Deaths that sort of define a person

Cafe Society
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As far as Kitty Genovese goes, the first sentence of the OP says that “sometimes famous people die.” Kitty Genovese was a bartender. Not a famous person until she was killed.

Sharon Tate is a yes for me. Not a huge star, but she had been in some prominent releases, connected to other big people in the biz. And everyone remembered the death. Jay Sebring and the LaBiancas no, everyone else was overshadowed by Sharon Tate.

William Henry Harrison is a yes for me, JFK no. James Dean yes. Buddy Holly no, Valens and the Big Bopper yes.

There was an actress, Barbara Colby, was on the Mary Tyler Moore Show spinoff Phyllis. She and a fellow actor were shot and killed in a drive by shooting after an acting class. No known motive and the case has never been solved. But she was just on three episodes of the show, not quite prominent enough yet I think.

Peter Deuel was on a TV Show, Alias Smith And Jones, one of the co-leads, when he committed suicide. His role was re-cast and the show continued. Deuel had been on some other shows. He’d be a yes for me.

Stonewall Jackson, probably remembered more for dying than any military feats.

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In 1909 catcher Doc Powers died from injuries sustained in running into a grandstand after a foul ball. But it took him about 2 weeks to die.

Regardless, Chapman is a great choice for this. He was a star player at the time, but only remembered for his death today.

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Bowel obstruction. That’s a tough one, considering how her father went.

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This isn’t making sense. Sharon Tate had no notable roles, if Polanski had become smitten with her she would have never had any. She was known to a few people though and her death noticeable. William Henry Harrison was the POTUS when he died just like JFK, and both quite famous on that basis while they were alive. Dean sas a famous actor and Holly a famous singer, Valens less so but on the rise, while JP Richardson’s name was hardly known at all though his music was. How you include and exclude these people from this category seems haphazard and arbitrary.

As I noted before, anyone who didn’t die of natural causes may someday be known only for their death.

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I agree. You can certainly list people whose deaths define them most to you, but that is your subjective opinion. You can guess how others define famous people with regard to their deaths, but…that’s just a guess.

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Former Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt is almost exclusively remembered for his disappearance and presumed death by drowning. When I learned about this guy, it struck me as soon odd that the leader of a modern country could simply disappear in such an ordinary way. Just imagine if Jimmy Carter had went for a swim and never came back.

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Yeah, this is clearly very subjective. A lot of the names are people I’ve never heard of. And a lot are people I have heard of, and know something about, but don’t know anything about how they died. Like Hemingway. Maybe I’ve heard how he died before, but if you’d asked me, I wouldn’t have known the answer. Same with a bunch of others listed here. But obviously, their death is memorable to the person mentioning them.

Lou Gehrig is a good one. Heck the disease is colloquially named for him. Jesus’s death and resurrection is what he’s best known for. Caesar’s death certainly redefined him. Archduke Ferdinand certainly qualifies. Kurt Cobain. Most of the others in this thread aren’t doing it for me. But they are to someone else, or they wouldn’t be mentioned.

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Don’t underestimate those rabbits.

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Yes, I was thinking that her father also had his issues with weight.

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Or the UFOs

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Len Bias.

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Peg Entwistle

Virginia Rappe

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Yes, this is all subjective, based on memories and our subjective valuations.

William Henry Harrison is only remembered for dying so early into his term. Zacharay Taylor, James Garfield less remembered, because they don’t hold the record for shortest term. That’s why he’s Yes to me, he’s still remembered at all because of his death.

JFK… death super famous, but he wasn’t the first to be assassinated. But people still remembered him in office, the whole “Camelot” deal. His death really didn’t change that, ushered in some bad times maybe, they were likely coming either way, but people still remembered his years about the same so he didn’t change in that way.

Lou Gehrig, well they don’t do a movie if he doesn’t die, but that didn’t really change his image. I want it to be more than “they died young.” Gehrig was still a Hall Of Famer who held some prominent records. Glenn Miller would be another “no” for me as the death doesn’t really change the image.

Buddy Holly is no for me because his image and songs weren’t particularly tragic. An entertainer dying on the road in a car or plane crash isn’t that unusual, Judy Tyler, Ernie Kovacs, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, Eddie Cochran all from that era off the top of my head. People genuinely enjoy reviving his image and his music held a lot of popularity, but again I don’t see the death tying in all that much. The crash was more famous because there were two other entertainers on board people had heard of. If it’s his bandmates (as the plan was originally) it’s likely less of a big deal.

Phil Hartmann I think is a yes for me, that really was unexpected. Belushi and Chris Farley no, I wasn’t even surprised when they died.

Sharon Tate had been nominated for a Golden Globe. Was a co-lead in Valley Of The Dolls, which did big box office even if it got bad reviews. Got good reviews for The Wrecking Crew with Dean Martin. Plus Polanski. She wasn’t Faye Dunaway, but she had a certain amount of prominence.

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???

I instantly recognized Tom Mix’s name as a cowboy movie star. I had no idea how he died until I read your link.

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It is for me because (like James Dean) dying young is what made him immortal. He might have been a flash-in-the pan if he hadn’t died. (Same goes for Heather “the girl from Poltergeist and a Happy Days story arc” O’Rourke.)

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Pianist William Kapell is mainly remembered today for having died in an airplane crash at age 31. A sample of his playing:

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I don’t quite understand the physics of it, but apparently as soon as they tried to move the body it completely collapsed. If that kid hadn’t been right across the street with his new camera, she would have faded into memory. It’s the photograph that immortalized her.

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I still say JFK belongs on this list despite all of his accomplishments.

Mostly because all the conspiracies and urban legends that have arisen out of his assassination.

I suspect of there have been more books written about JFK’s death than everyone mentioned here combined.

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Technically NOT a death but union leader Jimmy Hoffa is most remembered for disappearing in 1975.

I am actually surprised no one has mentioned him yet…