Shocking Celebrity Deaths

Marilyn Monroe   

Marilyn Monroe's beauty, vulnerability, and innocence made her one of the most recognized faces of all time. Monroe reached stardom with films such as 'Gentlemen prefer blondes', 'How to marry a Millionaire', and 'The Seven Year Itch'. She even won a Golden Globe for 'Some like it Hot'.


The 36-year-old actress was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood home by her psychoanalyst Ralph S Greenson on August 5, 1962. The death was supposedly caused by an overdose of sleeping pills given by her housekeeper Eunice Murray. [Wonder if that's any relation to Dr. Conrad Murray.] Monroe was naked, atop her telephone on her bed, with unhealthy levels of barbiturates in her bloodstream.

Monroe's demise is steeped in mystery and has captured the imagination of many conspiracy theorists who link her death to the FBI and even US president Johny F Kennedy and his brother, Robert.
Princess Diana


With her marriage to Charles, prince of Wales, on July 29, 1981, Princess Diana became an international media figure and world icon. She had two children with Charles, Prince William and Prince Harry. The couple divorced on August 28, 1996.

On Sunday, August 31, 1997, the world was shocked to learn of a car accident in the Pont de l'Alma road tunnel in Paris that took the life of Diana, princess of Wales.


In the car were Dodi Fayed, her Egyptian millionaire lover and the driver of the Mercedes-Benz W140, Henri Paul, neither of whom survived. Fayed's bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, was the only survivor though he suffered extensive head injuries.

The crash was attributed to intoxication and the use of anti-depressants on the part of Henri Paul, who lost control of the car at high speed as he tried to escape the pursuing paparazzi.

Dodi's father, Mohamed al-Fayed, claimed that there was a larger conspiracy behind the accident and accused MI6 and Prince Phillip, duke of Edinburgh, of planning it.
Diana's death was met with public expressions of grief, and her public funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on September 6 drew an estimated three million mourners.
Anna Nicole Smith


Anna Nicole Smith, former nude centerfold model and actress, was a prominent television personality in the US. She was also starring in her own reality show called 'The Anna Nicole Show'.

Smith died on February 8, 2007, at the age of 39 as a result of an overdose of prescription drugs. She was found unresponsive in room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.


Tasma Brighthaupt, Smith's friend, a trained emergency nurse, and her bodyguard husband Maurice Brighthaupt performed CPR on the celebrity but to no avail.

The hotel front desk was alerted and security called 911. Paramedics arrived and Smith was rushed to hospital at 2:10pm where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival. The official report said her death was not considered a homicide, suicide, or one resulting from natural causes.

The paternity of Smith's newborn daughter Danielynn was another controversy with Smith's personal attorney Howard Stern and her ex-lover Larry Birkhead both claiming to be the father. Danielynn's birth certificate listed Howard Stern as her father. But a DNA test revealed with 99.9% certainty that Birkhead was the father.

Prior to her death, Smith was dealing with the death of her son, Daniel, 20, who died in his mother's hospital room while visiting her and his newborn sister. An autopsy said Daniel Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the 'major component'. 
The Murphy's

A multi-faceted artiste, Brittany Murphy starred in films such as 'Cluesless'; 'Girl Interrupted'; '8 Mile' and 'Sin City'. She was the voice of Luanne Platter on the animated series 'King of the Hill' and had also released a hit single 'Faster kill Pussycat' among other songs.

On December 20, 2009, Murphy had apparently collapsed in her bathroom. Firefighters attempted to resuscitate her. She went into cardiac arrest and was pronounced dead on arrival at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.


An autopsy performed on December 21, 2009, said the primary cause of Murphey's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anaemia and multiple drug intoxication involving legal over-the-counter and prescription medication.

Five months after Murphy's death, her film producer widower Simon Monjack was found dead at the same Hollywood Hills residence. Investigation into the cause of his death is underway.

Murphy's final film, 'Abandoned', is expected to be released this year.
James Dean

Though James Dean, 24 years old at the time of his death, had leading roles in only three films ('East of Eden' being the only one to be released in his lifetime), he remains a symbol of rebellion. His most famous film, 'Rebel without a Cause', epitomized Dean's place in pop culture.

The fateful accident which took the promising young actor's life occurred on September 30, 1955, when Dean, along with his mechanic Rolf Wuetherich, was driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder to an auto rally in Salinas, California.


At around 5:30pm (after the actor had already been pulled over once for speeding), as Dean was driving on Highway 466, the Porsche collided into a 1950 Ford Tutor driven by 23-year-old Donald Turnupseed as he was attempting to make a left turn on to Highway 4.1. Turnupseed received minor injuries from the accident. Wuetherich was thrown from the Porsche and survived the crash. Dean, however, was killed in the accident.