Celebs who died before they were 45

1. Cheslie Kryst

Cheslie Kryst was born on April 28, 1991 in Jackson, Michigan, USA. She was an actress, known for Colin in Black & White (2021), Extra (1994) and Nashville Squares (2019). She died on January 30, 2022 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.

Miss USA, died in January 2022

2. Gaspard Ulliel

Actor | Un long dimanche de fiançailles

Gaspard Ulliel's dream had always been to direct a movie, and after completing his studies at the lycée (French high school), he majored in cinema at the University of Saint-Denis, and began his acting career.

He was born in Paris, to Christine, a stylist and runway show producer, and Serge Ulliel, ...

1984-2022 (Age 37) French actor known from "Hannibal"

3. Chadwick Boseman

Actor | Black Panther

Chadwick Boseman was an American actor. He is known for his portrayal of T'Challa / Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2016 to 2019, particularly in Black Panther (2018), and for his starring roles as several pioneering Americans, Jackie Robinson in 42 (2013), James Brown in Get on...

1976-2020 (Age 44) - Great actor

4. Naya Rivera

Actress | Glee

Naya Rivera was an Afro-Latina American actress, model and singer known for playing Santana Lopez from Glee and Hillary Winston from The Royal Family. She also was in The Master of Disguise, Baywatch, CSI: Miami, American Dad, Batman: The Long Halloween Parts 1 and 2, Even Stevens and The Bernie ...

1987-2020 (Age 33)

5. Kobe Bryant

Producer | Dear Basketball

Kobe Bean Bryant was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he spent his entire 20-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Bryant won five NBA championships, ...

1978-2020 (Age 42) Super star basketball player

6. Mac Miller

Actor | Scary Movie 5

Mac Miller was born on January 19, 1992 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for Scary Movie V (2013), Tall Girl (2019) and Lethal Weapon (2016). He died on September 7, 2018 in San Fernando Valley, California, USA.

1992-2019 (Age 27)

7. Avicii

Soundtrack | How to Be Single

Tim Bergling, also known as Avicii, was a Swedish DJ and producer who worked on live concerts. In 2011, his single ''Levels'' was on the 100 billboard chart. He was also known for ''Hey Brother''. He sometimes appeared on Radio 1's Pete Tong show. He was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and died in ...

1989-2018 (Age 29)

8. Leslie Carter

Soundtrack | Shrek

Leslie Barbara Carter was born on June 6, 1986, in Tampa, Florida, into the family of Robert Gene Carter (aka Robert Carter) and his wife Jane Elizabeth Carter (née Spaulding) and become the third of their five children. Her parents were divorced in 2003 after more than 20 years of marriage. Leslie...

1986-2016 (Age 30) Singer and sister of Nick Carter

9. Anton Yelchin

Actor | Star Trek

Anton Yelchin was an American actor, known for playing Bobby in Hearts in Atlantis (2001), Chekov in the Star Trek (2009) reboot, Charlie Brewster in the Fright Night (2011) remake, and Jacob in Like Crazy (2011).

He was born in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, USSR, to a Jewish family. His ...

1989-2016 (Age 27)

10. Sawyer Sweeten

Actor | Everybody Loves Raymond

Sawyer Sweeten was born on May 12, 1995 in Brownwood, Texas, USA. He was an actor, known for Everybody Loves Raymond (1996), Frank McKlusky, C.I. (2002) and Even Stevens (2000). He died on April 23, 2015 in Austin, Texas, USA.

1995-2015 (Age 20)

11. Windell Middlebrooks

Actor | Scrubs

Windell Middlebrooks was born on January 8, 1979 in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Scrubs (2001), Body of Proof (2011) and The Suite Life on Deck (2008). He died on March 9, 2015 in Los Angeles, California, USA.

1979-2015

12. Bobbi Kristina Brown

Actress | For Better or Worse

Bobbi Kristina Brown was born on March 4, 1993 in Livingston, New Jersey, USA. She was an actress, known for For Better or Worse (2011), The Houstons: On Our Own (2012) and Being Bobby Brown (2005). She died on July 26, 2015 in Duluth, Georgia, USA.

1993-2015 (Age 22)

13. Amanda Peterson

Actress | Can't Buy Me Love

Amanda Peterson was born on July 8, in Greeley, Colorado. With a natural beauty, powerful charm and a strong personality this talented and truly gifted actress began her career in film industry at age 9, with the feature film Annie (1982), directed by Academy Award-winner John Huston. To ...

1971-2015 (Age 44)

14. Misty Upham

Actress | August: Osage County

Misty Anne Upham, born in Kallispell, Montana, grew up in south Seattle, the fourth of five children. She began her career at the age of thirteen when she joined a community theater group, Red Eagle Soaring. What began as a summer workshop soon turned into a full-time job. By the age of fourteen ...

1982-2014 (Age 32)

15. Peaches Geldof

Self | The King Is Dead

Peaches Geldof was born on March 13, 1989 in Westminster, London, England, UK. She was a writer, known for The King Is Dead (2010), 8 Out of 10 Cats (2005) and Celebrity Juice (2008). She was married to Thomas Cohen and Maxwell Drummey. She died on April 7, 2014 in Wrotham, Kent, England, UK.

1989-2014

16. Lee Thompson Young

Actor | Friday Night Lights

Lee Thompson Young was born as the son of Velma Love and Tommy Scott Young. When he was in second grade his parents split up and he went to live with his mother. At age ten, he portrayed Dr. Martin Luther King in a play called "A Night of Stars and Dreams". That's when Lee decided he wanted to be ...

1984-2013 (Age 29)

17. Lisa Robin Kelly

Actress | That '70s Show

She first made her acting debut at age 21 in a 1992 episode of Married... with Children (1987), and went on to guest-star in many popular television shows, such as Murphy Brown (1988), The X-Files (1993), Sisters (1991), and Silk Stalkings (1991), and appeared in many obscure, straight-to-video/TV ...

1970-2013 (Age 43)

18. Mindy McCready

Soundtrack | Switchback

Mindy McCready was born on November 30, 1975 in Fort Meyers, Florida, USA. She was an actress, known for Switchback (1997) and Mindy McCready: Ten Thousand Angels (1996). She died on February 17, 2013 in Heber Springs, Arkansas, USA.

1975-2013

19. Cory Monteith

Actor | Glee

Cory Monteith was born on May 11, 1982 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada as Cory Allan Michael Monteith. He was an actor, known for playing the singing jock Finn on the American TV show Glee (2009) and films such as Monte Carlo (2011), and Final Destination 3 (2006). He died on July 13, 2013 in Vancouver...

1982-2013 (Age 31)

20. Paul Walker

Actor | The Fast and the Furious

Paul William Walker IV was born in Glendale, California. He grew up together with his brothers, Caleb and Cody, and sisters, Ashlie and Amie. Their parents, Paul William Walker III, a sewer contractor, and Cheryl (Crabtree) Walker, a model, separated around September 2004. His grandfather, William ...

1973-2013 (Age 40)

21. Alexis Arquette

Actress | Pulp Fiction

Alexis Arquette (born Robert Arquette) (death: September 11, 2016) was an American actress. Arquette was born in Los Angeles, the fourth of five children of Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (Nowak), a Jewish actress, poet, theater operator, activist, acting teacher, ...

1969-2013

22. Amy Winehouse

Soundtrack | Amy

Amy Jade Winehouse was born on September 14, 1983 in Enfield, London, England and raised in Southgate, London, England to Janis Holly Collins (née Seaton), a pharmacist & Mitchell "Mitch" Winehouse, a window panel installer and taxi driver. Her family shared her love of theater and music. Amy was ...

1983-2011 (Age 28)

23. Andy Whitfield

Actor | Spartacus: Blood and Sand

Andy Whitfield was born on October 17, 1971 in Amlwch, Anglesey, Wales, UK. He was an actor, known for Spartacus (2010), Gabriel (2007) and Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011). He was married to Vashti Whitfield. He died on September 11, 2011 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

1971-2011 (Age 40)

24. Alexander McQueen

Director | Björk: Alarm Call

Alexander McQueen was born on March 16, 1969 in Lewisham, London, England, UK. He was a director and writer, known for Björk: Alarm Call (1998), Björk: Volumen (1999) and Björk: Volumen Plus (2002). He died on February 11, 2010 in Mayfair, London, England, UK.

1969-2010 (Age 41) Fashion Designer

25. Corey Haim

Actor | The Lost Boys

Corey Haim was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Judy Haim, an Israeli-born data processor, and Bernie Haim, a clothing sales representative. He has a sister, Carol, and a half-brother, Daniel. His family is Jewish. He was raised mostly in Willowdale.

Corey appeared in 26 episodes of the early 1980s ...

1971-2010 (Age 39)

26. Brittany Murphy

Actress | Clueless

Brittany Murphy was born Brittany Anne Bertolotti on November 10, 1977 in Atlanta, Georgia, to Sharon Kathleen Murphy and Angelo Joseph Bertolotti. Her father's ancestry is Italian, and her mother is of Irish and Slovak descent. Her father moved the family back to Edison, New Jersey as a native New...

1977-2009 (Age 32)

27. Brad Renfro

Actor | The Client

Brad Renfro was born on July 25, 1982 in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Angela Denise McCrory and Mark Renfro, a factory worker. He was discovered at age 10 by director Joel Schumacher and was cast in the motion picture The Client (1994), which starred Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. Although this ...

1982-2008

28. Heath Ledger

Actor | Brokeback Mountain

When hunky, twenty-year-old heart-throb Heath Ledger first came to the attention of the public in 1999, it was all too easy to tag him as a "pretty boy" and an actor of little depth. He spent several years trying desperately to sway this image, but this was a double-edged sword. His work comprised ...

1979-2008 (Age 29)

29. Anna Nicole Smith

Actress | Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult

Anna Nicole Smith was born on November 28, 1967 in Houston, Texas, USA. She was an actress and producer, known for Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994), Be Cool (2005) and Illegal Aliens (2007). She was married to J. Howard Marshall II and Billy Smith. She died on February 8, 2007 in Hollywood...

1967-2007 (Age 40)

30. Steve Irwin

Actor | Dr. Dolittle 2

Steve Irwin was born in 1962 to parents Lyn and Bob Irwin, who were animal naturalists. He shared the love for animals all his life, stemming from being raised at the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park. There, he partook in daily duties of animal feeding and care. He quickly established himself with...

1962-2006 (Age 44)

31. Chris Penn

Actor | Reservoir Dogs

Christopher Shannon Penn was born on October 10, 1965 in Los Angeles, California, the third son of actress Eileen Ryan (née Annucci) and director, actor, and writer Leo Penn. His siblings are musician Michael Penn and actor Sean Penn. His father was from a Lithuanian Jewish/Russian Jewish family, ...

1965-2006 (Age 41)

32. Jonathan Brandis

Actor | The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter

Born in Danbury, Connecticut, USA, to Greg and Mary, Jonathan Brandis began his career at age 5, acting in several television commercials. He also appeared in small parts in several films and TV shows before his first starring role in the 1990 film The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990). ...

1976-2003

33. Lisa 'Left Eye' Lopes

Soundtrack | Captain Marvel

Controversial, flamboyant, and spontaneous are probably the best words to describe Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes. Born in Philadelphia, and raised throughout the world as the daughter of a U.S. Army serviceman, Lisa Lopes became one of the most important trendsetters in the 1990s music scene. After ...

1971-2002 (Age 31)

34. Merlin Santana

Actor | The Steve Harvey Show

Merlin Santana was born in New York to parents from the Dominican Republic. His mother pushed him into a showbusiness career to keep him off the mean streets and out of trouble. He began as an advertising model for a fast-food chain at age 3, and soon became noticed as Stanley, one of Rudy ...

1976-2002 (Age 26)

35. Aaliyah

Soundtrack | Romeo Must Die

Talented. Beautiful. Modest. These three words described R&B singer-turned-actress Aaliyah perfectly.

Aaliyah Dana Haughton was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Diane (Hankerson) and Michael Haughton. Her uncle was music manager Barry Hankerson and her brother is director Rashad Haughton. Aaliyah was ...

1979-2001 (Age 22)

36. Christopher Pettiet

Actor | Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

Born in Plano, Texas, Christopher Pettiet began career as a child actor making appearances in television series, made-for-television movies and films. He starred in two hit flicks, Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead (1991) and Point Break (1991), and then joined the cast of the Western TV series ...

1976-2000 (Age 24)

37. John Kennedy Jr.

Actor | A Matter of Degrees

John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr. was born on November 25, 1960, in Washington, DC, to John Fitzgerald Kennedy (President-to-be John F. Kennedy) and Jacqueline Lee Bouvier Kennedy (Jacqueline Kennedy). Three weeks before his birth, his father was elected President of the United States, and the nation ...

1960-1999 (Age 39)

38. Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy

Self | The Kennedys: The Curse of Power

Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was born on January 7, 1966 in White Plains, New York, USA. She was married to John Kennedy Jr.. She died on July 16, 1999 in Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Martha's Vineyard.

1966-1999 (Age 33)

39. The Notorious B.I.G.

Soundtrack | Fast X

Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Biggie Smalls, was born on May 21, 1972 in Brooklyn, New York. He was the son of Jamaican parents, Voletta Wallace, a pre-school teacher, and Selwyn George Latore, a welder and small-time politician. He was raised in the poor Brooklyn neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant. ...

1972-1999 (Age 27)

40. David Strickland

Actor | Suddenly Susan

David Strickland was born in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York, on October 14, 1969. Raised in Princeton, New Jersey, he never thought about an acting career until moving to the LA suburb of Pacific Palisades while in high school. Instead of going to college, he joined a theater company and began ...

1969-1999

41. Dana Plato

Actress | Diff'rent Strokes

Dana Michelle Plato was born in Maywood, California, on Saturday, November 7, 1964. Her first excursion into the film world occurred when she was 11 in the television film Beyond the Bermuda Triangle (1975). Dana never made an impact on the TV screen until she landed the role of Kimberly Drummond ...

1964-1999 (Age 35)

42. Michelle Thomas

Actress | The Young and the Restless

Michelle Thomas was born in Boston but raised in New York and New Jersey. She attended the Montclair School of Arts and the Broadway Dance Center. She is survived by her mother, Phynjuar Thomas (a stage actress and acting coach); her brother, David Thomas; her grandfather, Cecil G. Saunders, Sr.; ...

1968-1998

43. Chris Farley

Actor | Tommy Boy

Christopher Crosby Farley was born on February 15, 1964, in Madison, Wisconsin, to Mary Anne (Crosby) and Thomas Farley, who owned an oil company. Among his siblings are actors Kevin P. Farley and John Farley. He was of Irish heritage. Farley studied theatre and communications on Marquette ...

1964-1997 (Age 33)

44. Michael Hutchence

Soundtrack | Donnie Darko

Michael Hutchence is one of the greatest singers and performers in Australia's history, with a career that spanned 20 years. Born to Kelland Hutchence and Patricia Hutchence (a film and television make-up artist), Michael was the second of three children. He grew up in Hong Kong, USA, and Australia...

1960-1997 (Age 37,5)

45. Jeff Buckley

Soundtrack | Vanilla Sky

Jeff Buckley was born on November 17, 1966 in Anaheim, California, USA. He was a composer and actor, known for Vanilla Sky (2001), Tell No One (2006) and Jeff Buckley: Everybody Here Wants You (2002). He died on May 29, 1997 in Memphis, Tennessee, USA.

1966-1997 (Age 31)

46. Princess Diana

Self | Charles & Diana: Never Meant to Be

Princess Diana was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry. Diana's activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her an enduring popularity.

Diana was born into the British nobility ...

1961-1997 (Age 36)

47. Margaux Hemingway

Actress | Killer Fish

Born in Portland, Oregon, she grew up in on a farm in Ketchum, Idaho. But dad was Jack Hemingway, son of the Nobel prize-winning author Ernest Hemingway and, with that heritage, fame was almost foreordained. By the time she was 21, after the lead in the rape melodrama Lipstick (1976), she had a ...

1954-1996 (Age 42)

48. Tupac Shakur

Actor | Juice

Born in New York City, Tupac grew up primarily in Harlem. In 1984, his family moved to Baltimore, Maryland where he became good friends with Jada Pinkett Smith. His family moved again in 1988 to Oakland, California. His first breakthrough in music came in 1991 as a member of the group Digital ...

1971-1996 (Age 25)

49. Selena

Soundtrack | Don Juan DeMarco

Selena was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, 50 miles southeast of Houston, to Abraham Quintanilla Jr. and Marcella Quintanilla. Abraham opened a Mexican restaurant, Papagayo, in Lake Jackson. Selena was 9 years old when her father discovered her talent for singing. He formed a band consisting of Selena...

1971-1995 (Age 24)

50. John Candy

Actor | Planes, Trains & Automobiles

Candy was one of Canada's greatest and funniest character actors. His well-known role as the big hearted buffoon earned him classics in Uncle Buck (1989) and Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). His career has handed him some dry spells but Candy always rebounded.

Born in Newmarket, Ontario, in ...

1950-1994 (Age 44)

51. Kurt Cobain

Soundtrack | The Batman

Kurt Cobain was born on February 20 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. Kurt and his family lived in Hoquiam for the first few months of his life then later moved back to Aberdeen, where he had a happy childhood until his parents divorced. The divorce left Kurt's outlook on the world forever scarred. He...

1967-1994 (Age 27)

52. Brandon Lee

Actor | The Crow

Born on February 1, 1965 to Bruce Lee (Martial Arts idol) and Linda Lee Cadwell. Brother to Shannon Lee. In 1970-71, they moved to Hong Kong, where Brandon lived until age eight, becoming fluent in Cantonese. By the time he was able to walk, he was already involved in learning about martial arts ...

1965-1993 (Age 28)

53. River Phoenix

Actor | My Own Private Idaho

River Phoenix was born River Jude Bottom in Madras, Oregon. His mother, Arlyn (Dunetz), a Bronx-born secretary, and his father, John Bottom, a carpenter, met in California in 1968. They worked as itinerant fruit pickers, and later joined the Children of God religious group (John was originally ...

1970-1993 (Age 23)

54. Gilda Radner

Actress | Saturday Night Live

Gilda Radner was one of the great comic geniuses of the 20th century, ranked with Lucille Ball and other comedy legends of the highest caliber. She was born on June 28, 1946, in Detroit, Michigan, the younger of two children of Henrietta (Dworkin), a legal secretary, and Herman Radner, a ...

1946-1989

55. Rebecca Schaeffer

Actress | Radio Days

Rebecca began modeling at the age of 16, going off to New York on her own to begin her career. Four months later, she found herself in Japan, modeling. Eventually, she landed a co-starring role on My Sister Sam (1986), for which she is now best known. In 1989 she also became a spokesperson for ...

1967-1989 (Age 21,5)

56. Heather O'Rourke

Actress | Poltergeist

Heather Michele O'Rourke was born on December 27, 1975 in Santee, San Diego, California, to Kathleen, a seamstress, and Michael O'Rourke, a construction worker. She had German, Danish, English, and Irish ancestry.

Heather entered American cinematic pop-culture before first grade. She was sitting ...

1975-1988 (Age 13)

57. Andy Gibb

Soundtrack | Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

A blessing or a curse? Every silver lining has a cloud, yet sadly Andrew Roy Gibb had to find that out the hard way. Born the fifth and final child to parents Barbara (17 November 1920-12 August 2016) and Hugh Gibb (15 January 1916-6 March 1992) Andy grew up with his three older siblings dominating...

1958-1988 (Age 30)

58. Gia Carangi

Actress | Blondie: Atomic

Gia Carangi was born on January 29, 1960 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She was an actress, known for Blondie: Atomic (1980). She died on November 18, 1986 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.

1960-1986 (Age 26)

59. Jon-Erik Hexum

Actor | Voyagers!

In the early 1980s, this ruggedly handsome young American actor of Norwegian parentage was seen as the "next big thing", and then suddenly he was dead from an accident via a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The son of Thorleif Hexum (born in Norway) and Gretha Paulsen (born in Minnesota), Jon-Erik ...

1957-1984 (Age, almost 27)

60. Marvin Gaye

Soundtrack | High Fidelity

Marvin Pentz Gay Jr. (known professionally as Marvin Gaye; April 2, 1939 - April 1, 1984) was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo artist with a string of successes, earning him the nicknames ...

1939-1984 (Age 44,5)

61. Karen Carpenter

Soundtrack | Paul Williams: Still Alive

Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Karen Carpenter moved with her family to Downey, California, in 1963. Karen's older brother, Richard Carpenter, decided to put together an instrumental trio with him on the piano, Karen on the drums and their friend Wes Jacobs on the bass and tuba. In a battle of the...

1950-1983 (Age 33) Singer, died from Anorexia

62. Romy Schneider

Actress | L'important c'est d'aimer

Romy Schneider was born on 23 September 1938 in Vienna, Austria into a family of actors. Making her film debut at the age of 15, her breakthrough came two years later in the very popular trilogy Sissi (1955). Her mother, supervising her daughter's career, immediately approved Romy's participation ...

1938-1982

63. John Belushi

Actor | Saturday Night Live

John Belushi was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, on January 24, 1949, to Agnes Demetri (Samaras) and Adam Anastos Belushi, a restaurant owner. His father was an Albanian immigrant, from Qytezë, and his mother was also of Albanian descent. He grew up in Wheaton, where the family moved when he was ...

1949-1982 (Age 33)

64. Natalie Wood

Actress | Rebel Without a Cause

Natalie Wood was an American actress of Russian and Ukrainian descent. She started her career as a child actress and eventually transitioned into teenage roles, young adult roles, and middle-aged roles. She drowned off Catalina Island on November 29, 1981 at age 43.

Wood was born July 20, 1938 in ...

1938-1981 (Age 43)

65. Bob Marley

Soundtrack | I Am Legend

Bob Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann, Jamaica, to Norval Marley and Cedella Booker. His father was a Jamaican of English descent. His mother was a black teenager. The couple were married in 1944 but Norval left for Kingston immediately after. Norval died in 1957, seeing...

1945-1981 (Age 36)

66. John Lennon

Actor | A Hard Day's Night

John Winston (later Ono) Lennon was born on October 9, 1940, in Liverpool, England, to Julia Lennon (née Stanley) and Alfred Lennon, a merchant seaman. He was raised by his mother's older sister Mimi Smith. In the mid-1950s, he formed his first band, The Quarrymen (after Quarry Bank High School, ...

1940-1980 (Age 40)

67. Jean Seberg

Actress | À bout de souffle

Jean Dorothy Seberg was born in Marshalltown, Iowa, to substitute teacher Dorothy Arline (Benson) and pharmacist Edward Waldemar Seberg. Her father was of Swedish descent and her mother was of English and German ancestry.

One month before her 18th birthday, Jean landed the title role in Otto ...

1938-1979 (Age 41)

68. John Cazale

Actor | Dog Day Afternoon

John Cazale was born in Boston, Massachusetts, to an Irish-American mother, Cecilia (Holland), and an Italian-American father, John Cazale. Cazale made only five feature films in his career, which fans and critics alike call classics. But before his film debut, in the short The American Way (1962),...

1935-1978 (Age 43)

69. Keith Moon

Actor | Tommy

Keith John Moon was born to working class parents in Wembley, London, England, on the 23rd August, 1946. At the age of 12, he had joined the Sea Cadet Corp and was given his first musical instrument, the bugle. He left school by 15 and was in his first band, The Beachcombers; this was around the ...

1946-1978 (Age 32)

70. Elvis Presley

Soundtrack | Girls! Girls! Girls!

Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 in East Tupelo, Mississippi, to Gladys Presley (née Gladys Love Smith) and Vernon Presley (Vernon Elvis Presley). He had a twin brother who was stillborn. In 1948, Elvis and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee where he attended Humes High School. ...

1935-1977 (Age 44)

71. Cass Elliot

Soundtrack | Free Guy

Cass Elliot was born Ellen Naomi Cohen on September 19, 1941, in Baltimore, Maryland. She grew up in the Washington D.C. environs and in her senior year of high school, performed in a summer stock production of "The Boyfriend" at the Owings Mills Playhouse, where she played the French nurse who ...

1941-1974 (Age 33)

72. Bobby Darin

Soundtrack | Come September

Walden Robert Cassotto, nicknamed "Bobby", was born in The Bronx, New York, in 1936. Severe rheumatic fever as a child scarred his heart and led to an overprotected and pampered childhood. He was the focal point of a family that fostered and encouraged his love of music. His music career started ...

1936-1973 (Age 37)

73. Bruce Lee

Actor | Jing wu men

Bruce Lee remains the greatest icon of martial arts cinema and a key figure of modern popular media. Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and ...

1940-1973 (Age 33)

74. Edie Sedgwick

Actress | Ciao Manhattan

Edie Sedgwick was a bright social butterfly whose candle of fame burned brightly at both ends. Born into a wealthy White Anglo-Saxon Protestant family of impressive lineage, Edie became a "celebutante" for her beauty, style, wealth and her associations with figures of the 1960s counterculture.

Edie ...

1943-1971 (Age 28)

75. Jim Morrison

Soundtrack | Army of the Dead

James Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American poet, singer, and songwriter from Florida. He was the lead vocalist of the rock band "The Doors" (1965-1973), and has been cited as "one of the most influential frontmen in rock history". Morrison recorded a total of six studio albums with the Doors, all...

1943-1971

76. Jimi Hendrix

Soundtrack | Woodstock

Widely regarded as the greatest and most influential guitarist in rock history, Jimi Hendrix was born on November 27, 1942 in Seattle, Washington, to African-American parents Lucille (Jeter) and James Allen Hendrix. His mother named him John Allen Hendrix and raised him alone while his father, Al ...

1942-1970 (Age 28)

77. Pier Angeli

Actress | Battle of the Bulge

Anna Maria Pierangeli was born June 19, 1932, in Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. Anna and her twin sister, Marisa Pavan, both had their eyes on becoming film stars, since that was one of the big Italian pastimes. Anna adopted her surname and split it in half, and it was as Pier Angeli that she would ...

1932-1970 (Age 38)

78. Janis Joplin

Soundtrack | Watchmen

Janis Lyn Joplin was born at St. Mary's Hospital in the oil-refining town of Port Arthur, Texas, near the border with Louisiana. Her father was a cannery worker and her mother was a registrar for a business college. As an overweight teenager, she was a folk-music devotee (especially Odetta, ...

1943-1970

79. Brian Jones

Soundtrack | Mord und Totschlag

Jones was born on 28 February, 1942, to Lewis and Louise Jones. He had two sisters, Pamela and Barbara. Pamela died when Brian was still a child. He fathered his first of several children in high school and was subsequently made to leave. In the early 1960s, Brian formed the legendary group, The ...

1942-1969 (Age 27)

80. Sharon Tate

Actress | Valley of the Dolls

Sharon's early life was one of constant moving as her father served in the military. When she lived in Italy, she was voted "Homecoming Queen" of her high school. After being an extra in a few Italian films, Sharon headed to Hollywood where she would again start as an extra. Her first big break ...

1943-1969 (Age 26)

81. Martin Luther King

Soundtrack | Freedom Writers

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was the son of Alberta Christine (Williams), a schoolteacher, and Martin Luther King Sr. a pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. For Martin the civil rights movement began one summer in 1935 when he was six ...

1929-1968

82. Bobby Driscoll

Actor | Peter Pan

Bobby Driscoll was a natural-born actor. Discovered by chance at the age of five-and-a-half in a barber shop in Altadena, CA. and then convincing in anything he ever undertook on the movie screen and on television throughout his career spanning 17 years (1943-1960). Includes such notable movie ...

1937-1968 (Age 31)

83. Otis Redding

Soundtrack | Top Gun

Otis Redding was born on September 9, 1941 in Dawson, Georgia, USA. He was a music artist and composer, known for Top Gun (1986), Hamburger Hill (1987) and Road House (1989). He was married to Zelma Redding. He died on December 10, 1967 in Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

1941-1967 (Age 26)

84. Jayne Mansfield

Actress | The Girl Can't Help It

One of the leading sex symbols of the 1950s and 1960s, film actress Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, the only child of Vera J. (nee Palmer; later Peers) and Herbert W. Palmer. Her parents were well-to-do, with her father a successful attorney ...

1933-1967 (Age 34)

85. Malcolm X

Writer | Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little on May 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska, one of seven children. His father, Earl Little, was a Baptist preacher who supported Marcus Garvey's Back to Africa movement. When Malcolm was four, the family moved to Lansing, Michigan, where Earl attempted opening a store ...

1925-1965 (Age 40)

86. Dorothy Dandridge

Actress | Carmen Jones

Dorothy Jean Dandridge was born on November 9, 1922 in Cleveland, Ohio, to Ruby Dandridge (née Ruby Jean Butler), an entertainer, and Cyril H. Dandridge, a cabinet maker and minister. Under the prodding of her mother, Dorothy and her sister Vivian Dandridge began performing publicly, usually in ...

1922-1965 (Age 43)

87. Judy Holliday

Actress | Born Yesterday

Judy Holliday was born Judith Tuvim in New York City on June 21, 1921. Her mother, a piano teacher, was attending a play when she went into labor and made it to the hospital just in time. Judy was an only child. By the age of four, her mother had her enrolled in ballet school which fostered a ...

1921-1965 (Age 44)

88. Sam Cooke

Soundtrack | Innerspace

Sam Cooke was born January 22, 1931 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. He was one of eight children of Charles Cook Sr., a Baptist minister. When Sam sang as a little boy in church, everyone made note that his voice had "something special". He sang in church and in local gospel choirs until a group called...

1931-1964 (Age 33)

89. Patsy Cline

Soundtrack | Assassin's Creed

Patsy Cline was born Virginia Patterson Hensley on September 8, 1932 in Winchester, Virginia. Her brush with show business came at age four when she won a prize in an amateur tap dancing contest. By the time she entered grade school, her family was fully aware of her musical talent. On her eighth ...

1932-1963

90. Marilyn Monroe

Actress | Some Like It Hot

Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, comedienne, singer, and model. Monroe is of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh descent. She became one of the world's most enduring iconic figures and is remembered both for her winsome embodiment of the Hollywood sex symbol and her tragic personal and ...

1926-1962 (Age 36)

91. Billie Holiday

Soundtrack | Minority Report

Billie Holiday was a true artist of her day and rose as a social phenomenon in the 1950s. Her soulful, unique singing voice and her ability to boldly turn any material that she confronted into her own music made her a superstar of her time. Today, Holiday is remembered for her masterpieces, ...

1915-1959

92. Ritchie Valens

Soundtrack | La Bamba

Ritchie, the 'California Kid' was from a family of poverty stricken fruit pickers and was the first rock star to originate from the West Coast and one of the innovators of 'Latino rock. In an eight month career he scored three hits with 'Come On Let's Go', 'Donna' and 'La Bamba' before being killed...

1941-1959 (Age 18)

93. Buddy Holly

Soundtrack | Big Fish

Charles Hardin Holley, known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, to a musical family during the Great Depression, and learned to play guitar and sing alongside his siblings. His ...

1936-1959 (Age 23)

94. James Dean

Actor | East of Eden

James Byron Dean was born February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana, to Mildred Marie (Wilson) and Winton A. Dean, a farmer turned dental technician. His mother died when Dean was nine, and he was subsequently raised on a farm by his aunt and uncle in Fairmount, Indiana. After grade school, he moved to ...

1931-1955 (Age 24)

95. Carole Landis

Actress | I Wake Up Screaming

Carole Landis was born on New Year's Day in 1919 in Fairchild, Wisconsin, as Frances Lillian Mary Ridste. Her father, a railroad mechanic, was of Norwegian descent and her mother was Polish. Her father walked out, leaving Carole, her mother and an older brother and sister to fend for themselves.

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1919-1948 (Age 28)

96. Lupe Velez

Actress | The Girl from Mexico

Lupe Velez was born on July 18, 1908, in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, as Maria Guadalupe Villalobos Velez. She was sent to Texas at the age of 13 to live in a convent. She later admitted that she wasn't much of a student because she was so rambunctious. She had planned to become a champion roller ...

1909-1944 (Age 35)

97. Carole Lombard

Actress | My Man Godfrey

Carole Lombard was born Jane Alice Peters in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on October 6, 1908. Her parents divorced in 1916 and her mother took the family on a trip out West. While there they decided to settle down in the Los Angeles area. After being spotted playing baseball in the street with the ...

1908-1942 (Age 33,5)

98. Jean Harlow

Actress | China Seas

Harlean Carpenter, who later became Jean Harlow, was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on March 3, 1911. She was the daughter of a successful dentist and his wife. In 1927, at the age of 16, she ran away from home to marry a young businessman named Charles McGrew, who was 23. The couple pulled up ...

1911-1937 (Age 26)

99. Thelma Todd

Actress | Horse Feathers

Thelma Todd was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, an industrial city near the New Hampshire state line. She was a lovely child with good academic tendencies, so much so that she decided early on to become a schoolteacher. After high school she went on to college but at her mother's insistence ...

1906-1935 (Age 29)

100. Rudolph Valentino

Actor | The Eagle

Hollywood's original Latin Lover, a term that was invented for Rudolph Valentino by Hollywood moguls. Alla Nazimova's friend Natacha Rambova (nee Winifred Hudnut) became romantically involved with Rudy and they lived together in her bungalow from 1921 (during the filming of Camille) until they ...

1895-1926 (Age 31)