"Auntie Em Slipped a Plastic Bag Over Her Head...": Disturbing Hollywood Deaths, from D.W. Griffith to River Phoenix

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Dedicated to Kenneth Anger

"I have wrestled with death. It is the most unexciting contest you can imagine. It takes place in an impalpable greyness, with nothing underfoot, with nothing around, without spectators, without clamour, without glory, without the great desire of victory, without the great fear of defeat."
- Joseph Conrad, Heart of Darkness

James Dean's Death Car

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Inspiration for the following list of dead movie and television celebrities came from Kenneth Anger's underground classic Hollywood Babylon - specifically his detailed description of Judy Garland's final plunge into the abyss: "Judy's self-snuff took place in a locked London bathroom. MGM's Amphetamine Annie really made it at last after so many attempts - pills, wrist slashings years before in her Hollywood bathroom, hack hack with broken glass. Dorothy died seated on the 'loo,' but this was no Over-the-Rainbow trip. Fully dressed, crouched over as if in meditation, her face a welter of blood, an Aztec mask. She was hundreds of years old, the oldest star ever, if you count emotional years, the toll they take, dramas galor for a dozen lifetimes. She was 'She,' who had stepped into the Flame once too often."

Some may call this compendium morbid, some may call it truth - either way I don't give a shit.

• D.W. Griffith [1875-1948] Director of The Birth of a Nation - "Griffith never really settled down but spent his remaining years in a succession of apartment-hotels. He was a bitter, lonely, and nearly forgotten man when he died of a cerebral hemorrhage in a Hollywood hotel room at the age of 73." --The Film Encyclopedia

• William Desmond Taylor [1877-1922] Silent Film Director - Shot to death in his Los Angeles bungalow. [Editor's Note: The case remains unsolved.]

• Will Rogers [1879-1935] American Humorist - Star of State Fair killed in plane crash, along with legendary pilot Wiley Post, near Point Barrow, Alaska.

• Lewis Stone [1879-1953] "Judge Hardy" - Actor who starred in more than a dozen Andy Hardy flicks suffered a heart attack while chasing a gang of youths who were throwing rocks at his house.

• Clara Blandick [1880-1962] "Auntie Em" - Took a one-way trip to the Land of Oz after slipping a plastic bag over her head: "I am now about to take the great adventure . . ."

• Lou Tellegen [1881-1934] Silent Film Star - Committed suicide by stabbing his heart seven times with a pair of sewing scissors.

• John Barrymore [1882-1942] Film Star, Drunk - "John Barrymore was a serious actor who did a great deal of research for all his parts, until, I guess, he was around 50. Then he started drinking heavily . . . So he drank himself to death. It took him 10 years." --John Carradine

• Thomas Ince [1882-1924] Silent Film Director - Died of a "heart attack" aboard William Randolph Hearst's yacht. However, rumor has it that Hearst suspected another yacht guest, silent film legend Charlie Chaplin, of having an affair with his mistress, Marion Davies. Hearst allegedly aimed his gun at Chaplin, and Ince was accidentally shot while trying to shield Chaplin and Davies. [Editor's Note: Chaplin denied being on the yacht.]

• Bela Lugosi [1882-1956] "Dracula" - Legendary star of horror films, drug addict and mad scientist in several Ed Wood Jr. classics, Lugosi kicked the bucket right before he was scheduled to star in Plan 9 From Outer Space. Buried in his Dracula cape.

• Olive Thomas [1884-1920] Silent Film Actress - Committed suicide in Paris after failing in her quest to find a supply of cocaine. However, The Film Encyclopedia lists her death as "an overdose of barbiturates." You make the call.

• Karl Dane [1886-1934] Silent Film Star - From film star (The Big Parade) to hot-dog vendor, ending with the grand finale, a gunshot blast to the head at the age of 48. His film career had died years earlier.

• Florence Lawrence [1886-1938] "The Biograph Girl" - Long-forgotten film actress committed suicide by swallowing ant paste at the age of 52.

• Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle [1887-1933] Silent Film Comedian - Acquitted (after three trials) of raping and murdering a young model named Virginia Rappe during a wild drinking party, the rotund actor (320 pounds, give or take 20 pounds) kissed his career goodbye, started drinking heavily and died at the age of 46. [Editor's Note: Did Arbuckle get a raw deal or was he the O.J. Simpson of the Silent Film Era?]

• Victor Kilian [1891-1979] The "Fernwood Flasher" - "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" star beaten to death while watching television.

• Wallace Reid [1891-1923] Silent Film Star - Became addicted to morphine after getting a head injury in a train crash; supplemented his addiction by drinking heavily; finally landed in a sanitarium where he died at the tender age of 32. [Source: The Film Encyclopedia]

• Leslie Howard [1893-1943] Ashley Wilkes in Gone With the Wind - Shot down by Nazis as he flew from Lisbon to London on a "secret mission" during World War II. (Source: The Film Encyclopedia)

• Clyde Bruckman [1894-1955] Director, Screenwriter - "[D]riven to drink by professional failure and marital problems and armed with a pistol he had borrowed from Buster Keaton, he shot himself to death in the restroom of a Hollywood restaurant after a meal for which he could not pay." --The Film Encyclopedia

• Rudolph Valentino [1895-1926] Silent Film Star - Star of The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse died of uremic poisoning at the age of 31. [Editor's Note: Several of his more hysterical female fans committed suicide after they heard the news.]

• James Whale [1896-1957] Director of Frankenstein - Drowned in his swimming pool "under mysterious circumstances." [Source: The Film Encyclopedia]

• Marie Prevost [1898-1937] Silent Film Star - Died of alcoholism (The Film Encyclopedia claims it was "extreme malnutrition"); when found days later, police discovered that Prevost's pet dachshund "had chewed up her arms and legs in a futile attempt to awaken her. Several empty whiskey bottles were found nearby . . ." (Source: This is Hollywood)

• Ramon Novarro [1899-1968] Silent Film Star - Beaten to death by intruders in his Hollywood Hills home on Halloween night.

• Albert Dekker [1904-68] "Dr. Cyclops" - The most bizarre one of all! Found in the bathroom of his apartment "hanging by his neck at the end of a rope that was tied to a shower curtain rod. The rope, knotted tightly around his neck, was also wrapped around both of his legs and around one of his arms. His hands were bound with a pair of handcuffs, and two hyperdermic needles were stuck in his body." The coroner recorded his death as an "accident." (Source: This is Hollywood)

• Thelma Todd [1905-35] "Ice-Cream Blonde" - Found "slumped over the steering wheel of her Lincoln Phaeton Touring car" at the age of 30. Her demise was declared an "accidental death from carbon monoxide poisoning" although some suspected murder. [Editor's Note: Todd's screen credits include the Marx Brother classics Horse Feathers and Monkey Business.]

• Peg Entwhistle [1908-32] Aspiring Silent Film Actress - Dove off the 50-foot letter "H" of the HOLLYWOOD sign. In her suicide note, Entwistle wrote: "I'm afraid I'm a coward. I'm sorry for everything."

• Carole Lombard [1908-42] Glamorous Star of the '30s - Plane crashed into Table Rock Mountain outside of Las Vegas during a U.S.-Bond-selling tour. [Editor's Note: According to Hollywood legend, her husband, Clark Gable, was banging another starlet (was it Lana Turner?) when he heard the news.]

• Lupe Velez [1908-44] "Mexican Spitfire" - Went out in style by committing suicide by swallowing pills amid a roomful of flowers.

• Errol Flynn [1909-59] Film Star, Drunk - Died of a "heart attack" in Vancouver, Canada, after years of alcohol abuse. According to rumor, he was banging his teenage lover at the time. [Editor's Note: Flynn's drinking buddies placed six bottles of whiskey in his casket.]

• Jean Harlow [1911-37] "Platinum Blonde" - Born Harlean Carpenter, died of "cerebral edema" at the age of 26. Interestingly, Harlow had married production executive Paul Bern, who was twice her age, in 1932. Bern committed suicide a few months later. [Editor's Note: Apparently, Bern was distraught over his inability to satisfy the Platinum Blonde in the bedroom.]

• John Garfield [1913-52] Film Star, Everyman - Died of a heart attack in 1952, shortly after being placed on the Hollywood blacklist. [Editor's Note: Many say it was the blacklist that did him in.]

• Alan Ladd [1913-64] Star of Shane - Ladd's career was in a nosedive at the time of his death at the age of 50. At first he was nearly killed by an "accidental" self-inflicted gunshot wound and then he succeeded in his mission with an overdose of sedatives. (Source: The Film Encyclopedia)

• Gig Young [1913-78] B-Movie Actor, Oscar Winner - "Young died in tragic circumstances. His body was found by police in a Manhattan apartment next to the body of his bride of three weeks, a 31-year-old German-born actress. His hand was clutching a gun. Police theorized he had shot his wife, then turned the gun on himself. Ironically, his last film was titled Game of Death." --The Film Encyclopedia

• George Reeves [1914-59] One of the Tarleton Twins in Gone With the Wind - TV Superman apparently committed suicide via pistol blast to the head. [Editor's Note: Rumors persist that he was actually murdered.]

• Cass Daley [1915-75] Actress, Comedienne, Singer - "[A]ttempting a comeback in the early '70s, when she died in a freak accident. Alone at home, she fell over a glass coffee table, and a shard of glass slashed her neck." --The Film Encyclopedia

• Peter Finch [1916-77] Star of Network - "Mad as hell" actor died of massive heart attack while promoting Network and was first and only actor to ever receive an Oscar posthumously.

• William Holden [1918-81] Sunset Boulevard Star - After extended drinking bout, fell down, hit his head on an end table and bled to death.

• Carole Landis [1919-48] Star of Four Jills in a Jeep - Suicide by overdose of sleeping pills at the age of 29 - apparently because she was distraught over the end of her affair with Rex Harrison.

• Montgomery Clift [1920-1966] Introspective, Troubled Movie Star - After an automobile accident in 1957, Clift slipped into a dark period of alcoholism and increasingly bizarre behavior. He died of a "heart attack" at the age of 45. (Source: The Film Encyclopedia)

• Brian Keith [1921-97] Prolific Character Actor - "Family Affair" star, who was suffering from lung cancer and emphysema, committed suicide by shooting himself at his Malibu home.

• Redd Foxx [1922-91] Fred Sanford - Actor - who battled cocaine addiction and bankruptcy for much of his later life - suffered a heart attack, clutching his chest and collapsing for the final time on the set of his new series, "The Royal Family." (Editor's Note: Many on the set thought that Foxx was just joking since he so often feigned having heart attacks.)

• Judy Garland [1922-69] Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz - See the introduction. Official cause of death: barbituate poisoning (quinalbarbitone), incautious self-overdosage, accidental.

• Dorothy Dandridge [1923-65] Star of Carmen Jones, Porgy and Bess - Died in her Hollywood apartment from an overdose of barbiturates; her bank account revealed a total of $2.14.

• Elizabeth Short [1924-47] "Black Dahlia" - Most disturbing of them all! Aspiring film actress was found in a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles, her body "savagely mutilated" and "hacked in half at the waist." No one has ever been arrested in connection with the murder, which inspired the movie True Confessions.

• Marilyn Monroe [1926-62] Screen Goddess - Died of a drug overdose on August 5, 1962, at the age of 36. According to the coroner, she swallowed 47 tablets of Nembutal. [Editor's Note: According to unconfirmed legend, the mob, Jack Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy or all of the above had a hand in her death.]

• Carl Switzer [1926-59] "Alfalfa" - Shot to death by a hunting buddy during a drunken brawl over a $50 debt at the age of 33. Police ruled the slaying a "justifiable homicide." (Source: The Film Encyclopedia)

• Jack Cassidy [1927-76] Star of The Eiger Sanction - David Cassidy's father died after falling asleep while holding a lighted cigarette, causing his apartment to go up in flames.

• Bob Crane [1928-78] "Hogan's Heroes" Star - Sex addict who videotaped his conquests "savagely beaten to death" in his apartment. Although Crane's friend, John Carpenter, has always been considered a prime suspect in the murder, he was charged and then acquitted of the crime in the mid-90s. (Source: Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die?)

• Scotty Beckett [1929-68] "Scotty" in the "Our Gang" Series - Some say he died two days after suffering from a brutal beating, some say drug overdose, some say suicide. Take your pick.

• Frank Christi [1929-82] Legendary Tough Guy - Murdered by drug dealers in his carport.

• Grace Kelly [1929-82] Glamorous Star, Princess of Monaco - Suffered a massive stroke while driving her Rover 3500, which plunged 120 feet off a cliff.

• Nick Adams [1931-68] Star of Rebel Without a Cause - Died of apparent drug overdose at his Beverly Hills home, "propped against the wall, his eyes open in a blank stare." No syringes or pill bottles were found in the house. [Editor's Note: Adams' real name was Nicholas Adamshock.]

• James Dean [1931-55] Jim Stark, Rebel Without a Cause - Killed in a car crash while driving his Porsche 550 Spyder to a race. Last words: "That guy up there's gotta stop; he'll see us."

• Pier Angeli [1932-71] Italian Actress - James Dean's ex-girlfriend ended up marrying singer Vic Damone; overdosed on barbiturates at the age of 39.

• Vic Morrow [1932-82] "Coach Roy Turner," The Bad News Bears - Decapitated by a helicopter during a stunt scene on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.

• Jayne Mansfield [1933-67] Hollywood Sexpot - Victim of auto accident when her car plowed underneath a slow-moving tractor-trailer; not decapitated as commonly believed (however the top of her head was ripped off). Death certificate indicated a "crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain." At one time, Mansfield's "Death Car" could be viewed by morbid curiosity seekers at the Tragedy in U.S. History Museum in St. Augustine, Florida. (Source: www.findadeath.com)

• Inger Stevens [1934-70] Swedish Actress - Overdose of barbiturates at her Hollywood Hills home at the age of 36.

• Elvis Presley [1935-77] "The King" - Star of 33 mediocre films died at home on the toilet while reading The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus. "While Presley's popularity was booming anew, his health was deteriorating. He gained considerable weight, the result of a steady diet of junk food - especially his favorite soft drinks, jelly doughnuts and banana splits. After his sudden death of a heart attack at 42, close associates revealed he had been heavily dependent on a whole array of stimulant and depressant pills." --The Film Encyclopedia

• Bobby Driscoll [1937-68] Child Star of the '40s - Actor who played Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island (1950), later became a drug addict and vagrant. According to The Film Encyclopedia, he moved to New York City in 1965, "where three years later his body was found in the rubble of an abandoned tenement, the victim of a heart attack. He was buried in a pauper's grave. It was not until 1969, a full year after the burial, that, through fingerprints, the body was identified as that of Driscoll."

• Natalie Wood [1938-81] Star of Rebel Without a Cause and West Side Story - Body was found floating facedown off Catalina Island in 1981, completing the Rebel Without a Cause curse that also claimed costars James Dean, Sal Mineo and Nick Adams. Was her death an "accidental drowning," suicide or murder?

• Sal Mineo [1939-76] "Plato" in Rebel Without a Cause - Washed-up actor was stabbed in the heart by a robber outside his West Hollywood apartment in 1974. He was 37 years old.

• Haing S. Ngor [1940-96] Oscar-Winning Actor of The Killing Fields - Robbed and shot to death outside his Los Angeles home.

• Bruce Lee [1941-73] Martial Arts Legend - Was the 32-year-old martial arts legend poisoned by jealous "Chinese martial arts lords" for revealing trade secrets in his popular films such as Enter the Dragon? [Editor's Note: Tragically, Lee's son, Brandon, was "accidentally" shot and killed by a gun that was supposed to be filled with blanks during the filming of The Crow in 1993.]

• Jack Nance [1943-96] "Eraserhead" - Received fatal head injury (acute subdural hematoma) during a fight in a donut shop.

• Sharon Tate [1943-69] Valley of the Dolls Star - Pregnant wife of director Roman Polanski, along with four houseguests, brutally murdered by Manson gang in her Beverly Hills estate (the former home of Henry Fonda).

• Herve Villechaize [1943-93] Nick Nack in The Man With the Golden Gun - Reduced to doing doughnut commercials after leaving "Fantasy Island", the pint-size star (3'11") committed suicide with a gunshot to the chest on his backyard patio.

• Michael Reeves [1944-69] British Film Director - One of England's most-promising directors (The Conqueror Worm), Reeves overdosed on sleeping pills in 1969. He was just 25 years old.

• Phil Hartman [1948-98] "Marlax" in the Coneheads - "Saturday Night Live" star murdered by wife while he slept. His wife later returned to the murder scene and committed suicide by blowing her brains out.

• John Belushi [1949-82] Animal House Star - Overdosed after getting shot up with a speedball, a combination of cocaine and heroin, at the Chateau Marmont hotel (Bungalow Number 3) on Sunset Boulevard. "In your 20s, you feel like you're indestructible, that nothing can kill you and you laugh at death. You go on and stay up for days and do as many things as you can and then, in your 30s, you think, well, maybe I'll be around here a little longer, so I'm going to maybe take better care of myself." —John Belushi, Rolling Stone interview, January 21, 1982

• Andy Kaufman [1949-84] Star of Heartbeeps - Eccentric "performance artist" and lifelong nonsmoker died of lung cancer at the age of 35. Or did he? Among other achievements, Andy will be remembered for idolizing Howdy Doody, curling up in a sleeping bag onstage, impersonating Elvis while the King was still alive, lip-synching to the theme from Mighty Mouse, appearing on "The Dating Game" as "Baji Kimran," working as a busboy AFTER becoming a star on "Taxi," taking the whole audience out for milk and cookies, declaring himself Intergender Wrestling Champion and, last but not least, faking his own death. [Editor's Note: Andy was recently spotted working as a busboy at Honey's Truck Stop and Bar-B-Que outside Huntsville, Alabama, according to an unnamed tabloid.]

• John Candy [1950-94] "Del Griffith," Planes, Trains and Automobiles - Obese comic actor - approximately 375 pounds - died of massive heart attack while filming the cinematic masterpiece, Wagons East.

• Sam Kinison [1953-92] Comedian, Actor, Legend - Hard-partying performer stole the show as "Professor Terguson," the demented history professor in Back to School, killed in head-on collision as he and his new bride, Malika, were driving through the California desert on the way to a Nevada show. [Editor's Note: Kinison's grave marker reads, "In another time and place he would have been called prophet".]

• Margaux Hemingway [1954-96] Star of Lipstick - Granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway committed suicide in her rundown apartment by overdosing on pills on July 2nd, the anniversary of Ernest's own suicide. [Editor's Note: Her body was discovered by police a week later.]

• Freddie Prinze [1954-81] "Chico" and the Man - Comic shot himself in the head with a .38-calibur revolver at the age of 26.

• Anissa Jones [1958-76] "Buffy" on "Family Affair" - From child star to employee at a donut shop, died of massive drug overdose at the age of 18.

• Dorothy Stratten [1960-80] Playboy Playmate, Aspiring Actress - Star of Galaxina tortured and murdered by her psychotic husband, Paul Snider, at the age of 20. Snider shot himself - "but only after having sex with Dorothy's corpse." (Source: "Unsolved Hollywood Mysteries," The New National Enquirer)

• Chris Farley [1964-97] Tommy Boy Star - Obese, self-destructive "Saturday Night Live" legend overdosed on heroin and cocaine at the age of 33, following in the footsteps of his hero, John Belushi. [Editor's Note: For disturbing photos of the death scene, visit www.rotten.com.]

• Dana Plato [1964-99] "Kimberly Drummond" on "Diff'rent Strokes" - Former child star posed for Playboy in 1989, battled drug and alcohol addictions, and was arrested for armed robbery of a video store. Cause of death, "toxic concentrations of the drugs carisoprodol and Hydrocodone/acetaminophetamin," was determined to be a suicide.

• River Phoenix [1970-93] Stand By Me Star - Drug overdose (a combination of cocaine and morphine) on the sidewalk outside The Viper Room (8852 Sunset Boulevard) in Los Angeles on Halloween night at the age of 23.

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"Every Man and every Woman is a Star." --Aleister Crowley, quoted in Hollywood Babylon II

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SOURCES FOR FURTHER INFORMATION

• Celebrity Morgue (http://www.CelebrityMorgue.com)
• Find a Death (www.findadeath.com)
• Hollywood Babylon, Kenneth Anger, Dell Publishing, 1975
• Hollywood Babylon II, Kenneth Anger, New American Library, 1985
• The Film Encyclopedia, Ephraim Katz, Harper & Row, 1979
• The National Enquirer: Thirty Years of Unforgettable Images, American Media, Inc., 2001
• This is Hollywood, Ken Schessler, Universal Books, 1991
• "Unsolved Hollywood Mysteries," The New National Enquirer, March 3, 1998
• Where are They Buried? How Did They Die?, Tod Benoit, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2003

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