# Celebrities Who Have Died In Car Crashes **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140 "2011-08-09T23:32:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/1 "2011-08-09T23:32:12Z")
This subject came up in conversation the other day and I could think of three: Jayne Mansfield James Dean Sam Kinnison ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/2 "2011-08-09T23:36:22Z")
Clifford Brown: a huge loss to jazz music Isadora Duncan: > [@](#): > > Duncan’s fondness for flowing scarves was the cause of her death in an automobile accident in Nice, France when she was passenger in a Bugatti, and her silk scarf, draped around her neck, became entangled around the open-spoked wheels and rear axle, breaking her neck. Princess Diana Grace Kelly ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/3 "2011-08-09T23:37:37Z")
Desmond Llewellyn (“Q” from the Bond movies) ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/4 "2011-08-09T23:39:38Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/5 "2011-08-09T23:44:01Z")
Ryan Dunn Duane Allman (motorcycles count?) Margaret Mitchell John Holliman ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/6 "2011-08-09T23:55:09Z")
[Steve Prefontaine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Prefontaine#Death)-1970s era distance runner. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/7 "2011-08-10T00:12:44Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Isadora Duncan: 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). " > **[Isadora Duncan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isadora_Duncan)** > > Angela Isadora Duncan (May 26, 1877, or May 27, 1878\[a\] – September 14, 1927) was an American-born dancer and choreographer, who was a pioneer of modern contemporary dance and performed to great acclaim throughout Europe and the United States. Born and raised in California, she lived and danced in Western Europe, the U.S., and Soviet Russia from the age of 22. She died when her scarf became entangled in the wheel and axle of the car in which she was travelling in Nice, France. > Angela Isadora Dun... I think it was Ken Purdy who first corrected that for me. And, er, anyone else who read the book. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/8 "2011-08-10T00:17:45Z")
Albert Camus Ayrton Senna ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/9 "2011-08-10T00:18:22Z")
Harry Chapin ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/10 "2011-08-10T00:19:45Z")
Jack Johnson (of “Great White Hope” fame) Bessie Smith Albert Camus Jackson Pollock Dottie West Dale Earnhardt Linda Lovelace (of “Deep Throat” fame) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/11 "2011-08-10T00:20:16Z")
\*\*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. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/12 "2011-08-10T00:22:04Z")
Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes ---
**Author:** ![J-P\_L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/j-p_l/32/3156_2.png) [@J-P\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J-P_L)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/13 "2011-08-10T00:37:45Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/14 "2011-08-10T01:33:40Z")
Falco Cozy Powell Alan J. Pakula Cliff Burton Diane Schuler ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/15 "2011-08-10T01:38:02Z")
Director **Bob Clark** (A Christmas Story, Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, Porkys) ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/16 "2011-08-10T02:04:35Z")
D. Boone, guitarist and singer for the Minutemen ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/17 "2011-08-10T02:11:34Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [Steve Prefontaine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Prefontaine#Death)-1970s era distance runner. That’s who I came in to mention. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/18 "2011-08-10T02:17:56Z")
Recently, wrestler Macho Man Randy Savage. Actual cause of death was his heart, but he crashed his car in the process too. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/19 "2011-08-10T02:24:15Z")
Jessica Savitch, pioneering American female newscaster. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/20 "2011-08-10T02:28:52Z")
President Ted Kennedy too soon? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140.md?page=2)