# This is a crappy list of "bizarre" celebrity deaths - we can do better! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 6, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795 "2013-07-06T16:49:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/121 "2013-07-09T04:51:14Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Just to head off some one from posting it later, Cass Elliot a.k.a. Mama Cass of the Mamas & the Papas did NOT [choke to death on a ham sandwich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot#Death). She died of cardiac arrest. The most ironic part of this tragedy is that her fatal heart attack was likely caused by the extreme measures she took to lose weight - including literally starving herself. (Her obesity is most likely a large factor that contributed to the enduring urban legend.) Thank you. I think this is one of the most often repeated legends. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/122 "2013-07-09T05:39:41Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > Of course, there’s an irony involved here, in that Kamen is the grandson of EC Comics artist Jack Kamen, who drew story after story about miserable married people murdering their mates in a huge variety of bizarre ways, e.g.: > > [http://www.entrecomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/bb08.gif](http://www.entrecomics.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/bb08.gif) > > [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/\_Rf9S3GkkeyI/TSTD1dKSdQI/AAAAAAAAhtQ/iNlHscry8Mc/s400/jack+kamen+and+al+feldstein.+dead+right.+page.+008.jpg](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Rf9S3GkkeyI/TSTD1dKSdQI/AAAAAAAAhtQ/iNlHscry8Mc/s400/jack+kamen+and+al+feldstein.+dead+right.+page.+008.jpg) > > [http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bxh\_KwQv7Ls/TrRAUFEpUcI/AAAAAAAAD0U/so2hwdbLapo/s400/jack+kamen+and+al+feldstein.+kickback.+page.+008.jpg](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bxh_KwQv7Ls/TrRAUFEpUcI/AAAAAAAAD0U/so2hwdbLapo/s400/jack+kamen+and+al+feldstein.+kickback.+page.+008.jpg) Wow. Someone had some issues. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/123 "2013-07-09T05:40:35Z")
> [@Sam\_A.Robrin](#): > > The artist of that piece told me that that particular detail was an artistically licensed invention of his own. I’ll take him at his word, then. Like I did back in '89. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/124 "2013-07-09T05:55:09Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Albert Dekker. Makes Carradine look like a rank amateur. [http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/d/dekker/albert\_dekker.htm](http://www.findadeath.com/Deceased/d/dekker/albert_dekker.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/125 "2013-07-09T12:10:03Z")
**Claude François** was arguably France’s biggest pop star in the 60’s and 70’s (think of a gallic Cliff Richards with better dance moves). He was known for his very energetic shows, hectic 24/7 work schedule and his extreme perfectionism. His death may not have been “bizarre” but it was definitely stupid and a result of said perfectionism. While taking a bath a few hours before a TV show where he was schedulded to appear, he noticed that a light fixture on the wall wasn’t working properly. It seems that he decided that it _had_ to be fixed _right away_. [Claude François](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Fran%C3%A7ois) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/126 "2013-07-09T14:27:30Z")
> [@Don\_Draper](#): > > Just to head off some one from posting it later, Cass Elliot a.k.a. Mama Cass of the Mamas & the Papas did NOT [choke to death on a ham sandwich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cass_Elliot#Death). She died of cardiac arrest. Though ironically, per the terms of her will her body was fed to hogs and one of them choked to death on her. (It’s not in official counts, but my spirit guide Obladiobladiah assures me of its truth.) Some other “[things everybody knows about famous people’s deaths that aren’t true](http://www.cracked.com/article_20327_5-myths-about-celebrity-deaths-everyone-believes_p2.html)” from Cracked. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2013, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/127 "2013-07-09T15:11:18Z")
Steve Jobs’s death might not qualify as bizarre, but by some accounts it was needless, the result of his lifelong arrogant [magical thinking](http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2011/10/24/steve-jobs-cancer-treatment-regrets/) to quote one writer. Had he gone with the conventional treatment of surgery and follow-up when the cancer was first discovered he probably would have survived as it was caught early and was a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is particularly treatable. He instead insisted on an alternative regimen during which time the cancer grew and spread. ---
**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:** [July 9, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/128 "2013-07-09T22:18:23Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Steve Jobs’s death might not qualify as bizarre, but by some accounts it was needless, the result of his lifelong arrogant [magical thinking](http://www.forbes.com/sites/alicegwalton/2011/10/24/steve-jobs-cancer-treatment-regrets/) to quote one writer. Had he gone with the conventional treatment of surgery and follow-up when the cancer was first discovered he probably would have survived as it was caught early and was a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is particularly treatable. He instead insisted on an alternative regimen during which time the cancer grew and spread. _Jeeez_…I guess you can take the hippie out of [the commune](http://www.cultofmac.com/125656/this-lsd-love-guru-turned-gold-mining-billionaire-gave-steve-jobs-his-reality-distortion-field/), but you can’t take\* the commune out of the hippie as easy. :smack: \*and irradiate. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Cornholio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed8c4c/32.png) [@The\_Great\_Cornholio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Cornholio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/129 "2013-07-10T12:46:03Z")
This will only be of significance to Brits of s certain age: Rod Hull - Fell off his roof into a greenhouse whilst trying to adjust his TV aerial (at the age of 63). Emu was cleared of all involvement in the incident, and it wasn’t the roof of his windmill. (This led to one of my favourite jokes of the time - What’s 3’ tall, brown, and sits in a corner, hissing? Rod Hull’s telly) Does Natalie Wood get a mention, due to the amendment to her death certificate and the mysterious circumstances of how she ended up in the water? Brian Jones - Rolling Stones guitarist. Though officially drowned in his swimming pool, rumours persist of foul play. Robert Maxwell - Newspaper mogul (and thief). Believed to have stepped onto the deck of his yacht one night for a piss… his body found floating in the Atlantic some time later. (Yes, he really was Captain “Bob”, ha) ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/130 "2013-07-10T13:06:37Z")
Butterfly McQueen died in an exploding kerosene heater accident, aged 84. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/131 "2013-07-10T13:26:05Z")
> [@The\_Great\_Cornholio](#): > > Robert Maxwell - Newspaper mogul (and thief). Believed to have stepped onto the deck of his yacht one night for a piss… his body found floating in the Atlantic some time later. (Yes, he really was Captain “Bob”, ha) Haven’t heard the Captain Bob one - the one I always heard was "What was Robert Maxwell last word? “Rose_glub_” ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/132 "2013-07-10T13:52:09Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Butterfly McQueen died in an exploding kerosene heater accident, aged 84. She was living in a little shotgun house and a lot of people assumed she was impoverished, but she was actually very well to do; she’d signed checks that day totalling several thousand dollars to various charities (including “Freedom From Religion”- she was an out and proud atheist) and owned a lot of rental property including the much nicer house next door to her, but chose to leave very modestly. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/133 "2013-07-10T20:35:44Z")
Stieg Larsson, author of The Girl Who… trilogy, died unexpected of a heart attack after climbing the seven flights of stairs to his office because the elevator wasn’t working. He had just signed the contracts to have his books published, and did not live to see their astonishing fame. Similarly, Jonathan Larson died unexpectedly the morning of the musical Rent’s first preview performance Off Broadway. Larson died of an aortic dissection, believed to have been caused by undiagnosed Marfan syndrome, in the early morning on January 25, 1996. New York State medical investigators concluded that if the aortic dissection had been properly diagnosed and treated, Larson would have lived.He had been suffering chest pains and also had nausea for several days prior to his death, but doctors at Cabrini Medical Center and St. Vincent’s Hospital could not find signs of a heart attack and so misdiagnosed it either as flu or food poisoning, and giving him something to make him vomit. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/134 "2013-07-10T22:56:41Z")
If a 17th century composer counts as a celebrity, Jean-Baptiste Lully died of gangrene after accidentally crushing his toe with the staff he used to beat time while conducting a performance of his _Te Deum_. Sort of a “staff infection,” _YUK YUK YUK_. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/135 "2013-07-10T23:08:23Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Jimi Heselden. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2013, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/136 "2013-07-10T23:28:05Z")
nm. Lousy memory made me miss the joke. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/137 "2013-07-11T23:33:44Z")
Not really famous but Duncan MacPherson was a first round pick by was a first round draft pick by the New York Islanders. He never made the NHL and after being released in 1989, he went job hunting and sightseeing in Europe. Never arriving in Scotland as planned, a car he was using was found in Austria ski resort. Employees confirmed talking to him. 14 years later his body was discovered in a glacier. > **[Duncan MacPherson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_MacPherson)** > > Duncan Alvin MacPherson (February 3, 1966 – August 9, 1989) was a Canadian professional ice hockey player who died under mysterious circumstances during a ski trip in Austria. > MacPherson was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. A standout defensive defenceman for the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League, he was drafted in the first round, 20th overall, of the 1984 NHL Entry Draft by the New York Islanders. He played minor league hockey for the Springfield Indians of the American Hockey Leag... Not a star, but Gus Sandberg was a catcher for two years with the Cincinnati Reds in the 1920s. In January 1930 he siphoned gasoline from his car and then checked the tank with a lit match. Blew up like Wil E. Coyote. His body was later cremated. ---
**Author:** ![smokey78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@smokey78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smokey78)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2013, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/138 "2013-07-11T23:40:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Brad Delp, the singer of Boston, committed suicide by wheeling 2 charcoal grills into the bathroom, sealing the door and lighting them after being caught filming his fiancé’s sister with a hidden camera. This was the guy who sang Amanda? Not a celeb, but a celeb’s spouse: David Niven’s wife fell down the basement stairs and broke her neck while she, David and a group of friends were playing hide and seek in their home. ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/139 "2013-07-12T15:35:01Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yes, I think this is correct. Found dead…from autoerotic asphyxiation. Yes, but the original post quoted said he’d been found “hung”. It’s a joke, son. Powers &8^] ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795/140 "2013-07-12T15:49:18Z")
> [@KinkiNipponTourist](#): > > I can’t believe no one has mentioned Albert Dekker. Makes Carradine look like a rank amateur. Don’t you mean a _wanker_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-a-crappy-list-of-bizarre-celebrity-deaths-we-can-do-better/662795.md?page=8)