Some actors are just adept at playing bad guys, and while Robert Patrick isn’t a heavy hitter every time, the films he’s best known for feature him giving the good guys a hard time. The former Bowling Green State University athlete got his start starring in exploitation films directed by famed Filipino filmmaker Cirio H. Santiago (his 1976 action film “The Muthers” is a essential) and finally found its way. to Hollywood where he landed his role as liquid metal T-1000 in James Cameron’s 1991 action classic, “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”

Patrick showed real stature in ’90s films like “Fire in the Sky,” “The Cool Surface” and “Striptease,” but for the most part, Hollywood knew he could deliver the snickering goods as as villainous, and he accepted these roles without hesitation. (He is particularly villainous as DC’s white supremacist supervillain August “Auggie” Smith, aka the White Dragon in Max’s “Peacemaker” series.) In doing so, Patrick often found himself pitted against some of the most renowned action heroes in cinematic history, meaning his characters rarely made it to the end credits with a pulse. But it’s work, and Patrick is more than good at it. In fact, he’s proud of his many on-screen deaths, especially when he’s dispatched by one of Hollywood’s big guns.

In a 2008 interview with Den of GeekRobert Patrick was asked how he felt about being offended by the holy trinity wreaking havoc: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone and Bruce Willis (find out where these three ranked on / List of 18 Best Action Movie Actors in Film). He clarified by adding a fourth star to his list of on-screen attackers. By Patrick:

“It is [a badge of honor]but let me give you a little extra badge of honor. Ready for this? I was killed first by Bruce Willis, Schwarzenegger, then Stallone. And in “Charlie’s Angels 2″, I was killed by the former Mrs. Bruce Willis. [aka Demi Moore]”.

This is a prestigious list of killers. For those of you keeping score, here’s how Patrick says goodbye to the living in each of these films:

• In “Die Hard 2” (directed by Renny Harlin and released in 1990), he is shot repeatedly through a dislodged air vent in an airport terminal under construction by Willis’ John McClane.
• In “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (which, again, was directed by James Cameron and released in 1991), he gets blown up in the stomach with a grenade by Schwarzenegger in the form of a T-800 and plunges into a pool of molten metal (where he desperately attempts to reshape himself before sinking into oblivion).
• In “Cop Land” (directed by James Mangold and released in 1997), he runs out of his house, tackles a shotgun-wielding Freddy Heflin (Stallone) and finds himself on the wrong end of a gunfight (much to his surprise, given the amusing, stunned expression on his character’s face as he dies).
• In “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” (directed by McG and released theatrically in 2003), Patrick’s corrupt U.S. Marshal is smitten by Madison Lee, Demi Moore’s former angel turned villain, at the Griffith Park Observatory.

Finally (and backtracking a bit), although John Cena is not yet an iconic action movie star, it is worth noting that Patrick’s White Dragon is taken out by a headshot fired by his own son, Cena’s main character, in “Peacemaker.” It’s a primo dying big screen from Mr. Patrick, and we thank the old and future T-1000 for its unlit service.