# 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:** 3
**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, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/41 "2011-08-10T13:30:37Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > Falco > Cozy Powell > Alan J. Pakula > Cliff Burton > Diane Schuler :smack: I totally didn’t see this post, and its mention of Cliff Burton. Allow me to add Tim Kelly, former guitarist for the band Slaughter. ---
**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, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/42 "2011-08-10T13:36:00Z")
> [@SerenaPerido](#): > > 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!” > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19IqwU3itFk&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19IqwU3itFk&feature=related) > > He’s freakin’ hot! Why is it I thought Marc Bolan died from being electrocuted by his guitar? Who was I confusing him with? 😕 ---
**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, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/43 "2011-08-10T13:39:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Nathaniel West, author of Day of the Locust. And his wife, “My Sister Eileen” of the then-current Broadway hit! ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/44 "2011-08-10T13:43:25Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/45 "2011-08-10T13:47:12Z")
Western actor Tom Mix Blood bank pioneer Charles Drew\* Basketball player Drazen Petrovich Baseball Hall of Famers Carl Hubbel and Billy Martin ‘Miracle on Ice’ Olympic hockey coach Herb Brooks Football player Derrick Thomas Photographer Helmut Newton Supercomputer designer Seymour Cray “Prague Spring” leader Alexander Dubcek King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho Heir/philanthropist John D. Rockefellerr III Vintner Julio Gallo Playboy Prince Aly Khan Playboy Porfiro Rubirosa Assuming that being run over by someone else counts: Singing cowboy Rex Allen\*\* Little Rascal Bill “Froggy” Laughlin Warhol Superstar Eric Emerson\*\*\* Yippie activist Jerry Rubin \*According to a false urban legend popularized by MASH, he died when a ‘whites only’ hospital wouldn’t take him in \*\*Suffered a heart attack in his driveway, then was accidentally run over by his caretaker; I’m not sure which of the coronary or being run over was declared the official cause of death \*\*\*Although an unsubstantiated rumor claimed that he had OD’d on heroin and his body was dumped at a different location and staged as a hit and run accident ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/46 "2011-08-10T13:58:30Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > Harry Chapin I came in to mention him. Wikipedia has an interesting [account](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Chapin#Death) of his death. I had read previously that he was thought to have had a heart attack, causing him to lose control and veer into the path of a truck. I did not recall that the crash was such a fiery wreck, though. Yikes. ---
**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, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/47 "2011-08-10T14:02:29Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Why is it I thought Marc Bolan died from being electrocuted by his guitar? Who was I confusing him with? 😕 Probably Keith Relf, who died about a year before Bolan. ---
**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, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/48 "2011-08-10T14:02:45Z")
Well, if being run over counts then former Detroit Tiger great [Aurelio Rodríguez](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurelio_Rodr%C3%ADguez) is in. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/49 "2011-08-10T14:47:38Z")
Does the guy from ELO, whose car was crushed by a bale of hay, count? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/50 "2011-08-10T17:04:54Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Does **Joe Ranft** count as a [celebrity](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Ranft)? He definitely does in my house. He was as brilliant as [Michael Maltese](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Maltese). ---
**Author:** ![Lunar\_Saltlick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Lunar\_Saltlick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lunar_Saltlick)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/51 "2011-08-10T17:17:59Z")
Guitar god Michael Hedges, who plunged his car into a deep ravine. ---
**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 10, 2011, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/52 "2011-08-10T17:43:28Z")
> [@Lunar\_Saltlick](#): > > Guitar god Michael Hedges, who plunged his car into a deep ravine. Agree, he was amazing and sorely missed. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/53 "2011-08-10T17:44:43Z")
Gene Shoemaker - Planetary geologist and co-discoverer of comet Shoemaker Levy 9 that put on a spectacular display for astronomers and the public alike when it hit Jupiter in 1994. He helped pioneer the field of astrogeology, was once a candidate to go to the moon before discovery of a health condition, helped plan the moon missions and train astronauts in sample selection and recovery. ---
**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, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/54 "2011-08-10T17:53:47Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > I totally didn’t see this post, and its mention of Cliff Burton. In that case, I’ll trade for someone who hasn’t been mentioned yet: [Razzle](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Razzle_%28musician%29), drummer for Hanoi Rocks, killed when Vince Neil was driving drunk. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/55 "2011-08-10T17:54:37Z")
Meant to add that some of Gene Shoemaker’s ashes were sent to the moon via a lunar probe. He’s the only person ever to have been ‘buried’ there. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/56 "2011-08-10T17:57:46Z")
_Gone With the Wind_ author Margaret Mitchell was run over by a taxicab - does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/57 "2011-08-10T18:06:53Z")
Drummer Cozy Powell. Driving too fast and talking on his cell phone when a tire blew. Supposedly, the last thing his girlfriend heard over the phone was “Oh,Shit!” ---
**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 11, 2011, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/58 "2011-08-11T00:20:54Z")
Does being hit by a car count as a car crash? Richard Bright, the actor who played Al Neri in _The Godfather_ movies, was killed when he was hit by a bus while crossing the street. ---
**Author:** ![Zen\_Postman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/4da419/32.png) [@Zen\_Postman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zen_Postman)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/59 "2011-08-11T02:59:44Z")
Robert Schimmel ---
**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 11, 2011, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140/60 "2011-08-11T03:14:26Z")
Apologies if these have been mentioned. Baseball player Nick Adenhart was killed (along with two other people; we can’t forget them) shortly after his season debut when the car he was riding in was hit by a drunk driver. Pro wrestler Keith Frank, better known as “Adorable” Adrian Adonis. Has anyone mentioned Albert Camus yet? Former Major League Baseball player and manager (and often object of George Steibrenner’s scorn and firings) Billy Martin. Artist Jackson Pollock. Buford Pusser. Karen Silkwood (allegedly) This one may be a stretch, but former baseball pitcher Mark Fidrych was working on his truck when the shirt he was wearing got caught in the power takeoff shaft, and he was subsequently found dead underneath his vehicle. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrities-who-have-died-in-car-crashes/592140.md?page=4)