A few weeks ago, loyal Downton Abbey viewers were left slack-jawed as one of the more popular characters, Matthew Crawley, portrayed by Dan Stevens, died in a violent car crash in the final scene from the third season of the series. “How could the producers do that?” was a popular refrain on social media and around office water coolers the next morning. The answer is simple: Mr. Stevens did not agree to another three year term on his contract with the production company. Killing him off was the only thing to do, at least in the minds of the show’s creators. This type of thing has been going on in the entertainment industry for years. While we may see the finished product on the screen or tube as a purely artistic endeavor, artistic choices are interwoven with the complex business and legal issues that arise between production companies and the talent. There are plenty of examples of characters being killed off strictly for artistic and dramatic purposes: the character of Edith Bunker on the All in the Family spinoff, Archie Bunker’s Place; Lane Pryce on Mad Men; and “Big Pussy” Bonpenserio on The Sopranos, to name just a few.
However, in many instances, the decision to kill off a popular character has been driven by legal and business considerations. Here are a few examples:
Downton Abbey
In addition to Dan Stevens, Jessica Brown Findlay, who played Lady Sybil Crawley, also did not agree to a new three year contract. The result? Death following childbirth.
M*A*S*H
The hugely popular television series set during the Korean War followed the motion picture of the same name and included many of the characters who appeared in the film. In the television version, the lovable Lt. Colonel Henry Blake was portrayed by McLean Stevenson during the first three years the show aired.
Stevenson reportedly was unhappy about not having a larger role on M*A*S*H and asked to be released from his contract. In the last episode of the 1974-75 season, his character was sent home from Korea. Rather than just leaving the story with his return to the US, the producers decided that his plane would be shot down over the Sea of Japan. Even the other actors in the cast were unaware of this until the scene was about to be filmed. McLean Stevenson’s career effectively died then as well. Stevenson later said that leaving M*A*S*H was the biggest career mistake he had ever made. He was also reportedly upset by the fact that his character’s death made it impossible for him to ever return to the show.
The Godfather, Part III
The third film in the Godfather trilogy (not nearly as well-received as the first two installments, both of which received the Academy Award for Best Picture) was a project agreed to reluctantly by most of the principal parties involved, including Francis Ford Coppola and Al Pacino. Writer/Director Coppola’s studio, Zeotrope Studios, was seriously in debt at the time as a result of the poor financial performance of some of Coppola’s other projects. Al Pacino agreed to do it primarily for a paycheck. Pacino initially insisted on $7 million plus back-end points but “settled” for $5 million.
Robert Duvall, a key character who had portrayed Corleone family consigliere Tom Hagen in the first two Godfather films, insisted on being paid as much as Pacino. The studio turned him down, and the part was recast and altered for George Hamilton to play the new character, lawyer B.J. Harrison. A single line of dialogue was inserted to explain that Hagen had died years before. The result? Coppola and Pacino had their paydays, but Hagen’s absence created the lack of a critical counterbalance to the Michael Corleone character.
Valerie
This show was supposed to be a star vehicle for Valerie Harper. However, during the second season, Harper quit the series in a salary dispute. Her character was killed off, she was replaced by Sandy Duncan, and the series was renamed Valerie’s Family. In 1988, it was renamed again as The Hogan Family and the son, portrayed by Jason Bateman, became the series star.
Two and a Half Men
When Charlie Sheen, the show’s star, and Executive Producer Chuck Lorre got into a very public fight in early 2011, Sheen was fired. (He later filed a $100 million lawsuit against Lorre and Warner Bros., which was reportedly settled for $25 million.) Although Sheen publicly implored Lorre to give him back his job, Lorre refused, instead writing a funeral for Sheen’s Charlie Harper character. Clearly, Lorre wanted there to be no chance for Sheen to re-appear on the show.
Law & Order
In the show’s 1996 season finale, Assistant District Attorney Claire Kincaid, portrayed by Jill Hennessey, was in a car accident. Hennessey was still in negotiations with the show’s Executive Producer, Dick Wolf, at the time. Hennessy was supposed to return that fall to reprise her role in a one-shot guest stint. But, according to the show’s writers, after Hennessy’s agent informed the show that she was not interested in returning, they had her character die. Hennessy later said there was a miscommunication between her agent and executive producer Dick Wolf.
NYPD Blue
The writers created a story line where Detective Bobby Simone, played by Jimmy Smits, contracted a heart infection that required him to have a heart transplant. At first, it seemed that Bobby would survive the operation and return to his duties as Andy Sipowicz’s partner. However, by the end of the story arc, his body rejected the new organ and he passed away. More accurately, Jimmy Smits passed on the producers’ contract offer to stay.
Dallas
In one of the more bizarre examples of death by contract, Patrick Duffy, who portrayed the “good guy” brother, Bobby Ewing, wanted to leave the show. The writers created a storyline where Bobby was run down by a car and he later died in the hospital from his injuries. However, when ratings started to sag and Duffy was persuaded to come back to the show, the writers used the less than novel approach of “it was all a dream” to explain Bobby’s death. The writers were then free to return Bobby to the show, unscathed.
These are just a few examples. The creative reins of a show or movie franchise are held as much by the production company’s legal department and the actors’ lawyers and agents as they are by the writers and directors. So the next time you see a popular character meet their demise in a sudden and unexpected way, you might wonder: what was the REAL cause of death?
