Derek Jacobi

Derek Jacobi in The Borgias: The Poisoned Chalice

Derek Jacobi (1938 -)

Film Deaths

• The Human Factor (1979) [Arthur Davis]: Injected with a deadly dose of aflatoxin by Robert Morley, who told Derek that the shot would help ease the symptoms of a bad hangover.
• Enigma (1982) [Kurt Limmer]: Thrown into a giant dryer by two mental patients who turn it on and then destroy its pipes to kill Derek.
• The Secret of NIMH (1982; animated) [Nicodemus]: Providing the voice of an American rat, he is crushed to death by the pulleys and ropes when his former friend Jenner (voiced by Paul Shenar) cuts the ropes that are hoisting up the cinder-block home of Mrs. Brisby (voiced by Elizabeth Hartman).
• Dead Again (1991) [Franklyn Madson]: Impaled on a scissors-sculpture at the end of a fight with Kenneth Branagh.
• Hamlet (1996) [Claudius]: Once his schemes were exposed by Michael Maloney, Derek is pinned in the side to his chair with a fencing sword thrown by Kenneth Branagh while he attempts to escape. As Derek had frees himself, he is then crushed with a chandelier, swung down by Kenneth, who then puts the poisoned drink in his mouth. His body is shown again when Rufus Sewell arrives and comments on the sight.
• Revengers Tragedy (2002) [The Duke]: Poisoned when Christopher Eccleston tricks him into kissing Jean Butler's skull, whose teeth Christopher had coated with poison. His body is shown again later on lying among all the flowers and stuffed animals in front of Sophie Dahl's shrine. (In the DVD audio commentary, director Alex Cox confirms that a special-effects dummy head was used for this later scene.)
• Underworld: Evolution (2006) [Alexander Corvinus]: Stabbed with a sword by Tony Curran. He then blows up his ship, killing himself.
• The Riddle (2007) [The Tramp]: Commits suicide by wading quite happily into the river Thames and drowning himself at the end of the film.
• The Old Curiosity Shop (2007) [Grandfather]: Dies of old age/natural causes, compounded by grief over the death of his granddaughter (Sophie Vavasseur). (I haven't seen this version, but I'm familiar with the story.)
• Ironclad (2011) [Baron Reginald de Cornhill]: Commits suicide by hanging himself to avoid a brutal death by the horde of attackers who are destroying his castle.
• Cinderella (2015) [The King]: Dies of natural causes while talking to his son (Richard Madden).
• Branagh Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet (2016) [Mercutio]: Stabbed by Ansu Kabia.
• Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans (2019) [Claudius]: Poisoned with a feather by Kim Cattrall.
• Gladiator II (2024) [Senator Gracchus]: Killed by Roman soldiers in the colosseum.

Television Deaths

• I, Claudius (1976 mini-series) [Claudius]: Poisoned by eating poison mushrooms.
• Richard II (1978 TV) [Richard II]: Stabbed in the back by Desmond Adams while fending off Desmond's servants in his dungeon.
• Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980) TV [Hamlet]: Slashed with a poisoned blade during a swordfight with David Robb, he dies shortly after killing Patrick Stewart in turn.
• Tales of the Unexpected, Episode 11: Skin (1980) [Drioli]: Murdered (off-screen) by Herbert Wise, in order to remove a tattoo by famous artist Soutine (Boris Isarov) from his back. His fate is strongly implied when a voiceover and the final scene reveal the mendacity of Wise's offer (which explicitly dismissed proper surgery as too dangerous, and thus would have entailed keeping his skin intact).
• Inside the Third Reich (1982) TV [Adolf Hitler]: Commits suicide by shooting himself in the bunker.
• The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982) [Claude Frollo]: Impaled through the chest on a hook in the wall, by Anthony Hopkins in self-defense.
• Cyrano de Bergerac (1985) [Cyrano de Bergerac]: Fatally injured by being run over by a carriage, he dies shortly afterwards while talking to Sinead Cusack.
• Cathedral (1986 TV) [Father Pierre]: Dies of old age soon after the bells of the Notre Dame de Beaulieu cathedral are cast (off-screen).
• The Secret Garden (1987) [Archibald Craven]: Dies of old age (off-screen).
• Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage (2004) [Colonel Protheroe]: Stabbed in the back by Jason Flemyng and Janet McTeer; his body is shown afterwards when he's discovered, and the murder is shown in a flashback later on.
• Doctor Who: Utopia (2007) [Professor Yana/The Master]: Shot with a laser gun by Chipo Chung; he then regenerates into a new form (John Simm).
• The Borgias: The Poisoned Chalice (2011) [Cardinal Orsini]: Poisoned by Sean Harris after drinking poisoned wine.
• The Crown: Dangling Man (2019) [Duke of Windsor]: Dies of laryngeal cancer whilst in his bed with Geraldine Chaplin by his side.
• Inside No. 9: How Do You Plead? (2021) [D. Webster]: Taken down to hell by Steve Pemberton.
• The Sandman: Dream Of A Thousand Cats/Calliope (2022) [Erasmus Fry]: Commits suicide [offscreen] by poisoning after a failed attempt to get his publisher to reprint his magnum opus; his death is not discovered until Arthur Darvill is told about it by Jessica Murrain in an interview more than a year later.
• Family Guy: Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Cheater (2024) [Rupert]: Voicing a living teddy bear, he is drowned in a toilet by Seth MacFarlane.

Gallery

Derek Jacobi's animated death in Secret of NIMH

Derek Jacobi (right with Kenneth Branagh) in Hamlet (1996)

Derek Jacobi (right with Tony Curran) in Underworld: Evolution

Derek Jacobi in Doctor Who: Utopia