# Celebrity Suicides **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143 "2007-03-16T03:34:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/21 "2007-03-16T05:58:17Z")
Gig Young ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/22 "2007-03-16T07:13:22Z")
[Mary Kay Bergman](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Kay_Bergman), who originally played most of the female characters on South Park, committed suicide in 1999. [Ron Luciano](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Luciano), American League umpire famous for his run-ins with Baltimore manager Earl Weaver, and an author of several books, committed suicide in 1995. If you can count self-inflicted death by misadventure (and not a deliberate attempt to kill oneself), Terry Kath, of the rock group **Chicago** accidently shot himself in the head believing the gun to be unloaded and attempting to “prove” it to a road manager. And Jon-Erik Hexum, star of a CBS show called **Cover Up** , was fooling around on the set with a gun loaded with blanks. He pointed the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. Hexum apparently didn’t realize that blank rounds have wadding to seal the powder in and the wadding is ejected from the barrel with enough force to injure or kill if the gun is fired at point-blank range. A quarter-sized piece of his skull was propelled into his brain. He lay in a coma for six days before he was taken off life support after permission was obtained from his mother. Wikipedia has an entire article on [celebrity deaths](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_People_Who_Have_Commited_Suicide). ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/23 "2007-03-16T09:34:42Z")
**Hide** , a semi-popular hard rock singer in Japan, killed himself in the exact same manner that Michael Hutchence supposedly did (there was never any speculation that Hide’s was accidental). After he died, he went from a face in the music crowd to a best-selling superstar who was made the top 20 charts for years afterward. **Juzo Itami** , director of **Tampopo** and **A Taxing Woman** jumped to his death from his apartment balcony after a gossip magazine announced they were going to publish evidence that he had been cheating on his wife. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/24 "2007-03-16T10:08:41Z")
William Inge, the playwright. James Tiptree (Alice Bradley Sheldon), the science fiction writer. ---
**Author:** ![stucco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@stucco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stucco)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/25 "2007-03-16T10:17:15Z")
Elliott Smith (most likely). ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/26 "2007-03-16T11:49:26Z")
[QUOTE=pinkfreud] **Auntie Pam** , I’m pretty sure that Brandon de Wilde died in a car crash. I don’t think it was a suicide. I had a big crush on him when I was a teenager. He was like James Dean without the sneer. [/QUOTE] He was camping and his trailer rolled over on top of him. My favorite [Thomas Chatterton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Chatterton) celebrated poetry fraud from the 18th century, back when poetry fraud was something to be celebrated. ---
**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:** [March 16, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/27 "2007-03-16T12:32:12Z")
[Charles Rocket](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Rocket) of SNL infamy, most known for saying “fuck” on the air. ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/28 "2007-03-16T12:32:40Z")
[QUOTE=spoke-] [Richard Farnsworth](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002070/). He had terminal cancer, and shot himself to end the pain. [/QUOTE] Oh my gosh. I knew he died, but I had no idea he did that. That makes me incredibly sad. I loved him in Anne of Green Gables. Paul Hester’s suicide really shook me. I loved Crowded House and Split Enz as a teen. In fact, I’m listening to their greatest hits CD as I type this (“When You Come” is on now). ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/29 "2007-03-16T12:51:12Z")
[George Sanders](http://imdb.com/name/nm0001695/bio) commited suicide in his sixties: > [@](#): > > Sanders told David Niven in 1937, that he intended to commit suicide when he got older. In 1972, he fulfilled his promise, leaving this note: “Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck.” ---
**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:** [March 16, 2007, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/30 "2007-03-16T13:43:27Z")
[Charles Boyer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Boyer) and his son Michael. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/31 "2007-03-16T14:06:31Z")
David, Mike, Chris & Kerry Von Erich. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/32 "2007-03-16T14:18:30Z")
[QUOTE=Rubystreak] Sylvia Plath [/QUOTE] I don’t know if it’s relevant – but it seems to me she’s famous _because_ she committed suicide. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/33 "2007-03-16T14:26:00Z")
[QUOTE=cochrane] Wikipedia has an entire article on [celebrity deaths](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famous_People_Who_Have_Commited_Suicide). [/QUOTE] Here’s [another link to Celebrity Suicides](http://www.corsinet.com/trivia/2-triv.html) ---
**Author:** ![waits](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df788c/32.png) [@waits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waits)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/34 "2007-03-16T14:26:50Z")
Richard Manuel of The Band. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/35 "2007-03-16T14:56:41Z")
Wrestlers Brute Bernard and Yukon Eric (who is best known for having been relieved of part of his cauliflower ear by a Killer Kowalski knee drop). ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/36 "2007-03-16T15:07:22Z")
Iris Chang - not really a celebrity, but a very well-known author (_The Rape of Nanking_). There is speculation that she was haunted by her choice of subject. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/37 "2007-03-16T15:16:41Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] Iris Chang - not really a celebrity, but a very well-known author (_The Rape of Nanking_). There is speculation that she was haunted by her choice of subject. [/QUOTE] I never heard she had died! When did this happen? I thought she had another book out fairly recently. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/38 "2007-03-16T15:18:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] I never heard she had died! When did this happen? I thought she had another book out fairly recently. [/QUOTE] Death has never stopped authors from putting out books. Many become even more prolific. ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/39 "2007-03-16T15:23:01Z")
[QUOTE=Sarahfeena] I never heard she had died! When did this happen? I thought she had another book out fairly recently. [/QUOTE] from Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Chang suffered a nervous breakdown in July 2004, which her family and doctors attribute in part to constant sleep deprivation. At the time, she was several months into research for her fourth book, about the Bataan Death March, while simultaneously promoting The Chinese in America. While en route to Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where she planned to gain access to a “time capsule” of audio recordings from servicemen, she suffered an extreme bout of depression that left her unable to leave her hotel room in Louisville. A local veteran who was assisting her research helped her check into Norton Psychiatric Hospital in Louisville, where she was diagnosed with reactive psychosis, placed on medication for three days and then released to her parents. Even after the release from the hospital, she still suffered from depression and was considered at risk for developing bipolar disorder. > > Chang’s family and doctors attribute this condition in part to constant sleep deprivation. Chang was also reportedly deeply disturbed by much of the subject matter of her research. Her work in Nanjing left her physically weak, according to one of her co-researchers. > > On Tuesday, November 9, 2004 at about 9 a.m., Chang was found dead in her car by a county water district employee on a rural road south of Los Gatos and west of California State Route 17, in Santa Clara County. Investigators concluded that Chang had shot herself through the mouth with a revolver. At the time of her death she had been taking the medications Depakote and Risperdal to control convulsions and mania. > > She left behind three suicide notes each dated Monday, November 8, 2004. I guess this upset me when it happened because part of me was angry that she didn’t just walk away from the research when it was obvious that it was literally killing her, but yet, she felt such a sense of mission and responsibility to tell these forgotten stories of history that I don’t think she could have. It was as if she wasn’t strong enough to withstand reporting the horrors. The fact that a lot of the details were very similar to my husband’s manic episodes in 2000, which were triggered by (you guessed it) sleep deprivation, really hit me emotionally as well. Just very very sad. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143/40 "2007-03-16T15:27:46Z")
[QUOTE=lisacurl] from Wikipedia: Sleep deprivation can kill bipolar people quickly. [/QUOTE] Thanks for that…I guess I could have looked it up myself! That is really a shame. I have always admired her…we graduated the same year from the University of Illinois (although I did not know her). She was a real credit to the University, but for some reason is not as well-known as she should be. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-suicides/396143.md?page=3)