UPDATES: Veteran Northern Ireland actor JJ Murphy has died, just four days after shooting his first scenes for the fifth season of HBO’s Game Of Thrones. Murphy collapsed and died Friday, according to the Belfast Telegraph and other media reports. A cause of death was not immediately announced. He was 86. Murphy was cast last month as Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night’s Watch. GOT creators and executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff said the role will not be recast. “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,” they said in a statement.
Murphy also played a village elder in the upcoming feature Dracula Untold and appeared in the CBBC series The Sparticle Mystery
Murphy began his career in theater and worked for many years at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. His other film credits include Mickybo And Me, Cal and Angela’s Ashes.
Must Read Stories
Subscribe to Deadline Breaking News Alerts and keep your inbox happy.