# Most shocking or surprising celebrity death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2020, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132 "2020-01-28T22:54:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/61 "2020-01-29T15:24:19Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > George Michael committed suicide? Read post #12. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/62 "2020-01-29T18:14:49Z")
Lennon of course is right up there, along with Michael Jackson. JFK of course and in his brief time as a celebrity, Lee Oswald. The crews of the Challenger and Columbia. Dale Earnhardt was surprising, of course deaths in motor sports aren’t unheard of. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/63 "2020-01-29T19:25:13Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > Is the other young actress you are think of Judith Barsi? > > [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith\_Barsi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Barsi) > > There is a real disturbing conspiracy theory around Heather O’Rourke’s death but I don’t want to repeat it here because I have no idea how credible it is. (It was circling around one of those “blind gossip” websites at one point.) That’s the one. I first caught her in Fatal Vision (I lived on Bragg a while) and other things but never quite had her on my radar. Heather ------ forgetting the whole curse around the movie ----- I’ve heard a couple rumors but just ignore them. That little kid could act! And that is how I want to remember/think of it. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/64 "2020-01-29T20:59:12Z")
> [@Rough\_Draft](#): > > Phil Hartman. This was so tragic; besides being such a talented artist, Hartman was gunned down in a murder-suicide by his wife. There’s a sad tidbit about the whole thing found in the opening credits of SNL when Hartman was one of its stars, found right after the 54 second mark [here](https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=SNL+Opening+Credits+1992&&view=detail&mid=10F343788875D292EDE610F343788875D292EDE6&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3DSNL%2520Opening%2520Credits%25201992%26qs%3Dn%26form%3DQBVR%26sp%3D-1%26pq%3Dsnl%2520opening%2520credits%25201992%26sc%3D2-24%26sk%3D%26cvid%3D9C27BE50804842E6922D85A741171028). In the opening montage, the camera ‘finds’ the cast out and about in NYC, each stopping what they are doing to wave or acknowledge the camera. Hartman’s moment comes when he is sitting in what looks like a restaurant. The interesting thing is that Brynn, his wife (and murderer) is also in the scene: she’s the woman seated facing Hartman (meaning her back is to the camera). If you watch that brief moment, you’ll notice that her dangling earring is swinging. Apparently, this is because she really wanted to get face time with the camera, so she kept turning to look. Except the idea is that only the SNL castmembers stop to acknowledge the camera, so it wasn’t right, and the directors had to keep telling her to stare at Phil. The swinging earring reflects her turning her head because she was being yelled at. The story is that she couldn’t handle the fact that she was an unsuccessful, yet aspiring, Hollywood starlet who couldn’t handle his fame and notoriety. The swinging earring is evidence of it (from her IMDB page: “She would tell me she felt secluded and totally cut off. I kept trying to get my face on-camera, but the damn director kept telling me to turn away. I was so frustrated.'”). ---
**Author:** ![GreysonCarlisle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a87d85/32.png) [@GreysonCarlisle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreysonCarlisle)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/65 "2020-01-29T21:14:56Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Heather ------ forgetting the whole curse around the movie ----- I’ve heard a couple rumors but just ignore them. That little kid could act! And that is how I want to remember/think of it. Heather O’Rourke’s death was the most shocking to me. She would have gone on to do great things. Her bio-dad found out about her death from the radio while he was driving. A few years later, Freddie Mercury died, followed shortly by Sam Kinison. Neither were entirely unexpected, but between the two of them, I was bummed for the better part of a year. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/66 "2020-01-29T21:17:49Z")
Saw Bloomberg on TV and he made a good point. These days many deaths are caused by people’s behavior such as ODs, smoking, overeating, etc. And those things often kill people at a fairly young age. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/67 "2020-01-29T22:04:41Z")
No one’s mentioned Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper? 😕 I’ll add Jayne Mansfield to the list. I remember when she was killed in that auto accident: decapitated when the car she was riding in went under the rear of a truck at cruising speed. I’ve seen police photos of the wreck, and they are gruesome! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/68 "2020-01-29T22:18:54Z")
I was also surprised and depressed when I learned that Anissa “Buffy” Jones and Dana “Kimberly” Plato had passed away. To die so young and because of drugs is horrific. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2020, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/69 "2020-01-29T22:27:33Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > No one’s mentioned Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The Big Bopper? 😕 Post 17. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/70 "2020-01-29T22:29:55Z")
One more: Dominique Dunne, murdered by her boyfriend after playing an abused teenager in an episode of _ **Hill Street Blues** _. The bruises on her face in that show were real, from a beating she’d had the night before. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/71 "2020-01-29T23:00:00Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > The interesting thing is that Brynn, his wife (and murderer) is also in the scene: she’s the woman seated facing Hartman (meaning her back is to the camera). If you watch that brief moment, you’ll notice that her dangling earring is swinging. > > Apparently, this is because she really wanted to get face time with the camera, so she kept turning to look. Except the idea is that only the SNL castmembers stop to acknowledge the camera, so it wasn’t right, and the directors had to keep telling her to stare at Phil. The swinging earring reflects her turning her head because she was being yelled at. > > The story is that she couldn’t handle the fact that she was an unsuccessful, yet aspiring, Hollywood starlet who couldn’t handle his fame and notoriety. The swinging earring is evidence of it (from her IMDB page: “She would tell me she felt secluded and totally cut off. I kept trying to get my face on-camera, but the damn director kept telling me to turn away. I was so frustrated.'”). I had no idea that was her and I remember watching that opening every week. This time period was when I was 14(1992) and SNL felt fresh and funny. Watching those opening credits is nostalgic, but also depressing when I see Phil Hartman and Chris Farley. I loved those guys! ---
**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:** [January 29, 2020, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/72 "2020-01-29T23:03:59Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I had no idea that was her and I remember watching that opening every week. This time period was when I was 14(1992) and SNL felt fresh and funny. Watching those opening credits is nostalgic, but also depressing when I see Phil Hartman and Chris Farley. > > I loved those guys! You and I are the same age. I feel the same; that was a brilliant cast. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/73 "2020-01-29T23:04:23Z")
Great answers, all totally valid. Princess Diana still takes the cake for me, though. I’ve never felt as physically sick and shocked as when I woke up and my Mom(who is English) told me that Diana had died. Could not process it. Kobe was similar, especially in terms of NEVER expecting his death at such a young age, but I think the internet spreads things around so quickly, it feels different. While I had the TV on in a few minutes, there was a moment there where it felt not quite true. Only when I had CNN(and so forth) on did it really become real. Princess Diana was dead. I knew Kobe had died and that it was legit true within moments of hearing about it. Still kind of shocked when I think back on it. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/74 "2020-01-29T23:06:12Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > You and I are the same age. I feel the same; that was a brilliant cast. I can also see how people thought it was stupid. I laughed like crazy at Opera Man, Chris Farley’s motivational speaker, and so many other sketches that today I would find stupid and unfunny. It’s all about your age and the time you see things. I really enjoyed David Spade’s Holywood Minute back then as well. His Showbiz Show was great, but my wife and I tried his new Comedy Central show and it was depressingly horrible. Total trash. ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/75 "2020-01-29T23:27:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > …Jayne Mansfield… she was…decapitated when the car she was riding in went under the rear of a truck at cruising speed… False. > **[Was Jayne Mansfield Decapitated?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jayne-mansfield/)** > > Did the automobile crash that killed Jayne Mansfield also decapitate her? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/76 "2020-01-29T23:32:39Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > … > > Kobe was similar, especially in terms of NEVER expecting his death at such a young age, but I think the internet spreads things around so quickly, it feels different. While I had the TV on in a few minutes, there was a moment there where it felt not quite true. Only when I had CNN(and so forth) on did it really become real. Princess Diana was dead. I knew Kobe had died and that it was legit true within moments of hearing about it. > > Still kind of shocked when I think back on it. Are you a big Laker’s fan? ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/77 "2020-01-30T00:57:37Z")
> [@Dropo](#): > > False. > > [Was Jayne Mansfield Decapitated? | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/jayne-mansfield/) “Her skull was cracked or sliced open, and a sizeable piece of it was carried away.” You gotta admit, that’s pretty damned close to “decapitated,” which was the word used in the radio announcement of her death. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/78 "2020-01-30T01:06:40Z")
Yet another: Mia Zapata, singer of the Seattle-based punk band The Gits, who was murdered after a gig as the band was about to hit the big time. Everyone figured this was a murder that would never be solved, until a man was arrested in the Florida Keys, his DNA was run, and was a match, and there was proof that he was in the Pacific Northwest at the time of Ms. Zapata’s death. D. Boon of the Minutemen also died on the cusp of fame, in a very freak car accident. He was traveling with a woman he was planning to marry, to meet her parents, and she was driving a van while he slept in the back because he wasn’t feeling well. She fell asleep at the wheel and the van went off the road, the van doors popped open, and D. slid out onto the pavement, hit his head, and died instantly from a spinal cord injury even though he barely had a scratch on him. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/79 "2020-01-30T02:34:29Z")
This thread reminded me of [Adrienne Shelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrienne_Shelly). I was a moderate fan of Hal Hartley’s idiosyncratic films where she was the female lead and **Waitress** was a pretty impressive writing/directing debut for someone who wasn’t even 30 yet when she was making it. Not to mention she was the mom of a toddler. Just a shocking and brutal murder, staged as and initially thought to be a suicide. ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2020, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132/80 "2020-01-30T12:00:10Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > Philip Symour Hoffman > Steve Irwin > Heath Ledger I was going to say Ledger. He was my age and my mom was shaken up about it. I was surprised. I didn’t think of Hoffman at first, but that’s a good one. I never knew or suspected he was a user of heroin and all the other drugs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-shocking-or-surprising-celebrity-death/847132.md?page=5)