Dedication to Paul Newman at the end of "Lost Verizon"
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
- 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 under the name Dora. "Team Homer" was dedicated to her. Emphysema. (Also Staff)
- 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, such as Lyle Lanley in "Marge vs. the Monorail". Following his murder, his characters were retired and "Bart the Mother" was dedicated to him. That episode featured Hartman's last speaking apperance as Troy McClure. A section of The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family... Continued is dedicated to him. He was murdered by his wife, Brynn, who was on drugs.
- Marcia Wallace, 70 (died October 25, 2013) - Provided the voice of Edna Krabappel. Her book, Don't Look Back We're Not Going That Way, is a biography that recounts the early detection of her breast cancer. Complications of pneumonia and breast cancer.
- Jan Hooks, 57 (died October 9, 2014) - Provided the voice of Manjula Nahasapeemapetilon in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons", "I'm with Cupid", "Eight Misbehavin'", "Take My Wife, Sleaze", "Bye Bye Nerdie", and "Large Marge". Tress MacNeille played the role in subsequent episodes.
Staff
- 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.
- Thomas Chastain, 73 (died September 1, 1994) - Co-wrote the teleplay 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.
- Ed Demattia (died January 11, 1997) - was an animator for 3 episodes.
- Sunni Walton (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.
- Kent Holaday, 49 (died June 22, 2001) - Holaday worked as a lip sync for the show. Thyroid condition.
- 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.
- Don Payne (died March 26, 2013) - writer
- Steve Viksten (died June 23, 2014)-co-writer
- Sam Simon (died March 9, 2015) co-creator
- Kevin Curran (died October 25, 2016) writer
Guest stars
- Christopher Collins, 44 (died June 12, 1994) - Voiced some minor characters in Season 1 such as America's Most Armed and Dangerous Presenter in "Some Enchanted Evening". Cerebral hemorrhage.
- 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 Cooder in "Bart Carny". 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 31, 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 11, 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". "Poppa'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 Spirit Guide 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.
- 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 6 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, 97 (died January 23, 2011) - Appeared as himself in "The Old Man and the "C" Student". Pneumonia.
- Elizabeth Taylor, 79 (died March 23, 2011) - Appeared as Maggie in "Lisa's First Word", herself in "Krusty Gets Kancelled". Congestive heart failure.
- Clarence Clemons, 69 (died June 18, 2011) - Appeared as the narrator in "Grift of the Magi". Stroke.
- Charles Napier, 75 (died October 5, 2011) - Appeared as The Warden in "Pokey Mom" and "The Wandering Juvie", Grant Connor in "The Fat and the Furriest", Officer Krackney in "The Seven-Beer Snitch". Cause of death undisclosed, possibly related to blood clots.
- Joe Frazier, 67 (died November 7, 2011) - Appeared as himself in "Brother, Can You Spare Two Dimes?" and "Homer's Paternity Coot". Liver cancer.
- Harry Morgan, 96 (died December 7, 2011) - Appeared as Bill Gannon in "Mother Simpson". Pneumonia.
- Dick Tufeld, 85 (died January 22, 2012) - Appeared as Robot B-9 in "Mayored to the Mob" and "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore".
- Dick Clark, 82 (died April 18, 2012) - Appeared as himself in "Treehouse of Horror X".
- Ernest Borgnine, 95 (died July 8, 2012) - Appeared as himself in "Boy-Scoutz 'n the Hood."
- Gore Vidal, 86 (died July 31, 2012) - Appeared as himself in "Moe'N'a Lisa." Pneumonia
- Marvin Hamlisch, 68 (died August 6, 2012) - Appeared as himself after his death in Gone Abie Gone. Brief illness
- Larry Hagman, 81 (died November 23, 2012) - Appeared as Wallace Brady in The Monkey Suit. Cancer
- Huell Howser, 67 (died January 6, 2013) - Appeared as himself in "O Brother, Where Bart Thou?." Natural causes
- Dr. Joyce Brothers, 85 (died May 13, 2013) - Appeared as herself in "Last Exit to Springfield". Respiratory failure
- Cory Monteith, 31 (died July 13, 2013) - Appeared as himself in "Elementary School Musical". Drug overdose.
- Tom Clancy, 66 (died October 1, 2013) - Appeared as himself in the episode "Diatribe of a Mad Housewife".
- Mickey Rooney, 93 (died April 6, 2014) - Appeared as himself in the episode "Radioactive Man".
- Don Pardo, 96 (died August 18, 2014) - Appeared as himself in the episode "Moonshine River".
- Joan Rivers, 81 (died September 4, 2014) - Appeared as Annie Dubinsky in the episode "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution". Botched surgery.
- Leonard Nimoy, 83 (died February 27, 2015) - Appeared as himself in the episodes "Marge vs. the Monorail" and "The Springfield Files". Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Alex Rocco, 79 (died July 18, 2015) - Appeared as Roger Myers, Jr. in the episodes "Itchy & Scratchy & Marge", "The Day the Violence Died", "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show"
- Daryl Coley, 60 (died March 15, 2016) - Appeared as Bleeding Gums Murphy in ''Dancin' Homer''.
- Garry Marshall, 81 (died July 19, 2016) - Appeared as Larry Kidkill in ''Eight Misbehavin''' and Sheldon Leavitt in ''Homer the Father''. Pneumonia
- Fyvush Finkel, 93 (died August 14, 2016) - Appeared as himself playing Krusty the Clown in ''Lisa's Sax''.