Who Is 'Modern Family' Killing Off?
09/17/2018 06:28 pm EDT
Jay Pritchett
Played by: Ed O'Neill
Ok, we'll just get this one out of the way. If they ARE going to kill off a truly significant Modern Family character, Jay Pritchett seems like the most likely candidate.
That's not to say it should be him, just that if producers and writers really want to explore the ramifications of a family death, the aging patriarch stands out as an obvious choice.
DeDe Pritchett
Played by: Shelley Long
Moving on to the important — and significant — supporting cast, the next most likely character to kill off would be the infrequently seen DeDe Pritchett.
Mother to the three Pritchett siblings, and ex-wife of Jay, DeDe's death would no doubt have a lasting impact on the show.
Frank Dunphy
Played by: Fred Willard
Another impacting loss would be that of Frank Dunphy, the father of Phil Dunphy (Ty Burrell).
Frank has a very close relationship with his son, and also just got remarried, so his death would absolutely be a heavy blow.
Pilar Ramirez
Played by: Elizabeth Peña
Pilar Ramirez is Gloria Pritchett's mother. She only appeared in two episodes of the show before the actress who plays her, Peña, passed away.
To date, the series does not appear to have mentioned Pilar passing away, so it could be possible that they may choose to address family loss though the death of this character.
Javier Delgado
Played by: Benjamin Bratt
Another possibility is that the show could kill off Gloria's ex-husband — and the biological father of her son Manny (Rico Rodriguez) — Javier Delgado.
Played by Bratt, Delgado's death could achieve the goal of exploring how the families deal with loss, while also not impacting the show to a massive degree.
Donnie Pritchett
Played by: Jonathan Banks
One of the more heartfelt moments on Modern Family came in a 2001 episode where Jay found out that his brother Donnie was suffering from cancer.
Donnie was last mentioned in a 2014 episode of the show, so it is possible that his presence could be felt again while the family grieves.
Barb Tucker
Played by: Celia Weston
Barb Tucker is the mother of Cameron (Eric Stonestreet), and played by legendary character actress Celia Weston.
While she has only been in a handful of episodes of the series, her death would surely leave a mark on the characters.
Merle Tucker
Played by: Barry Corbin
Similar to Cameron's mother, his father's death would also be a terrible loss.
He's only appeared in three episodes so far, but would be deeply missed by the Tucker/Pritchett and Dunphy families nonetheless.
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