Celebrities Who Died Young (Under 60 Years Old)
by wonderfullylolly | created - 19 Apr 2020 | updated - 30 Jul 2020 | PublicA List Of Celebrities Who Died Young
1. Judith Barsi
Actress | The Land Before Time
The only child of Jozsef Barsi and Maria Benko, Judith Eva Barsi beat 10,000-to-1 odds when she was discovered at a San Fernando Valley skating rink at age 5 1/2 in 1983 and mistaken for a three-year-old. Her first commercial was for Donald Duck Orange Juice and she went on to appear in anywhere ...
Murder, 10 Years Old
(1978-1988)
2. 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 ...
Cardiac arrest, 12 Years Old
(1975-1988)
3. Nancy Spungen
Self | D.O.A.
Nancy was born to a well to do Jewish family in Philadelphia. She was a hyperactive child, reportedly throwing suicidal cursing fits at the age of eight and abusing heroin by 15. At 19 she became a groupie, following such bands as Aerosmith, Bad Company, and The Ramones. She moved with a friend to ...
Murder, 20 Years Old
(1958-1978)
4. Dorothy Stratten
Actress | Galaxina
Dorothy Stratten's story was brief, glorious and tragic. She was born Dorothy Ruth Hoogstraten on February 28, 1960 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She grew up in a rough neighborhood in Vancouver, but kept out of trouble and went through the motions of school. While not a beauty as a child...
Murder, 20 Years Old
(1960-1980)
5. XXXTentacion
Soundtrack | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
XXXTentacion was born on January 23, 1998 in Plantation, Florida, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Exit (2019) and We Are Who We Are (2020). He died on June 18, 2018 in Deerfield Beach, Florida, USA.
Murder, 20 Years Old
(1998-2018)
6. Cameron Boyce
Actor | Mrs. Fletcher
Cameron Boyce was an American actor, with Afro-Caribbean and African-American descent. His paternal grandmother Jo Ann Allen was one of the "Clinton Twelve", the first African-Americans to attend an integrated high school in the Southern United States (specifically in Clinton, Tennessee).
In 1999, ...
Seizure, 20 Years Old
(1999-2019)
7. Pop Smoke
Soundtrack | F9
Bashar Barakah Jackson (July 20, 1999 - February 19, 2020), known professionally as Pop Smoke, was an American rapper. He is considered by many to be the face of Brooklyn drill. Born and raised in Canarsie, Brooklyn, Pop Smoke began his musical career in late 2018 with his debut single "MPR (Panic ...
Murder, 20 Years Old
(1999-2020)
8. Juice WRLD
Soundtrack | Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Juice WRLD was born on December 2, 1998 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018), Eminem Feat. Juice WRLD: Godzilla (2020) and Juice Wrld: Lucid Dreams (2018). He died on December 8, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Seizure, 21 Years Old
(1998-2019)
9. Lil Peep
Soundtrack | The F**k-It List
Lil Peep was born on November 1, 1996 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA. He was a music artist and actor, known for The F**k-It List (2020), Lil Peep Feat. Clams Casino: 4 Gold Chains (2018) and Lil Peep: Drugz (2020). He died on November 15, 2017 in Tucson, Arizona, USA.
Drug Overdose, 21 Years Old
(1996-2017)
10. Sid Vicious
Soundtrack | The Astronaut's Wife
Along with fellow Sex Pistol member, Johnny Rotten, lanky, sneering, pock faced Sid epitomised the punk movement born in the mid 1970s in working class England. Sid Vicious (real name John Beverly) wasn't an original member of the Pistols, but rather joined the band after original bassist, Glen ...
Drug Overdose, 21 Years Old
(1957-1979)
11. Skye McCole Bartusiak
Actress | Don't Say a Word
Skye McCole Bartusiak was an American child actress and child model. She appeared in The Patriot (2000), Don't Say a Word (2001), as Rose Wilder in Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder (2002), 24 (2002-03), Boogeyman (2005), and Kill Your Darlings (2006). Bartusiak died at the...
Drug Overdose, 21 Years Old
(1992-2014)
12. Dominique Dunne
Actress | Poltergeist
Dominique Dunne was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Ellen Beatriz Griffin Dunne and Dominick Dunne, a producer, actor, and writer. Actor Griffin Dunne is her brother. After her parents' divorce, she moved first to New York, and then to Beverly Hills. Upon graduation from high ...
Murder, 22 Years Old
(1959-1982)
13. Karyn Kupcinet
Actress | The Little Shop of Horrors
Karyn Kupcinet was born on March 6, 1941 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. She was an actress, known for The Little Shop of Horrors (1960), The Gertrude Berg Show (1961) and Hawaiian Eye (1959). She died on November 28, 1963 in West Hollywood, California, USA.
Murder, 22 Years Old
(1941-1963)
14. 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 ...
Plane Crash, 22 Years Old
(1979-2001)
15. Christina Grimmie
Soundtrack | The Matchbreaker
Christina Grimmie was an American actress, singer, song writer, and YouTube sensation. Grimmie is known as 'zeldaxlove64' on YouTube. Grimmie gained recognition after posting covers of popular songs on YouTube. She also placed 2nd Runner up on The Voice. On June 10, 2016, Grimmie was shot three ...
Murder, 22 Years Old
(1994-2016)
16. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 23 Years Old
(1970-1993)
17. Ian Curtis
Soundtrack | Donnie Darko
Ian Curtis was born in Old Trafford, Manchester, at the Memorial Hospital. He grew up listening to The Who and The Rolling Stones, and other heroes of his teenage years included David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed, and James Dean. He especially liked musicians whose lyrics ...
Suicide, 23 Years Old
(1956-1980)
18. 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...
Murder, 23 Years Old
(1971-1995)
19. 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 ...
Car Crash, 24 Years Old
(1931-1955)
20. 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. ...
Murder, 24 Years Old
(1972-1997)
21. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 24 Years Old
(1976-2000)
22. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 25 Years Old
(1982-2008)
23. Sulli Choi
Actress | Areumdawoon Geodaeege
Choi Seol Ri is a South Korean child actress born in Yangsan in the south-east of South Korea. She began appearing in South Korean TV dramas and movies in 2005 when she was 11 years old. Then, in September 2009, using the name "Sulli", she debuted as a singer/dancer in the 5-member K-Pop group F(x)...
Suicide, 25 Years Old
(1994-2019)
24. Olive Thomas
Actress | Beatrice Fairfax
Oliva R. Duffy was born on October 20, 1894, in Charleroi, Pennsylvania, the eldest of three children, with two younger brothers. Olive or Ollie, as she was known to family and friends, did not have much of a childhood. Life in industrial Pittsburgh (at the time, spelled "Pittsburg") was depressing...
Poisoning, 25 Years Old
(1894-1920)
25. 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 ...
Murder, 25 Years Old
(1971-1996)
26. 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 ...
Murder, 26 Years Old
(1943-1969)
27. 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 ...
Kidney Failure, 26 Years Old
(1911-1937)
28. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 27 Years Old
(1942-1970)
29. Andrés Escobar
Self | Copa América Chile 1991
Andrés Escobar was born on March 13, 1967 in Colombia. He died on July 2, 1994 in Medellin, Colombia.
Murder, 27 Years Old
(1967-1994)
30. 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, ...
Drug Overdose, 27 Years Old
(1943-1970)
31. 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). ...
Suicide, 27 Years Old
(1976-2003)
32. 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...
Suicide, 27 Years Old
(1967-1994)
33. 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...
Heart Failure, 27 Years Old
(1943-1971)
34. Robert Johnson
Soundtrack | The Skeleton Key
Robert Johnson was born on May 8, 1911 in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, USA. He was a writer, known for The Skeleton Key (2005), Chocolat (2000) and Holes (2003). He was married to Calleta "Callie" Craft and Virginia Travis. He died on August 13, 1938 in Greenwood, Mississippi, USA.
Murder, 27 Years Old
(1911-1938)
35. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 27 Years Old
(1983-2011)
36. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 28 Years Old
(1979-2008)
37. Jing Bai
Actress | Gong fu yong chun
Jing Bai was born on June 4, 1983 in Diaobingshan, Liaoning, China. She was an actress, known for Gong fu yong chun (2010), Tie ren (2009) and Three Kingdoms (2008). She was married to Chenghai Zhou. She died on February 28, 2012 in Beijing, China.
Murder, 28 Years Old
(1983-2012)
38. 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 ...
Suicide, 28 Years Old
(1989-2018)
39. Goo Ha-Ra
Actress | Siti hyunteo
Goo Ha-Ra was born on January 13, 1991 in Gwangju, Korea. She was an actress, known for City Hunter (2011), It's Okay, That's Love (2014) and Kara: Secret Love (2014). She died on November 24, 2019 in Seoul, South Korea.
Suicide, 28 Years Old
(1991-2019)
40. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 28 Years Old
(1943-1971)
41. Hank Williams
Soundtrack | The Last Picture Show
Hank Williams was born in September 1923 in a small Alabama farming community about 70 miles south of Montgomery. His father was a railroad engineer who was also a victim of shell shock after a year of fighting in France in 1918 during World War I and spent many years in veterans hospitals. Hank's ...
Heart Attack, 29 Years Old
(1923-1953)
42. 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 ...
Poisoning, 29 Years Old
(1906-1935)
43. 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 ...
Suicide, 29 Years Old
(1984-2013)
44. 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.
...
Suicide, 29 Years Old
(1919-1948)
45. Simone Silva
Actress | Escape by Night
Simone Silva was born Martha Simone de Bouillard in Cairo, Egypt. Her parents were French and Italian. At the age of eighteen she married Cecil Silver, a wealthy businessman, and moved to England. Simone started her career modeling for sexy pin-up photos. In 1950 she made her film debut in the ...
Stroke, 29 Years Old
(1928-1957)
46. DJ Screw
Soundtrack | Triple 9
DJ Screw was born on July 20, 1971 in Bastrop, Texas, USA. He died on November 16, 2000 in Houston, Texas, USA.
Drug Overdose, 29 Years Old
(1971-2000)
47. 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.
Drowning, 30 Years Old
(1966-1997)
48. Eazy-E
Soundtrack | Harsh Times
Eric Lynn Wright, better known by his stage name Eazy-E, was an American rapper who performed solo and as a member of the group NWA Wright is affectionately called "The Godfather Of Gangsta Rap."
He was born in Compton, California. After dropping out of high school in the tenth grade, he supported ...
AIDS, 30 Years Old
(1964-1995)
49. 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...
Drug Intoxication, 31 Years Old
(1982-2013)
50. 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...
Pneumonia, 32 Years Old
(1977-2009)
51. 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...
Anorexia, 32 Years Old
(1950-1983)
52. Paul Mace
Actor | Paradise Alley
Paul Mace was born on April 4, 1950 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Paradise Alley (1978), The Lords of Flatbush (1974) and The Panic in Needle Park (1971). He was married to Judy Ann Jordan. He died on August 12, 1983 in Los Angeles County, California, USA.
Car Accident, 33 Years Old
(1950-1983)
53. 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 ...
Drowning, 33 Years Old
(1987-2020)
54. 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 ...
Plane Crash, 33 Years Old
(1908-1942)
55. 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...
Murder, 33 Years Old
(1931-1964)
56. 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 ...
Suicide, 34 Years Old
(1964-1999)
57. 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 ...
Car Crash, 34 Years Old
(1933-1967)
58. Jill Banner
Actress | The President's Analyst
Jill Banner's early life was somewhat nomadic. Her father died when she was 2, and her mother moved from Washington to South Dakota and Iowa before settling in Glendale, California. Jill attended the Hollywood Professional School (one of her classmates was Peggy Lipton). Her debut film, Spider Baby...
Car Crash, 35 Years Old
(1946-1982)
59. Mark Salling
Actor | Glee
Known for starring as musically-inclined football player Noah "Puck" Puckerman on the show Glee (2009), Mark Wayne Salling was born in Dallas, Texas. He was the younger of two children of Condy Sue (Wherry), a school secretary, and John Robert Salling, Jr., an accountant. He was home-schooled at an...
Suicide, 35 Years Old
(1982-2018)
60. Andy Kaufman
Actor | Taxi
Referred to by some as a dadaistic comedian, Andy Kaufman took comedy and performance art to the edges of irrationality and blurred the dividing line between reality and imagination. Born in New York City on January 17, 1949, the first son of Stanley and Janice Kaufman, Andy grew up on New York in ...
Lung Cancer, 35 Years Old
(1949-1984)
61. 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...
Skin Cancer, 36 Years Old
(1945-1981)
62. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 36 Years Old
(1926-1962)
63. 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 ...
Car Crash, 36 Years Old
(1961-1997)
64. Barbara Colby
Actress | Mary Tyler Moore
At age 36, actress Barbara Colby was on the brink of TV-character stardom when the native New Yorker was senselessly shot and killed one evening on the streets of Los Angeles. The tall, toothy, husky-voiced, frizzy-haired actress equipped with a keen, Brooklyn-tough sensibility and dead-on comedy ...
Murder, 36 Years Old
(1939-1975)
65. Sal Mineo
Actor | Exodus
Salvatore (Sal) Mineo Jr. was born to Josephine and Sal Sr. (a casket maker), who emigrated to the U.S. from Sicily. His siblings were Michael, Victor and Sarina. Sal was thrown out of parochial school and, by age eight, was a member of a street gang in a tough Bronx neighborhood. His mother ...
Murder, 37 Years Old
(1939-1976)
66. Dimebag Darrell
Soundtrack | Triple Frontier
Dimebag Darrell was born on August 20, 1966 in Dallas, Texas, USA. He was an actor and composer, known for Triple Frontier (2019), The Big Short (2015) and Lethal Weapon (2016). He died on December 8, 2004 in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Murder, 38 Years Old
(1966-2004)
67. Scotty Beckett
Actor | A Date with Judy
Scotty Beckett was one of the cutest, most successful child actors of the 1930s and 1940s. His descent into a life of alcoholism, drugs, and crime remains one of the most tragic of Hollywood stories.
Born Scott Hastings Beckett on October 4, 1929, in Oakland, California, he and his family moved to ...
Suicide, 38 Years Ols
(1929-1968)
68. Cristie Schoen Codd
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Born in Madrid, Spain to two hard-working military parents, William and Elizabeth Schoen. Her family has lived in New Orleans, La since the 1800s. Graduated from LSU with a double major in German and Performing Arts. Studied at The Atlantic Theatre Company in New York, and has performed in many ...
Murder, 38 Years Old
(1976-2015)
69. 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...
Drug Overdose, 39 Years Old
(1967-2007)
70. Dennis Wilson
Soundtrack | Carlito's Way
Dennis Wilson was born in Hawthorne, California in 1944 to Audree and Murry Wilson. The middle of three brothers, Dennis was rebellious and argumentative; he often acknowledged that he was the Wilsons' "black sheep." He joined America's band, The Beach Boys, when his mother pushed his brothers to ...
Drowning, 39 Years Old
(1944-1983)
71. Barbara Payton
Actress | Bride of the Gorilla
One of the saddest tales ever to come out of Hollywood has to be that of Barbara Payton. A blue-eyed, peroxide blonde sexpot who had a lot going for her, her life eventually disintegrated, mostly by her own doing. Things started out well enough for Barbara Lee Redfield, born on November 26, 1927, ...
Heart Failure, 39 Years Old
(1927-1967)
72. Jenny Maxwell
Actress | Blue Hawaii
Jenny Maxwell was an American actress of Norwegian descent. She had a relatively brief career during the late 1950s and the 1960s. Her most substantial role was that of Ellie Corbett in the musical comedy "Blue Hawaii" (1961), depicted as a flirtatious teenage girl who has suicidal thoughts.
Maxwell...
Murder, 39 Years Old
(1941-1981)
73. 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, ...
Murder, 40 Years Old
(1940-1980)
74. Lana Clarkson
Actress | Fast Times at Ridgemont High
This beautiful, long-legged blonde actress was known to be a kind, intelligent and dependable actor with a comedic talent as well. She appeared in many American TV hits of the 1970s and 1980s, such as Three's Company (1976), The Jeffersons (1975), The New Mike Hammer (1984), Riptide (1984), Knight ...
Murder, 40 Years Old
(1962-2003)
75. Adrienne Shelly
Actress | Waitress
The late Adrienne Shelly was born in Queens, New York, to Elaine Langbaum and Sheldon Levine. After graduating Jericho High School in Jericho, New York, she enrolled at Boston University and majored in film production. She dropped out after her junior year and moved to Manhattan, where she made a ...
Murder, 40 Years Old
(1966-2006)
76. Caroline Flack
Actress | Bo' Selecta!
Caroline Flack was born on November 9, 1979 in London, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Bo' Selecta! (2002), Love Advent (2011) and Bo Selecta: Proper Crimbo (2003). She died on February 15, 2020 in London, England, UK.
Suicide, 40 Years Old
(1979-2020)
77. 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 ...
Car Crash, 40 Years Old
(1973-2013)
78. 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, ...
Helicopter Crash, 41 Years Old
(1978-2020)
79. Marie Trintignant
Actress | Colette, une femme libre
Marie Trintignant died tragically on the 1st of August, 2003 from a cerebral edema in Neuilly-sur-Seine near Paris, France, following a violent fight with her boyfriend, Bertrand Cantat, lead singer in the French rock band, Noir Désir. She was just finishing filming a TV movie about Colette, ...
Murder, 41 Years Old
(1962-2003)
80. Brad Davis
Actor | Midnight Express
Born in Florida in 1949, Brad Davis moved to Georgia after graduating from high school to pursue an acting career. From there, he moved to New York City, twice, to find work. By the early 1970s Davis was acting in off-Broadway plays while studying acting at the Academy of Dramatic Arts. His stage ...
Suicide, 41 Years Old
(1949-1991)
81. 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 ...
Drug Overdose, 42 Years Old
(1922-1965)
82. 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. ...
Heart Attack, 42 Years Old
(1935-1977)
83. 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 ...
Heart Attack, 43 Years Old
(1938-1982)
84. 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 ...
Drowning, 43 Years Old
(1938-1981)
85. 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 ...
Breast Cancer, 43 Years Old
(1921-1965)
86. Alan Lake
Actor | The Growing Summer
Alan Lake was born on November 24, 1940 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK. He was an actor, known for The Growing Summer (1968), Department S (1969) and The Avengers (1961). He was married to Diana Dors. He died on October 10, 1984 in Sunningdale, Berkshire, England, UK.
Suicide, 43 Years Old
(1940-1984)
87. Georgia Davis
Actress | Hoosier Holiday
Georgia Davis was born on September 17, 1921 in Glenwood Springs, Colorado, USA. She was an actress, known for Hoosier Holiday (1943). She was married to Red Skelton. She died on May 10, 1976 in Rancho Mirage, California, USA.
Suicide, 44 Years Old
(1921-1976)
88. 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 ...
Murder, 44 Years Old
(1939-1984)
89. Joi Lansing
Actress | Touch of Evil
Joi Lansing was born Joyce Renee Brown on April 6, 1929 in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a teen she developed early, and because of her striking good looks, she began to model and was extremely successful throughout the 1940s.
It was only natural that her physical assets eventually landed her on the ...
Breast Cancer, 44 Years Old
(1928-1972)
90. George Reeves
Actor | Adventures of Superman
George Reeves was born George Keefer Brewer in Woolstock, Iowa, to Helen Roberta (Lescher) and Donald C. Brewer. He was of German, English, and Scottish descent. Following his parents' divorce and his mother's remarriage to Frank J. Bessolo, Reeves was raised in Pasadena, California, and educated ...
Suicide, 45 Years Old
(1914-1959)
91. Freddie Mercury
Soundtrack | Flash Gordon
Freddie Mercury was born on the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar. His parents, Bomi and Jer Bulsara, sent him off to a private school in India, from 1955 til 1963. In 1964, he and his family flew to England. In 1966 he started his education at the Ealing College of Art, where he graduated in 1969. He ...
AIDS, 45 Years Old
(1946-1991)
92. John F. Kennedy
Writer | Profiles in Courage
John Fitzgerald Kennedy was born on May 29, 1917 in Brookline, Massachusetts, to Rose Kennedy (née Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald) and Joseph P. Kennedy. John was named after his maternal grandfather, John "HoneyFitz" Fitzgerald, the mayor of Boston. John was very ill as a child and was given the last ...
Assassination, 46 Years Old
(1917-1963)
93. Michelle Rounds
Michelle Rounds was born on May 10, 1971 in Corning, New York, USA. She was married to Krista Monteleone and Rosie O'Donnell. She died on September 11, 2017 in Windermere, Florida, USA.
Suicide, 46 Years Old
(1971-2017)
94. Judy Garland
Actress | The Wizard of Oz
One of the brightest, most tragic movie stars of Hollywood's Golden Era, Judy Garland was a much-loved character whose warmth and spirit, along with her rich and exuberant voice, kept theatre-goers entertained with an array of delightful musicals.
She was born Frances Ethel Gumm on 10 June 1922 in ...
Drug Overdose, 47 Years Old
(1922-1969)
95. Kim Porter
Actress | The Brothers
Kim Porter is from Columbus, Georgia. She started out as a blushing model from the small town area. After her graduation from Columbus High School in 1988, she moved to Atlanta to pursue a bigger dream. She was in a relationship with singer Al B. Sure! and in 1991, they had a son Quincy Brown who ...
Pneumonia, 47 Years Old
(1970-2018)
96. Stephanie Adams
Self | Playboy: Playmate Private Pleasures
Stephanie Adams was born on July 24, 1970 in Orange, New Jersey, USA. She was married to Charles V. Nicholai. She died on May 18, 2018 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA.
Suicide, 47 Years Old
(1970-2018)
97. Whitney Houston
Soundtrack | The Bodyguard
Whitney Elizabeth Houston was born into a musical family on 9 August 1963, in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of gospel star Cissy Houston (née Emily Lee Drinkard) and John Russell Houston, Jr., and cousin of singing star Dionne Warwick.
She began singing in the choir at her church, The New Hope ...
Heart Disease, 48 Years Old
(1963-2012)
98. Bob Crane
Actor | Hogan's Heroes
Bob Crane was born in Waterbury, CT, the youngest of two sons. In school he was known for being a class clown and an intense music lover. His favorites were jazz and big band. Bob's specialty was the drums. After graduating from Stamford High School in 1946, he turned his attention to his love for ...
Murder, 49 Years Old
(1928-1978)
99. William Desmond Taylor
Director | Happiness of Three Women
Born in Carlow, Ireland. Came to USA c. 1890. Worked as stage actor, engineer, antique dealer, gold miner. Entered silent film industry as actor in 1912; most noted film as actor was Captain Alvarez (1914) for Vitagraph. Directed first film for Balboa Films in 1914. Subsequently directed for ...
Murder, 49 Years Old
(1872-1922)
100. Phil Hartman
Actor | NewsRadio
Phil Hartman was born Philip Edward Hartmann on September 24, 1948, in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. His surname was originally "Hartmann", but he later dropped the second "n". He was one of eight children of Doris Marguerite (Wardell) and Rupert Loebig Hartmann, a salesman. He was of German, Irish, ...
Murder, 49 Years Old
(1948-1998)
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