Actors Who Have Been Charged with Homicide

When criminal charges intersect with Hollywood careers, the headlines can overshadow the work that made these performers known in the first place. The cases below span everything from historic scandals to on-set tragedies and road-rage incidents. Outcomes differ—some men were acquitted, others convicted—but each was formally charged with a homicide offense.

To keep the focus balanced, each entry notes the charge and also highlights the actor’s notable screen work—what the projects are about, who else starred, and who was behind the camera. Titles appear in single quotes throughout for clarity and consistency.

Robert Blake

Best known on television for ‘Baretta’, Robert Blake was charged in connection with the fatal shooting of his wife, Bonny Lee Bakley, and later acquitted in criminal court. On the big screen, he played Perry Smith in ‘In Cold Blood’, Richard Brooks’s adaptation of Truman Capote’s book about the Clutter family murders, with Scott Wilson as Richard Hickock and a production led by cinematographer Conrad Hall.

Blake also appeared in David Lynch’s ‘Lost Highway’ as the “Mystery Man,” a supporting role within a cast that included Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette under Lynch’s direction. Earlier films such as ‘Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here’ paired him with Robert Redford in a western drama staged by director Abraham Polonsky and backed by location photography in the American Southwest.

Alec Baldwin

Alec Baldwin was charged with involuntary manslaughter after the on-set death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during the making of the Western ‘Rust’; the case was later dismissed in court. ‘Rust’ is directed by Joel Souza, with Baldwin in a lead role and a production designed to evoke frontier settings through period costuming and location work.

Beyond that project, Baldwin’s filmography includes ‘The Departed’, a crime drama directed by Martin Scorsese with Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, and an ensemble overseen by longtime Scorsese collaborators in editing and score supervision. He also starred in ’30 Rock’, created by Tina Fey, a workplace comedy built around a fictional sketch-show staff with a writers’ room and multi-camera setups that shaped the series’ pacing.

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle

Silent-era star Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was charged with manslaughter in the death of Virginia Rappe and ultimately acquitted after a series of trials. Before the case, he headlined shorts like ‘The Butcher Boy’, teaming frequently with Buster Keaton in productions that relied on choreographed sight gags and in-camera effects overseen by early studio technicians.

Arbuckle also worked on features such as ‘The Round-Up’, collaborating with crews that handled live musical accompaniment and rapid shooting schedules typical of the era. He later directed under a pseudonym, guiding comedians and crews through tightly storyboarded set-pieces that emphasized physical timing and precise staging.

O. J. Simpson

O. J. Simpson, who acted alongside his sports and broadcasting career, was charged with the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman and later acquitted at trial. On screen, he is widely remembered for playing Detective Nordberg in ‘The Naked Gun’ films, created by David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and Jerry Zucker, with Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, and George Kennedy anchoring the ensemble under a spoof-police format.

Earlier credits include ‘The Towering Inferno’, an all-star disaster feature produced with large-scale sets and effects and led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. He also appeared in ‘Capricorn One’, Peter Hyams’s conspiracy thriller about a faked Mars mission, and in the miniseries ‘Roots’, which assembled a broad cast under producers mounting a multi-generation narrative adapted from Alex Haley’s work.

Michael Jace

Michael Jace was charged with—and convicted of—murder in the fatal shooting of his wife. He is best known as Officer Julien Lowe on ‘The Shield’, a Los Angeles police drama created by Shawn Ryan, starring Michael Chiklis and supported by an ensemble that shot extensively on location with a handheld style.

Jace’s other screen work includes guest arcs on ‘Southland’ and ‘NYPD Blue’, both ensemble police series employing rotating directors and writers’ rooms that emphasized case-of-the-week structures. Film roles include a small part in ‘Forrest Gump’, Robert Zemeckis’s drama starring Tom Hanks, made with Industrial Light & Magic visual effects and a period-spanning soundtrack supervised by major studio music departments.

Lillo Brancato Jr.

Lillo Brancato Jr. was charged with second-degree murder after an off-duty police officer was killed during a botched break-in; he was acquitted of the homicide charge but convicted of attempted burglary. Brancato broke out as “C” in ‘A Bronx Tale’, directed by Robert De Niro from Chazz Palminteri’s script, a neighborhood coming-of-age story featuring De Niro and Palminteri with a production that used Bronx and Queens locations.

On television, he played Matthew Bevilaqua on ‘The Sopranos’, David Chase’s organized-crime series led by James Gandolfini and Edie Falco, with episodes directed by Tim Van Patten, Allen Coulter, and others. The show balanced family and mob operations through ensemble storytelling, music supervision that drew from classic rock and Italian standards, and tightly edited restaurant and back-room scenes.

Pablo Lyle

Mexican actor Pablo Lyle was charged with—and later convicted of—manslaughter in a Miami road-rage case arising from a traffic confrontation. On screen, he has starred in ‘Yankee’, a crime drama about a Texas man drawn into cartel logistics, with location shooting near the U.S.–Mexico border and a production that coordinated stunt and effects teams for action sequences.

Lyle’s telenovela work includes leads that follow multi-episode arcs built around family conflicts and workplace rivalries, produced on tight schedules with large ensembles and studio backlots. He also appeared in ‘Mirreyes vs Godínez’, a workplace comedy about class friction in Mexico City, developed by a creative team that leaned on rapid-fire dialogue and ensemble chemistry.

Leslie Grantham

British actor Leslie Grantham was charged with murder and convicted while serving in the army in Germany; he served a decade in prison before beginning his screen career. He became widely known as Den Watts on ‘EastEnders’, the BBC soap created by Tony Holland and Julia Smith, centered on families in London’s East End and produced with a repertory cast on the Albert Square set.

‘EastEnders’ integrated Den into storylines tied to the Queen Vic pub and the Mitchell and Beale families, using multi-camera studio setups and a script pipeline that delivered several episodes per week. Grantham also appeared in British television dramas and stage productions, collaborating with directors and crews experienced in fast-turnaround, character-driven episodes.

Charles S. Dutton

Charles S. Dutton pleaded guilty to manslaughter as a teenager after a fatal knife fight, served time, and later pursued acting. He headlined ‘Roc’, a sitcom about a Baltimore garbage collector and his family, created by Stan Daniels and broadcast with traditional three-camera techniques before the series later aired live episodes to showcase the cast’s stage backgrounds.

On film, Dutton appeared in ‘Alien 3’ as Dillon opposite Sigourney Weaver in David Fincher’s science-fiction entry, working with production designers who built extensive prison-colony sets. He also had roles in ‘A Time to Kill’, Joel Schumacher’s courtroom drama adapted from John Grisham with Matthew McConaughey and Samuel L. Jackson, and in ‘The Corner’, a miniseries by David Simon and Ed Burns about a West Baltimore family.

Paul Kelly

Stage and screen actor Paul Kelly was charged with murder in the death of fellow actor Ray Raymond; he was convicted of manslaughter, served a prison term, and then returned to film and theater work. Later in his career he portrayed warden Clinton T. Duffy in ‘Duffy of San Quentin’, a prison drama that follows reform efforts inside the facility, produced with location access and a supporting cast built from studio contract players.

Kelly also remained active in studio-era features across crime and adventure genres, often cast as authority figures or antagonists in productions managed by veteran editors, cinematographers, and music directors. His stage background fed into film appearances that relied on precise line delivery and tightly blocked scenes coordinated by assistant directors and unit managers.

Salman Khan

Bollywood star Salman Khan was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder after a hit-and-run incident; he was later acquitted on appeal after a lengthy legal process. On screen, he anchors the ‘Dabangg’ franchise as police officer Chulbul Pandey, with Sonakshi Sinha in key roles and choreographed song-and-action set-pieces mounted by large stunt and dance units.

He also led ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, a drama directed by Kabir Khan about an Indian man who helps a lost Pakistani girl find her family, with Kareena Kapoor Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in principal roles and a production that used cross-border settings recreated through Indian locations and studio builds. Across romantic dramas, comedies, and action films, he collaborates with prominent music directors and cinematographers to deliver star-driven releases for major holidays.

Share your thoughts on these cases—and the screen work connected to each name—in the comments.