Game Of Thrones Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

When it comes to fantasy on TV, there is only one series that can call itself king: the HBO juggernaut "Game of Thrones." Based on the books by George R.R. Martin, the series was a ratings monster and one of the biggest hits on TV during its time on the air, with fans unable to wait to see the story unfold during its astounding 11-year run. But what made it great wasn't just its lavish production, top-notch special effects, sprawling and epic story, and buckets of sex and violence, but its impressive ensemble cast.

When it first debuted, the series was fronted by "Lord of the Rings" star Sean Bean, with a cast of lesser-known British character actors, newcomers, and veteran thespians. The series turned plenty of unknowns into superstars, and during its decade-plus run, "Game of Thrones" saw countless incredible actors pass through Westeros. Sadly, not all of them are still with us. These actors, though, should be remembered, so we're here to make sure they're never forgotten — especially for their gifts to the "Game of Thrones" universe.

As an action-heavy fantasy epic, "Game of Thrones" features some of the biggest and most jaw-dropping sword-and-sandal war scenes TV audiences ever witnessed. Brimming with blood, battles, and brutality, the series was in dire need of stunt doubles, body doubles, and more to help bring its visual spectacle to life. One of them was Andrew Dunbar, who served as an uncredited double for Alfie Allen in the role of Theon Greyjoy.

Dunbar had small roles in the British police procedural "Line of Duty" as well as the hit teen sitcom "Derry Girls" and the sci-fi series "Krypton." He had a steady gig on "Game of Thrones," working as an extra for many years alongside his role as Allen's body double. One of his larger featured roles on the show was as a Stark bannerman during the Battle of the Bastards. Dunbar also worked as a DJ when he wasn't in Westeros.

Tragically, Dunbar died in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Christmas Eve in 2019. Allen posted a tribute on social media, memorializing Dunbar, who was still in his 30s at the time of his passing.

Before being cast as Ser Ilyn Payne, Wilko Johnson was much more known for his music than his acting and was a founding member and guitarist of the 1970s pub rock group Dr. Feelgood. The group — founded in 1971 in Canvey Island, England — released over 40 albums in their decades-spanning career, beginning with "Down by the Jetty" in 1975.

"Game of Thrones" was Johnson's TV debut, and it was the perfect role for a man who'd never acted before: the mute executioner Ser Ilyn Payne, known for his searing glare. His now-iconic gaze appears in a total of four episodes across the show's first two seasons, and it was his blade that severed the head of Ned Stark (Sean Bean).

While "Game of Thrones" was Johnson's first and only acting credit, he did appear in a documentary about his band, Dr. Feelgood, titled "Oil City Confidential," in 2009, and he later appeared in one documentary focused on him alone, 2015's "The Ecstacy of Wilko Johnson." On his passing in 2022 from pancreatic cancer, Total Guitar described him as the "hard-hitting rhythm king who shaped the sound of UK punk." He was 75.

Every House needs a leader, and for House Karstark it was Lord of Karhold, Rickard, played by John Stahl. Though he was the second actor in the role — Steven Blount originated the part in the first season episode "Fire and Blood" — it was Stahl who got the beefier appearances, showing up in five episodes across the show's second and third years.

The Scottish actor Stahl got his professional career started in the 1970s, but it wasn't until the '80s that he saw frequent work. That decade he began starring in the Scottish soap opera "Take the High Road" as Tom "Inverdarroch" Kerr, a role he played on and off for over 200 episodes until the series' end in 2003. He also landed appearances in other UK series, with guest appearances on episodes of "Taggart" and "Trial and Error" in 1994, and "Doctor Finlay" two years later.

After "Game of Thrones," Stahl showed up in minor roles in the big-budget period films "Victoria & Abdul" and "Mary, Queen of Scots." He also appeared in an episode of "Shetland" in 2016 and on "Midsomer Murders" in 2019, while his final on-screen role was in the Netflix holiday movie "A Castle for Christmas." In March 2022, Stahl died at the age of 68.

"Game of Thrones" made stars out of many in its cast, including Sophie Turner, Emilia Clarke, Kit Harington, and Peter Dinklage. But it also saw appearances from a handful of legendary existing stars, too, and few were bigger than Max von Sydow, who appeared in three episodes of Season 6 as the greenseer known as the Three-Eyed Raven. He took over the role from Struan Rodger, who played the character briefly in the show's first season.

Best known in the U.S. for his role as Father Merrin in the 1973 classic "The Exorcist," von Sydow is a two-time Academy Award nominee, with his second nomination coming in 2012 for his role in "Extremely Loud and Terribly Close." His early breakout role, of course, came in "The Seventh Seal" from director Ignmar Bergman. The pair made 11 films together. In 1965, he played Jesus Christ in the biblical epic "The Greatest Story Ever Told."

Later in his career, von Sydow joined several franchise projects, appearing in "The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles" as Sigmund Freud, and in 2015 he had a small role as Lor San Tekka in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" before appearing on "Game of Thrones." The British icon died in March 2020 at the age of 90, passing at his home in Provence, France. 

Peter Vaughan joined "Game of Thrones" in its first season, cast to play Aemon, the master at Castle Black and advisor to Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo). Vaughan played the part for four seasons and 11 total episodes, which came more than 60 years after he made his acting debut in the mid-1950s. That decade, he was all over TV, from "The Adventures of Ben Gunn" to "BBC Sunday Night Theater" and "Saturday Playhouse."

Vaughan had a varied and prolific acting career, with some of his more notable projects comprising the BBC adaptation of "Oliver Twist" in 1962 (he played Bill Sikes) and "Great Expectations" five years later (playing Mr. Jaggers). During this time he also made appearances on British TV classics like "The Saint," "The Avengers," and "Coronation Street." In 1977 he took the role of Harry "Grouty" Grout on "Porridge," a role he reprised in the feature film adaptation "Doing Time" two years later and again in the 2003 mockumentary "Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher." He also played Fritz Koenig in the original "Bourne Identity" TV miniseries with Richard Chamberlain.

Though he was never a famous leading man on the big screen, he did get to star alongside such heavyweights as Frank Sinatra, Meryl Streep, and Michael Caine. The role of Aemon was ironically one of Vaughan's biggest, and it was also the final role of his career. The veteran actor died in 2016 at the age of 93 of natural causes.

There are few more famous female stars from the 1960s than Diana Rigg. She's probably best known for her starring role as secret agent Emma Peel in the cult classic spy series "The Avengers," but she also played the wife of James Bond — Teresa di Vicenzo — in the underrated Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service," the only one to star George Lazenby as 007. The following decade she had her own show, playing the title role in the 1973 sitcom "Diana," where she played a divorcee who moves from New York to London to start a new career.

In the 1980s, Rigg might be remembered for her part as Lady Holiday in "The Great Muppet Caper" or as the Evil Queen in the live-action adaptation of "Snow White." She came to "Game of Thrones" in 2013, playing the recurring role of Olenna Tyrell, the sinister leader of House Tyrell and grandmother of King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson). She played the role for 18 installments, with her character killed off in dramatic fashion in the episode "The Queen's Justice."

Forever remembered as Emma Peel, Rigg died in 2020 at the age of 82. Her final role came posthumously in the psychological horror movie "Last Night in Soho" by British director Edgar Wright.

Standing an astounding 7 feet, 7 inches (and a little more), actor Neil Fingleton was the perfect man to play oversized brutes. He made his film debut in 2011 playing an imposing Russian bodyguard in Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class" and later appeared as a samurai inspired by H.P. Lovecraft in the Keanu Reeves-starring "47 Ronin." After playing the Fisher King in the "Doctor Who" episode titled "Before the Flood," Fingleton made three appearances on "Game of Thrones," first as Mag the Mighty in "The Watchers on the Wall" and later as a Giant Wight in a pair of Season 7 episodes.

Outside of acting, Fingleton was officially named the tallest person in the European Union and the World's Tallest Actor on top of being the UK's Tallest Living Man. His height made him perfect for basketball, a sport he played in college at the University of North Carolina. Having reached the height of 7 feet at the age of 11, Fingleton quickly gained national notoriety for his size. Sadly, Nigelton's size may have been what led to his death, as those of his stature often suffer ill health as they get older. He suffered heart failure in 2017 and died at the age of 36.

British thespian Roy Dotrice was more than just an actor — he's also a prolific audiobook narrator. And in addition to read-alongs of "Star Wars" in the 1990s, he was also the man who read the audiobooks of George R.R. Martin's first "A Song of Ice and Fire" titles before the HBO series even existed. He narrated the first five audiobooks.

In the TV series, though, Dotrice played Hallyne the Pyromancer in the show's second season. It was the finale of a half-century career that began in 1957 and saw him appear on TV and film. In the mid-60s he starred with David Warner and Peggy Ashcroft in the filmed William Shakespeare adaptation "The War of the Roses," and he had a recurring role on the long-running courtroom drama "Misleading Cases" the decade after. He frequented anthology TV shows, with several in the '60s and more in the '80s including roles in episodes of "Tales from the Darkside" and "Faerie Tale Theater." After a recurring role in "Picket Fences" in the '90s, Dotrice starred with Gabriel Byrne in the single-season series "Madigan Men."

Before his death, his final film role was as King Balor in Guillermo del Toro's sequel "Hellboy II: The Golden Army." In 2017 he died at the age of 94.

Welsh actor Margaret John was acting as early as 1957, and she started her career like many "Game of Thrones" stars, making guest appearances on various TV shows in Britain. This included episodes of "Z Cars," "Doctor Who," and "Coronation Street." Other credits early in her career include a recurring role on "Emergency-Ward 10" and a starring role in the TV miniseries "How Green Was My Valley." Well into her 80s, she entered the world of "Game of Thrones" as Old Nan, making two appearances in the show's first season.

In between, John spent the 1970s and '80s acting just about everywhere. Her largest role came in "Crossroads," the motel-centric British soap opera that ran for more than 20 years, and she appeared in nearly 150 episodes during its run. She also played Mrs. Hudson in the Christopher Lee-starring "Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady" and "Sherlock Homes: Incident at Victoria Falls." Back on "Doctor Who," meanwhile, John returned for a small role in 2006. But if today's viewers are familiar at all with John's filmography, they almost certainly recognize her as Doris O'Neill, the outspoken neighbor on "Gavin & Stacey."

John is the only actor in "Thrones" history to make her first appearance on the show posthumously. The episode "Lord Snow" aired almost exactly three months after her death on February 2, 2011.

The casting directors working on "Game of Thrones" seemed to enjoy casting visually distinctive actors, and one of them was guest star Darren Kent. A distinctive look may have helped the British actor land several in the fantasy genre, including "Snow White and the Huntsman," "Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves," and of course, "Game of Thrones." In the HBO series, Kent played a goatherd in the episode "The Children," a grieving father whose infant daughter, Zalla, is burned to death by Drogon.

Alongside his fantasy projects, Kent also appeared in "Jeepers Creepers: Reborn" in 2022, while on the other end of his career, made his screen debut in a 2004 episode of the UK series "Shameless." His larger roles included Chenildieu, chain mate of Jean Valjean (Dominic West) in the BBC's TV adaptation of "Les Misérables" in 2018, and a recurring role as the Scholar in six episodes of the SyFy Channel's "Blood Drive."

At just 39 years old, Kent died of natural causes in 2023; He suffered from a number of health ailments during his life, including arthritis and osteoporosis, and also managed a skin disorder, but his death was met with surprise from those in the industry. After his death, memorials poured in, with co-stars and filmmakers remembering him for his warmth and generosity.

Actor B.J. Hogg was an accomplished Northern Irish character actor with some solid screen credits. Before joining Westeros for HBO, he had a long career on stage, in major films, and on British television. In the 1980s, Kent had a recurring role on "Foreign Bodies," and the early '90s delivered him recurring roles on five separate shows, including the miniseries "The Hanging Gale" and the Cold War spy series "Children of the North," which also starred Michael Gough.

By the end of the 1990s, he had transitioned into mostly film roles, including the Oscar-nominated step-dancing short film "Dance Lexie Dance."  He also made appearances in the Cary Elwes and Timothy Dalton TV film "The Informant," the Irish horror film "Resurrection Man," and the Ireland-set films "The Brylcreem Boys," "Divorcing Jack," and "Titanic Town."

While his most well-known role is that of Ser Addam Marbrand, of House Marbrand, in the first season of "Game of Thrones," the performer also appeared in the British series "The Secret" and "The Fall," and he had small roles in the films "Your Highness," "City of Ember," and "The Windermere Children." The latter film, as well as his role as Big Mervyn in the BBC Northern Ireland series "Give My Head Peace," capped off his career. He played Mervyn for more than 20 years, debuting in 1998 until his death in 2020. He was 65 years old.

Northern Irish actor Gordon Fulton made his screen acting debut in 1979 at the age of 30. He co-starred with B.J. Hogg in "Sunset Heights" after playing a handful of small roles on television. He appeared in two episodes of the Scottish police series "Taggart" in the 1980s. In 2012, he appeared in the Season 2 premiere of "Games of Thrones" as Lord Portan in the episode "The North Remembers," and while it might not be his biggest TV part, it's easily the biggest series Fulton ever appeared in. Portan is one of the Northern vassals who appears before Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead Wright) at Winterfell.

Many of Fulton's roles were on series that Hogg also appeared in — not just "Game of Thrones." His most notable role might be that of Sammy the barman from a 2000 episode of the series "Give My Head Peace." The Ulster actor reprised the role of Sammy six years later for the show's Christmas special, tending the iconic Kneebreakers pub once more. He also appeared in two episodes of "The Secret." Described by the Arts Council drama officer Gilly Campbell as "a mighty actor and a gentleman" (per Derry Journal), Fulton died at the age of 67 in 2016.

With a massive budget that shook the industry, "Game of Thrones" often used CGI and special effects to create fantastical monsters. But not every animal or creature was created by SFX, and several animal actors were used in the filming of the series. One of them was Bart the Bear, an Alaskan grizzly bear who has a more impressive resume in Hollywood than many human actors. Though not related, he was named in honor of Bart the Bear, another grizzly who was made famous for the 1988 film "The Bear" and was the iconic roaring beast in "12 Monkeys."

Bart 2, though, born just a few months before his predecessor's passing in 2000, had his own storied career, beginning with "Dr. Doolittle 2" in 2001 with Eddie Murphy, where he even appeared on the theatrical poster. Later movie credits include appearances in "Evan Almighty," "Into the Wild," "Zookeeper," and "We Bought a Zoo" before he guest-starred in the "Game of Thrones" episode "The Bear and the Maiden Fair." Elsewhere on the small screen, Bart the Bear 2 cameoed in "Scrubs" and "CSI." He was also an ambassador for the Vital Ground Foundation, an organization dedicated to wildlife conservation.

He died in 2021 at the age of 21 — a solid lifespan for brown bears, which usually live to 25 — and he accomplished more than most in that time.