# Has Anybody Famous Successfully Faked His/Her Death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 2, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051 "2003-10-02T02:43:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Torgo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@Torgo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Torgo)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/1 "2003-10-02T02:43:51Z")
[Other than Elvis Presley,](http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/news/index.cfm?instanceid=59433) has any person of note successfully and purposely faked their demise? ---
**Author:** ![Stimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Stimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/2 "2003-10-02T02:47:56Z")
isn’t this an impossible question to answer? if we knew of someone, it wouldn’t be too successful… ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/3 "2003-10-02T02:59:58Z")
There’s no good evidence that Elvis faked his death either, tinfoil hat types notwithstanding. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/4 "2003-10-02T03:01:18Z")
I could tell you but then I’d have to kill me. ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/5 "2003-10-02T04:09:17Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010921.html](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/010921.html) ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/6 "2003-10-02T04:16:06Z")
Betcha Princess Di is holed up somewhere in Switzerland ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/7 "2003-10-02T05:16:20Z")
Certainly…in fact, it’s the same guy who produced _the_ perfect forged painting, which hangs in a major metropolitan museum at this very moment, unbeknownst to all. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/8 "2003-10-02T06:08:34Z")
Reggie Perrin? ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/9 "2003-10-02T11:46:25Z")
If it happened successfully, we’ll never know about it, so what more can be said? I wonder if anyone who escaped from the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001 decided to just walk away and let everyone assume that they were dead. ---
**Author:** ![PhilAlex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/839c29/32.png) [@PhilAlex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhilAlex)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/10 "2003-10-02T22:04:40Z")
Depending on who you consider famous, I remember hearing about a Porn star who faked her own death (Had friends tell everyone else she died, no other evidence) to escape debts. And, of course, she continued to perform on stage and in film. Wasn’t too successful, but then again, that’s not why she’s famous. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/11 "2003-10-02T22:16:10Z")
I think the dead celebrity most likely to of faked their own death is Tupac Shakur, who has released after his death several albums containing a myriad of tracks prophetically predicting his own demise (such as the ultra-cheesy “Is There a Ghetto in Heaven?”) and I believe he also relaeased an album called “The Machiavelli Album”, after the philosopher over who some believed faked his own death. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/12 "2003-10-02T22:23:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diceman \* > \*\*If it happened successfully, we’ll never know about it, so what more can be said? > > I wonder if anyone who escaped from the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001 decided to just walk away and let everyone assume that they were dead. \*\* There was a big train wreck in London a couple of years ago, which involved intense fire that destroyed most of the bodies. One person (maybe two) who were on another part of the train (or plausibly could have been on it, but weren’t) just walked away. [no cite at the moment] I’m not sure how it was eventually found out. It struck me as such an interesting and weird (but weirdly appealing?) thing spontaneously to decide to do. Good premise for a novel. Would you count Lord Lucan for this question? I don’t know whether he made any effort to fake his death, but he certainly vanished effectively. Did Mengele fake his death (in '45)? ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/13 "2003-10-02T22:23:41Z")
I think the dead celebrity most likely to of faked their own death is Tupac Shakur, who has released after his death several albums containing a myriad of tracks prophetically predicting his own demise (such as the ultra-cheesy “Is There a Ghetto in Heaven?”) and I believe he also relaeased an album called “The Machiavelli Album”, after the philosopher over who some believed faked his own death. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/14 "2003-10-02T22:36:36Z")
20s Evangelist Amy Semple MacPherson, aka “Sister Amy” comes to mind. (She was later found out, of course!) ---
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/15 "2003-10-03T01:38:27Z")
National Enquirer had an article shortly after 9/11 that claimed some folks used the tragedy as a way to disappear and start over again. If someone was in the area that morning and wanted out of a bad relationship, the answer was happening right before their eyes. Pure speculation but perfectly plausible. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/16 "2003-10-03T01:54:56Z")
**Francis Bacon** > [@](#): > > It is believed by many serious researchers that Sir Francis Bacon faked his death (actually dying in 1684), and constructed the vault with the help of his Wild Goose Club. [FREEMASONRY](http://user.pa.net/~drivera/3masons.htm) **Christopher Marlowe** > [@](#): > > the question mark etched next to the supposed date of his death, 1593, has reopened the academic debate about whether Marlowe faked his death to escape charges of blasphemy, fled abroad and continued to write under the pseudonym William Shakespeare. [Christopher Marlowe tribute unveiled at Westminster Abbey](http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/07/12/1026185105730.html) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/17 "2003-10-03T02:20:48Z")
A British politician named John Stonehouse faked his death in the same way Reggie Perrin did, and fled to Australia, leaving behind a mountain of debt. He was later caught, returned, and imprisoned. ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/18 "2003-10-03T02:36:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ranchoth \* > \*\*Certainly…in fact, it’s the same guy who produced _the_ perfect forged painting, which hangs in a major metropolitan museum at this very moment, unbeknownst to all. \*\* Like the three Etruscan warriors found in the Met? ---
**Author:** ![Stimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/779978/32.png) [@Stimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stimpy)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/19 "2003-10-03T03:39:37Z")
andy kaufman… ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051/20 "2003-10-03T04:00:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PhilAlex \* > \*\*Depending on who you consider famous, I remember hearing about a Porn star who faked her own death (Had friends tell everyone else she died, no other evidence) to escape debts. > > And, of course, she continued to perform on stage and in film.\*\* [Hyapatia Lee](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0497412/bio) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anybody-famous-successfully-faked-his-her-death/205051.md?page=2)