Charlie Sheen declined a series finale role offered to him by his former Two And A Half Men boss Chuck Lorre.

The hit comedy ended its 12-season run on Thursday (19Feb15), and despite multiple reports that Sheen would make a surprise cameo on the show - even though his character was killed in France, the bad boy actor did not make an appearance.

However, the finale did centre around Sheen's character Charlie Harper, after his brother, played by Jon Cryer, discovered he didn't actually die, but was kidnapped by his stalker-turned-wife, Rose, who imprisoned him in a pit in her basement for four years.

In the last scene of the series, a Sheen lookalike is seen from behind, as a falling baby grand piano ultimately kills him.

Lorre, who fired Sheen in 2011 following a heated bust-up with the actor, explained in the vanity card shown at the end of the episode that he had hoped Sheen would return for the last show.

The card read: "I know a lot of you might be disappointed that you didn't get to see Charlie Sheen in tonight’s finale. For the record he was offered a role.

"Our idea was to have him walk up to the front door in the last scene, ring the doorbell, then turn, look directly into the camera and go off on a maniacal rant about the dangers of drug abuse. He would then explain that these dangers only apply to average people. That he was far from average. He was a ninja warrior from Mars. He was invincible. And then we would drop a piano on him. We thought it was funny. He didn't."

"Instead, he wanted us to write a heart-warming scene that would set up his return to primetime Tv in a new sitcom called The Harpers, starring him and Jon Cryer. We thought that was funny too."

In the final scene, after the Sheen look-alike was crushed by the piano, Lorre appeared from a director's chair and was also killed by a falling baby grand after smiling at the camera and using his former leading man's catchphrase, "Winning!"

Sheen also confirmed he would not be appearing in the finale on Twitter.com hours before the episode aired.

While Sheen didn't stage a comeback, his former castmate Angus T. Jones did make a cameo, and Arnold Schwarzenegger portrayed a detective, while John Stamos and Christian Slater briefly appeared as themselves.