# People who made a big splash, then either quit or died. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108 "2012-04-27T06:35:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Bith\_Shuffle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Bith_Shuffle)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/1 "2012-04-27T06:35:39Z")
Let’s list people who, in any field, made a big impact or had big success, and then either quit or died relatively soon after as a (relatively) young man or woman. How young is young is up to you. People who suddenly became bad, but didn’t quit or die, don’t count. Athletes can count if they died or retired even younger than one naturally expects an athlete to retire. If someone seems like a borderline case, just include them but explain what makes them one. Also, say whether or not they quit or died. My picks: Died: Sylvia Plath Bix Beiderbecke Hart Crane Jimi Hendrix Curt Cobain Frank O’Hara Quit: Arthur Rimbaud (quit poetry REALLY young, died young) Barry Sanders Bobby Fischer – All right, you folks share some! ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/2 "2012-04-27T06:44:34Z")
**Harper Lee** – Wrote one book while in her early 30’s. It’s rather well regarded. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/3 "2012-04-27T07:21:54Z")
Rudolph Valentino. Had everything going for him when he died abruptly. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/4 "2012-04-27T11:08:52Z")
Died young: James Clark Maxwell Heinrich Hertz Henry Moseley Rosalind Franklin Hypatia Died too young even in his 50s: Enrico Fermi ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/5 "2012-04-27T11:14:26Z")
I don’t know if Rick Moranis counts as “making a big splash”, but he quit his acting career when his wife died of cancer, because he felt it was more important for his kids to have a full-time parent, which I think was a gutsy decision. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/6 "2012-04-27T12:58:17Z")
Pretty much [all these people](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Gate_Bridge#Suicides). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/7 "2012-04-27T12:59:48Z")
Jesus I’m not a fan but I think you could say he made a big slash then died young. ---
**Author:** ![Indian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@Indian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/8 "2012-04-27T13:02:03Z")
Heath Ledger ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/9 "2012-04-27T13:05:28Z")
Quit: Italian opera composer [Rossini](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/03/arts/music/rossini-and-his-abrupt-farewell-to-opera.html?_r=2), who retired, famous and successful, at age 37. > [@](#): > > Rossini lived for nearly 40 years after “Guillaume Tell” but never wrote another opera. His “great renunciation,” as one biographer called it, is a phenomenon without equivalent in music history. Other composers — Elgar, Rachmaninoff, Sibelius, Ives — have retired long before their deaths. But none have been as famous, or as young, as Rossini. Successful composers who died way too young include Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Gershwin. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/10 "2012-04-27T13:06:51Z")
Made a big splash (presumably literally): Amelia Earhart. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/11 "2012-04-27T13:25:47Z")
[Évariste Galois](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89variste_Galois): made some significant contributions to mathematics, then died after a duel at age 20. ---
**Author:** ![Hermitian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hermitian/32/470_2.png) [@Hermitian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hermitian)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/12 "2012-04-27T13:29:47Z")
Dave Chappelle - I guess he still does some stuff. But he definately walked away when very popular. ---
**Author:** ![janis\_and\_c0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/janis_and_c0/32/21_2.png) [@janis\_and\_c0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janis_and_c0)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/13 "2012-04-27T13:31:48Z")
Two of my favorite singers of all time died young: Janis Joplin & Jim Croce. ---
**Author:** ![kmshrader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b782af/32.png) [@kmshrader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kmshrader)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/14 "2012-04-27T13:34:48Z")
The Big Bopper (28) Buddy Holly (22) Ritchie Valenz (17) In comparison, Elvis (42) and Marilyn Monroe (36) were positively ancient. Also: Eddie Cochran (21, known for “Summertime Blues”) Otis Redding (26) Sid Vicious (21) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/15 "2012-04-27T13:35:45Z")
Milli Vanilli? ---
**Author:** ![Donnerwetter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/16 "2012-04-27T13:36:26Z")
J. D. Salinger who wrote Catcher in the Rye in 1951 had his last work published in 1965 and then lived a rather reclusive life for 45 years until his death. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/17 "2012-04-27T13:39:47Z")
[Gary Larson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Larson), creator of The Far Side. He wasn’t that “young” at 45, but he did quit while his comic was still very popular; IIRC, he mentioned that he didn’t want to end up one of those comic artists who keeps going until they burn out & bury their original reputation & work under garbage. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/18 "2012-04-27T13:48:45Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > [Gary Larson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Larson), creator of The Far Side. He wasn’t that “young” at 45, but he did quit while his comic was still very popular; IIRC, he mentioned that he didn’t want to end up one of those comic artists who keeps going until they burn out & bury their original reputation & work under garbage. Same with Bill Watterson(Calvin and Hobbes). Age 37 Sandy Koufax. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/19 "2012-04-27T13:49:37Z")
Died too young: **Amy Winehouse** - musician **Elliott Smith** - musician **Thurmon Munson** - baseball **Roberto Clemente** - baseball Quit **Michael Jordan** - First retired from basketball at a fairly young age, though he came back and re-retired a few more times. **James K. Polk** - Only served one term as president and didn’t run for re-election, having accomplished everything he’d wanted (my cite is the TMBG song). ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108/20 "2012-04-27T13:55:27Z")
I don’t recall SE Hinton writing novels beyond her teens and early 20s. Had she retired from writing? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-made-a-big-splash-then-either-quit-or-died/620108.md?page=2)