Proper use of tenses in wiki articles

I am contributing to a fan wiki for a currently running American medical drama television show. I am wondering what tenses to use when introducing a character on their bio page.

For a character who is currently on the show it seems straight forward:

John Doe is a doctor at hospital X.

But for a character who has left the show but is still alive in canon:

John Doe was a doctor at hospital X.

OR:

John Doe is a former doctor at hospital X.

"was" in this context seems to imply that the character passed away while on the show, while the second version sounds like the character left the show but is still alive in canon – which version correctly coveys that they are still alive but simply no longer on the show? And is it always appropriate to use "was" for a character who has passed away in canon?

The second sentence usually gives the character’s actor or actress name. For characters who are currently on the show I use the present tense of portray, but which tense to use when the character has either left the show but is still alive in canon, or has died in canon?

She is portrayed by Jane Doe.

OR:

She was portrayed by Jane Doe.

The same issue comes up when writing biographies for the actors – do I use present tense "portrays character X" while the character is on the show, and "portrayed character X" as soon as the character has left the show? I’m worried that using portrayed in this context implies that the actor him/herself passed away.