# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/21 "2011-08-10T02:43:22Z")
salvador sanchez (mexico) - one of the all-time boxing greats. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/22 "2011-08-10T02:45:06Z")
Here’s a biggie: General George S. Patton. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/23 "2011-08-10T02:47:59Z")
NHL Players: [Keith Magnuson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Magnuson) [Pelle Lindebergh](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelle_Lindbergh) [Dan Snyder](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Snyder) [Tim Horton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Horton) [Steve Chiasson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Chiasson) [Valeri Kharlamov](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valeri_Kharlamov) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/24 "2011-08-10T02:56:39Z")
Keith Godchaux (Grateful Dead) Martin Lamble (Fairport Convention) Collin Walcott (Oregon) ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/25 "2011-08-10T03:05:18Z")
From the earlier years of film: **Florence La Badie** , one of the first serial queens 1920s leading men **Einar Hansen** and **Charles Emmett Mack** Great character actress **Gladys Brockwell** Promising musical starlet **Dorothy Dell** Comedienne \*\*Marjorie White \*\* Comic actor **Charles Butterworth** Keystone comic **Eric Campbell** Child stars **Junior Durkin** and **Breezy Eason Jr.** Director **FW Murnau** ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/26 "2011-08-10T03:08:52Z")
[Peter Brock](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Brock), Australian touring car driver. He was universally known here, but I expect few Americans will have heard of him. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/27 "2011-08-10T03:13:55Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Duane Allman (motorcycles count?) If they do, then add T. E. Lawrence to the list. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/28 "2011-08-10T03:16:50Z")
Roger Delgado (the first actor to play the Master in **Doctor Who** ) T.E. Lawrence (of Arabia – motorcycle) Berry Oakley of the Allman Brothers Band (motorcycle). ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/29 "2011-08-10T04:04:45Z")
Jazz bassist Scott LaFaro, who played with Bill Evans. Also: journalist David Halberstam. Nathaniel West, author of _Day of the Locust._ These were off the top of my head, not looking at some list on Wikipedia. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/30 "2011-08-10T04:11:12Z")
Sidney Smith. The cartoonist creator of **The Gumps**. He hit a tree on the way home from signing a million dollar contract. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/31 "2011-08-10T04:11:18Z")
Brandon De Wilde [Brandon deWilde - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandon_De_Wilde) ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/32 "2011-08-10T04:18:40Z")
> [@China\_Guy](#): > > D. Boone, guitarist and singer for the Minutemen My very-into-music-I-know-nothing-about new boyfriend had me watch a documentary on the Minutemen just last weekend, and I knew D. Boon had to be dead because, duh, he hadn’t been interviewed, and I just assumed because they were a punk band that he’d died of a drug overdose, or had the classic Fat Man Death, or whatever - it really surprised me to no end that he died of a car wreck just like any normal person. ---
**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, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/33 "2011-08-10T06:14:24Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > My very-into-music-I-know-nothing-about new boyfriend had me watch a documentary on the Minutemen just last weekend, and I knew D. Boon had to be dead because, duh, he hadn’t been interviewed, and I just assumed because they were a punk band that he’d died of a drug overdose, or had the classic Fat Man Death, or whatever - it really surprised me to no end that he died of a car wreck just like any normal person. A friend and I were at a Firehose show, it must have been 1988, and we talked to Mike Watt after the show. My friend was still really broken up about Boone’s death and the two were reminiscing. On the Wikipedia page it just says that “Boon was lying down in the rear of the van without a seatbelt when the van ran off the road. Boon was thrown out the back door of the van and died instantly from a broken neck.” There’s more to the story but I guess there’s no references available for a cite. Watt told us that night that Boone’s girlfriend was driving and she fell asleep at the wheel. She was not injured, IIRC. I can’t even imagine how horrible that would be. I don’t even know who she is, but I think about her every now and then, and wonder how she’s doing. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/34 "2011-08-10T07:25:13Z")
Marc Bolan. In a car driven by Gloria “Tainted Love” Jones. ---
**Author:** ![Cara\_mel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Cara\_mel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cara_mel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/35 "2011-08-10T07:38:43Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Marc Bolan. In a car driven by Gloria “Tainted Love” Jones. I’ve been thinking about **Marc Bolan** and ol’ **T.Rex** since the thread “what musicians’ deaths affected you the most”. Not sure how popular he was in the US, so I thought I’d throw in this YT clip of Get it On (bang a gong). The title always reminds me of the corny interpreter in the Japanese Iron Chef who always says “Bang a gong, let’s get it on!” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/19IqwU3itFk/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG-AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGEggEyh_MA8=&rs=AOn4CLAzNtlpTSPm84DolsTTlBZ7Yh5PFg "T - Rex - Get It On") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19IqwU3itFk) He’s freakin’ hot! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/36 "2011-08-10T11:28:58Z")
Does **Joe Ranft** count as a [celebrity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ranft)? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/37 "2011-08-10T12:04:53Z")
Paul McCartney 😉 More seriously, Christian singer/songwriter Rich Mullins ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/38 "2011-08-10T12:09:37Z")
Probably not a complete list and questionable on “celebrity” for some, but here are Oscar nominated people who died in car accidents: Lucien Ballard - Cinematographer (The Caretakers) Ian Bannen - Actor (The Flight of the Phoenix) Brandon De Wilde - Actor (Shane) James Dean - Actor (East of Eden, Giant) Thomas Gomez - Actor (Ride the Pink Horse) Ernest Haller - Cinematographer (Jezebel, Gone with the Wind, All This and Heaven Too, Mildred Pierce, The Flame and the Arrow, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, Lilies of the Field) Paul Jarrico - Screenwriter (Tom Dick and Harry) Grace Kelly - Actor (Mogambo, The Country Girl) James Kennaway - Screenwriter (Tunes of Glory, The Sundowners) Isobel Lennart - Screenwriter (Love Me or Leave Me, The Sundowners) Alan J. Pakula - Producer/Director (To Kill a Mockingbird, All the President’s Men, Sophie’s Choice) Joe Ranft - Screenwriter (Toy Story) Wolfgang Reitherman - Director (Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too) Enrico Sabbatini - Costume Designer (The Mission) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/39 "2011-08-10T12:42:28Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > From the earlier years of film: **Eve**! Great to hear from you again. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/40 "2011-08-10T13:19:17Z")
[Cliff Burton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Burton), original bass player for Metallica, died when their tour bus skidded off the road in Sweden. He was thrown out the window of the bus, when then fell on top of him. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140.md?page=3)