Thích Quảng Đức.
Probably wasn’t much of a celebrity beforehand, though.
Great White and 100 or so fans
Similarly, Phan Thi Kim Phuc.
Gene Simmons had his hair catch on fire on several occasions after his fire-breathing act on stage.
I don’t think anyone in the band Great White died. Although Dr Metal, a local DJ from Providence (had a show for as long as I can remember) died in The Station nightclub fire.
Ace Bailey former NHL player, who was on one of the planes on 9/11.
Steve Marriott
I’m sure one of those times a Julia Child flambe got outa hand.
ETA: ok maybe not the most illustrious person in this thread.
Gracie Allen was scalded on one of her arms as a child (I think it was hot water, not flames). She was sensitive of it and almost always wore long or three-quarters sleeved blouses to cover the marks.
Gus Sandberg, a back up catcher in the 1920s, was killed in 1930 when after siphoning gas out of his automobile tank, he lit a match to see how much fuel was left. Since his body was cremated, you might say he got a head start.
1)The OP didn’t specify deaths. and
B) …including his band member Ty Longley
Author Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, etc.) got his start with a nonfiction account of how he almost died in a fiery crash, as a pilot in WWII. Being Dahl, he managed to make it hilarious.
Michael Skupin. He’s a celebrity for Survivor fans, anyway; he passed out from dehydration and fell into a campfire.
His life has also gone down in flames. He is, I think, in prison for child pornography possession.
That was Gary Thain, who survived in bad shape.
However Les Harvey of Stone the Crows died much the same way - touched an ungrounded mike while standing in a puddle.
Keith Relf, formerly of The Yardbirds, electrocuted himself in his home with an improperly grounded guitar.
I don’t think any of these count as “bursting into flames”, though.
Rick Nelson, although he might have survived the fire and be killed when his plane crashed.
Do we want to count Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention at Montreux?
I’m surprised that we’ve gotten this far with no mention of seminal jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt.
Not a conflagration per se, footy great Carlos Tevez has a substantial burn scar down the right side of his face, neck and chest which he got when he was four after reaching up to a boiling pot and upending it on himself.
According to wiki: “After joining Boca Juniors, Tevez refused an offer from the club to have them cosmetically improved, saying the scars were a part of who he was in the past and who he is today.”
This medieval celebrity managed to go up in flames, but that was just his way of teleporting.
And if we’re gonna get explosion-y, Niel Sedaka took a turn for the worse on Film Farm Report. I appreciated the death throes screamimg as his tattered remains floated back down.
And, to be fair, I shouldn’t be so exclusionary by singling out Niel - that segment had many celebrities blow up.
He blowed up real good!
It’s interesting that Thain survived the electrocution only to die of a heroin overdose the following year. And he’s another member of the 27 Club.