7 Actors Whose Characters Die With Astonishingly Obscene Regularity

7. Robert De Niro

Confirmed Deaths: 17 It is surely little of a surprise to see The Method Actor so high on this list. Most of his oeuvre has centred around violence and the darker aspects of life, and most of his comedic output has seen him die on his backside-Rocky And Bullwinkle and Meet The Parents being prime examples. To be charitable, and to keep the total respectable, I'm merely counting actual character deaths here. As a point for film students and pedants to argue over, I'm also counting Johnny Boy in Mean Streets here; While there was never any definite expression of that characters demise, surely that much blood coming out of your neck can't be conducive to good health? Famous Examples Surprisingly for an actor who stands alongside only Pacino as one of the best of all time, I struggle to think of too many examples of a top-notch death scene involving De Niro. His Frankenstein's Monster felt a little laboured, leaving little emotional resonance, and the mid-film offing of Eddie in 15 Minutes aimed to have the same shock value as the killing of one of the central characters halfway through LA Confidential, but merely looked ridiculous due to the sight of a clearly aging and flabby man attacking his assailants with the chair he is still tied into. On the other side of the coin, there are two examples of truly memorable death scenes involving De Niro, the first of which is at the end of the remake of Cape Fear. Beaten and bloodied, the sight of De Niro slowly sinking into turbulent seas whilst babbling hysterically in tongues is one which remains stamped upon the memory for many years afterwards. Most Memorable Death Scene The coffee shop scene in Heat has entered cinematic history due to the electricity between the two leads, and deservedly so. However, the most compelling scene in the film is the final one, where Pacino's Hanna finally tracks down De Niro's McCauley and proves quicker to the draw. Hanna, always empathetic to a fault, grips the hand of his dying adversary and lets a tear roll down his cheek as Moby trickles into life on the soundtrack. The death of a crook as an epic tragedy-De Niro, Pacino and Mann may never better this scene.