Sean Bean: The famous Sheffield actor whose characters usually die - including Game of Thrones part

You never know which blockbuster film or TV series Sean Bean is going to pop up in next.

But there's one thing viewers probably would be able to take a stab at - his character will almost certainly get bumped off.

The classically trained Sheffield actor himself has laughed off concerns that he gets bumped off too soon, too often.

The one-time Handsworth schoolboy, welder and Sheffield United director, says it's mainly down to him being cast as a "baddy" throughout his career.

But that's not always the case.

This summer the 64-year-old played the part of a pacifist in BBC One's World War Two drama World On Fire.

It was all going well when a German bomb dropped on Manchester put paid to him.

For years his followers have been complaining that they - or more specifically Bean - have had to bite the bullet too often.

They reckon he's been topped 25 times, on screen.

That grisly list includes his spell in Lord Of The Rings (shot with an arrow,)  Don't Say A Word (buried alive,) and in the James Bond classic Golden Eye he plunged to his death after coming off second in an argument with the giant Arecibo Observatory dish in Puerto Rico.

It is not just Sean's Sheffield fans who are getting wise to his cinematic demises.

Last week, El País, a Spanish-language daily newspaper, homed in Bean's bad luck.

They focus on one Bean 'death' in particular when Sean - or rather his character Ned Stark in Game of Thrones - was beheaded in front of his daughters, early on in the series.

They placed that decapitation on a list of deaths that "still impact viewers."

The feature says all of the deaths were questioned by experts and viewers and that: "Years later, some screenwriters and producers have expressed their regrets."

The media platform said: "The death of the patriarch of the Stark northerners was not the first act of brutal violence in Game of Thrones, but it did serve to show that no one was safe. Neither being a moral role model nor a renowned actor could prevent Ned Stark’s head from crowning a pike."

Many viewers had been taken "completely off guard. The fact that actor Sean Bean was the cast’s most recognisable face seemed to be enough to keep him safe," said El País.

Sean, himself, understands the fans' frustration about his shortened contribution to Game of Thrones.

In a podcast, he said people ask him: "'Why did you get your head chopped off in Game of Thrones?' I said: 'I don't know, it's not my fault!'"

The majority of viewers had been unpleasantly surprised, said the Hollywood actor.

"It was such a shock. And I am quite pleased that people are still talking about it. I am very flattered by it. 

"He was the one good man in the show, he had a moral compass, there were boundaries, a reference point for morals," said the father of three.

"Once they got rid of him there was mayhem and chaos."

Bean said he was proud to have been one of the people who established the show in the first place, although playing for Sheffield United in the film When Saturday Comes must rank pretty well up his personal highlights.