show. Thyroid condition.
• Ted Bemiller, 79 (died October 26, 2003) - animation camera operator for 23 episodes.
• Barrington T. Bunce, 60 (died June 14, 2005) - layout artist on "Homer's Night Out".
• Jamie O'Brien (died 2005) - O'Brien was a layout artist on "Homer the Moe". "The Girl Who Slept Too Little" was dedicated to him.
• Daria Paris, 60 (died October 2, 2010) - assistant to the executive producers in season 1; Sam Simon's assistant from season 2 to 4. Cancer.
• Earl Kress, 60 (died September 19, 2011) - comic book writer for Bongo Comics Group.

Guest stars

• Audrey Meadows, 73 (died February 3, 1996) - Voiced Beatrice Simmons in "Old Money". Lung cancer.
• George Fenneman, 77 (died May 29, 1997) - Appeared as the narrator in "Marge on the Lam". Emphysema.
• Linda McCartney, 56 (died April 17, 1998) - Appeared as herself in "Lisa the Vegetarian". "Trash of the Titans" was dedicated to her. Breast and liver cancer.
• Jim Varney, 50 (died February 10, 2000) - Played Cooter in "Bart Carney". Lung cancer.
• Tito Puente, 77 (died June 1, 2000) - Appeared as himself in "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part One)" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)". Heart problem.
• Steve Allen, 78 (died October 30, 2000) - Appeared as the "electronically altered" voice of Bart in "Separate Vocations" and as himself in "'Round Springfield". Heart attack.
• Joe C., 26 (died November 16, 2000) - Appeared as himself in "Kill the Alligator and Run". Celiac disease
• Werner Klemperer, 80 (died December 6, 2000) - Appeared as Colonel Klink from Hogan's Heroes in "The Last Temptation of Homer". Cancer.
• Joey Ramone, 49 (died April 15, 2001) - Appeared as himself, with the rest of The Ramones in "Rosebud". Lymphoma.
• Jack Lemmon, 76 (died June 27, 2001) - Voiced Frank Ormand in "The Twisted World of Marge Simpson". Colon cancer.
• George Harrison, 58 (died November 29, 2001) - Harrison played himself in "Homer's Barbershop Quartet". "A Hunka Hunka Burns in Love" was dedicated to him. Lung and brain cancer.
• Ron Taylor, 49 (died January 16, 2002) - Voiced Bleeding Gums Murphy in "Moaning Lisa" and "'Round Springfield". "Sweets and Sour Marge" was dedicated to him. Heart attack.
• Lawrence Tierney, 82 (died February 26, 2002) - Played Don Brodka in "Marge Be Not Proud". Pneumonia.
• Stephen Jay Gould, 60 (died May 20, 2002) - Appeared as himself in "Lisa the Skeptic". "Pappa's Got a Brand New Badge" was dedicated to him. Cancer.
• John Entwistle, 57 (died June 27, 2002) - Appeared as himself, with the rest of The Who in "A Tale of Two Springfields". Drug induced heart attack.
• Rod Steiger, 77 (died July 9, 2002) - Voiced Captain Tenille in "Simpson Tide". Pneumonia after gall bladder surgery.
• Chick Hearn, 85 (died August 5, 2002 - Voiced the Announcer in "Homer Defined". Head injury from fall.
• Johnny Unitas, 69 (died September 11, 2002) - Appeared as himself in "Homie the Clown". Heart attack.
• Barry White, 58 (died July 4, 2003) - Appeared as himself in "Whacking Day" and "Krusty Gets Kancelled". Kidney failure.
• Bob Hope, 100 (died July 27, 2003) - Appeared as himself in "Lisa the Beauty Queen". Pneumonia.
• Johnny Cash, 71 (died September 12, 2003) - Voiced the Space Coyote in "El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer)". Complications from diabetes.
• George Plimpton, 76 (died September 29, 2003) - Appeared as himself in "I'm Spelling As Fast As I Can". Natural causes.
• Paul Winfield, 64 (died March 7, 2004) - Voiced Lucius Sweet in "The Homer They Fall" and "The Trouble With Trillions". Heart attack.
• Isabel Sanford, 86 (died July 9, 2004) - Appeared as herself in "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore". Heart disease.
• Johnny Ramone, 55 (died September 15, 2004) - Appeared as himself, with the rest of The Ramones in "Rosebud". Prostate cancer.
• Rodney Dangerfield, 82 (died October 5, 2004) - Played Larry Burns in "Burns, Baby Burns". Complications from heart surgery.
• Johnny Carson, 79 (died January 23, 2005) - Carson appeared as himself in "Krusty Gets Kancelled". "Mommie Beerest" was dedicated to him. Emphysema.
• Henry Corden, 85 (died May 19, 2005) - Voiced Fred Flintstone in the episode "Sideshow Bob Roberts". Emphysema.
• Anne Bancroft, 73 (died June 6, 2005) - Voiced Dr. Zweig in "Fear of Flying". Uterine cancer.
• Bob Denver, 70 (died September 2, 2005) - Played himself in "Simpson Tide". Complications from throat cancer surgery.
• Dennis Weaver, 81 (died February 24, 2006) - Played Buck McCoy in "The Lastest Gun in the West". Complications from cancer.
• Bob Papenbrook, 50 (died March 17, 2006) - Papenbrook voiced the Garbageman in "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson, though remained uncredited
• James Brown, 73 (died December 25, 2006) - Appeared as himself in "Bart's Inner Child". Heart failure induced by pneumonia.
• Tom Poston, 85 (died April 20, 2007) - Appeared as the Capital City Goofball in "Dancin' Homer". Respiratory failure.
• Robert Goulet, 73 (died October 30, 2007) - Appeared as himself in episode "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)". Pulmonary fibrosis.
• George Carlin, 71 (died June 22, 2008) - Voiced Munchie in "D'oh-in in the Wind". Heart failure.
• Paul Newman, 83 (died September 26, 2008) - Appeared as himself in "The Blunder Years". "Lost Verizon" was dedicated to his memory. Lung cancer.
• Eartha Kitt, 81 (died December 25, 2008) - Appeared posthumously in a "Once Upon a Time in Springfield". Colon cancer.
• Patrick McGoohan, 80 (died January 13, 2009) - Appeared as Number Six in "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes". Short illness.
• John Updike, 76 (died January 27, 2009) - Appeared as himself in "Insane Clown Poppy". Lung cancer.
• Ed McMahon, 86 (died June 23, 2009) - Appeared as himself in "Treehouse of Horror IX". Bone cancer and pneumonia.
• Michael Jackson, 50 (died June 25, 2009) - Appeared as Leon Kompowsky in "Stark Raving Dad" and also co-wrote "Do the Bartman". A repeat of "Wedding For Disaster" was dedicated to him. Drug overdose induced cardiac arrest.
• Gary Coleman, 42 (died May 28, 2010) - Appeared as himself in "Grift of the Magi". Archive audio of his performance was also used in "Behind the Laughter" and "A Tale of Two Springfields". Intercranial hemorrhage from fall.
• Robert Schimmel, 60 (died September 3, 2010) - Appeared as a convict in "Pokey Mom". Car accident.
• Jack LaLanne, 96 (died January 23, 2011) - Appeared as himself in "The Old Man and the "C" Student". Pneumonia.
• Elizabeth Taylor, 79 (died March 23, 2011) - Voiced Maggie in "Lisa's First Word" and appeared as herself in "Krusty Gets Kancelled"; "Love is a Many Strangled Thing" was dedicated to her. Heart failure.
• Clarence Clemons, 69 (died June 18, 2011) - Narrated the episode "Grift of the Magi". Stroke.
• Charles Napier, 75 (died October 5, 2011) - Voiced three different characters in four episodes, including the recurring character The Warden. Unknown cause.
• Joe Frazier, 67 (died November 7, 2011) - Appeared as himself in the episodes "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" and "Homer's Paternity Coot". Liver cancer.
• Harry Morgan, 96 (died December 7, 2011) - Appeared as his Dragnet character Bill Gannon in "Mother Simpson". Pneumonia.
• Tom Ardolino, 56 (died January 6, 2012) - As NRBQ's drummer, Ardolino performed with the rest of the band in three episodes.
• Dick Tufeld, 85, (died January 22, 2012) - Tufeld reprised his role as the voice of the robot from the series Lost in Space in "Mayored to the Mob" and "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore".

Other related

• Sunni Walton, 59 (died December 29, 1997) - Walton has no known direct connection to The Simpsons, but the episode "This Little Wiggy" was "Dedicated to Sunni Walton O'Neil". Brain tumor.
• Daryl Gates, 83 (died April 16, 2010) - Appeared in the special Springfield's Most Wanted, made to promote "Who Shot Mr. Burns? (Part Two)", as himself. Blood cancer.
• Polly Platt, 72 (died July 27, 2011) - Gave James L. Brooks the Life in Hell cartoon "The Los Angeles Way of Death" by Matt Groening and suggested the two meet and that the characters be given their own show; the meeting spawned the Tracy Ullman Show shorts. ALS.

Foreign voice cast

• Jean-Louis Millette, 64 (died September 29, 1999) - Voiced Abraham Simpson, Apu and Smithers in the Quebec dubbing. Heart attack.
• Elisabeth Volkmann, 70 (died July 27, 2006) - Voiced Marge, Patty and Selma in the German dub.
• Sayuri Yamauchi, 55 (died March 7, 2012) - Voiced Maude Flanders and Itchy in the Japanese dub.

References

• Dearly Departed on the Simpsons at The Simpsons Archive
• IMDb - Internet Movie Database