--- description: 86-year-old J.J. Murphy was set to play Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night's Watch in the upcoming fifth season title: Game of Thrones: Actor J.J. Murphy Dies in First Week of Filming image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0468a2c98f5496a/69869f0ad0b6f2f80e305a39/jjmurphy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # _Game of Thrones_ Season 5 Actor Dies Shortly After Filming New Role by [Eric Dodds](/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2014 6:12 PM CUT  Actor J.J. Murphy, who was slated to play Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night's Watch in the upcoming fifth season of Game of Thrones, died on August 8, 2014 at the age of 86. Actor J.J. Murphy, who was slated to play Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night's Watch in the upcoming fifth season of Game of Thrones, died on August 8, 2014 at the age of 86.Independent Agency—Youcef Boubetnikh by [Eric Dodds](/author/eric-dodds/) ## Eric Dodds Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 11, 2014 6:12 PM CUT Belfast-born actor J.J. Murphy, who was slated to play Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night’s Watch in the upcoming fifth season of _Game of Thrones_, died on Friday at the age of 86\. He had begun filming his scenes in Northern Ireland — where much of the popular HBO drama is filmed — last week. HBO has not yet said whether the role would be recast or Murphy’s scenes would be re-written. According to The Arts Council of Northern Ireland, Murphy served as a mentor to many young actors in the region, including Liam Neeson. It’s not clear whether Murphy’s untimely death will cause a snag in production for the upcoming season, but — given the size of the role — it isn’t likely to have a significant impact on scheduling. \[via [Belfast _Telegraph_](http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/film-tv/news/game-of-thrones-actor-jj-murphy-dies-days-after-filming-part-30497428.html "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3101132/game-of-thrones-season-5-actor-j-j-murphy-death/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3101132/game-of-thrones-season-5-actor-j-j-murphy-death/"},"headline":"Game of Thrones Season 5 Actor Dies Shortly After Filming New Role","datePublished":"2014-08-11T18:12:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:36:07.447Z","description":"The 86-year-old was set to play Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night's Watch in the show's upcoming fifth season","url":"https://time.com/3101132/game-of-thrones-season-5-actor-j-j-murphy-death/","keywords":["Television","Death","game of thrones"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0468a2c98f5496a/69869f0ad0b6f2f80e305a39/jjmurphy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Dodds","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-dodds/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc0468a2c98f5496a/69869f0ad0b6f2f80e305a39/jjmurphy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"JJMurphy","caption":"Actor J.J. Murphy, who was slated to play Ser Denys Mallister, the oldest member of the Night's Watch in the upcoming fifth season of Game of Thrones, died on August 8, 2014 at the age of 86.","creditText":"Independent Agency—Youcef Boubetnikh","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3101132/game-of-thrones-season-5-actor-j-j-murphy-death/","name":"Game of Thrones Season 5 Actor Dies Shortly After Filming New Role"}}]}] ```