Supernatural Actors You May Not Know Passed Away

"Supernatural" fans are all too familiar with death. During the show's 15-season run, hundreds of characters met their ends on screen, and tragically, the deaths didn't stop there. In real life, Death never takes a holiday, and there aren't any demon deals or loopholes we can use to evade its inevitability.

With such a long-running series and an almost incalculable number of guest stars, the cast of "Supernatural" has had to say farewell to a few of its own throughout the years. Whether lost through accidental tragedy, old age, or terminal illness, it's safe to say these actors are sorely missed by the Supernatural Family — as fans lovingly call the show's community.

As it turns out, "Supernatural" was even the last role for several of the show's esteemed guest stars. From those who played on-screen civilian casualties to terrifying monsters and everything in between, here are the "Supernatural" actors you might not know passed away.

Warning: Major spoilers from the entire show below.

Not many people get the drop on Sam Winchester, and even fewer are of the human variety. Don Sinclair Davis' Season 4 character Trotter manages to hold him at gunpoint in "Sin City" — albeit not for long. Fans expected to see a demon reveal when Trotter shows up, but instead, he's merely perturbed when Sam splashes holy water in his face, as any human would be. The scene marks one of the most unexpectedly funny scenes early in the show: Trotter's entire vibe is just flabbergasted, and it's great. 

Chances are, "Supernatural" fans have seen the actor appear in generically similar shows like "The X-Files," "Stargate: SG-1," and "Twin Peaks." Davis even appeared in the hit film "A League of Their Own" in 1992. As reported by Variety, just a year after his episode on "Supernatural," Davis suffered a heart attack at 65 years old, causing his death in 2008.

Even on his bad days, Dean is a captivating guy, and there was no better portrayal of the aged elder Winchester than Chad Everett's in the Season 5 episode "The Curious Case of Dean Winchester." The "Psycho" actor had Dean's mannerisms down so thoroughly that we can almost believe a witch really hit actor Jensen Ackles with an aging hex during a poker game gone wrong. The only discernible difference in the aged version of the character is that Dean's decades of eating pie, beer, and greasy takeout seem to have finally caught up with him. The snark and the bravado? Everett still has that in spades.

Besides playing elderly Dean, Everett had a long stint on the show "Medical Center" before landing a role in "Airplane II: The Sequel." According to the LA Times, Everett died in 2012 at age 75, over a year after his lung cancer diagnosis. Many actors have played Dean Winchester at different stages of his life, but no one besides Everett came close to matching Ackles' iconic portrayal.

When a show is on the air as long as "Supernatural," there are bound to be a few repeat guest stars now and then. The core cast of the series are the Winchester brothers, a trench coat-clad angel, a gruff baseball cap-wearing hunter, and an ever-rotating list of allies and foes. But most of the show's roles actually consist of civilian casualties and random passersby — and Vancouver, where "Supernatural" is filmed, is only so big. Many guest actors snagged a couple different parts on the series as a result, like Gabe Khouth, who appeared in the Season 7 episode "Time After Time" as Lester Young and as Herb Nelson in Season 12's "Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell." 

"Supernatural" wasn't the actor's first foray into horror or fantasy. He also played two different parts on the '90s miniseries "It," along with lending his voice to a hefty number of voice acting roles and securing a significant stint as Sneezy in "Once Upon a Time." According to Variety, the actor died in 2019 from heart complications during a motorcycle ride at just 49 years old.

It was only a matter of time before the jaded and amoral vampire hunter Gordon Walker got his bestie Kubrick killed. Michael Massee took on the role of the latter hunter in two Season 3 episodes: "Bad Day at Black Rock" and "Fresh Blood." When you're on a delusional holy crusade to kill Sam Winchester, you're generally not long for this world. But unlike his character Kubrick, the talented Massee accomplished a lot, with a swarm of impressive acting credits to his name from "The Crow" to "Lost Highway" and even both "The Amazing Spider-Man" films.

The New York Times reported the esteemed 64-year-old actor's death in 2016, following a stomach cancer diagnosis. Massee had faced his own demons on "The Crow" set in 1993: A series of negligent decisions from the director and props department led to his prop gun firing metal instead of blanks — ultimately killing young actor Brandon Lee. Thankfully, Massee didn't quit Hollywood for good after that traumatic incident, as the blame doesn't lie with him. Instead, he gave us decades of stellar performances.

Plenty of "Supernatural" villains give us the heebie-jeebies, but few reach the level of Famine in Season 5's "My Bloody Valentine." There's just no coming back from an episode where a couple literally eats each other to death, and the series didn't shy away from showing the lovebirds taking chunks of flesh from each other. Yum. Famine served as James Otis' final acting role in 2010, but his retirement from the screen came a full decade before his 2020 death.

"Supernatural" was far from Otis' only appearance. In addition to a number of stage roles, he had stints on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "ER," "The X-Files," and "Criminal Minds." Displaying a clear propensity for intense and unnerving projects, he even had parts in "The Black Dahlia" and "The Prestige." According to the actor's obituary, Otis lived with an undisclosed illness before his death at 72 years old — and his hobby of fostering cats makes him a much more endearing guy than his "Supernatural" character.

Donnelly Rhodes' two characters had a rough go of things on "Supernatural." (Though, to be fair, most characters on the show experience a fair amount of misfortune.) In Season 1's "Wendigo," Rhodes played Mr. Shaw, the lone survivor of a wendigo attack that killed his family. Fast-forward to Season 8, and we see Rhodes take on an aged version of the character Father Simon in the episode "Clip Show." His second character is, once again, a lone survivor. But as it turns out, demons don't take too kindly to priests who try to "cure" them, leading to Knight of Hell Abaddon slaying his mentor.

Rhodes enjoyed an excellent acting career with hit films like "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Tron: Legacy," and "Snow Dogs." He also scored significant roles on series like "Soap" and "Battlestar Galactica." According to The New York Times, an 83-year-old Rhodes died in 2018 after a cancer diagnosis and subsequent stay in a hospice facility.

Not many characters escape the wrath of Abaddon, but George Touliatos' character Larry Ganem is one of the lucky ones. In the Season 8 episode "As Time Goes By," we learn that the former Men of Letters (a secret anti-monster organization) member had his own brawl with the demon in the '50s. He may have lost his eyes, but he still managed to slip Henry Winchester the key to the Men of Letters bunker, making him a critical, albeit understated, character in Winchester history.

Sadly, Abaddon finally gets her revenge in the present, but Sam and Dean would never have gained access to the bunker without the heroic efforts of Ganem, played expertly by the "Double Jeopardy" and "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" alum.

According to Memphis Flyer, the talented actor even started his own Memphis-based theater in the '50s called Front Street Theater — which lasted a good decade before ultimately closing its doors. Little is publicly available about his death, but his local Washington Westford funeral home reports that the 87-year-old actor passed away in 2017.

If you ask anyone who had the greatest impact on "Supernatural," Kim Manners' name will undoubtedly come up. Fresh off producing "The X-Files," Manners took on the same role for "Supernatural" back in 2005, eventually fleshing out his "Supernatural" duties by directing — and his vision was unparalleled. 

While he wasn't an actor, Manners was responsible for directing some of the earliest fan-favorite Season 1 episodes like "Dead in the Water," "Scarecrow," and "Devil's Trap." He went on to kick off Season 2 with the heart-wrenching "In My Time of Dying" and helm other gut-punch episodes like "Heart," "All Hell Breaks Loose: Part 2," and "No Rest for the Wicked." Not to mention, he brought us Castiel's iconic entrance in "Lazarus Rising" and the "Heat of the Moment" song from "Mystery Spot" that haunts the dreams of every "Supernatural" fan. Manners likely directed more than a handful of your favorite episodes. 

Sadly, according to Variety, the 58-year-old "Supernatural" savant died in 2009 due to complications from lung cancer. However, Manners' legacy and impact never quite left the show. At the end of the Season 4 episode "Death Takes a Holiday," "Supernatural" dedicated the entire season to the man who was integral to bringing creator Eric Kripke's vision to life. Manners even had a catchphrase: "Kick it in the a**," which beloved character Ellen repeats to Dean right before her devastating death in homage to Manners. That phrase describes exactly what the show — and these greatly-missed stars — accomplished.

Annie Wersching was a Kripke staple. Between shows like "Timeless," "Revolution," and "Supernatural," Kripke always had a part for the actress — big or small. After her passing in 2023, Kripke noted on Twitter, "Annie was so kind, brilliant, full of life. She was my secret weapon, I cast her in every show I made, was looking for her part in #TheBoys." Sadly, fans won't ever see that plan play out. 

According to Deadline, the actress continued acting despite a cancer diagnosis in 2020. Three years later, she passed away from the illness at 45 years old. According to her husband Stephen Full, Wersching's three sons were "the true loves of her life." "She found wonder in the simplest moment," he said in a statement. She didn't require music to dance. She taught us not to wait for adventure to find you. 'Go find it. It's everywhere.' And find it we shall." 

Though Wersching only appeared in a single episode of "Supernatural," her stint in the show is memorable as one of the creepier standalone installments in the series. In Season 2, Episode 11 ("Playthings"), she played Susan Thompson: a single mom who can't quite wrap her head around the fact that her daughter is having conversations with a vengeful spirit rather than an imaginary friend. Add in some sordid family history and a creepy dollhouse that replicates the hotel murders, and we've got ourselves a spine-tingling episode.