# People famouse because of HOW they died... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 22, 2000, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221 "2000-11-22T02:12:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/21 "2000-11-22T18:48:17Z")
Sylvia Plath. Like we’d all know who she was if she hadn’t stuck her head in the oven? ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/22 "2000-11-22T18:54:04Z")
For all those who have made the “couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance” reference: The comment was made by killed Union General “Uncle John” Sedgwick during the fighting at Spotsylvania Court House, referring to the Confederate sharpshooters. Unfortunately, he was then shot by a Rebel with a British “bolt” rifle (so called because it took a six-sixed (hexagonal) bullet (yes, the bore was hexagonal)). Proof positive that one should never say anything stupid, for fear it could be your last words. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/23 "2000-11-22T19:04:05Z")
I guess Buddy Holly, because everyone knows how he died but not everyone can name more than a couple of his songs. And JFK- all through elementary school and junior high I was told or how he got shot from the sixth floor window of a warehouse, etc, etc, and jackie was wearing pink that day… But throughout high school, if someone had asked me I wouldn’t have been able to name anything he did as president. ---
**Author:** ![Turpentine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Turpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/24 "2000-11-22T19:05:33Z")
Oh wait- Except for that Marilyn Monroe thing. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/25 "2000-11-22T19:31:49Z")
How 'bout the Reverend Jim Jones (Jonestown mass suicide)? Or Amelia Earhardt (sp?)? Or Nathan Hale? Or Jesus? Or John the Baptist? Or the Light Brigade? Or General Custer? Or Davy Crockett? Or Jim Bowie? ---
**Author:** ![Trout\_Mask\_Replica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a88e57/32.png) [@Trout\_Mask\_Replica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trout_Mask_Replica)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/26 "2000-11-22T19:33:51Z")
People famous for how they _supposedly_ died: Mama Cass Lupe Velez ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/27 "2000-11-22T19:40:15Z")
**Joan of Arc** and **Julius Caesar** would still be famous, but the manner of their deaths certainly added to their mystique. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/28 "2000-11-22T19:54:11Z")
Choreographer Isadora Duncan, in 1927. (I’m surprise **Eve** didn’t jump in with this one!) Excerpts from the [New York Times](http://www.aarrgghh.com/no_way/duncan.htm) report of her death in 1927: > [@](#): > > PARIS, FRANCE–Isadora Duncan, the American dancer, tonight met a tragic death at Nice on the Riviera. According to dispatches from Nice Miss Duncan was hurled in an extraordinary manner from an open automobile in which she was riding and instantly killed by the force of her fall to the stone pavement. > > Affecting, as was her habit, an unusual costume, Miss Duncan was wearing an immense iridescent silk scarf wrapped about her neck and streaming in long folds, part of which was swathed about her body with part trailing behind. After an evening walk along the Promenade de Anglais about 10 o’clock, she entered an open rented car, directing the driver to take her to the hotel where she was staying. > > As she took her seat in the car neither she nor the driver noticed that one of the loose ends fell outside over the side of the car and was caught in the rear wheel of the machine. > > Dragged Bodily From the Car. > The automobile was going at full speed when the scarf of strong silk suddenly began winding around the wheel and with terrific force dragged Miss Duncan, around whom it was securely wrapped, bodily over the side of the car, precipitating her with violence against the cobblestone street. She was dragged for several yards before the chauffeur halted, attracted by her cries in the street. > > Medical aid immediately was summoned, but it was stated that she had been strangled and killed instantly. > > This end to a life full of many pathetic episodes was received as a great shock in France, where, despite her numerous eccentric traits, Miss Duncan was regarded as a great artist. Her great popularity in France was increased by the entire nation’s sympathy when in 1913 her two young children also perished in an automobile tragedy. The car in which they had been left seated started, driverless, down a hill and plunged over a bridge into the Seine River. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/29 "2000-11-22T20:17:28Z")
Um, **Fear Itself** , I realize you didn’t write that obituary, but how could the chauffeur have been “attracted by her cries” if she was “killed instantly?” **spoke-** and several others: You’re not following the OP, which clearly asks about people who are famous **because of how they died**. You’re naming people who were famous anyway, and had unusual deaths. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/30 "2000-11-22T20:35:56Z")
Along with Sedgewick (noted earlier) my other “favorite” death is Alben W. Barkley, Vice President of the United States under Harry Truman. A few years after he left office, Barkley was giving a college commencement speech and in typical Southern oratorical fashion declaimed “I would rather be a servant in the house of the Lord than to dwell in the seats of the mighty.” He then promptly fell dead of a heart attack. Who was the Chicago mayor who happened to be between FDR and an assasin? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/31 "2000-11-22T21:47:11Z")
How about John Birch, the (purported) first victim of the Cold War? He would not be well-known if not for someone using his name in their organization. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/32 "2000-11-22T21:57:00Z")
**Fear Itself** Aaaarghh you beat me to it. Actually Isadora Duncan would probably have been little remembered after her brief spell of society fame had it not been for her manner of passing. The car she was in was unusual in that it had a chain drive to the back wheels. It also had a completely open cockpit. She had a penchant for wearing long scarves that would trail dramatically behind her when at speed. Her neck was broken so I can’t imagine she had much time to make a cry for help. Guess she was a funeral waiting for a corpse. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/33 "2000-11-22T22:00:06Z")
**Five** wrote: > [@](#): > > spoke- and several others: You’re not following the OP, which clearly asks about people who are famous because of how they died. You’re naming people who were famous anyway, and had unusual deaths. Nah. I’m naming people who are more famous because of how they died. **Davy Crockett** would be remembered today only in academic circles if not for his “heroic” death at the Alamo. **Jim Bowie** would be entirely forgotten. There would never have been any Hollywood movies about either without the Alamo; that much is certain. (And without Hollywood’s stamp of approval, how famous can you be?) Shakespeare would have never written a play about **Caesar** if he had not been stabbed. Nor would he have been such a legend that his successors took his name as an honorific title. **Nathan Hale**? No one would have heard of him at all except for his line, “I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country!” **Jesus**? His religion would never have risen above the status of local cult except for the crucifixion. Same deal with **John the Baptist**. Except for his dramatic beheading, he might well be forgotten. **Amelia Earhardt** had some notoriety in her day, but would be little-remembered today but for her dramatic disappearance. Her role as an early aviatrix might make her an icon for hard-core feminists, but the nation at large would have forgotten her. **Custer**? Who knows? He might have gone on to become President, as some have speculated. Or he might have become just another obscure Indian-fighting general. **Joan of Arc** would be remembered, but would not be nearly the legend she is today except for her dramatic death at the stake. I doubt that there would be any movies about her, which would mean that her name would be remembered only by historians. And besides, the OP named **Rasputin** as an example. He was famous in the Russia of his day, and would be remembered today for the havoc he caused in the Russian court, and his role in its downfall, regardless of the circumstances of his death. But, as with my examples, he is even more legendary because of the manner in which he died. ---
**Author:** ![lucie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ed8c4c/32.png) [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/34 "2000-11-22T22:18:52Z")
Anne Frank - if she had not died in the camps, it’s highly doubtful her diary would have ever been published. Marie Antoinette - just another footnote in French history without the choppy-chop ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/35 "2000-11-22T22:50:27Z")
Robert Scott. He was famous because he died “bravely” in Antartica. Uh huh, what about the guy who got there first and returned safely? Roald Amundsen. Robert Scott was unprepared and an accident waiting to happen, yet he’s more famous than the man who was actually prepared to safely reach the south geographic pole and return home. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/36 "2000-11-22T23:13:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pepperlandgirl \* > \*\*Robert Scott. > He was famous because he died “bravely” in Antartica. Uh huh, what about the guy who got there first and returned safely? Roald Amundsen. \*\* That one reminded me of **Captain Lawrence Oates** (with Scott in Antarctica) who is famous for going out of the tent in a blizzard to die of frostbite and gangrene, saying “I am just going outside. I might be some time.” ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/37 "2000-11-23T01:02:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > Who was the Chicago mayor who happened to be between FDR and an assasin? Anton Cermak. And even though I’m a Chicagoan, that’s pretty much all I know about him. And a major street is named after him. ---
**Author:** ![Orshee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Orshee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orshee)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/38 "2000-11-23T01:53:36Z")
Well I mentioned Sid Vicious in the other thread, so how about Nancy Spungen (sp?) for this one? I doubt anyone would know about this groupie if she hadn’t been stabbed to death by good ol’ Sid. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/39 "2000-11-23T05:21:07Z")
Good catch, **FearItself and casdave**! I was primed for the Isadora Duncan thing, mostly because it was my favorite Halloween costume (after Lizzie Borden)–but nobody “got it”. Dressed in filmy clothes–though more of them than Ms. Duncan wore–and sported a silky, trailing scarf knotted in a hub cap; from a Chevy, IIRC, but we don’t run high to Bugattis around here. Got a helluva stiff neck, but at least wasn’t kicked out of a bar for carrying a weapon. (The bouncers didn’t like the the camping hatchet attached to my Lizzie Borden costume.) I’m suprised no one has mentioned Vic Morrow; he was a workmanlike actor whose death–by helicopter blade–overshadowed his life. Veb ---
**Author:** ![Ace\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/858c86/32.png) [@Ace\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace_Face)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2000, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221/40 "2000-11-23T05:38:52Z")
Len Bias – first (and only?) “famous” person to die from a crack cocaine overdose. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-famouse-because-of-how-they-died/42221.md?page=3)