Lon Chaney Jr.

Lon Chaney Jr. in 'The Wolf Man' (1941)

Lon Chaney Jr (1906 - 1973)

Film Deaths:

• Undersea Kingdom (1936) [Hakur]: Killed in an explosion (along with all the other bad guys) when the U.S. Navy fires on Monte Blue's tower; we only see the tower blowing up.
• Of Mice and Men (1939) [Lennie Small]: Shot in the head by Burgess Meredith.
• Frontier Marshal (1939) [Pringle]: Shot in a street fight with Randolph Scott.
• Man Made Monster (1941) [Dan McCormick]: Dies after his insulated suit is torn on a fence, releasing the electricity that was keeping him alive. (Thanks to Dignan)
• Badlands Of Dakota (1941) [Jack McCall]: Lon and Broderick Crawford shoot each other during a bank raid. (Thanks to Brian)
• The Wolf Man (1941) [Larry Talbot]: Beaten to death (while in his werewolf form) with a silver-handled cane by his father (Claude Rains) in the woods. His body changes back to his human form after death. (Note: He was brought back to life when some grave robbers opened his crypt in the 1943 sequel Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, but it's clear that the original filmmakers intended this as a genuine death scene.)
• Ghost of Frankenstein (1942) [The Frankenstein Monster]: Burned to death inside a house along with Cedric Hardwicke.
• The Mummy's Tomb (1942) [Kharis the Mummy]: Burned to death on a balcony. (Lon reappears as Kharis in the 1944 sequel The Mummy's Ghost.)
• Son of Dracula (1943) [Count Alucard a.k.a. Count Dracula]: Dissolved into a skeleton by the light of the rising sun, after Robert Paige destroys Lon's coffin. (Thanks to Anton)
• House of Frankenstein (1944) [Lawrence Talbot]: Shot in the chest (off-camera) with a silver bullet by Elena Verdugo (whom he mortally injuries), while he's in his werewolf form; he staggers through the woods before collapsing, then resumes his human form after death. (Lon reappeared in the 1945 sequel House of Dracula, with no explanation for his resurrection.)
• The Mummy's Ghost (1944) [Kharis the Mummy]: Drowned in quicksand while carrying an aged Ramsay Ames with him. (Lon reappeared in the 1944 sequel and final Universal Mummy film, The Mummy's Curse.)
• The Mummy's Curse (1944) [Kharis The Mummy]: Crushed to death, alongside Martin Kosleck, underneath rubble, after Lon starts menacing him.
• Pillow of Death (1945) [Wayne Fletcher]: Commits suicide by jumping from a window, after he hallucinates hearing Victoria Horne's voice commanding him to do so.
• Albuquerque (1948) [Steve Murkil]: Shot to death in a shoot-out with Randolph Scott.
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948) [Lawrence Talbot]: Jumps out the window, grabbing Bela Lugosi in his bat form. (It's not known if this was to count as a 'death', but Lon never reprised the role in any further films to confirm if he had survived).
• Only the Valiant (1951) [Trooper Kebussyan]: Shot to death by Apache warriors while Lon is covering Gregory Peck, as Gregory sets an explosive charge. (Thanks to Brian)
• Bushwackers (1952) [Artemus Taylor]: Dies of a heart attack in his home.
• The Black Castle (1952) [Gargon]: Eaten by crocodiles after he falls into a big pit, while fighting with Richard Greene.
• Springfield Rifle (1952) [Pete Elm]: Shot to death in a shoot-out with Gary Cooper's men.
• Raiders of the Seven Seas (1953) [Peg Leg]: Killed by Anthony Caruso (though I don't know the details); Anthony then places Donna Reed's pearls in Lon's hand to frame her for his murder.
• The Big Chase (1954) [Kip]: Shot twice in the chest by Glenn Langan.
• Passion (1954) [Castro]: Stabbed to death in a fight with Cornel Wilde, after Lon pulls a hidden knife out of his boot.
• Big House, USA (1955) [Alamo Smith]: Shot to death by Broderick Crawford while attempting to avenge Charles Bronson's death on the boat.
• The Indian Fighter (1955) [Chivington]: Killed in an explosion when the dynamite that he and Walter Matthau were planting goes off.
• I Died a Thousand Times (1955) [Big Mac]: Dies offscreen in his sleep of a heart attack; his body is shown afterwards when Jack Palance and James Millican discover him.
• Not as a Stranger (1955) [Job Marsh]: Hit by a bus (off-screen); his body is shown afterwards being brought into the hospital on a stretcher when his son (Robert Mitchum) sees him.
• The Black Sleep (Dr. Cadman's Secret) (1956) [Dr. Munroe a.k.a. Mungo]: Strangled with a chain by George Sawaya while Lon is struggling with Tor Johnson.
• Indestructible Man (1956) [Charles 'Butcher' Benton]: Executed (off-screen) in the gas chamber at San Quentin; his body is shown afterwards when Joe Flynn brings him to Robert Shayne's laboratory, where Robert brings him back to life. Lon is eventually electrocuted when he collides with the power lines at a construction site while trying to make a getaway on a stolen crane.
• The Cyclops (1957) [Martin 'Marty' Melville]: Crushed to death when the giant (Duncan 'Dean' Parker) grabs him with his big hand.
• The Alligator People (1959) [Manon]: Electrocuted when he banged his hook on a machine.
• The Haunted Palace (1963) [Simon Orne]: Burned along with Milton Parsons and Cathie Merchant when the villagers set the castle on fire
• Witchcraft (1964) ​[Morgan Whitlock]:
• Face of the Screaming Werewolf (1964) [The Mummified Werewolf]: Beaten to death with a burning torch by German Valdes, his body changes to his human form.
• Welcome to Hard Times (Killer on a Horse) (1967) [Avery]: Hit on the head with a bottle by Aldo Ray in the saloon.
• Gallery of Horror (1967) [Dr. Mendell]: Killed (off-screen) by his own creation (my memory is vague).
• Buckskin (The Frontiersman) (1968) [Sheriff Tangley]: Shot to death by Barry Sullivan. (Thanks to Brian)
• Spider Baby: Or, the Maddest Story Ever Told(The Liver Eaters) (1968) [Bruno, the Chauffeur]: Killed in an explosion (along with Sid Haig, Jill Banner, Beverly Washburn, and everybody else in the house) when he sets off some dynamite to put them all out of their misery.
• Dracula vs. Frankenstein (Blood of Frankenstein; The Blood Seekers; Satan's Bloody Freaks) (1971) [Groton]: Shot to death by police as Lon is chasing Regina Carrol on a roof. (This was also noted to be Chaney's final role before his death in 1973).

Television Deaths:

• Rawhide: Incident on the Edge of Madness (1959) [Jesse Childress]: Mortally wounded by one of Alan Marshal 's confederate soldiers. He then uses Marie Windsor as a hostage and makes his way to the livery stable where he dies talking to Eric Fleming .
• Wagon Train: The Jose Morales Story (1960) [Louis Roque]: Killed (along with Lee Marvin) in a battle with Mescalero warriors; their bodies are shown afterwards when Terry Wilson finds them. (Thanks to Gordon)
• Wagon Train: The Chalice (1961) [Carstairs]: Mortally wounded by Richard Jaeckel after Lon shoots him. He is found and taken to a mission by Native Americans where he dies later while talking to Terry Wilson, Harold Heifetz and Edward Colmans.
• Lawman: The Tarnished Badge (1962) [Jess Bridges]: Shot to death while protecting Peter Brown.
• The Rifleman: Gunfire (1962) [Charlie Gordo]: Shot to death in a shoot-out with Chuck Connors.
• Rawhide: Incident at Spider Rock (1963) [Rock]: Mortally injured when Lon is stomped by his horse after the animal was spooked when James Best kicks Lon into it. He dies in the next scene talking to Susan Oliver.

Notable Connections

• Son of Lon Chaney.

Gallery

Lon Chaney Jr. in Man Made Monster

Lon Chaney Jr. (dissolving) in Son of Dracula

Lon Chaney Jr. (with Elena Verdugo) in House of Frankenstein

Lon Chaney Jr in The Black Sleep

Lon Chaney Jr. in The Alligator People

The house explosion (that kills Chaney Jr. and others) in Spider Baby

Lon Chaney Jr. in Dracula vs. Frankenstein