As Benjamin Franklin once noted, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” While actors often achieve a form of immortality through their performances on stage and screen, they too cannot escape these certainties. Interestingly, some actors have experienced the same fate as the characters they portrayed. Whether it was through an accidental shooting, succumbing to an illness, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time, these instances are where art eerily imitates death.

From rising actors about to make their mark in the industry to iconic stars from Hollywood’s Golden Age, the following actors tragically passed away in the same way as the roles they inhabited.

Cancer claims many lives, but it’s uncommon for actors to succumb to the same type of cancer that took their character. In the 1999 film “Magnolia,” a significant plot involves Jason Robards’ character, Earl Partridge, a former TV producer, dying from cancer. The character’s illness begins in his lungs and spreads to his brain. Before Partridge dies, his son, Frank (played by Tom Cruise), visits his estranged father for a final goodbye.

In reality, Robards passed away due to complications from a prolonged battle with cancer, as reported by The New York Times. He continued to manage his illness while filming “Magnolia” and chose the role because of its personal resonance. As he mentioned (via CBS), “What drew me to it is the fact that the guy I’m playing is dying of cancer.” Robards left a lasting impression with his portrayal of Earl Partridge before he succumbed to lung cancer on December 26, 2000, at the age of 78.

The misfortune surrounding Brandon Lee’s death during the filming of “The Crow” is widely recognized. If you haven’t watched the movie, you might be surprised to learn that the 28-year-old actor died in the same manner as Eric Draven, the character he was portraying. Eric Draven is shot by men working for a crime lord named Top Dollar (played by Michael Wincott) and then thrown from his apartment window. In the 1994 film, Eric is resurrected and seeks vengeance on those who killed him and his beloved.

Lee was filming a scene where his character is shot by Funboy, portrayed by Michael Massee. Tragically, neither actor realized the prop gun still contained a dummy round from a previous shot meant to fill the chamber visually. The gun was not cleared properly before adding new blanks. When fired, the dummy round struck Lee with lethal force. Despite efforts to save him through surgery, he could not be revived. Adding to the tragedy, Lee’s father, Bruce Lee, also died under mysterious circumstances.

The death of Tupac Shakur shocked the world in 1996. The 25-year-old rapper and actor was shot four times at a stoplight in Las Vegas after attending a boxing match and died six days later. In 1997’s “Gang Related,” his final film, Shakur’s Detective Jake Rodriguez is shot to death by a bookmaker and some hired muscle over the gambling money he owes. The investigation into Rodriguez’ death forms the final act of the film and ends up revealing the bad cop ways of Detective Frank Divinci (Jim Belushi), who had been recorded by Rodriquez admitting to murder.

Of course, Tupac Skakur’s murder went unsolved for decades until a man named Duane “Keefe D” Davis – who admitted to being in the car that the shots were fired from but denied being the killer — was indicted for killing Shakur by a Nevada grand jury in 2023. “I know a lot of people have been watching and waiting for this day,” Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said (via USA Today). “Tupac Shakur is a music legend and for a long time, this community and worldwide have been wanting justice for Tupac.”

Susan Hayward was an iconic, glamorous figure during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She was even considered to play a female version of James Bond prior to Sean Connery became 007, such was her sway in Tinseltown. She was the queen of the weepies, and, in a tragic twist, one of her roles ended up mirroring her death. In “Stolen Hours,” she plays a character diagnosed with a brain tumor who is told that she has only a short amount of time to live. Faced with her mortality, Laura Pember tries to make the most of her last year on earth and even embarks on a love affair with her doctor. 

In real life, Hayward was diagnosed with brain metastasis after an initial diagnosis of lung cancer in 1972. She died on March 14, 1975 after suffering a seizure at the age of 57. Hayward’s death has been connected through time to the deaths of her “The Conqueror” co-stars John Wayne and Agnes Moorehead, as well as the film’s director, Dick Powell, all of whom died of cancer. “The Conqueror” was shot in Yucca Flat, near an atomic bomb testing site, and of the 220 crewmembers who went into the desert to film, 91 of them got cancer, with 46 dying of the disease. For some, including the families of the deceased, this ratio is too high for it to be a coincidence. Many now consider “The Conqueror” to be one of the most dangerous films ever made.