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Eric Liebowitz/CBS via Getty Images
After she endeared herself to millennial gumshoes everywhere as The Chief on the classic '90s game show Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego, Lynne Thigpen took a starring role on this CBS procedural starring Craig T. Nelson that debuted in 2000. Playing crime analyst Ella Mae Farmer, she appeared on the show for three seasons until she died suddenly of a cerebral hemorrhage in her home after complaining of a headache for days. She was only 54. In the show's season finale, Ella was killed off in similar sudden fashion. "We decided to let the audience experience what we experienced, which was the shock," executive producer Pam Veasay told the Los Angeles Times in May 2003, "finding out something as simple as she has a neck ache. Then that person's died." Already renewed for a fourth season, Veasay wasn't sure what the show would do next. "That's the challenge," she added, "trying to continue without Lynne Thigpen. We haven't taken her name down [from the character board] because she's still very much with us as a writing staff. I assume next year we'll take her name down and get used to that. But for now, there's a great comfort in seeing it up there, still seeing Lynne as a part of our cast." The District ended with season four.