Nickelodeon has been around for close to five decades now. It’s been 48 years of some of the best kids’ shows and movies, not to mention talented actors and voice actors who helped make the projects they were a part of unforgettable. Unfortunately, some of these actors are no longer with us. Here are some Nickelodeon actors who died over the years.
1. Alice Playten
Actress Alice Playten passed away from pancreatic cancer back in 2011. She was the voice actor behind characters like Beebe Bluff, Elmo, and Larry in the Nickelodeon series Doug.
2. Christine Cavanaugh
You may know Christine Cavanaugh as the voice of Chuckie Finster from Rugrats. She was also the voice of Oblina on Aaahh!!! Real Monsters and played Mona Tibs on Salute Your Shorts. The voice actress died at the age of 51 from chronic myelogenous leukaemia in 2014.
3. Cody Longo
Actor Cody Longo passed away in 2023 as a result of chronic ethanol abuse. While he was likely better known for his time on Days of Our Lives, the actor was also a Nickelodeon alum, with projects like Hollywood Heights to his name.
4. Fred Willard
Fred Willard was a regular voice on Nickelodeon’s The Loud House, but he also had guest appearances on other Nick shows like Hey, Arnold! Sadly, the comedic actor passed away in 2020 at the age of 86. He suffered from a cardiac arrest.
5. Jackson Odell
Jackson Odell appeared in only one episode of iCarly, but he had plenty of other acting credits, including roles on The Goldbergs and Modern Family. He unfortunately got a chance to take on more Nick roles, as he passed away from a drug overdose in 2018 at just 20.
6. Jansen Panettiere
28-year-old Jansen Panettiere racked up plenty of credits from Nickelodeon. He was a cast member on Marvin Marvin and The Last Day of Summer, plus he voiced animated characters like Periwinkle and Truman X for the kids’ television network. Sadly, Panettiere’s life was cut short in 2023. He passed away from cardiomegaly (enlarged heart), coupled with aortic valve complications.
7. Joe Alaskey
Joe Alaskey passed away in 2016 from cancer. He was the voice behind many popular characters, including Nick’s own Lou Pickles (Rugrats).
8. Johnny Lewis
You probably know Johnny Lewis from his role as Kip “Half-Sack” Epps on Sons of Anarchy, but the actor also played one of Drake’s bandmates on Drake & Josh back in the early 2000s. Despite what seemed a promising career, the actor had a pretty morbid death. Lewis sustained fatal injuries after falling from a roof in 2012. Police suspect he may have been involved in the murder of his 81-year-old landlady before the incident occurred.
9. Kirk Baily
Though Kirk Baily’s acting career never quite took off after his role as Kevin “Ug” Lee on the Nickelodeon sitcom Salute Your Shorts, he had a successful career in voice acting for animation and video games. Sadly, he died of heart failure two days after his 59th birthday in 2022.
10. Leslie Ernest Lye
Les Lye has been a part of some pretty iconic children’s television shows, but the one he’s best known for is You Can’t Do That on Television. With a six-decade-long career to his name, we’d say he lived a pretty full life before passing away from natural causes in 2009.
11. Makoto Iwamatsu
Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Tony Award nominee Mako is another Nickelodeon alum with a pretty solid list of credits outside the kids’ television network. His last completed voice work was for Uncle Iroh in the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender before he died of oesophageal cancer in 2006.
12. Michelle Trachtenberg
Plenty of noughties kids grew up watching Michelle Trachtenberg on Nick shows like The Adventures of Pete & Pete and Harriet the Spy. While she later went on to have success in other projects, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Gossip Girl, her life was cut short in 2025.
13. Philece Sampler
Philece Sampler had plenty of minor roles in Nick projects, including The Legend of Korra, Rugrats and The Loud House. Sadly, Sampler died from a heart attack in 2021.
14. Robyn Griggs
49-year-old Robyn Griggs died of cervical cancer in 2022. She was a host on Nickelodeon’s movie review show, Rated K: For Kids by Kids, before transitioning to soap operas like One Life to Live and Another World.
15. Tara Correa-McMullen
Correa-McMullen was shot by a gang member at the age of 16. Strangely enough, she played a gang member on the series Judging Amy after appearing in the Nick series Zoey 101.
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