When a beloved actor dies, millions of people who didn't even know them grieve in their
own way. But for their co-stars, showing up to work without the person you've been acting
alongside for years is tragic.
He rose to prominence while starring as Finn on the musical sitcom Glee, but in 2013, Cory
Monteith passed away after battling with addiction since his teenage years. The entire cast struggled
to deal with the loss, especially his co-star Lea Michele, whom he had been dating at the
time of his death. Michele said that eventually, not acting was more painful than getting back
in front of the camera. She wanted to be surrounded by the Glee cast again, after all, she and
Monteith both thought of the rest of the cast and crew as family. Plus, she said that Monteith
would not have wanted her to give up on her passion.
Michele explained on The Ellen DeGeneres Show at the end of that year,
"There is an empowerment that comes with grief, at some point you find it. It's very hard
but you will find it, and I think at a certain point you can choose to sort of fall from
this or you can choose to rise…And that's what I'm just trying to do my best for him,
because I know that that's what he would have."
Michele still keeps Monteith's memory close. She recently got a new tattoo that says "Finn,"
and she posts tributes to him every year.
If you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call or chat online with
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
For years, Bob Einstein played Marty Funkhouser on the long-running hit HBO comedy Curb Your
Enthusiasm, catching Larry David in countless gaffes. In January 2019, Einstein sadly passed
away after battling cancer. The death of Einstein shocked and saddened the cast. David said,
"Never have I seen an actor enjoy a role the way Bob did playing 'Marty Funkhouser' on
Curb...It was an amazing, unforgettable experience knowing and working with him. There was no
one like him, as he told us again and again."
Fans will undoubtedly miss his iconic, gravelly voice and the humor he brought to the show.
Despite the tragedy, Jeff Garlin told The Daily Beast that they will not bring up Einstein's
death during the show's tenth season because he said there is no melancholy on Curb Your
Enthusiasm. Basically, they're not planning to kill off the character, but there's a good
chance that they will reference him in some way, it might be the kind of episode that
makes you laugh even while you shed a tear.
Bea Arthur and Betty White worked together on the hilarious NBC sitcom The Golden Girls,
which featured a group of over-50 women living together and finding humor in their old age.
There were always rumors of a feud simmering between Arthur and White, but their co-star
Rue McClanahan insisted that at the end of the day, their supposed "feud" really came
down to artistic differences. McClanahan explained,
"Bea came from a New York stage point of view. She always had what we call 'the fourth wall.'
And Betty came from a television point of view. She would flirt with the audience, and
pull up her skirt and say, 'Hi, sailor.' But Bea never acknowledged the audience."
When Arthur passed away in 2009, White was as heartbroken as any die-hard Golden Girls
fan. After her death, White said,
"I knew it would hurt, I just didn't know it would hurt this much."
Yes, Arthur and White would butt heads behind the scenes occasionally, but underneath it
all, these two actresses had great respect for each other, and Arthur was greatly missed.
When Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce passed away after a fatal seizure, it was a harrowing
wake-up call for his co-stars. Boyce died young, he was only 20, and he should have
had an amazing life and career ahead of him. His Descendants co-stars couldn't believe
that he was gone. Dove Cameron, who played Mal and considered Boyce a close friend, said
that his death reminded the cast just how precious life is. In the wake of his passing,
the Descendants cast members were going out of their way to spend more time together.
Cameron told E! News,
"He just was everything that everybody says he is. He was from someplace else."
Cameron also got a tattoo to remember Boyce. She chose a design with a flower coming out
of gun, an international symbol for peace and anti-war movements. She stated that Boyce
was working with an organization against gun violence before his death, and she wanted
to memorialize him as someone who cared deeply about peace.
As Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher inspired a generation
of sci-fi fans who fell in love with their Star Wars characters. When the franchise was
revived with The Force Awakens in 2015, legions of fans were thrilled to see them return to
their roles and bring the story to life for a new generation of fans. But when Fisher
passed away in December 2016, Hamill's view on the films changed.
There's no doubt that Hamill loved Fisher, and he cherished their friendship for life.
However, her death affected his memories of Star Wars, and he didn't have much motivation
to return for future films. Hamill told ABC News in 2018,
"Rather than being sorry that we can't have more of her, I'm just grateful that we had
the time with her that we did."
Of course, Fisher did appear in The Rise of Skywalker via archive footage, and Hamill
made one last cameo as Luke's Force ghost, bringing the Skywalker Saga to a close after
42 years.
John Ritter played Kaley Cuoco’s father on the sitcom 8 Simple Rules for Dating My
Teenage Daughter, and while they weren't actually related, he still felt like a father figure
to her. His untimely death due to complications with a heart condition left her feeling lost,
and today, she still thinks about him all the time.
Cuoco couldn't believe that Ritter was gone, and the cast addressed his death in a touching
episode of 8 Simple Rules. Cuoco continued moving forward in her acting career, landing
a major role as Penny on The Big Bang Theory.
But she never forgot about her wonderful experiences of working with Ritter. On the 15th anniversary
of his death in 2018, she revealed that there isn't a day that goes by when her memories
with Ritter don't make her laugh. At the same time, she still mourns his loss. Her Big Bang
Theory co-star Jim Parsons said,
"I don't think she ever talks about him without tears in her eyes...She's emotionally stable,
but there was definitely a fatherly bond."
When fans of Riverdale and Beverly Hills, 90210 got the news that actor Luke Perry had
passed away after having a stroke, they were devastated, and his former co-star Shannen
Doherty took the loss on a deeply personal level. Doherty had worked with Perry on Beverly
Hills, 90210, where the pair played longtime love interests. Although the original show
had ended years before, Doherty was still devastated by Perry's death. He had supported
her through thick and thin, and stood by her side when she was fighting cancer.
When the 90210 reboot was announced, Doherty originally did not plan on going back, she
did not think that the show really needed her. But when she got the news about Perry's
passing, she had a new perspective. She decided that she would return for the reboot after
all, and it would be the perfect way to keep his memory alive. The actress revealed,
"When Luke passed away, things drastically changed for me and I felt like it was a great
opportunity to honor him...And I'm really glad I made that decision because now I get
to sit up here with a lot of people that I respect and love."
Sadly, actress Debbie Reynolds passed away only one day after the death of her daughter
Carrie Fisher. Fans of both women couldn't believe the news, and Debra Messing, who played
Reynolds' daughter Grace on the sitcom Will & Grace, knew that her life would never be
the same. From the moment Messing met Reynolds, she was struck by her bold presence. Messing
told Entertainment Weekly,
"Debbie was really indescribable. She would come onstage and she was a broad in the greatest
sense...She always was entertaining and singing and dancing and she was running off and doing
a one-woman show, you know, 300 days of the year. It was just crazy."
Messing always looked up to Reynolds, and she knew that they couldn't let new episodes
of the Will & Grace revival go by without taking the time to honor Reynolds. The writers
created an episode about Grace wanting her father to hold on to her childhood home rather
than selling it, because she didn't want to lose those memories of her mother. Now, she
still posts occasional tributes to Reynolds, it's clear that she will never forget the
time they spent together on set.
Alan Rickman was known for many different roles, but millions of people knew him best
as Severus Snape in the Harry Potter films. When he passed away in early 2016, fans of
the series were heartbroken. He brought this character from the books to life, and he played
the sinister role so well that it was hard to believe he was such a kind and funny man
when the camera wasn't rolling. Just take it from Daniel Radcliffe, who grew up playing
Harry Potter alongside Rickman. Radcliffe explained in a statement after the actor’s
death,
"As an actor he was one of the first of the adults on Potter to treat me like a peer rather
than a child. Working with him at such a formative age was incredibly important and I will carry
the lessons he taught me for the rest of my life and career."
Radcliffe said that Rickman had always supported him, whether he was working on a movie or
a play, and that he wouldn't be the actor he is today without Rickman's guidance.
When Paul Walker died in a car accident, his Fast and Furious co-star Vin Diesel lost a
best friend. After Walker's death, Diesel visited Walker's mom, her house was his first
stop after hearing the news. Diesel shared on Facebook,
"His mother hugged me and said I am so sorry...I said sorry? You're the mother who lost a son?...She
said yes, but you lost your other half."
While filming Furious 7, Diesel admitted that shooting the barbecue scene at the end of
the film was very emotional. In fact, he had to step away for a few moments because he
just couldn't believe that Walker wasn't there on set with the rest of the cast. Diesel told
USA Today,
"I had never done a barbecue scene without him...And I just cracked and broke down and
had to walk off set to collect myself. That was the only time I wasn't strong enough to
keep it together."
But the entire cast and crew wanted to make sure that they paid homage to Walker throughout
the film, finishing production with help from the actor's brothers and ending the story
with a touching tribute to their departed comrade.
Harold Ramis and Bill Murray were an unstoppable comedy duo. They worked together on films
like Ghostbusters and Stripes, and it seemed like everything they touched turned to gold.
Sadly, the pair had a serious falling out while working together on Groundhog Day. They
didn't speak for over two decades after. Sometimes in interviews, Ramis would admit that he missed
their friendship, and that he hoped they could be friends again one day. For the longest
time, it looked like they would never reconcile.
But when Murray found out that Ramis was on his deathbed, everything changed. His brother
convinced him that he had to go visit Ramis, Murray listened, and the two finally made
up. Upon his death, Murray reminisced on their many achievements together. Murray said,
"Harold Ramis and I together did the National Lampoon Show off Broadway, Meatballs, Stripes,
Caddyshack, Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day. He earned his keep on this planet…God bless
him."
Superhero films haven't always earned glowing critical reviews, particularly in a pre-2008 world.
But Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight was an exception. Heath Ledger
played the Joker to Christian Bale's Batman, and although both actors were lauded for their
performances, Ledger's take on the Joker truly stood out. Bale had a great respect for Ledger's
talent, he was a truly gifted actor, and that was perhaps never more evident than it was
in Christopher Nolan's game-changing epic.
When Ledger died several months before the release of the film, Bale was shattered. He
told Parade,
"He was somebody who I'd been seeing on a daily basis for months...It takes a long time
to accept that someone's gone, when all body and mind are telling you that this is somebody
you will know for a great deal of time. He was something of a kindred spirit to myself."
Bale was disgusted by the way the media covered Ledger's death, and he hoped that people could
move past it and view his work on The Dark Knight as a celebration of his life. It seems
like Bale's wish came true, it came as a surprise to no one when Ledger posthumously won an
Oscar for the role.
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