10 TV Shows That Killed Off Unhappy Actors

Many fans like to imagine that the casts and crews of our favourite shows are like family behind the scenes. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Feuds, fall outs and character direction can often get in the way of a seemingly good thing, as is the case with the following entries.

The shows on this list comprise of comedies, dramas and sit-coms, and many are often regarded as some of the best shows in the world. It's sad to see some of them on here, especially the fan favourites, but sometimes it was necessary and almost always handled with great care.

For the following list we're steering as clear from the obvious ones as possible (that's you, Charlie Sheen) and focusing on the characters who were killed off because of reasons you may have missed.

Beware: SPOILERS within!

Jeffrey DeMunn was a great moral presence on The Walking Dead. A fantastic actor with a strong and varied filmography, he was a brilliant choice to play Dale Horvath. Dale was righteous and human, and contrasted the darkening personas around him - primarily those of the ambiguous Shane Walsh and the rough Daryl Dixon.

In the comics, Dale survives for a long time, far past the prison he doesn't even get to see on the show. So when his death came along, fans were shocked and confused. Although his death was handled well and helped the group come together over the issues with their captive, Randall, it wasn't actually the idea of the writers to take him out.

In fact, DeMunn was very vocal about his anger toward AMC, who had recently fired show-runner Frank Darabont over creative differences. DeMunn, who had worked with Darabont on a number of classic Stephen King adaptations, including The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, and The Mist, felt as though the director was being ill-treated and didn't want to be part of the show if his friend was gone.

According to DeMunn himself, once Darabont was confirmed as leaving, he went to AMC and said, simply: "Kill me."

Dale loss was felt at the time, and it would have been nice to see DeMunn carry his story further into the show. Luckily for fans, his moral attitude was filled by the great Scott Wilson's Hershel Greene. The Walking Dead is in its tenth season as of this writing, but DeMunn (and now Wilson) is still a greatly missed presence.