The glamorous lives of famous personalities often have some hidden truths; they hide them so well that the public can never imagine what they are going through.
This article shares the tragic end of famous personalities, including actors, musicians, artists, authors, and army officers. They all led extraordinary lives, but their ends shocked people around them. Some gave up and took their own lives, while some got killed for different reasons.
Vanessa Marquez
Marquez was an American actress born in Los Angeles on December 21, 1968. She played the role of nurse Wendy Goldman in the first three seasons of ER and Ana Delgado in the 1988 teacher drama Stand and Deliver. She died on August 30, 2018, at her home during a wellness check. She was shot by police officers for pointing firearms toward the officers. She was 49 years old.
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the lawyer, statesman, and 16th president of The United States from March 4th 1861 till his death in 1865. He was one of the greatest US presidents and is considered a martyr hero. He was attending a play with his wife at Ford’s theatre when John Wilkes Booth shot him on April 14, 1865. He was taken to a house across the street, where he remained in a coma for eight hours; on the morning of April 15, he died.
Tupac Shakur
Tupac was considered a king in the hip-hop world. He is considered as the most influential rapper of the 20th century, activist, and songwriter. His stage names were 2pac and Makaveli. He raised his voice for Black America. On September 7, 1996, He was in Las Vegas when he was shot four times by an unidentified assailant. He died on September 13, after six days of this attack.
The Notorious B.I.G
Christopher George Latore Wallace was born on May 21, 1972 in New York. “Biggie Smalls” was an American iconic rapper. His life experiences were evident through his lyrics. Six months after Tupac’s death, In March 1997, he was at an after-party in LA after the Soul Trained Awards. Later on, he was murdered by some unknown assailant in a drive-by shooting when he was going back to the hotel.
Mikhail Lermontov
Mikhail was a brilliant Russian romantic writer, poet, and painter born in Moscow on October 15, 1814. He was known as ‘The poet of Caucasus’. He is considered as the greatest figure in Russian romanticism. On July 27th 1841, The duel between Mikhail Lermontov and Nikolai Martynov happened, and Martynov took the first shoot and killed Lermontov on the spot. He was only 26 when he died.
Kurt Cobain
Cobain was an American musician, lead vocalist, guitarist, and founding member of the rock band Nirvana. “Nevermind” was the second album that made him an international superstar in 1991. He became a global sensation, but he was dealing with his personal issues that made him a drug addict. He was only 27 when he took his own life on April 5, 1994. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Brandon Lee
Lee was the son of martial artist and film actor Bruce Lee, born on February 1, 1965, in Oakland, California. He was a young rising star trained in martial arts and then studied acting, his career bloomed like his father. During the shoot of the film The Crow, he was killed accidentally by a prop gun on March 31, 1993. He was taken to the hospital but couldn’t make it and passed away.
John Lennon
An English singer, songwriter, and peace activist, was born on October 9, 1940 in Liverpool, England. He was the founding member of the band The Beatles, an English rock band. His unique vocals and songwriting gave him fame in the 1960s. On December 8, 1980, John’s life was cut short in New York at 5 pm. He was shot twice in the back and in the shoulder and taken to the hospital but declared dead at 11:15 pm.
Lana Clarkson
Lana was an American fashion model and actress born on April 5, 1962. During the 1980s, she got fame after her several movies. She did sword-and-sorcery films. She was with record producer Phil Spector at his home when he shot and killed her; she was only 40 on February 3, 2003, when she died. Phil was charged with second-degree murder.
Kerry Von Erich
Kerry Gene Adkisson was born on February 3, 1960, in New York; he was an American professional wrestler and belonged to a professional wrestler family. He was part of the World Wrestling Federation and known as the Texas Tornado. He held forty championships. He took his own life on February 18, 1993. Fifteen days after his 33rd birthday, He shot himself in the chest. His dad was with him during his last moments.
Andres Escobar
He was a Colombian professional footballer who played center-back. He was born on March 13, 1967, and was known as the gentleman due to his personality on the pitch. He played in the Colombian National Team. During the 1994 FIFA World Cup, he made his own goal against the USA and lost the match; following the elimination of Colombia, he met his friends. He was alone in the parking when three men appeared and killed him on July 2, 1994.
Rebecca Schaeffer
Rebecca Lucile Schaeffer was an American model and actress born on November 6, 1967. She started her career as a model as a teenager, then later started acting, and she played Patricia ‘Patti’ Russell in the CBS comedy My Sister Sam. She did several movies. She was just 21 when she was killed by a fan on July 18, 1989, who had been stalking her.
Lee Harvey Oswald
Oswald was a U.S. Marine veteran. He killed John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of America, on November 22, 1963, in Dallas. After 45 minutes, He killed a Dallas police officer. He was charged with the assassination of a president and was taken to police custody, where he was killed by a local nightclub owner, Jack Ruby, after two days. He was 24.
Manfred von Richthofen
He is known as Baron von Richthofen or Red Baron in English and was a fighter pilot with the German Air Force during World War I. He was incredible in the art of dogfighting, which was way too dangerous at that time due to the open cockpit design of planes. He has 80 air combat victories. A single bullet hit him through the chest, damaging his heart and lungs on April 21, 1918. He was considered a hero in Germany.
Adolf Hitler
Hitler was a German politician and the leader of the Nazi party. He was closely involved in the military operations throughout the war. He declared war on the United States in 1941; by the end of 1941, the German army had occupied most of Europe, but this all reversed after 1945. He married his long-term partner in April 1945. The couple had to commit suicide so that they could avoid capture by the Soviet Red Army.
Junior Seau
Tiaina Baul Junior Seau was born on January 19, 1969; he was an American football player and a linebacker who played in the National Football League. He was a passionate player. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015. On May 2, 2012, he took his own life by shooting himself in the chest at his home in Oceanside. He left no suicidal note.
Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez Cornelius was an American television show host and producer. He created the dance and music show Soul Train, which he hosted from 1970 to 1993. February 1, 2012, at around 4 pm, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot at the age of 75. His autopsy revealed that he was suffering from seizures. His health declined during his last six months. He had told his son, “I don’t know how much longer I can take this.”
John Wilkes Booth
John was an American stage actor and was a member of the prominent 19th-century Booth theatrical family from Maryland, who killed American President Abraham Lincoln. He fled after shooting him, but he was found after 12 days while hiding in the barn of a Northern Virginia farm. He didn’t surrender and got killed by a soldier. He was only 26.
John Marshall Alexander Jr
He was known by the stage name Johnny Ace. He was an American rhythm and blues singer. His death was an accidental self-inflicted gunshot. According to reports, he was playing Russian roulette when this incident happened. He was only 25. His funeral was held on January 2, 1955, at Clayborn temple in Memphis, which almost 5000 people attended.
John McCarthy Roll
He was a United States district judge from 1991 until 2011. He was born in Pittsburgh to a Roman Catholic family and grew up in Arizona. He was appointed a federal judge in Arizona after serving four years as a state judge. He was killed on the January 8, 2011, Tucson shooting when he was attending a constituent outreach event held by US representative Gabby Giffords.
Billy the Kid
Henry McCarty, or William H. Bonney, was an American outlaw and gunfighter of the Old West who had killed almost 21 men before turning 21. He was convicted for the murder of Brady, but he escaped jail on April 1881 after nearly two or three months of evading capture; on July 14, 1881, he was shot and killed by Sheriff Pat Garret in Fort Sumner.
Big L
Lamont Coleman was an American rapper born May 30, 1974. He became famous because of his freestyling ability. On Feb 15th, 1999, he was shot nine times in a drive-by shooting by an unidentified man in his hometown, Harlem. He is known as one of the auspicious storytellers in hip-hop history. He was only 24 when he passed away.
Clement Vallandigham
He was an American lawyer and politician. During the American civil war, He was the leader of the copperhead faction of anti-war democrats. In 1863, he was declared guilty at an army court martial of opposing the war and deported to the Confederate States of America. He died in 1871 in Lebanon, Ohio. He accidentally shot himself in the abdomen at the age of 50. It happened when he represented a defendant, Thomas McGehean, in a murder case.
Li Tobler
She was a Swiss stage actress and model for artist H.R Giger. She met Giger at the age of 18. She was romantically involved with Giger. She was suffering from emotional insecurity, drug dependence, and physical exhaustion because of her work. She took her life by shooting herself while in bed at the early age of 27 in 1975; she wanted her life to be “short and intense.”
Drake Sather
He was an American comedian, writer, producer, and actor. Drake was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on The Larry Sanders Show. He married twice, Krystal Ginger (1989-1990) and Marine Stroud until his death. He attempted suicide on March 3, 2004. He was 44.
Angelo Bruno
Angelo Annaloro, born on May 21st, 1910, was a Sicilian American mobster and the boss of the Philadelphia crime family for twenty years. Due to his nature, he was known as the ‘Gentle Don’ or the ‘Docile Don.’ On March 21st, 1980, he was killed by a shotgun blast to the head, but the exact details of his death may vary by source. He was 69 years old.
George Jackson
George Lester Jackson was an American-African author and activist. He was involved in revolutionary activity and co-founded the prison gang Black Guerrilla Family. He was charged with the murder of correctional officer John Vincent Mills in 1970. Prison guards killed him in 1971 during an escape attempt. His funeral was held at St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Oakland on August 28.
Scott Helvenston
Stephen Scott Helvenston was an American Navy Seal. He joined the Navy at 17. He worked as a security contractor for Blackwater Security. He was killed with grenades and small arms fire on March 31, 2004, in a Fallujah ambush within days of arriving in Iraq. He had trained Hollywood celebrities and was featured in reality shows.
Chris Lighty
Darrel Steven Lighty was born in 1968. He was an American music industry executive. The New York Times called him “one of the most powerful figures in the hip-hop industry.” He co-founded a Violator management and marketing company. On August 30, 2012, he was found dead in his apartment; it was a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. A 9mm pistol was there next to his body.
Scott Sterling
Scott Monroe Sterling is known by the stage name DJ Scott La Rock. He was an American hip-hop rapper and music producer from the Bronx, New York. On August 27, 1987, he was asked for help by D-Nice as some men assaulted him; later that day, they were riding a jeep, and bullets were fired through the side and top of the jeep, killing La Rock; he was only 25.
Consuelo Araujo
She was a Colombian politician and writer known as La Cacica. She created one of Colombia’s most important cultural and musical events, “Vallenato Legend Festival.” She was kidnapped on September 24, 2001, by the FARC on the outskirts of Valledupar; six days later, she was killed on September 30, 2001.
Igor Talkov
He was a Russian singer and songwriter. His songs were about love and fate; the lyrics also held a clear message against the Soviet regime, calling for a change. He was shot backstage on October 6, 1991, at the Yubileiny concert hall in Leningrad. His funeral was televised. In 1999, he was honored with his image on a Russian postage stamp.
Stanley Ketchel
Stanislaw Kiecal is known as Stanley Ketchel in the boxing world. He was one of the greatest boxers to become the World Middleweight Champion. “The Michigan Assassin” was his nickname. He was murdered at a ranch by the cook Goldie-Smith and Walter Dipley. On the morning of October 15th, Dipley tried to rob him and eventually shot him. He was only 24.
Robert Harron
Robert Emmett Harron was an American motion picture actor in the silent film era; he acted in over 200 films. He was born in New York. In late Aug 1920, he was traveling from LA to New York for the premiere of the film Way Down East; during the evening, he sustained gunshot wounds in the chest; he had a gun in his trunk, and while removing clothes, the gun fell on the floor and discharged. On September 5, he passed away.
Sean Taylor
Sean Michael Maurice Taylor was born on April 1, 1983, and was an American football safety for the Washington Redskins. In 2007 Nov, he was shot in the leg by intruders at his Miami area home; his femoral artery was damaged, causing extensive blood loss; he passed away the next day, on November 27, at the age of 24.
Pat Tillman
Patrick Daniel Tillman Jr. was born on November 6, 1976. He was an American professional football player for the Arizona Cardinals of the National Football League. He left his football career and joined the US Army in 2002 after the 9/11 attacks. Initially, it was reported that enemy combatants had killed him, but the Pentagon notified his family that his death was due to the friendly fire incident.
Lyman Bostock
Lyman Wesley Bostock Jr. was an American professional baseball player. He played Major League Baseball. He was traveling as a passenger in a vehicle in his hometown, Gary, Indiana, on September 23, 1978, when he was shot and killed. At the age of 27, he died after two hours in Gary Hospital.
Charles Sorley
Captain Charles Hamilton Sorley was a British army officer and Scottish war poet. He fought World War I. He was the captain of the army. He was killed near Hulluch in the Battle of Loos in Oct 1915 at an early age of 20. He was shot in the head by a sniper.
John Tunstall
John Henry Tunstall was an English-born merchant and rancher in Lincoln County, New Mexico, US. He was a member of the Republican Party and wanted to defeat the Irish. He was the first man who got killed in the Lincoln County War in 1878; it was an economic and political conflict between rival gangs of cowboys and the ranchers, lawmen, and politicians.
Pinetop Smith
Clarence “Pinetop” Smith was an American boogie-woogie-style pianist. His hit tune “Pine Top’s Boogie Woogie” featured rhythmic breaks that were an important part of ragtime music. He was shot and killed in 1929 when he had a planned recording session, but he was killed a day before his session in a dance-hall fight in Chicago.
Phil Bolger
Philip C. Bolger was a fantastic American boat designer and writer who wrote many books and magazine articles. He designed more than 668 boats, from 39m to 1.96m. He died of a self-inflicted gunshot on May 24, 2009. His wife said he wanted to control the end of his life while he was still able. She also added that he had not told her about his intentions and how he died was part of his narrative. The actual reasons are not clear.
Manuel Benitez
His stage name was Mark Everett, born on September 28, 1969. He was an American child actor in Hollywood. The FBI wanted him because he had killed his girlfriend in 2004. In Dec 2008, police got a call; following the call police, it turned out to be a hostage situation; the officer threw a flash-bang grenade inside a Chinese restaurant in an El Monte strip mall and killed him.
Alisher Saipov
He was a Kyrgyzstani journalist and editor-in-chief of the newspaper Siyosat, which reported on human rights abuse in neighboring Uzbekistan. He was shot dead by an unidentified man at close range outside his office in Osh in Oct 2007. He was only 26. An NGO claimed that there were strong indications that Uzbek agents were responsible.
Don Myrick
Donald Myrick was a famous American saxophonist. He was best known for his work with Earth, Wind and Fire and Phil Collins. He was the founding member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. He was killed in Los Angeles, California, by a Santa Monica police officer during a narcotics investigation. The officer mistook a butane lighter for a weapon and shot him in the chest.
Justin Levens
Justin Robert Levens was an American mixed martial artist born on April 18, 1980, in Philadelphia. On December 17, 2008, Justin and his wife were found dead in their home in Laguna Niguel, California. Both had died of gunshot. Police claimed it was a possible case of murder-suicide, and a gun was found near Justin’s body.
