Happens to the hero of Edmund Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac, although there it was a log, not a bridge. Cyrano lampshades the dissatisfying irony to the end of such a life as a fearless swashbuckler. Rostand's hands may have been tied by the fact that the actual Cyrano de Bergerac was killed in that very manner.
In many productions of Elisabeth, Sophie disappears after "Bellaria". A throwaway line in the next song reveals she died offstage. (Averted in the Hungarian versions, which show Death coming for Sophie, and the Japanese productions have Black Angels pull her offstage.)
Possibly the Ur Example is Falstaff, the fan favorite Butt-Monkey of the Henry IV plays. Falstaff unceremoniously dies offstage in Henry V without uttering a single line. Readers and critics speculate that Shakespeare was probably worried about Falstaff upstaging his main character (as he arguably does in the other plays). The original actor's departure from the company also likely makes this an early instance of Real Life Writes the Plot, if not an outright "Take That!". (Although Shakespeare does have Mistress Quickly movingly eulogize him in a beautiful if garbled speech, which manages to include the most heartbreaking dick joke in the entire literary canon.)
Bardolph is hanged for robbing a church in Harfleur, with Henry rejecting his attempt to plead for mercy on the grounds of their old friendship.
Nym is also stated to have been hanged for theft some time between Honfleur and Agincourt.
Falstaff's page is by implication killed by the French along with the other boys guarding the baggage train. Some productions show this on stage.
When Pistol returns to London, he discovers that Mistress Quickly has died while he was away, leaving him the Sole Survivor (apart from Poins, who does not appear or get a mention in the play).
Another Shakespearian example — in Romeo and Juliet, Montague says that Lady Montague died of grief due to Romeo's exile in the final scene.
's departure from the company also likely makes this an early instance of Real Life Writes the Plot, if not an outright "Take That!". (Although Shakespeare does have Mistress Quickly movingly eulogize him in a beautiful if garbled speech, which manages to include the most heartbreaking dick joke in the entire literary canon.)