Tinseltown is not impervious to tragedy, and stardom has certainly seen its ranks diminish in the strangest and most inexplicable ways.
Celebrity deaths are often shocking to the public, not just because of the manner of death, itself a source of disbelief, but because of the relationship the celebrity has unwittingly built with the public, something evident from the plethora of outpourings at the time of a celebrity’s death.
Such examples include Whitney Huston, Beastie Boy Adam Yauch and Dick Clark who received millions of expressions of grief and solidarity through social media from people and fans they had never met.
Let’s take a look at 10 enigmatic and strange celebrity deaths.
Bob Crane
The Hogan’s Heroes star was bludgeoned to death in an apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona while he was touring the country with a theater company in 1978.
Although a former friend was charged with his murder, he was later acquitted, making Crane’s murder yet another unsolved crime.
In the spotlight for his roles, and in the shadows for his secrets, Crane's end remains an enigma wrapped in the glitz of Hollywood.
After his death, it was revealed that the actor loved to pick up women and videotape his sex sessions with them, often in the company of the same former friend charged with the murder.
Crane’s murder was also the subject of Paul Schrader’s 2002 film Auto Focus.
David Carradine
Carradine, who portrayed Kwai Chang Caine in the hit series Kung Fu, was found dead in a Bangkok hotel in 2009 in mysterious circumstances.
Hotel staff found him sitting naked with a noose around his neck tied to a bar in one of the closets thus fuelling speculation about suicide.
The legendary Kung Fu master's curtain call leaves behind a twisted tale of speculation and whispers.
However, reported evidence suggested that his death was the result of autoerotic asphyxiation, though publicly the cause of death is always as “accidental asphyxiation.”
George Reeves
The 1950s star of The Adventures of Superman was found naked on his bed with a gunshot wound to the head and a 9mm Luger on the floor between his feet.
From soaring through the skies as Superman to a jarring halt in reality, Reeves' final act remains shrouded in Hollywood's dark clouds.
Although LA Police concluded Reeves’ death was suicide, many people, including his mother, believe he was murdered and pointed to an ex-lover as the perpetrator of the crime.
Marilyn Monroe
“I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they’re right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together.”
Marilyn Monroe
The American sex symbol and icon par excellence, Marilyn personified the ideal of beauty for decades.
Her untimely death at the age of 36 was ruled a suicide but there were many unanswered questions.
Beauty, glamor, and a mysterious departure: Monroe's legacy is as much about her iconic roles as the puzzle she left behind.
Firstly, many items had been removed from her home on the day of her death in 1962, and there has always been speculation about the circumstances of her death and the timeline after the body was found.
Alternative theories, including murder, and involving John and Robert Kennedy (two of her ex-lovers) have been put forward, while other theories suggested CIA or Mafia complicity.
It was reported that President Kennedy was the last person Monroe called.
Natalie Wood
The “accidental drowning” of Natalie Wood occurred in 1981 while on a boating trip with her husband, actor Robert Wagner, her Brainstorm co-star, Christopher Walken (which they were filming at the time of the events), and the captain of the boat Dennis Davern to Santa Catalina Island, California.
Woods body was found 1 mile from the boat alongside a beached dinghy and showed some bruises.
According to testimonies at the time, no one had seen her get in the water and Wagner claimed that when he went to bed, she was not there. End of story.
Wood's tragic end amidst the serenity of the sea holds contradictions that resonate decades after the incident.
The case was recently reopened, 31 years after the facts, after Davern, the captain, admitted he had lied to police during the investigation, that Wood and Wagner had quarreled and that Wagner was responsible for her death.
The coroner’s office has changed the cause of death on her death certificate from accidental drowning to “drowning and other undetermined factors”.
The amended document also states that the circumstances of how Wood ended up in the water are “not clearly established.”
No arrests have been made and authorities have stated that neither Wagner nor Walken are suspects in the case.
Nicole Brown Simpson
Nicole Brown Simpson and boyfriend Ron Goldman were brutally stabbed to death outside Simpson’s Brentwood, Calif. condo in 1994.
Her ex-husband and former NFL star running back, O.J. Simpson was arrested after a low-speed car chase and then put on trial for the murders after blood-stained gloves and fibers from Goldman’s clothing were found in Simpson’s home.
Despite overwhelming evidence, O.J. Simpson's acquittal left the case in limbo, with the shadow of that night looming large.
Strands of Simpson’s hair were also found at the crime scene along with bloody footprints matching his show size.
However, on Oct. 3, 1995, Simpson was acquitted on both counts of murder. No other suspect has ever been found.
Bruce and Brandon Lee
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
Bruce Lee
Martial arts legend Bruce Lee achieved fame in the U.S. with the original “Green Hornet” series and had made a few movies that turned him into a pop icon and popularized martial arts in the West.
He was now ready to become as big of a star worldwide as he had been in his native Hong Kong.
But in 1973 Lee apparently died of an allergic reaction to the painkiller Equagesic, which he took after complaining of a headache.
Bruce Lee and his son Brandon, both martial arts trailblazers, are often cited in discussions about mysterious Hollywood deaths, fueling theories of a family curse and endless conjecture.
He lost consciousness and never woke up — his end being ascribed to “death by misadventure.”
Twenty years later, son Brandon Lee was poised to fulfill the family destiny of stardom when a prop malfunction caused him to be fatally shot on the set of “The Crow.”
Rumors of a curse on the Lee family have persisted ever since.
Jon-Erik Hexum
Actor Jon-Erik Hexum’s untimely and bizarre death is no mystery, but it’s certainly one of the most peculiar in Hollywood history.
On October 18, 1984, the actor was on the set of his NBC show “Cover Up”, enjoying a break and fooling around with a prop gun loaded with blanks.
He playfully put the barrel to his head and fired.
Lights, camera, and a twist no script could ever capture; Hexum's tale is one of Hollywood's darkest behind-the-scenes chronicles.
Hexum obviously didn’t realize that blanks use paper or plastic wadding to seal gunpowder into the cartridge, and can be dangerous when fired at close range.
Hexum’s injuries ultimately left him brain-dead.
Jeff Buckley
With only one album recorded and a loyal following, Buckley was surely too young (31) to die and certainly had not reached his full potential as an artist.
On May 29, 1997, Buckley was in Memphis awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, he drowned during a spontaneous evening swim, fully clothed, in the Wolf River when he was caught in the wake of a passing boat and disappeared.
Buckley's voice serenaded souls, but the waters of the Wolf River whispered a tune that forever silenced his chords.
His body was found on June 4, 1997. His accidental death is even stranger because he was familiar with the river, fully clothed, and in good spirits when entering the river.
The Buckley estate released a statement officially claiming it was “not ‘mysterious,’ related to drugs, alcohol or suicide.
We have a police report, a medical examiner’s report, and an eye witness to prove that it was an accidental drowning” to quickly quell any unhealthy speculation regarding the accident.
Steve Irwin
“I have no fear of losing my life – if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it.”
Steve Irwin
The beloved Australian Crocodile Hunter and wildlife expert died at 44 in 2006 after he was fatally pierced in the chest several hundred times in a matter of seconds by a stingray barb during a snorkeling outing at Australia’s Great Barrier Reef while filming a documentary.
The unexpected attack by a creature perceived as non-aggressive underscores the unpredictability of nature and its inhabitants.
Irwin had approached a stingray allegedly 8 ft wide in chest-deep water from behind in order to film it swimming away but the creature thought it had been cornered by a shark and attacked defensively.
His widow Terri said in her 2007 book Steve And Me that Irwin had premonitions he’d die before the age of 40.
Mysterious Hollywood Deaths: The Unfinished Sequel We’re All Watching
Ah, the hidden truth behind famous deaths: the real showstopper in the tragicomedy of celebrity life.
You see, the rich and famous may exit stage left, but they do it with an aura of mystery as their parting gift, perfectly paired with our insatiable curiosity.
As you debate over the foam art on your exorbitantly priced coffee, consider this: not even the stars are immune to life’s greatest plot twist.
And let’s not forget, in a world that thrives on reruns and reboots, perhaps these unresolved endings are just setting the stage for a sequel. Hollywood can’t resist, can it?
You might like Notorious Correctional Facilities: World’s Worst Prisons Exposed