# Deaths that sort of define a person **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 13, 2023, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999 "2023-07-13T19:14:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/21 "2023-07-13T19:58:25Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > Mama Cass - Ham sandwich. (okay, debunked). Few celebrity deaths have been the subject of such persistent rumor and self-interested speculation. Her death has been blamed on everything from crash dieting to drug and alcohol abuse to choking on a ham sandwich (persistent claim, but debunked) to eatiing a pro-inflammatory diet. Most sources cite an autopsy report listing cause of death from heart failure due to fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity, but some cite a heart attack or cardiac conduction system anomaly. > [@](#): > > John Bonham - pulmonary aspiration (choked on his own vomit). Along with Jimi Hendrix.\* \*hope that can be mentioned without a certain Doper leaping in to insist on his bizarre alternate theory. ---
**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:** [July 13, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/22 "2023-07-13T20:10:30Z")
Marie Antionette. Jean Paul Marat. Bonny & Clyde [Abe Reles.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abe_Reles) [Otto Lilienthal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Lilienthal). ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/23 "2023-07-13T20:13:09Z")
I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Marilyn Monroe yet. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/24 "2023-07-13T20:23:53Z")
I used to think this death, and where he was found, was mildly amusing. Then a person very dear to me was found passed in that manner. She was very old and simply went to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/25 "2023-07-13T20:29:55Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > > [@snowthx](#): > > > > Mama Cass - Ham sandwich. (okay, debunked). > > Few celebrity deaths have been the subject of such persistent rumor and self-interested speculation. Catherine the Great and that unfortunate meeting with a horse? All the more so since it’d pretty thoroughly believed by experts to be a scurrilous rumor circulated by her enemies, but is still commonly told by laymen such as myself. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/26 "2023-07-13T20:33:06Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > She was very old and simply went to sleep. There is a medical syndrome called “straining at stool” which is about what it sounds like. While huffing & puffing and pushing against relative constipation the victim gives themselves a stroke or similar. Oops. Thump! There’s a wiki for that. Of course: > **[Toilet-related injuries and deaths](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toilet-related_injuries_and_deaths)** > > There have been many toilet-related injuries and deaths throughout history and in urban legends. > Infants and toddlers have fallen headfirst into toilet bowls and drowned. Safety devices exist to help prevent such accidents. Injuries to adults include bruised buttocks and tail bones, as well as dislocated hips have resulted from unexpectedly sitting on the toilet bowl rim because the seat is up or loose. Injuries can also be caused by pinching due to splits in plastic seats and/or by splinters ... and > **[List of people who died on the toilet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_died_on_the_toilet)** > > Numerous individuals have died while using a toilet facility or in the process of defecation or urination. This includes confirmed or suspected historical figures as well as more recent notable cases. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/27 "2023-07-13T20:34:00Z")
Isadora Duncan had a not-so-Nice death. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/28 "2023-07-13T20:35:11Z")
I don’t know if that is what happened, I was not the one to find her, but my sister did. It must have been fast and relatively painless though, based on what sis said. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/29 "2023-07-13T20:35:34Z")
Bud Dwyer famously shot himself on television. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/30 "2023-07-13T20:36:57Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Most sources cite an autopsy report listing cause of death from heart failure due to fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity, but some cite a heart attack or cardiac conduction system anomaly. That’s interesting, I recently listened to a podcast with an eating disorder specialist who said she died from heart failure due to an eating disorder that caused her to severely restrict her food intake. Contrary to popular belief, fat people can and do starve themselves, to the point of heart complications and death, but it’s hard to get medical professionals to take their disorders seriously, even in severe cases. The first name to jump to my mind was Stockton Rush, a guy I never heard of until he died in a spectacularly stupid way that neatly showcased all of his worst qualities. ---
**Author:** ![Stratocaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stratocaster/32/16393_2.png) [@Stratocaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stratocaster)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/31 "2023-07-13T20:38:13Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I used to think this death, and where he was found, was mildly amusing. Then a person very dear to me was found passed in that manner. She was very old and simply went to sleep. Man, I would hope a pal would help me out if I kicked the bucket in this manner. Why does anyone need to know that? ---
**Author:** ![74westy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/74westy/32/3950_2.png) [@74westy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/74westy)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/32 "2023-07-13T20:42:58Z")
[Evelyn McHale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_McHale). ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/33 "2023-07-13T20:43:08Z")
Not a famous name, but a famous death – The most beautiful corpse. > **[Evelyn McHale](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_McHale)** > > Evelyn Francis McHale (September 20, 1923 – May 1, 1947) was an American bookkeeper who died by suicide by jumping from the 86th-floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. A photograph taken four minutes after her death by photography student Robert Wiles subsequently gained iconic status, being referred to as "the most beautiful suicide". > Evelyn McHale was born in Berkeley, California, one of nine children born to Helen and Vincent McHale. Her father was a bank examiner who relocate... ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/34 "2023-07-13T20:44:49Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > William Henry Harrison > > I assume he did other things (he was elected POTUS after all)… He was elected because he was a war hero. First he fought Indians at the battle of Tippecanoe, and later fought admirably in the War of 1812. … My contribution: Brandon Lee, son of Bruce, most famous for being killed with a prop gun. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/35 "2023-07-13T20:45:58Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I don’t know how well known Olive Cromwell or his beheading are Assuming you mean Oliver (a very, very well known figure in British and Irish history), he didn’t die from being beheaded. I don’t know the Monty Python song but I assume it’s about his very posthumous beheading. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/36 "2023-07-13T20:46:02Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Buddy Holly As well Richie Valens and The Big Bopper ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/37 "2023-07-13T20:47:43Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Not a famous name, but a famous death – The most beautiful corpse. Astonishing. Not even death could stop her from being objectified. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/38 "2023-07-13T20:48:42Z")
Yeah fuck, I’m actually remembering King Charles I as the song begins: “The most interesting thing about King Charles the First Is that he was 5 foot 6 inches tall at the start of his reign But only 4 foot 8 inches tall at the end of it Because of…” Thanks for the correction. 🤦‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/39 "2023-07-13T20:49:19Z")
Some pro wrestling deaths: Owen Hart is most known for falling to his death from the ceiling of the Kemper Arena in a failed attempt to rappel down to the wring. Chris Benoit is known for killing his wife and child and then himself. Bruiser Brody is known for being stabbed to death in the dressing room in Puerto Rico. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2023, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999/40 "2023-07-13T20:56:13Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > I’m surprised no one’s mentioned Marilyn Monroe yet. Did her death really define her? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deaths-that-sort-of-define-a-person/986999.md?page=3)