Actors Who Have the Most On-Screen Deaths in Film History
A mix of lengthy filmographies and casting habits can put certain actors in danger repeatedly. Horror slashers, sci-fi battles, medieval wars, criminal showdowns, and even animated chaos all help stack the numbers. The list below illustrates the significant variation in those totals.
Mark Hamill – 30 Deaths
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Mark Hamill’s on-screen and voice work combine for a surprisingly high death total. Luke Skywalker’s peaceful exit in Star Wars: The Last Jedi adds one more, and his early roles in war films like The Big Red One add several. Animated villains, such as the Joker across various Batman projects, further increase the total.
Bela Lugosi – 36 Deaths
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Horror fans still associate Bela Lugosi with the 1931 Dracula, where the Count meets his demise by the end of the film. Lugosi spent years playing monsters and tortured souls in films such as The Black Cat and Son of Frankenstein. Many of those characters never made it past their final act.
Eric Roberts – 38 Deaths
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Eric Roberts appears in hundreds of movies, and that alone gives him enough chances to be knocked off repeatedly. His mob boss, Sal Maron, in The Dark Knight, ends up in a deadly crash after crossing Two-Face. Roles in The Expendables and various thrillers push his count far higher than most actors working today.
Lance Henriksen – 41 Deaths
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Science fiction and horror roles shaped Lance Henriksen’s tally. He’s taken out by the Terminator in The Terminator, torn apart, then rebuilt in Aliens, and finished off again in Alien 3. He also falls in Near Dark and The Quick and the Dead, which keeps his total climbing.
Danny Trejo – 41 Deaths
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With more than 400 roles, Danny Trejo built a career on tough characters who face impossible odds. He’s taken out by vampires in From Dusk Till Dawn and criminals in countless action thrillers. Trejo works so often that the numbers add up fast.
Boris Karloff – 42 Deaths
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Classic horror wouldn’t look the same without Boris Karloff, whose roles in Frankenstein, The Mummy, and The Invisible Ray guarantee multiple doomed characters. His part in the original Scarface ends with a hail of bullets. Karloff’s filmography spans hundreds of credits.
John Hurt – 43 Deaths
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The famous chest-burster moment in Alien helped John Hurt become part of movie history. His characters also die in 1984, Snowpiercer, and several other works. Hurt often played fragile or haunted figures, and that writing put him at risk in story after story.
Vincent Price – 48 Deaths
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Few actors became horror icons the way Vincent Price did. Every era of his career brought another doomed character, from his tragic scientist in The Fly to the vengeance-obsessed star of The Abominable Dr. Phibes. His gentle Inventor in Edward Scissorhands meets a sad end, too. Price appeared in more than 100 films, and many sent him off in dramatic fashion.
Dennis Hopper – 48 Deaths
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Villainous characters defined a lot of Dennis Hopper’s work, and that put him in harm’s way often. His unhinged Frank Booth in Blue Velvet never had a shot at surviving once the story caught up with him. Even the colorful King Koopa in Super Mario Bros. doesn’t make it to the end. Hopper’s intensity fit characters who burned bright and fast.
Christopher Lee – 70 Deaths
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Christopher Lee’s decades of horror roles gave him an enormous tally. Watching him fall as Saruman in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King adds to a list that already includes his many endings as Dracula, along with his defeat as Count Dooku in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. Lee’s long run in monster movies kept that total growing for more than 50 years.