This subject came up in conversation the other day and I could think of three:
Jayne Mansfield
James Dean
Sam Kinnison
Clifford Brown: a huge loss to jazz music
Isadora Duncan:
Princess Diana
Grace Kelly
Desmond Llewellyn (“Q” from the Bond movies)
Singer Eddie Cochran.
I wanted to say Hank Williams Sr. but no, he died of an overdose. I think it was Dwight Yoakam’s “Long White Cadillac” that made me think Hank died in a car crash.
Ryan Dunn
Duane Allman (motorcycles count?)
Margaret Mitchell
John Holliman
Same Wiki, but further down: "Duncan was a passenger in the Amilcar[7] automobile of a handsome French-Italian mechanic Benoît Falchetto, whom she had nicknamed “Buggatti” (sic). "
I think it was Ken Purdy who first corrected that for me. And, er, anyone else who read the book.
Albert Camus
Ayrton Senna
Harry Chapin
Jack Johnson (of “Great White Hope” fame)
Bessie Smith
Albert Camus
Jackson Pollock
Dottie West
Dale Earnhardt
Linda Lovelace (of “Deep Throat” fame)
**Junkyard Dog
Linda Lovelace
Ernie Kovacs
Steve Allen** died as a direct result of a car accident, but not in the actual crash. He was in a crash earlier in the day, went to his son’s place a little later, didn’t feel well and took a nap. Died of a massive heart attack and never woke up. His autopsy found that the accident had caused a blood vessel in his chest to rupture, which led to the sac around his heart to fill with blood, and then the heart attack.
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes
Other race car drivers would be Neil Bonnett and Gilles Villeneuve.
Also Adam Petty, although is claim to fame at the time of his death was the fact that he was Kyle Petty’s son and Richard Petty’s grandson.
Falco
Cozy Powell
Alan J. Pakula
Cliff Burton
Diane Schuler
Director Bob Clark (A Christmas Story, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, Porkys)
D. Boone, guitarist and singer for the Minutemen
That’s who I came in to mention.
Recently, wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage. Actual cause of death was his heart, but he crashed his car in the process too.
Jessica Savitch, pioneering American female newscaster.
President Ted Kennedy
too soon?