Death fascinates the living. When a celebrity dies, the world takes notice.
Below is a collection of interesting facts and trivia, about the deaths of modern and past celebrities.
A Winning Death
Frank Hayes, jockey (b. ? d. 1923)
Hayes died of a massive heart attack during a race at Belmont, New York. His horse, “Sweet Kiss”, finished and won the race, making Hayes the only jockey ever, to win a race while dead.
Death by Stupidity
Terry Kath, guitarist and founder, rock group Chicago (b. 1946 - d. 1978)
Kath shot and killed himself with a semi-automatic 9mm pistol, while playing a game of mock Russian roulette. His famous last words: “Don't worry, it's not loaded”.
Joan Vollmer Adams Burroughs (b. 1924 - d. 1951)
Famed Beat poet William Burroughs shot his wife to death in 1951. At a party, Joan balanced a glass of water atop her head. Burroughs, a crack shot, wanted to try a William Tell stunt. He took out his gun, aimed at the glass and fired. He missed and shot Joan in the head, killing her instantly.
Jon-Erik Hexum, model-turned-actor (b. 1957 - d.1984)
According to his co-stars, Hexum liked to joke around with guns. While on set for a TV series, “Cover Up”, the actor held a gun loaded with blanks to his head, and fired. A crew member allegedly said:
"Jon smiled and pulled the trigger. There was a loud bang and a bright flash, then black smoke. Jon screamed in agony, then looked kind of amazed as he slumped back onto the bed with blood streaming from a severe head wound. It was horrible."
Blanks use wadding to seal gunpowder into the shell. Unknown to Hexum, a gun fires the wadding with enough force to cause severe injury or death at close range. The paper wadding in the blank struck him in the temple, shattered a piece of his skull, and propelled the pieces into his brain. He died six days later.
Kevin Smith, actor (b. 1963 - d. 2002)
Smith was best-known for his role as Ares, on the television series “Hercules”. After shooting a film in China, Smith decided to climb a prop tower on the set of another film. He fell three stories, and died nine days later of massive head injuries.
Death by Wild Animal
Timothy Treadwell (b. 1957 - d. 2003) and Amie Huguenard (b. 1965 - d. 2003)
Environmentalist Timothy Treadwell spent thirteen seasons in Alaska, studying and befriending grizzly bears. He and his girlfriend, Amie Huguenard, extended their final visit by a week, as Treadwell wanted to bond with a new bear in the area.
A day before departure, the grizzly attacked Treadwell. Huguenard screamed and beat the bear with a frying pan. The grizzly ran away, but returned and attacked Treadwell again. As it dragged him away, Amie was screaming hysterically. The bear dropped Treadwell and went after her, mauling her to death as well. A six-minute audio tape of the attack remains.
Historical Deaths
Pope Johann XII (aka Pope John XII) c. 937 - d. 14 May 964
Elected at the age of eighteen, Johann was the second-youngest pope in history. He led a life of debauchery and died at the age of twenty-seven. The Catholic Encyclopedia states that he died “eight days after he had been ... stricken by paralysis in the act of adultery. ... On that occasion the devil dealt him a blow on the temple in consequence of which he died.”
Others attribute Johann's death to a beating by a jealous husband.
The most expensive funeral in history was that of Alexander the Great (d. 323BC)
In modern terms, it would cost about $600,000,000. A road of 1,400 kilometers (900 miles) was built, to move his body from Babylon to Alexandria. His funeral procession included a jewel-studded hearse the size of a small building, pulled by sixty-four horses.
Death by Kink?
Albert Dekker, actor and legislator (California) b. 1905 - d. 1968
Albert Dekker died in the bathroom of his Hollywood home. His hands and feet were tied, and a cord wound around his neck to the showerhead. Depending on sources, he was either naked, or wearing women's lingerie. He had a hypodermic needle jammed into each arm, and someone had scrawled obscenities all over his corpse.
At first, examiners thought Dekker had committed suicide, or had died during kinky sex. Robbery might also have been a motive, since items were missing from the house. Authorities finally ruled that Albert Dekker had died of accidental asphyxiation, but the case remains unsolved.
First Televised Suicide
Christine Chubbuck, newscaster (b. 1944 - d. 1974)
During a live morning broadcast, Florida newscaster Chris Chubbuck looked at the camera and said, “And now, in keeping with Channel 40's policy of always bringing you the latest in blood and guts, in living color, you're about to see another first - an attempted suicide.”
She then put a gun behind her right ear, and shot herself. She died 14 hours later. Chubbuck had been struggling with depression, and producers had recently cut a story of hers, in favor of one with more “blood and guts”.
The Final Frontier
1997: Gene Roddenbury, creator of Star Trek; and LSD guru Timothy Leary were the first celebrities to have their ashes sent into space.
Lipstick-sized capsules of their ashes, along with those of twenty-two others, hitched a ride on a larger project (to launch Spain's first satellite). The price was $4,800 per ash capsule. The tiny capsules orbited Earth for six years, and eventually burned up in the atmosphere.
According to the CIA Wold Factbook, about 155,000 people die each day. A few die famous, and others are famous because they die. Surrounded by trivia and interesting facts, celebrity deaths live on.
