Game of Thrones Actor Passes Away Unexpectedly
JJ Murphy’s watch has ended…
Murphy was recently cast as Ser Denys Mallister, one of the Night’s Watch, for the fifth season of Game of Thrones and passed away on Friday, August 8th. J.J Murphy died of natural causes in Northern Ireland, only four days into filming for season 5 of Game of Thrones at age 86. Murphy had been reported to have told his friends that he was extremely excited to a part of the Game of Thrones cast. Murphy had been in films such as Cal (1984) and Angela’s Ashes (1999) .
The role Murphy was cast as, Denys Mallister, is part of the Night’s Watch. In the novels, Mallister is commander of the Shadow Tower and comes to Castle Black to address the elections for the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. So clearly, this means the elections will most likely be something fans of Game of Thrones to look forward to for season 5.
Entertainment Weekly has reported that the executive producers of Game of Thrones David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have satiated that:
“We will not be recasting J.J. Murphy. He was a lovely man, and the best Denys Mallister we could have hoped for. And now his watch is ended.”
Sad to say that such a tragedy has befallen the cast of one of the best HBO TV shows, but it is heartwarming that the show runners are showing respect and honor for the recently deceased actor. Murphy can be seen alongside Luke Evans in the upcoming film Dracula Untold as the Village Elder, which will be coming to theaters this October.
