20 Most Iconic Movie Deaths Of All Time

2. Major T.J. Kong - Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Quint Jaws Death
Columbia Pictures

One of the first films selected for preservation by the National Film Library, Stanley Kubrick's classic satire Dr Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb remains one of the greatest comedies ever made. While Peter Sellers was originally going to play four characters in the movie, an on-set injury saw veteran character actor Slim Pickens step into the role of Major T.J. 'King' Kong, and the rest is movie history.

With the bomb doors on his aircraft damaged, Major Kong takes matters into his own hands in an attempt to drop his payload. Given the way the scene plays out, it comes as a surprise that Slim Pickens reportedly wasn't informed that the movie was a comedy and as a result played his scenes dead straight. Falling through the sky, Major Kong whoops and hollers like a madman as he hurtles towards his explosive demise, waving his trademark hat in the air in what became the movie's defining image.

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