April 2009
1 post
Celebrity Death of the Day
Martha Mansfield (1899-1923)
This silent film star and former Ziegfield Follies dancer had just completed work on ‘The Warrens of Virginia’ when she met her unfortunate end. Dressed in Civil War costumery of hoop skirts and ruffles, Mansfield was a walking fire safety hazard. After bidding her co-stars a fond farewell, she hopped into her car to head home, just as another cast...
March 2009
2 posts
Celebrity Death of the Day
Sam Cooke (1931-1964)
Considered one of the pioneers of soul, Sam Cooke’s life was cut short in mysterious and violent circumstances.
Staying in a Californian motel, Cooke burst into the manager’s office demanding to know the whereabouts of his female companion. According to the manager, an enraged Cooke was wearing only a sports jacket and began to threaten and attack her. She shot him...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Zishe Breitbart (1883-1925)
Polish Circus performer, Vaudeville strongman and Jewish folk hero, Zishe Breitbart fought the anti-semitism of pre-war Germany to gain the reputation of the ‘World’s Strongest Man.’
He died a sad and premature death at the age of 42 following a stage show during which he pushed a rusty spike through five 1 inch thick oak boards resting on his...
December 2008
2 posts
Celebrity Death of the Day
River Phoenix (1970-1993)
The promising and beautiful actor had his life cut short outside of Johnny Depp’s Viper Room on Sunset Strip when he collapsed into seizures due to a Speedball overdose. His traumatised younger brother Joaquin, called 911 and begged for ambulance workers to save his brother - you can listen here.
Click on River for a coffin shot - but be warned, it isn’t...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Eve Meyer (1928-1977)
American pin-up and first wife of legendary exploitation director Russ Meyer, this former Playboy playmate met her end in the the world’s worst pre-9/11 aviation accident - The Tenerife Disaster. During take off preparations, Meyer’s Pan-Am airflight collided with a Dutch plane on the runway. Some managed to survive the American flight by climbing out onto the...
November 2008
3 posts
Celebrity Death of the Day
Peg Entwhistle (1908-1932)
On September 16th 1932, negative reviews and alcohol drove the Welsh born starlet to the Hollywood hills. Taking off her coat and folding it neatly at the base of the Hollywood sign (then Hollywoodland) she clawed her way to the top of the 45ft ‘H’ and jumped.
Her dramatic death and sad tale of disenchanted stardom has attracted death site hunters to the...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Marvin Gaye (1939-1984)
At the height of his early 80s comeback, Gaye retreated from the spotlight. Depressed and exhausted, Gaye moved back into his parents home and immediately locked horns with his aggressive father.
On the day before his 45th birthday, Gaye intervened during a row between his parents and was shot by his father using a gun that had been a gift from him only 4 months...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes (1971-2002)
The TLC singer had a troubled life in a unsympathetic media spotlight. She hit the news in 1994 after she set fire to her boyfriend’s tennis shoes in a revenge act that got out of hand. The fire spread and burned his mansion to the ground.
Lopes died when she lost control of the car she was driving. She was being followed at the time by a...
October 2008
8 posts
Celebrity Death of the Day
Lou Tellegen (1881-1934)
The career of this handsome silent movie star was cut short when he was diagnosed with cancer in his thirties. The tragic news was kept from him, sending him into a deep depression that was worsened when his face became badly burned. Shortly after claiming bankruptcy, Tellegen ended his own life by stabbing himself in the chest 7 times with a pair of golden scissors....
Celebrity Death of the Day
Clara Blandick (1880-1962)
Quite a sad one. Blandick is best known for playing Auntie Em in the MGM technicolour headache The Wizard of Oz, yet her sad death tends to overshadow much of her life’s work. After years of painful arthritis, Blandick took her own life by surrounding herself by her press clippings and overdosing on sleeping pills. To make sure she’d go, the 81 year old...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
Her death was initially classified as a probable suicide from acute barbiturate poisoning but due to lack of evidence and the alleged disappearance of a suicide note, homicide was never fully ruled out
Did Bobby Kennedy do it? Probably. Did JFK do it? Yeah, maybe. All I know is that it sure made a great episode of Quantum Leap
Click on Marilyn’s pic for a...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Jean Harlow (1911-1937)
Harlow died suddenly, aged 26, from kidney failure. For many years her death was attributed to lack of medical care due to her mother’s Christian Science beliefs. However, a recent look at her medical records revealed that Harlow received around the clock medical care for the 9 days of her illness - with her mother’s approval.
Another quashed rumour...
Celebrity Death of the Day - Wartime Special
Leslie Howard (1893-1943)
Howard made countless British films before making an uncomfortable transition across the Atlantic to star in Gone With the Wind. Unhappy with his success, Howard returned to Britain to help with the war effort. Whilst flying back from a secret mission in Lisbon, Howard’s plane was shot down - making him the first ‘in action’ Hollywood death of World...
Celebrity Death of the Day - Wartime Special
Carole Lombard (1908-1942)
Underrated queen of the screwball comedy and love of Clark Gable’s life, Lombard devoted her war years to selling War Bonds. During her flight back to California, her plane crashed into a hill near Las Vegas. All 22 passengers were killed, including Lombard’s mother. Gable immediately rushed to crash site, where the surrounding forest burned into the night...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Jack Nance (1943-1996)
Found wrapped in plastic after being stabbed in the neck by a block of sharpened Parmesan.
No.
On the night before his death Nance was involved in a brawl outside a Pasadena bar. According to friends he had ”popped-off’ to a couple of Latino guys in the parking lot at 5am that day. He told them to get a haircut and a job. One of them socked him in the eye,...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Sharon Tate (1943-1969)
Stabbed to death in her own home by the Manson Family whilst her husband, director Roman Polanski, was out of the country. She was 8 months pregnant at the time.
If you want to see - go here - but be warned that it is not for the faint of heart.
September 2008
1 post
Celebrity Death of the Day
Lupe Velez (1908 - 1944)
A devout catholic, Velez was unable to cope with the shame of bearing an illegitimate child. Planning on taking an overdose, she created an elaborate death scene in which to be found. Unfortunately, the pills only made her nauseous, and she tripped on her way to the bathroom. She was found the next day by her maid with her head in the toilet, drowned.
August 2008
11 posts
Celebrity Death of the Day
Natalie Wood (1938-1981)
During Thanksgiving weekend 1981, Wood and husband Robert Wagner invited co-star and friend Christopher Walken aboard their yacht. It is believed that Wood took a dinghy out into the ocean around midnight to look at the stars. Her body was found in face down in the water the next day.
Controversy has surrounded her death for many years, partly due to the fact that...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Isadora Duncan (1977-1927)
The most famous improvisational dancer of her day, Duncan was also famous for the extra long silk scarves which flowed behind her wherever she went. Duncan met her end when her immense scarf wrapped around the wheels of the motorcar she was a passenger in. She was whipped from her seat and dragged along by her broken neck for several yards.
Celebrity Death of the Day - Syphilis Special
This sexually transmitted disease took the lives of some of history’s most great and terrible men. Al Capone and Genghis Khan succumbed to it’s latter stage: Neurosyphilis, bringing about their end via acute dementia.
Others known to have died from Syphilis include Toulouse-Lautrec, Jack Pickford and Paul Gauguin.
More on Jack Pickford at a later date.
Celebrity Death of the Day
Chris Farley (1964 -1997)
After a four day binge of Cocaine and Heroin, Farley collapsed in the company of an unpaid prostitue named Heidi. She took a photo of his last moments and promptly left. He was found the next day by his brother with blood and foam around his mouth. He was 33.
Don’t click on the photo unless you are prepared for a pretty horrific image.
Celebrity Death of the Day
Vic Morrow (1929-1982)
During the filming of Twilight Zone: the Movie, a low flying stunt helicopter experiencing pyrotechnical troubles crashed onto Morrow and the two child actors he was working with. Morrow and the young boy were decapitated by the blades, whilst the girl was crushed beneath it’s weight. The movie’s director, John Landis was tried for involuntary manslaughter,...
Book Review: Klaus Kinski Needs a Love
According to Werner Herzog, Kinski’s autobiography was largely fabricated to increase sales, but truth should not be a factor in judging this epic stream of consciousness. Kinski lived and died for his craft - bringing fiction to life in order to entertain. As a result his autobiography is an extension of the Kinski persona projected into his work. Whilst many of the events and sexual...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Ramon Navarro (1899-1968)
Silent movie star and lover of Rudolf Valentino, Navarro met his end when two hustlers broke into his home in search of a large sum of money they believed to be hidden in his home. After several hours of torture, Navarro eventually succumbed to asphixia due to the lead Art Deco dildo that had been thrusted down his throat.
The dildo had been a gift from Valentino, and...
Celebrity Death of the Day
Gwili Andre (1908-1959)
This Danish Garbo was lured to Hollywood with the promise of fame but never made it beyond minor roles. Finding solace in alcohol, she met her end by setting alight her former publicity clippings and immersing herself in the blaze.
All celebrity death puns are very welcome.