Horror master Stephen King has made cameos in dozens of movies and TV shows, but he's only actually been killed off onscreen once so far. King would probably be the first to admit the fact that he's not much of an actor. Not that he needs to be, when he has such a mastery over the written word. Still, due to his recognizable face, and distinctive personality, King has still been cast in many small roles. True, most of them are in movies and TV shows based on his work, but there are exceptions.
In one memorable instance, King managed to steal the scene playing a "cleaner" named Bachman on Sons of Anarchy. A nod to his old pen name Richard Bachman, King was wonderfully odd in the role, and many fans of the show consider it a highlight. He only appeared in the one episode, but he also didn't die, which happened to many, many Sons of Anarchy characters. King's first onscreen role also wasn't in a King adaptation, cameoing as a heckler in his friend George Romero's movie Knightriders.
King has a knack for writing death scenes sure to keep fans up at night, but oddly enough, he's only died once onscreen. Maybe no one is brave enough to kill him off, as it seems like something he'd probably love to do. Here's the one time it's happened to date.
The Only Time Stephen King Has Ever Been Killed Onscreen
The only time Stephen King has been killed onscreen occurred in the 1982 anthology horror classic Creepshow. Directed by George Romero and written by King himself, Creepshow cast King in his first and only leading role. King starred as the titular character in "The Lonesome Death of Jordy Verrill" story. While far from an award-winning performance, King's over-the-top acting works just fine for the fairly comedic nature of the plot, which sees a country bumpkin come across a meteor on his property, then make the awful decision to touch it.
Jordy just wanted to sell the meteor to the local university, but instead he ends up infected by a fast-growing form of plant life. Oddly, after a story full of jokes and humorous cutaway gags, Creepshow ends Jordy's tale in super dark fashion, with an increasingly desperate Jordy finally deciding to take his own life via shotgun blast to the head, rather than be fully absorbed by the plants. That seems kind of appropriate, that the only person to kill Stephen King in a movie is Stephen King himself. To top it off, the plants look ready to cover the whole world.