# Celebrity assassinations other than John Lennon **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224 "2004-08-30T13:44:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/1 "2004-08-30T13:44:54Z")
Other than John Lennon, what other non-political celebrities have been assassinated? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/2 "2004-08-30T13:50:34Z")
Phil Hartman springs to mind and that young actress that was on that show My Sister Sam, Rebecca Shaeffer. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/3 "2004-08-30T13:51:43Z")
Is assassination a proper word for a non-political murder? Bob Crane of Hogan’s Heros fame comes to mind. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/4 "2004-08-30T14:09:19Z")
Given that assassination means killing somebody because of their position, and not for who they are as a person or for some other reason, I’d say only the “My Sister Sam” woman qualifies of those thus mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![akennett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee59a6/32.png) [@akennett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akennett)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/5 "2004-08-30T14:15:54Z")
How about Versace? Or is that stretching things a bi too far? ---
**Author:** ![RumMunkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@RumMunkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RumMunkey)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/6 "2004-08-30T14:20:15Z")
[Selena](http://www.gravesights.org/Selena-dead2.jpg) (Selena Quintanilla) was shot by the president of her own fan club. (LINK WARNING: _Non-gory_ dead person photo) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/7 "2004-08-30T14:20:24Z")
The correct term is “stalker killings.” People who grow so obsessed with a celbrity that they kill for them. Versace was more the victim of a “serial killer” who wanted to kill anyone famous to make the headlines. A good book on the subject is John Douglas’s “Obsessed.” ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/8 "2004-08-30T14:21:00Z")
Yep- my dictionary says murder of a prominent person. Depending on how loosely you define prominent, you could have for example Lyman Bostock of the Angels or Nicole Simpson. > [@akennett](#): > > How about Versace? Or is that stretching things a bi too far? Is that a Freudian typo? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/9 "2004-08-30T14:23:15Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_persons) has a pretty comprehensive list of assassinated people although they seem to have missed Elvis Presley and which ever Pope it was that the cardinals killed. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/10 "2004-08-30T14:25:43Z")
Martin Luther King, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/11 "2004-08-30T14:30:03Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Martin Luther King, Jr. I’d call that a political assassination, not a “celebrity” assassination. Even though he didn’t hold a government office, he was clearly a political figure. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/12 "2004-08-30T14:36:06Z")
Presley died in his bathroom; he wasn’t killed. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/13 "2004-08-30T14:40:05Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Presley died in his bathroom; he wasn’t killed. That’s what Jimmy Hoffa _wants_ you to think. ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/14 "2004-08-30T14:42:36Z")
This has been asked before. Andy Warhol was shot by a militant feminist and died from related complications years later. ---
**Author:** ![FlippyFly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FlippyFly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlippyFly)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/15 "2004-08-30T14:46:09Z")
> [@Gest](#): > > This has been asked before. Andy Warhol was shot by a militant feminist and died from related complications years later. Why did a militant feminist want to kill Andy Warhol? Didn’t like all his work on MM? ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/16 "2004-08-30T14:58:27Z")
From his [Wikipedia article](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhol); > [@](#): > > Solanas (his assailant) later explained that “he had too much control over my life.” It’s probably more accurate to describe her as just plain crazy than to use feminism as an explanation though. [Rotten.com](http://Rotten.com) have a good article [here](http://www.rotten.com/library/bio/artists/andy-warhol). Neither attribute cause of death to his gunshot wounds unlike the biography I read years ago though. ---
**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 30, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/17 "2004-08-30T15:17:32Z")
Phil Hartman was killed by his wife. Hardly an assassination. Radio commentator Alan Berg was assassinated. There have been several celebrities like Warhol that have been the victims of assassination attempts: George Harrison, Germaine Greer, Larry Flynt, Monica Seles. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/18 "2004-08-30T15:21:33Z")
And Theresa Saldano. ---
**Author:** ![Gest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9d8465/32.png) [@Gest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gest)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/19 "2004-08-30T15:22:19Z")
Damn. :smack: Flynt and Seles are so absolutely infamous, I can’t believe I forgot them. Seles was also the victim of a nut though. ---
**Author:** ![Rufus\_Xavier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@Rufus\_Xavier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rufus_Xavier)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224/20 "2004-08-30T15:35:44Z")
Bob Marley survived an assassination attempt in 1976. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-assassinations-other-than-john-lennon/262224.md?page=2)