List of famous people who died young

For the purpose of this list, "dying young" refers to deaths before the age of 40, while "famous" refers to a historic figure or celebrity who was known for reasons other than their death.

__NOTOC__

Name

Nationality

Known for

Cause of death

Date
Aged under 16

Leo II (6/7)

Byzantine Emperor

unknown disease

474

Jessica Dubroff (7)

American

young pilot

aircraft crash

1996

JonBenét Ramsey (6)

American

beauty pageant contestant

[...]

1996

Judith Barsi (10)

American

child actress

[...]

1988

Heather O'Rourke (12)

American

child actress

bowel obstruction

1988

Samantha Smith (13)

American

social activist, actress, author

aircraft crash

1985

Alexei Romanov (13)

Russian

royal heir

assassination

1918

Mattie Stepanek (13)

American

poet

muscular distrophy

2004

Peter II of Russia (14)

Russian

Tsar

small pox

1730

Emmett Till (14)

American

civil rights figure

lynched

1955

Edward VI of England (15)

English

King of England

tuberculosis

1553

Anne Frank (15)

Dutch

Jewish diarist

typhus in Bergen-Belsen concentration camp during The Holocaust

1945
Aged 16

Lady Jane Grey

English

Queen for 9 to 13 days

beheaded by order of Mary I

1554

Julie Vega

Filipino

actress

pneumonia

1985

Tara Correa-McMullen

American

actress

[...]

2005
Aged 17

Caesarion (Little Caesar)

Egyptian

pharaoh, son of Cleopatra and Julius Caesar

executed by order of Augustus Caesar

30 BCE

Thomas Chatterton

English

poet

[...]

1770

Krissy Taylor

American

supermodel

heart failure due to a rare condition

1995

Ritchie Valens

American

Chicano-rock singer

aircraft crash

1959
Aged 18

Edwy of England

English

King of England

unknown

959

Tutankhamun

Egyptian

pharaoh

possibly gangrene from an infected leg wound

1323 BCE

Anissa Jones

American

child actor

[...] overdose

1976

John Spence

American

ska singer (No Doubt)

[...] by gunshot

1987

Ryan White

American

AIDS activist

accidental HIV infection from treatments for haemophilia

1990
Aged 19

Dorothy Dell

American

actress

car accident

1934

Junior Durkin

American

actor

car accident

1935

Joan of Arc

French

military commander

burned at the stake

1431

Adam Petty

American

racing driver, grandson of Richard Petty

car accident during race practice

2000
Aged 20

Emilie Dionne

Canadian

one of the Dionne quintuplets

complications from an epileptic seizure

1954

Josh Ryan Evans

American

soap opera actor (Passions)

heart failure

2002

Evariste Galois

French

mathematician, inventor of group theory

gunshot in duel

1832

Shauna Grant

American

adult film actress

[...]

1984

Billy the Kid

American

outlaw

gunshot

1881

Charles Sorley

Scottish

war poet

shot in the head by a sniper at the Battle of Loos

1915

Daniel Wayne Smith

American

son of Anna Nicole Smith

misdose of prescription drugs

2006

Charles Starkweather

American

spree killer

executed

1959

Dorothy Stratten

Canadian

Playboy model

[...]

1980

Carol Willis

American

Playboy model

car accident

1971
Aged 21

Bridgette Andersen

American

actress

[...] overdose

1997

Eddie Cochran

American

rockabilly musician

car crash

1960

Darby Crash

American

punk-rock singer (The Germs)

[...] by [...] overdose

1980

James Crichton

Scottish

child prodigy ("the Admirable Crichton")

killed in a swordfight

1582

Duncan Edwards

English

footballer (Manchester United)

Munich air disaster

1958

Stuart Sutcliffe

Scottish

bassist (briefly with The Beatles)

brain haemorrhage

1962

Rebecca Schaeffer

American

actress

[...] (shot to death at her home by Robert John Bardo)

1989

Sid Vicious

English

punk-rock bass guitarist ([...] Pistols)

[...] overdose, possibly intentional

1979
Aged 22

Aaliyah

American

R&B singer

aircraft crash

2001

Alfie Anido

Filipino

actor

officially listed as [...]

1981

Len Bias

American

basketball player (University of Maryland)

[...] overdose

1986

Lillian Board

British

Olympic silver medallist (1968)

cancer

1970

Dominique Dunne

American

actress

strangled into coma by ex-boyfriend

1982

Terry Fox

Canadian

athlete, activist

cancer

1981

Buddy Holly

American

rock & roll singer

aircraft crash

1959

Freddie Prinze

American

comedian, actor

[...]

1977

John Thomson

Scottish

footballer

on-pitch collision

1931

Ivo Van Damme

Belgian

middle distance runner

car accident

1976

Robert Wadlow

American

tallest man ever

infection of the left ankle

1940

Pedro Zamora

American

MTV The Real World participant

AIDS

1994
Aged 23

Ian Curtis

English

post-punk singer (Joy Division)

[...] by hanging

1980

Ernie Davis

American

college football running back (Syracuse University)

leukemia

1963

Bobby Fuller

American

rock singer, guitarist

undetermined

1966

Hank Gathers

American

college basketball player (Loyola Marymount University)

sudden cardiac arrest due to a weakening of the heart muscle

1990

Emilio Jacinto

Filipino

revolutionary leader, poet

malaria

1899

River Phoenix

American

actor

heart failure due to [...] overdose

1993

Selena

American

singer

[...]

1995

Judy Tyler

American

actress

car accident

1957

Anton Maiden

Swedish

singer

[...]

2003
Aged 24

Duane Allman

American

Southern-rock slide-guitarist (Allman Brothers Band)

motorbike accident

1971

Cliff Burton

American

heavy-metal bass guitarist (Metallica)

tour bus accident

1986

Fabio Casartelli

Italian

professional cyclist

crash during Tour de France

1995

James Dean

American

actor

car accident

1955

Gregorio del Pilar

Filipino

general

died in battle

1899

Peg Entwistle

Welsh

actress

[...]

1932

Robert Fergusson

Scottish

poet

head trauma

1774

Ben Hollioake

English

cricketer

car accident

2002

Stanley Ketchel

American

boxer

gunshot

1910

Nile Kinnick

American

college football running back (University of Iowa)

plane crash

1943

La Malinche

Indigenous Mexican

interpreter

unknown

1529

Greg Moore

Canadian

racing driver

car accident during race

1999

The Notorious BIG

American

rapper

gunshot

1997

Lee Harvey Oswald

American

alleged assassin of US President John F Kennedy

gunshot

1963

Steve Prefontaine

American

Olympic long-distance runner

car accident

1975

Tammi Terrell

American

Motown singer

brain tumour

1970

Andrew Wood

American

grunge rock singer (Mother Love Bone)

[...] overdose

1990

St Therese of Lisieux

French

Catholic saint

tuberculosis

1897
Aged 25

Rudolf IV of Austria

Austrian

Duke

--

1365

Johnny Ace

American

rock 'n' roll musician

gunshot (Russian roulette)

1954

Aubrey Beardsley

English

artist

tuberculosis

1898

Tommy Bolin

American

musician

[...] overdose

1976

Mike Darr

American

Major League Baseball outfielder

car accident

2002

Françoise Dorléac

French

actress

car accident

1967

Abigail Folger

American

socialite, heiress

[...] by followers of Charles Manson

1969

George Charles Grey

English

Liberal politician, youngest Member of Parliament

killed in action

1944

John Keats

English

Romantic poet

tuberculosis

1821

Paul Kossoff

British

rock guitarist

[...]-related heart problems

1976

Scott La Rock

American

DJ

gun violence

1987

Belinda Lee

English

actress

car accident

1961

Wilfred Owen

English

poet

killed while crossing the Sambre-Oise Canal (World War I)

1918

Benny Paret

Cuban

boxer

killed in boxing ring

1962

George Lawrence Price

Canadian

soldier

shot near the heart, last Commonwealth soldier killed in World War I

1918

Randy Rhoads

American

hard-rock guitarist (Quiet Riot/Ozzy Osbourne)

aircraft crash

1982

Dan Snyder

Canadian

ice hockey player

nosocomial infection

2003

Manfred von Richthofen

German

World War I "ace of aces"

shot down over Morlancourt Ridge

1918

Tupac Shakur (2pac)

American

rapper singer, poet

gunshots from drive-by

1996
Aged 26

Niels Henrik Abel

Norwegian

mathematician

tuberculosis

1829

Hobey Baker

American

ice hockey and American football player

plane crash

1918

Barcroft Boake

Australian

poet

[...] by hanging

1892

Monty Bowden

English

England's youngest ever cricket captain

officially epilepsy, also trampled by his own oxen

1892

Fergus Bowes-Lyon

British

soldier, brother to the Queen Mother

killed during the Battle of Loos

1915

Gia Carangi

American

fashion model

AIDS

1986

Rudolf Charousek

Hungarian

chess player

tuberculosis

1900

Nick Drake

British

folk guitarist/singer

antidepressant overdose, probably intentional

1974

Richey James Edwards

Welsh

rock guitarist (Manic Street Preachers)

presumed dead, likely jumped from bridge

1995

Jean Harlow

American

actress

uremic poisoning and kidney failure

1937

Ned Kelly

Australian

bushranger

executed

1880

Pelle Lindbergh

Swedish

ice hockey goaltender (Philadelphia Flyers)

car accident

1985

Al Lucas

American

American football player

spinal cord injury during game

2005

Raymond Paley

English

mathematician

skiing accident

1933

Gram Parsons

American

folk and country-rock singer (The Byrds)

[...] overdose

1973

Giovanni Battista Pergolesi

Italian

composer

tuberculosis

1736

Brian Piccolo

American

American football running back (Chicago Bears)

testicular cancer that metastasised into lung cancer

1970

Frank P. Ramsey

English

economist, philosopher and mathematician

jaundice

1930

Otis Redding

American

soul singer

aircraft crash

1967

Gustav Roch

German

mathematician

tuberculosis

1866

Hillel Slovak

Israeli

rock guitarist (Red Hot Chili Peppers)

[...] overdose

1988

Joey Stefano

American

[...] star

[...] overdose

1994

Sharon Tate

American

actress

[...] by followers of Charles Manson

1969

Hans Hermann von Katte

Prussian

royal's lover

execution

1730
Aged 27

Dave Alexander

American

Bassist (The Stooges)

pneumonia

1974

Jean-Michel Basquiat

American

Artist

[...] overdose ("acute mixed [...] interaction")

1988

D. Boon

American

punk rock musician (The Minutemen)

car accident

1985

John Wilkes Booth

American

assassin of President Abraham Lincoln

gunshot

1865

Jonathan Brandis

American

actor

[...]

2003

Rupert Brooke

British

poet

septic pneumonia

1915

Kurt Cobain

American

grunge singer/guitarist (Nirvana)

gunshot after lethal dose of [...], presumed [...]

1994

Gloria Dickson

American

actress

asphyxiation in a house fire

1945

Andrés Escobar

Colombian

footballer

shot, possibly for scoring "own goal"

1994

Alain-Fournier

French

author and soldier

killed in battle during World War I

1914

King Ghazi

Iraqi

king

possible [...]

1939

Peter Ham

British

musician (Badfinger)

[...] by hanging

1975

Robert Harron

American

actor

gun accident

1920

Jimi Hendrix

American

rock guitarist/singer

choked on own vomit caused by sleeping pill overdose

1970

Jon Hooker

American

former University of Kentucky baseball pitcher

plane crash

2006

Paul Hunter

British

snooker player

cancer

2006

Joseph Merrick (The Elephant Man)

British

severely deformed celebrity of Victorian era London

suffocation, possibly [...]

1890

Robert Johnson

American

delta blues guitarist/singer

alleged poisoning

1938

Brian Jones

British

rock guitarist (The Rolling Stones)

[...]-related drowning, possibly [...]

1969

Janis Joplin

American

rock/soul singer (Big Brother & the Holding Company)

[...] overdose

1970

Reggie Lewis

American

basketball player (Boston Celtics)

heart attack

1993

Jim Morrison

American

rock singer (The Doors)

heart attack, possibly due to [...] overdose

1971

Henry Moseley

British

physicist

killed in action

1915

Steve Olin

American

Major League Baseball pitcher

boating accident

1993

William Quantrill

American

Confederate guerrilla

Killed by Union army

1865

Bobby Sands

Northern Irish

hunger striker, British Member of Parliament

self-imposed starvation

1981

Pat Tillman

American

NFL player who gave up football to join US Army after September 11, 2001 attacks

"friendly fire" in Afghanistan

2004

Lea De Mae

Czech

[...] actress

brain cancer

2004

Tasunka Witko (Crazy Horse)

Native American

warrior (Oglala Sioux tribe)

bayonet wound while in US Army custody

1877

Rico Yan

Filipino

actor

either acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis or bangungot

2002
Aged 28

Isabella Beeton

English

author of "Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management"

puerperal fever

1865

The Big Bopper

American

rock & roll singer

aircraft crash

1959

Big Pun

American

rapper

heart attack brought on by obesity

2000

Lyman Bostock

American

baseball player

gunshot to the head

1978

Tim Buckley

American

folk singer

[...] overdose

1975

Roger Byrne

English

footballer (Manchester United)

Munich air disaster

1958

Jason Collier

American

basketball player

cardiac arrest

2005

Stephen Crane

American

novelist

tuberculosis

1900

Maggie Dixon

American

Women's basketball coach at Army and younger sister of University of Pittsburgh men's coach Jamie Dixon

cardiac arrest

2006

Marc-Vivien Foé

Cameroonian

footballer

heart attack during match

2003

Keith Green

American

Gospel music pioneer

plane crash

1982

Shannon Hoon

American

rock singer (Blind Melon)

[...] overdose

1995

Brandon Lee

American

actor

accidentally shot when prop gun malfunctioned on set of The Crow

1993

Novalis

German

poet and philosopher

tuberculosis

1801

Bradley Nowell

American

reggae/ska/punk rock/hip hop singer (Sublime)

[...] overdose

1996

Dražen Petrović

Croatian

basketball player

car accident

1993

Jochen Rindt

Austrian

Formula 1 racing driver

crash during race practice

1970

Edie Sedgwick

American

actress

intentional barbiturate overdose

1971

Egon Schiele

Austrian

painter

influenza

1918
Aged 29

Rafael Moreno Aranzadi

Spanish

footballer, gave his nickname to the Pichichi trophy

typhoid

1922

David Bacon

American

actor

possible [...]

1943

Marc Bolan

British

glam-rock singer (T. Rex)

car accident

1977

Anne Brontë

English

novelist

tuberculosis

1849

Merritt Butrick

American

actor

AIDS

1989

Ray Chapman

American

baseball player (Cleveland Indians)

hit in head by a pitch from Carl Mays

1920

Feodor Deahna

German

mathematician

unknown

1844

Dipendra of Nepal

Nepali

crown prince and briefly king

alleged [...] by gunshot after allegedly shooting several members of royal family

2001

Ferdinand Eisenstein

German

mathematician

tuberculosis

1852

Astrid of Belgium

Belgian

queen

car accident

1935

Mike Hawthorn

English

racing driver

car accident

1959

Barbara La Marr

American

actress

tuberculosis and nephritis

1926

Carole Landis

American

actress

[...]

1948

Christopher Marlowe

English

Renaissance playwright and poet, rival of Shakespeare

dagger wound during knife-fight

1593

DJ Screw

American

musician

overdose of codeine

2000

Percy Bysshe Shelley

English

Romantic poet (Ozymandias)

drowned at sea during storm

1822

Tom Simpson

British

professional cyclist

exhaustion during Tour de France

1967

Ronnie Van Zant

American

singer (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

aircraft crash

1977

Jean Vigo

French

Film maker

tuberculosis

1934

Hank Williams

American

country musician

accidental overdose of morphine and alcohol

1953
Aged 30

Steve Biko

South African

anti-apartheid activist

severe head trauma while in police custody

1977

Emily Brontë

English

novelist, poet

tuberculosis

1848

Jeff Buckley

American

singer/guitarist

drowned in river

1997

Rex Cherryman

American

actor

septic poisoning

1928

Gaius Valerius Catullus

Ancient Roman

poet

exhaustion

54 BCE

Patsy Cline

American

country music singer

aircraft crash

1963

Paul Dana

American

race car driver

car accident during a practice run

2006

Brandon De Wilde

American

actor

car accident

1972

Andy Gibb

British

singer

heart failure due to [...] abuse

1988

Fred Grace

English

Test cricketer, brother of WG Grace

pneumonia

1880

John Harvard

English

clergyman after whom Harvard University was named

tuberculosis

1638

Robert E. Howard

American

writer

[...]

1936

Little Willie John

American

musician

pneumonia

1968

Bronisław Malinowski

Polish

Olympic gold medallist (1980)

car accident

1981

Valentino Mazzola

Italian

footballer (Torino)

Superga air disaster

1949

Minamoto no Yoshitsune

Japanese

General (exact age at death uncertain)

Attack ordered by brother Yoritomo

1189

Bobby Phills

American

basketball player

road accident

2000

Sylvia Plath

American

Pulitzer-Prize-winning poet and author

[...] by asphyxiation

1963

Proof

American

rapper

gunfire

2006

Malik Sealy

American

basketball player

road accident

2000

Henri Toivonen

Finnish

rally car driver

car accident during race

1986

Sergei Yesenin

Russian

poet

[...]

1925
Aged 31

Richard Beckinsale

British

television actor

heart attack

1979

Branwell Brontë

English

painter

suspected alcohol poisoning or [...] overdose

1848

Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

American

author

[...]

1982

Michael Collins

Irish

revolutionary leader

assassinated

1922

Nicole DeHuff

American

actress

pneumonia

2005

Sandy Denny

British

singer

cerebral haemorrhage

1978

Pete Duel

American

actor

[...]

1971

Eazy-E

American

gangsta-rap pioneer (NWA)

complications from unknowingly having AIDS

1995

Sidney Fox

American

actress

[...]

1942

Keith Haring

American

painter

AIDS

1990

Addie Joss

American

baseball pitcher (Cleveland Indians)

tuberculosis

1911

Terry Kath

American

rock musician (Chicago)

self inflicted gunshot

1978

Harold Lockwood

American

actor

Spanish flu

1918

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes

American

singer (TLC)

car accident

2002

Renate Müller

German

actress

undetermined, [...], or [...] by Gestapo agents

1937

Nero

Roman

Roman Emperor

[...]

68

Karen Ann Quinlan

American

Central figure in a right to die dispute

Eventual pneumonia after being in a persistent vegetative state

1985

Wallace Reid

American

actor

influenza

1923

Minnie Riperton

American

singer

cancer

1979

Lyda Roberti

Polish

actress

heart attack

1938

Franz Schubert

Austrian

Composer

possibly syphilis or typhoid fever

1828

Sir Philip Sidney

English

poet and soldier

killed in battle

1586

J.E.B. Stuart

American

Confederate General

died of battle wounds

1864

Yutaka Taniyama

Japanese

Mathematician

[...]

1958

John Kennedy Toole

American

writer

[...]

1969

Nat Turner

American

rebel

execution

1831

Rudolph Valentino

Italian

actor

septicaemia

1926

Phyllis Wheatley

American

poet, first Afro-American writer published in US

poverty

1784
Aged 32

Alexander the Great

Ancient Macedonian

king, conqueror of "known" world

malaria, possibly poisoned

323 BCE

Davey Allison

American

NASCAR racing driver

helicopter crash

1993

Florence Ballard

American

singer (The Supremes)

coronary thrombosis

1976

John Bonham

British

rock drummer (Led Zeppelin)

alcohol poisoning

1980

Karen Carpenter

American

singer (The Carpenters)

cardiac arrest due to anorexia nervosa

1983

Cazuza

Brazilian

singer

AIDS

1990

Jim Clark

British

Formula One driver

car accident during race

1968

Hart Crane

American

poet

[...]

1932

Tim Crews

American

Major League Baseball pitcher

boating accident

1993

Hansie Cronje

South African

cricketer

aircraft crash

2002

Lya De Putti

Hungarian

actress

pneumonia

1931

Ernest Dowson

English

poet

alcoholism or tuberculosis

1900

Cass Elliot

American

singer (The Mamas & Papas)

heart attack brought on by obesity

1974

Brian Epstein

British

businessman, manager of The Beatles

overdose, probably of sleeping pills

1967

Wyndham Halswelle

Scottish

athlete, 400m gold medallist at 1908 Olympic Games

sniper's bullet at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle

1915

Bill Hicks

American

stand-up comedian

pancreatic cancer

1994

Bruce Lee

Chinese

martial arts actor

possibly allergic reaction

1973

Magic Sam

American

blues guitarist

heart attack

1969

Keith Moon

British

rock drummer (The Who)

overdose of anti-seizure medication

1978

Thurman Munson

American

baseball player (New York Yankees)

aircraft crash

1979

Kim Perrot

American

WNBA basketball player (Houston Comets)

brain tumor attributed to lung cancer

1999

Rob Pilatus

American

Milli Vanilli

overdose

1998

Srinivasa Ramanujan

Indian

mathematician

amoebiasis

1920

Charles Rolls

British

co-founder of Rolls-Royce

aircraft crash

1910

Gilles Villeneuve

Canadian

Formula One driver

car accident during race qualifying

1982

Kim Walker

American

actress (Heathers)

brain tumour

2001

Ricky Wilson

American

guitarist (The B-52's)

AIDS

1985

James Wolfe

English

General, established British rule over Canada

killed during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham

1759
Aged 33

John Belushi

American

actor and comedian

overdose of [...] and [...]

1982

Leigh Bowery

Australian

conceptual artist

AIDS

1994

Eva Braun

German

Adolf [...]'s lover

[...]

1945

William S. Burroughs, Jr.

American

writer

liver failure

1981

Eva Cassidy

American

singer

cancer

1996

Charlotte Coleman

British

actress

asthma attack

2001

Sam Cooke

American

soul musician

[...]

1964

Laurie Cunningham

English

footballer

car accident

1989

Paul Laurence Dunbar

American

poet

tuberculosis

1906

Althea Flynt

American

pornographer's wife

drowned due to [...] overdose

1987

Chris Farley

American

comic actor

accidental [...] and [...] overdose

1997

Sanjay Gandhi

Indian

politician, member of Nehru-Gandhi family

aircraft crash

1980

Kay Kendall

English

actress

myeloid leukaemia

1959

Valery Kharlamov

Russian

ice hockey player

car accident

1981

Darryl Kile

American

Major League Baseball pitcher

coronary heart disease

2002

Carole Lombard

American

actress, wife of Clark Gable

aircraft crash

1942

Hideto Matsumoto

Japanese

musician

hanged, possibly accidental

1998

Eva Perón

Argentinian

actress, wife of President Juan Perón

cancer

1952

Harry Nelson Pillsbury

American

chess player

syphilis

1906

Roland Ratzenberger

Austrian

Formula 1 racing driver

crash during race qualifying

1994

Keith Relf

British

singer / harmonica player (The Yardbirds)

accidentally electric shock while playing his electric guitar

1976

Richard II of England

English

king, who was deposed and imprisoned by his cousin, Henry IV

probably [...] or starvation

1400

David Rocastle

English

footballer

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

2001

Bon Scott

Australian

hard-rock singer (AC/DC)

suffocation on his own vomit after drinking binge

1980

Derrick Thomas

American

American football linebacker (Kansas City Chiefs)

car accident

2000

Theo Van Gogh

Dutch

art dealer

syphilis

1891

Ray Vitte

American

actor

shot by police while resisting arrest

1983
Aged 34

Rodney Anoai (Yokozuna)

American

professional wrestler

heart attack

2000

Alma Cogan

British

pop singer

cancer

1966

Maureen Connolly

American

tennis player

cancer

1969

Jeffrey Dahmer

American

serial killer

bludgeoning in prison by fellow inmate

1994

Thomas Anthony Dooley

American

activist

cancer

1961

Yuri Gagarin

Soviet

cosmonaut, first man in space

fighter jet crash during test flight

1968

Gioacchino Greco

Italian

chess player

unknown disease

1634

Lorraine Hansberry

American

playwright

breast cancer

1965

Owen Hart

Canadian

professional wrestler

fall while being lowered to ring during live televised event

1999

Jesse James

American

outlaw and train-robber

gunshot

1882

Cal Jammer

American

[...] star

[...]

1995

Cory Lidle

American

Major League Baseball pitcher

killed when his plane crashed into a high-rise building

2006

Jayne Mansfield

American

actress and [...] symbol

car accident

1967

Howie Morenz

Canadian

ice hockey player

complications from broken leg

1937

Marco Pantani

Italian

cyclist

cerebral oedema and heart failure from acute [...] poisoning

2004

Charlie Parker

American

jazz saxophonist

pneumonia and ulcer, brought on by [...] abuse

1955

Ronnie Peterson

Swedish

racing driver

pulmonary embolism following racing injury

1978

Dana Plato

American

actress

prescription [...] overdose

1999

James F. M. Prinsep

English

footballer, long-time holder of the record as England's youngest player

fighting in Egypt

1895

Joe Orton

English

playwright

bludgeoning w/ hammer by his jealous, [...]-addicted room-mate

1967

Bo Rein

American

college football coach (NC State / LSU)

bizarre aircraft crash in Atlantic Ocean, presumed dead

1980

Tim Richmond

American

NASCAR racing driver

AIDS

1989

Ayrton Senna

Brazilian

Formula One racing driver

crash during race

1994

Elliott Smith

American

singer-songwriter

multiple stab wounds to chest, possibly [...]

2003

Layne Staley

American

heavy metal/grunge singer (Alice in Chains)

[...] and [...] overdose

2002

Michael Ventris

British

architect, classicist, linguist

Car accident

1956

Simone Weil

French

philosopher

tuberculosis

1943

Keith Whitley

American

country western singer

alcohol poisoning

1989

Paul Williams

American

singer (The Temptations)

[...] by gunshot

1973
Aged 35

Ed Delahanty

American

baseball player

fell over Niagara Falls

1903

Josh Gibson

American

baseball player (Negro Leagues)

stroke

1947

Andy Kaufman

American

actor, comedian, hoaxer

lung cancer

1984

Meriwether Lewis

American

explorer

gunshot

1809

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Salzburgian

composer

tuberculosis

1791

Phil Ochs

American

singer

[...] by hanging

1976

Ol' Dirty [...]

American

rapper (Wu Tang Clan)

accidental overdose of [...] and painkillers

2004

José Rizal

Filipino

novelist, National Hero of the Philippines

Spanish firing squad

1896

Philippa Schuyler

American

musician

aircraft crash

1967

Matthias Sindelar

Austrian

footballer

carbon monoxide poisoning

1939

Wolfe Tone

Irish

independence leader

[...] by stab wounds to throat while awaiting execution in British custody

1798

Stevie Ray Vaughan

American

blues guitarist

helicopter crash

1990

Kellie Waymire

American

actress

cardiac arrhythmia

2003

Lena Zavaroni

Scottish

pop singer

anorexia nervosa

1999
Aged 36

GG Allin

American

punk rock singer

[...] overdose

1993

Alberto Ascari

Italian

Formula 1 racing driver

crash during testing

1955

Antonio Ascari

Italian

Formula 1 racing driver

crash during French Grand Prix

1925

Georges Bizet

French

composer

"acute articular rheumatism"

1875

Lord Byron

English

poet

tuberculosis

1824

Iris Chang

American

author

[...]

2004

Cyril Collard

French

artist

AIDS

1993

Paul Demayo

American

bodybuilder

[...] overdose

2005

Tip Foster

English

only man to have captained both England football and cricket teams

diabetes

1914

John Gilbert

American

actor

heart attack

1936

Joe Hall

Canadian

ice hockey player

Spanish flu

1919

Robin Harris

American

comedian, actor

Heart Attack

1990

Doc Holliday

American

dentist, gambler, gunfighter

tuberculosis

1887

Jesus

Judean

founder of Christianity (exact age at death uncertain)

crucifixion

c. 32

Casey Jones

American

railroad engineer

train accident

1900

Ada Lovelace

English

mathematician

uterine cancer

1852

Phil Lynott

Irish

rock musician (Thin Lizzy)

[...] overdose

1986

Bob Marley

Jamaican

reggae musician

melanoma, started in toe, spread to lung and brain

1981

Marilyn Monroe

American

actress, [...] symbol

barbiturate overdose, probably intentional

1962

Patrick Pearse

Irish

nationalist

execution

1916

Jack Pickford

Canadian-born American

actor

syphilis, alcoholism

1933

Evelyn Preer

American

actress, singer

pneumonia

1932

Henry Purcell

English

composer

possibly tuberculosis

1695

Maximilien Robespierre

French

revolutionary leader

guillotined

1794

Gaetano Scirea

Italian

footballer

car crash

1989

Henri Toulouse-Lautrec

French

artist

alcoholism

1901

Gene Vincent

American

rockabilly musician

liver damage from alcoholism

1971

Diana, Princess of Wales

British

royal, ex-wife of Prince Charles

car accident

1997

Nathanael West

American

writer

car accident

1940

Jaco Pastorius

American

bass player, former member of Weather Report

brain damage

1987
Aged 37

Mike Bloomfield

American

guitarist

overdose

1981

Robert Burns

Scottish

poet

heart problems

1796

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

English

composer

pneumonia

1912

King Curtis

American

saxophonist

[...]

1971

Jill Dando

British

television presenter

gunshot

1999

Bobby Darin

American

singer, actor

complications during heart surgery

1973

Justin Fashanu

English

footballer

[...]

1998

Stephen Foster

American

composer

accidental fall

1864

Rosalind Franklin

English

DNA pioneer

ovarian cancer

1958

Lou Gehrig

American

baseball player (New York Yankees)

amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

1941

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden

Swedish

King of Sweden

killed in Battle of Lützen

1632

Veronica Guerin

Irish

journalist

[...]

1996

Mitch Hedberg

American

comedian

[...] overdose

2005

Michael Hutchence

Australian

rock singer (INXS)

hanged in possible autoerotic asphyxiation incident

1997

Jam Master Jay

American

hip hop DJ (Run-DMC)

gunshots from unknown attacker in recording studio

2002

Marie Antoinette

French

Queen, wife of Louis XVI

executed

1793

Joe Meek

British

record producer

[...]

1967

Ernst Paul Heinz Prüfer

German

mathematician

unknown cause

1934

Aleksandr Pushkin

Russian

playwright, poet

gunshot during duel

1837

Raphael

Italian

artist

unknown cause

1520

Arthur Rimbaud

French

poet

gangrene

1891

Franklyn Seales

Vincentian

Silver Spoons actor

AIDS

1990

Soraya

Colombian-American

singer

breast cancer

2006

Irving Thalberg

American

film producer

pneumonia

1936

Vincent Van Gogh

Dutch

painter

[...] by gunshot to his chest

1890
Aged 38

Mary Kay Bergman

American

voice actress (South Park)

[...]

1999

Charlotte Brontë

English

novelist

tuberculosis (debated)

1855

Harry Chapin

American

singer-songwriter

car crash

1981

Roberto Clemente

Puerto Rican

baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates)

aircraft crash

1972

Dimebag Darrell

American

guitarist (Pantera)

[...]

2004

Ted Demme

American

film director

heart attack

2002

George Gershwin

American

composer

brain tumor

1937

Eddie Guerrero

American

professional wrestler

heart failure

2005

Florence Griffith Joyner

American

sprinter

cavernous angioma, possibly caused by performance-enhancing drugs

1998

John F. Kennedy, Jr

American

journalist, publisher

aircraft crash

1999

Sam Kinison

American

stand-up comedian

car accident caused by drunk driver

1992

Alan Kulwicki

American

NASCAR racing driver

plane crash

1993

Mario Lanza

American

operatic tenor and actor

heart attack

1959

Sonny Liston

American

heavyweight boxer

[...] overdose

1970

Anna Malle

American

pornographic actress

car crash

2006

Felix Mendelssohn

German

composer

stroke

1847

Marie Prevost

Canadian-born American

actress

alcoholism, malnutrition

1937

David Rappaport

British

diminutive actor

[...]

1990

Charles Kingsford Smith

Australian

pioneering aviator

presumed aircraft crash

1935

Joseph Smith, Jr

American

founder of Latter Day Saint movement (Mormon Church)

gunshot and fall from window

1844

Leonid Stein

Russian

chess player

heart attack

1973

Johnny Thunders

American

glam-rock guitarist/singer (New York Dolls)

methadone and alcohol poisoning

1991
Aged 39

Bill Black

American

bass player for Elvis

brain tumour

1965

Frédéric Chopin

Polish

composer

tuberculosis

1849

Crazy Horse

Sioux

warrior

assassination

1877

Amelia Earhart

American

aviator

plane disappeared while crossing Pacific Ocean, presumed dead

1937

Felix Gonzalez-Torres

American

artist

AIDS

1996

Che Guevara

Argentinean

Marxist revolutionary and Cuban guerrilla leader

executed while in Bolivian army’s custody

1967

Craig Heyward

American

former NFL running back

brain tumor

2006

Eldon Hoke

American

drummer

train collision

1997

Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson

American

Confederate Civil War general

fatally wounded in battle

1863

Martin Luther King, Jr

American

Nobel laureate, minister, civil rights activist

gunshot

1968

Klaus Nomi

German

singer

AIDS

1983

Flannery O'Connor

American

Author

lupus

1964

Blaise Pascal

French

mathematician and philosopher

possibly tuberculosis or stomach cancer

1662

Howard Taylor Ricketts

American

pathologist

typhus

1910

Bernhard Riemann

German

mathematician

tuberculosis

1866

Jermaine Stewart

American

musician

AIDS

1997

Dylan Thomas

Welsh

poet

alcohol poisoning

1953

Evangelista Torricelli

Italian

physicist and mathematician

typhoid fever

1647

Georges Vézina

Canadian

ice hockey goaltender (Canadien)

tuberculosis

1926

Carl Maria von Weber

German

composer

tuberculosis

1826

Dan White

American

politician

[...]

1985

Dennis Wilson

American

rock & roll musician (The Beach Boys)

drowning due to intoxication

1983

Malcolm X

American

leader of militant black nationalism

gunshots

1965

Karen Young

American

disco singer

Bleeding ulcer

1991

See also

  • List of professional cyclists who died during a race
  • List of people who died in aviation-related incidents
  • 27 Club, for rock stars who died aged 27

nl:Lijst van bekende personen die op jonge leeftijd zijn gestorven