7 Actors Whose Characters Die With Astonishingly Obscene Regularity

Everybody loves a good death scene, right? No matter if it's gripping and unexpected, melodramatic and emotional or absurdly bloody and titillating, a great death scene can linger in the memory long after the film that contained it. Ask anybody to name a scene from Platoon and they're more likely to go for Sgt. Elias jittering bloodlessly like a marionette before anything else. But who are the undoubted masters of the death scene? There are a select band of actors who seem to have made a career out of hamming up a poisoning scene, and some of these names are amongst the biggest in Hollywood. Whether it's a case of actors being attracted to a memorable scene or of casting agents recognising that some thespians do play a good corpse, there are some on this list that have seen more morgue action than The Grim Reaper. Thought the quality of a good death scene cannot be taken lightly, it's sheer quantity that we were after in compiling this list. While deaths in TV shows have been more or less discounted, I have included miniseries in some of the entries, due to the cinematic sweep of the show and to underline the point that certain Yorkshire actors die a hell of a lot. While I can't guarantee that this list is definitive, I am happy that it is an accurate reflection of the ten actors who meet their maker on celluloid more than anybody else. It goes without saying that, when discussing on-screen deaths, there are spoilers within. Also, there are obviously more than ten actors who climb Buffalo Hill regularly. If you can think of anyone who has kicked the bucket often enough to deserve a special mention, feel free to get involved in the comments section. Here's a fellow who often pegs it to get you started... SPECIAL MENTION: LEONARDO DICAPRIO

Leo is not only one of the greatest actors of his generation, he is regular cannon fodder too. While not quite prolific enough in the worm food stakes to make the final list with only 9 entries, he has featured in every conceivable type of death scene and so is worthy of a special shout out. From the emotive (Romeo + Juliet) tot he sublime (quietly sitting on a rock to accept his fate in Blood Diamond) and via the ridiculous ("I'll never let go, Jack" *Lets Go*), DiCaprio has all bases covered. He is also the subject of one of the finest shock on-screen deaths, hurtling out of the lift in The Departed and making cinema goers the world over look at each other and say, "Did that just happen?". It's close but no cigar for Leo. Here are seven actors that did make the list. In reverse order...