# Has an Artist ever been assasinated? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828 "2003-10-11T11:34:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/21 "2003-10-11T16:59:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by refusal \* > **Ken Saro-Wiwa was not assassinated but executed by the Nigerian government, after a seriously flawed trial (criticised by the US government and Amnesty International, amongst others).** Curiously, when he was executed by the Nigerian government, Ken Saro-Wiwa left US$10,500,000 (ten million five hundred thousand United States dollars) in a frozen bank account. We have decided to seek for the assistance of a reliable foreign partner into whose account the fund will be transferred for our own use. If you’ll allow us to transfer these funds through one of your bank accounts in the U.S., we’ll compensate you with 25% of the total sum. I hope we can form a mutually beneficial business relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Fibber\_McGee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a6a055/32.png) [@Fibber\_McGee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fibber_McGee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/22 "2003-10-11T17:07:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bienville \* > \*\*Hey, **Marshall07** note the OP- any medium: Musicians count. > > I can’t believe I didn’t think of Lennon. Although, I was thinking more along the lines of political assasination- not “crazy guy gets a plane ticket and a gun”. Mark Chapman and Valerie Solanas aren’t quite the agents was I was thinking of. I was wondering about artists who may have been assasinated because they were viewed as a threat to certain powers. \*\* Well, if you believe certain conspiracy theorists, Lennon _was_ assassinated by powers that considered him a threat, but I don’t believe those loons and neither should you. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/23 "2003-10-11T18:03:46Z")
> [@](#): > > John Lennon was more of a musician than he was an artist Even if you were living in a crazy alternate universe where musicians aren’t artists, Lennon _was_ an artist. He was going to art school when he met Paul, and he drew and painted enough for their to be shows of his work (in the 70s and post-humously). I thought he was quite good too. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/24 "2003-10-11T19:12:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Fibber McGee \* > \*\*Well, if you believe certain conspiracy theorists, Lennon _was_ assassinated by powers that considered him a threat, but I don’t believe those loons and neither should you. \*\* By that standard, you could add Bob Marley to the list. ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/25 "2003-10-11T19:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Krokodil \* > \*\*Salman Rushdie lived under threat of assassination for the better part of two decades. \*\* Feb. 14, 1989 to 1998 isn’t quite “the better part of two decades.” UnuMondo ---
**Author:** ![KRC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/45deac/32.png) [@KRC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KRC)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2003, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/26 "2003-10-11T22:47:04Z")
Gerard Lebovici, a French film producer and publisher, was murdered by unknown assailants in 1984. He had republished the autobiography of the notorious criminal Jacques Mesrine and some thought the French government decided to get rid of him because of this. I’m not sure whether a film producer qualifies as an artist or not. ---
**Author:** ![DreadCthulhu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/db5fbb/32.png) [@DreadCthulhu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DreadCthulhu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/27 "2003-10-12T00:39:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tracer \* > \*\*Curiously, when he was executed by the Nigerian government, Ken Saro-Wiwa left US$10,500,000 (ten million five hundred thousand United States dollars) in a frozen bank account. We have decided to seek for the assistance of a reliable foreign partner into whose account the fund will be transferred for our own use. If you’ll allow us to transfer these funds through one of your bank accounts in the U.S., we’ll compensate you with 25% of the total sum. I hope we can form a mutually beneficial business relationship. \*\* Wonderful \*\* Tracer \*\*. 😃 Now my keyboard and monitor has soda stains. ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/28 "2003-10-12T01:47:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > \*\*By that standard, you could add Bob Marley to the list. \*\* Didn’t Bob Marley die of cancer? Or are you asserting that it was all the marijuana smoke that _caused_ the cancer, which would be an effect of the Rastafarian religion’s emphasis on smoking dope, said religion being composed of followers of Ras Tafari, aka, Haile Selassie, the “Conquering Lion” Emperor of Ethiopia from 1934-1970? I suppose if one wanted to go out on a _verrrrry_ shaky limb, one could assert that Marley was “killed by political influence.” I.e., assassinated. (Note: I’m recalling some of this data from long, long ago in a time zone far, far away, and some of it may not be accurate. Such as “Bob Marley died of cancer.”) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/29 "2003-10-12T01:48:14Z")
I can sell you some penis enlargement pills, too, if you’re interested. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/30 "2003-10-12T01:50:10Z")
(Drat. That was supposed to be in response to **DreadCthulhu** ’s acknowledgement of my infallable Spamming campaign. Okay, then – who’d like this Niemann-Marcus cookie recipe I paid $200 for?) ---
**Author:** ![bmoak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@bmoak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bmoak)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/31 "2003-10-12T02:05:29Z")
The reggae superstar that is usually mentioned as an assassination candiate is not Bob Marley (died of cancer), but Peter Tosh (shot in his home interrupting burglars) ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/32 "2003-10-12T02:58:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*Even if you were living in a crazy alternate universe where musicians aren’t artists, Lennon _was_ an artist. He was going to art school when he met Paul, and he drew and painted enough for their to be shows of his work (in the 70s and post-humously). > > \*\* Not to mention he has two published books of writings and poetry ( **In My Own Write** and **A Spaniard in the Works** ). Possibly more that I’m not aware of; so he counts as an author as well. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/33 "2003-10-12T13:12:53Z")
Internet accounts vary, re. the fate of the architect of the Taj Mahal. One states that he was ordered killed by Shah Jahan, to prevent his building any more-beautiful structures; another, that he be blinded and his (drawing) hand cut off. Either way, it was the end of a brilliant career… The architect of St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow was ordered blinded by Ivan the Terrible, for the same reason. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/34 "2003-10-12T13:29:54Z")
A Google search for “artist killed by the Nazis” turned up 26,100 hits. Granted, many/most of these refer to the statements and works by artists about WWII/the Holocaust, but still… some artists (mostly Jewish and/or left-wing) specifically derided for their “degenerate art” were killed. A search for “writer killed by the Nazis” turned up 57,200 hits. “Musician…”, 7,220 hits. Independent-minded, religious, and oppositional artists didn’t fare well under Stalinist terror, either. I know nothing of the mid-20th C. artistic/intellectual scene in Cambodia, but I imagine that relatively few survived Pol Pot’s reign of terror (Year Zero) liquidation of the urban and educated populaces. (Sheesh, what a depressing topic!) ---
**Author:** ![Ave\_Minerva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@Ave\_Minerva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ave_Minerva)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/35 "2003-10-12T15:38:35Z")
This goes way back, but supposedly the Roman emperor Hadrian had the architect of the Temple of Venus and Rome, Apollodorus of Damascus, executed because he made a wise crack about the temple once it was finished. Apollodorus designed the temple to Hadrian’s specifications, and he made the mistake of pointing out that the seated statues of Venus or Dea Roma would bump his or her head on the ceiling if they were to stand up. I guess Hadrian wasn’t amused. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/36 "2003-10-12T16:22:50Z")
Hitler was the target of assassination a few times. He was also a career painter before he got into politics. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/37 "2003-10-12T16:40:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bmoak \* > \*\*The reggae superstar that is usually mentioned as an assassination candiate is not Bob Marley (died of cancer), but Peter Tosh (shot in his home interrupting burglars) \*\* You’re forgetting that Bob was the target of an assasination in 1975 for supporting the reelection of the Prime Minister of Jamaica. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/38 "2003-10-12T17:03:51Z")
Wassamatter with youse guys? Ain’t you never heard of the riveting work by Alex Constantine, [The Covert War Against Rock: What You Don’t Know About the Deaths of Jim Morrison, Tupac Shakur, Michael Hutchence, Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Phil Ochs, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/092291561X/qid=1065978661/sr=8-2/ref=sr_8_2/104-2171110-1070335?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)? > [@](#): > > From Booklist > Constantine’s paranoid romp through rock history explores Brian Jones’ demise at Winnie the Pooh’s house, Peter Tosh’s death during a home invasion, Bob Marley’s fatal cancer, and the terminations of other, somehow subversive rock stars, and vets the conspiracy theories about them. Was Marley given cancer by means of a booby-trapped cowboy boot from the CIA? If so, was that part of the same CIA-Jamaican government campaign that rubbed out Tosh? What of alleged foul play in the death of Tupac Shakur, not by rival gangsta rap crews, but by a “COINTELPRO-type operation” ? According to Constantine, the mainstream media have produced books “libelling the deceased and misleading the reader on the circumstances.” The scary suppositions are only slightly undercut by Constantine’s occasional fudging of known, if ungermane, facts, as when he says that the Mick Jagger^-Keith Richards bust occurred at a hotel rather than Richards’ Redlands estate. Less scurrilous than the Weekly World News, less reliable than Kenneth Anger’s Tinseltown expose, Hollywood Babylon, this is still fascinating conspiracy mongering. Mike Tribby > Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/39 "2003-10-12T21:16:35Z")
Didn’t the French painter Jacques-Louis David have some of his old rivals killed after he came into power during the French Revolution? I know he was involved in the Reign of Terror and all that, and was responsible for at least some people dying . . . it seems to me that some of his victims were artists he didn’t like. Either that, or some of his victims were artists with whom he was supposedly friends, but whom he turned on for political reasons. I Googled around for a little bit, but failed to come up with any real good information. However, if my memory is correct, David was an artist who was at least responsible for the deaths of other artists. If that doesn’t make him an assassin, then he is at least responsible for the assassinations. –Mephisto, not an art historian. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828/40 "2003-10-12T21:21:59Z")
“less reliable than Kenneth Anger” isn’t something to be wrusted in a book, for reasons that many of us on this board can discuss… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-an-artist-ever-been-assasinated/206828.md?page=3)