Tommy Cooper was a much-loved British comedian and has become something of an institution with his ubiquitous red hat and his ''just like that'' catch phrase, accompanied by a magician's shake of the arms. Tommy began as a magician and entertained the Troops during World War II, fusing his magic tricks with comedy to great effect. He died on stage on live TV in 1984 after suffering a massive heart attack and people actually thought it was all part of the act. The show continued without him though, with people performing whilst they tried to resuscitate him behind the curtain, but he was taken to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. Just one of the stars who died whilst doing what they loved and what they were known for best.

If you're a fan of animal documentaries you'll be familiar with this name. Steve Irwin was known as "The Crocodile Hunter" and was passionate about his work with animals, which I don't think we would get within 50 feet of! His educational and entertaining television series, The Crocodile Hunter, was broadcast internationally and showed him doing what he loved best: working in conservation with animals who were sometimes endangered. He and his wife also owned and operated Australia Zoo, which was founded by Irwin's parents and demonstrated how much the love of animals ran through his veins. Irwin died on 4 September 2006 while filming an underwater documentary film entitled Ocean's Deadliest, after being pierced in the chest by a stingray barb.

If you're a fan of the Carry On films you'll know who this guy is, and these films are something of a British institution. He had an unmistakable dirty laugh and was frequently cast as a man with the roving eye in the Carry On films; most notably with his eye locked on fellow Carry On co-star Barbara Windsor, with whom he allegedly had an affair in real life. Born in South Africa in 1913, his career in television and film spanned nearly three decades until his death in 1976 after collapsing during a performance of the stage play The Mating Season at the Sunderland Empire.

Brandon Bruce Lee was an American actor and martial artist and most notably, son of martial arts film star Bruce Lee. He began his acting career with a supporting role in Kung Fu: The Movie in 1986 and appeared in a number of action films. Brandon Lee tragically passed away in 1993 after an accident during the filming of the fabulous movie The Crow, which is definitely worth a watch by the way. The movie proved that he was much more than a martial arts star; he was on his road to becoming a film star too. Some film trickery and stunt doubling meant that the film could be released posthumously in 1994.

Victor "Vic" Morrow was an American actor who had a starring role in the 1960s television series Combat! He appeared in many other television and film dramas during the '70s but was tragically killed, along with two young children, during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie in 1982, when a stunt helicopter went out of control and crashed onto them.

Known for his striking good looks and being something of a '40s and '50s pin-up and heartthrob, Tyrone Edmund Power was an American film and stage actor. His film and theatre career began in the '30s and he was best known for being the romantic lead and assuming heroic and swashbuckler roles in films such as The Mark of Zorro and Prince of Foxes. With a passion for theatre, he would deliberately engineer his filming schedules so that he had time to appear on stage. He died of a heart attack at the age of 44 whilst filming in Spain in 1958.

If you have vertigo, look away now! Karl Wallenda was a German-American high wire artist and founder of circus act The Flying Wallendas, which are known for their dangerous stunts without a safety net: something which is bound to entertain the masses and make audiences gasp with delight at their vertiginous feats. Sadly Karl Wallender fell to his death whilst performing a stunt in which he was walking a tight rope between two buildings in San Juan in Puerto Rico in 1978. His great-grandson, however, Nik Wallenda, is continuing the family legacy and performing similar stunts to this day, crossing Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. He is planning to literally follow in his great-grandfather's footsteps by crossing the Georgia gorge.

Can you think of any other stars who died whilst doing what they loved best?