Darwin was right: Celebrities who died from their own stupidity

Jon Erik Hexum. I had a bit part (glorified background extra) on a cop show a few years ago and had to handle a gun. They were VERY strict, all kinds of protocols. They actually mentioned him when they gave me safety instructions.

Roy Horn from Siegfried and Roy. Who was severely mauled by one of the tigers in his Las Vegas act. The attack severed Horn's spine, resulted in massive blood loss, and severely injured other parts of his body, permanently impairing his motor and verbal abilities. He also had a stroke either before or after Montecore the tiger dragged him offstage.

Roy didn't die. But his career sure did.

More of a datalounge celeb, but Chris Burrous the closeted news guy who died during a meth and fisting hook up gone wrong in some sleazy motel.

What happened to the tiger r2 ?

Jean Harlow. It’s believed that the bleach that was used to keep her hair platinum was actually what killed her. It was highly toxic and possibly caused her kidney failure.

Lupe Vélez

Paul Walker

For years there have been rumors that Jacki O. actually died from either cancer caused by her black hair dye or from AIDS she contracted from frequent escort Rudolf Nureyev.

R4 Roy's specific instruction was that he didn't want the tiger put down. And it wasn't. Montecore the tiger, known infamously as the white tiger who left Roy Horn with life altering injuries during an attack onstage in 2003, died of natural causes at age 17 in 2014.

For years there have been rumors that Jacki O. actually died from either cancer caused by her black hair dye or from AIDS she contracted from frequent escort Rudolf Nureyev.

FFS you think she fucked Nureyev at all? Lee, yes, but not Jackie, by all accounts she was almost asexual. Doubt Nureyev ever fucked a woman. Hair dye perhaps, but I'd be willing to bet that all the stress and trauma in Jackie's life contributed to her cancer not to mention the mountains of cigarettes she smoked,

Steve's death- the best financial decision of our lives.

[quote]Doubt Nureyev ever fucked a woman.

He preferred men but was very bi, especially if it would help him get ahead either personally or professionally.

He was a hoe, darlin'.

r12 Jackie was seeing Maurice Tempelsman exclusively years before Rudy contracted HIV.

I didn't say it was true, I said it was a rumor that went around. And it did.

Nancy Cunard was self destructive and self sabotaging and died an alcoholic mess, sick and penniless and emaciated. A Brâncuși bronze of Cunard sold for 71 million a few years ago.

This man, Franz Reichelt, became famous after his death because of the newsreel below. He was a tailor and early parachute enthusiast who invented a wearable parachute. He tested it successfully with dummies and decided to do the first public demonstration himself by jumping off the top of the Eiffel Tower. You know what happened.

This man, Franz Reichelt, became famous after his death because of the newsreel below. He was a tailor and early parachute enthusiast who invented a wearable parachute. He tested it successfully with dummies and decided to do the first public demonstration himself by jumping off the top of the Eiffel Tower. You know what happened.

Grace Kelly

James Dean

James Dean

Jon Erik Hexum

R3 for the win!! I miss that cute Chris - such a macabre ending.

Albert Dekker, star of stage and screen. In film, he starred as Dr. Cyclops and was featured in character parts in films like The Killers and The Wild Bunch. Among many other stage performances, he replaced Lee J. Cobb in the original production of Death of a Salesman and had a featured role in A Man for All Seasons. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

From WP:

"On May 5, 1968, Dekker was found dead in his Hollywood home by his fiancée, fashion model and future Love Boat creator Jeraldine Saunders. He was naked, kneeling in the bathtub, with a noose tightly wrapped around his neck and looped around the shower curtain rod. He was blindfolded, his wrists were handcuffed, there was a ball gag in his mouth, and two hypodermic needles were inserted in one arm. His body was covered in explicit words and drawings in red lipstick.

"Money and camera equipment were missing, but there was no sign of forced entry. Police originally said it was suicide but the deputy coroner found no evidence of foul play nor any indication that he planned to take his life and ruled his death accidental, the result of autoerotic asphyxiation."

Kung Fu star David Carradine. Death ruled accidental. He hung himself in Thailand while performing autoerotic asphyxia by hanging.

Kobe Bryant should have hired a car service that morning.

Michael Hutchence

Jesus, R21! Too self absorbed to make it all the way to R1?! Your contributions are not that fucking important.

Marilyn Monroe/Heath Ledger - you don't mix booze and pills

Jon Erik Hexum

Meghan Markle. Technically she's still breathing but she killed her career, her popularity and her earning potential.

Stupidity may be harsh but Brittany Murphy certainly should have gone to the ER earlier. It was said that she was afraid because of the paparazzi and the last thing she needed was more bad press.

James Dean's death wasn't his fault--it was by all accounts the other driver's, Dale Turnipseed's.

Rose McGowan

Keanu Reeves will die soon, he is 55 but does stunts that were designed for a 30 year old. Stupid.

Irwin was a damn iidiot

Joan Rivers didn't need to go to the plastic surgeon for the nth time.

She was having voice problems and her doctor stuffed up the procedure. Not Joan's fault.

Princess Diana owns this thread. No seatbelt, in a car with a speeding drunk driver in the middle of the night. I really sympathized with how The Queen and Charles were scapegoated for Dianas' self indulgence and rank stupidity.

How soon we forget.

NAYA RIVERA, people!

Jessica Savitch

JFK, Jr.

"Jean Harlow. It’s believed that the bleach that was used to keep her hair platinum was actually what killed her. It was highly toxic and possibly caused her kidney failure."

It probably didn't help that harsh chemicals were used to bleach hair back in those days, but Jean Harlow died of kidney failure due to complications from a case of scarlet fever she got as a teenager. There was nothing "stupid" about her death. Jean Harlow just had incredibly bad luck.

Bob Crane. He tried to get rid of his hanger-on sex buddy and that failed miserably.

Jessica Savitch drove into some kind of canal/ flooded ditch and drowned, correct R40? Are you implying that she was under the influence at the time, leading to the accident in the first place? I know she was a big time druggie, but hadn't heard before that she was high at the time of the accident.

There no evidence that Jessica Savitch was intoxicated when she died. Her car went over a cliff when she backed out of a parking space of a local restaurant at night, in the rain.

Jessica Savitch was NOT driving the car she was in the night of her fatal accident. She was in the back seat of the car with her dog. The driver of the car was her date Martin Fischbein, who was at the time the vice president of the NY Post. They both had a little wine at dinner, but neither one of them was drunk or stoned. It was dark and raining and Fischbein was unfamiliar with the area; he may have missed posted warning signs and he took the wrong exit. The car veered too far to the left and went over the edge into the shallow water of a canal. The car fell 15 feet, landed upside down, and and sank into deep mud that sealed the doors shut. Fischbein and Savitch were trapped inside as the car filled with water. It was a stupid accident, but neither Savitch or Fischbein were really responsible for it. Of course there are always lawsuits when a famous person gets killed; Savitch's family and friend sued basically everybody: Fischbein, the restaurant where they had their last meal, the NY Post and the state of Pennsylvania. They got a multi-million dollar settlement, the greedy pigs.

If you reproduce before your unfortunate incident, Darwin isn't involved.

Karl Wallenda

Dale Earnhardt

Lindsay Lohan,

[quote]For years there have been rumors that Jacki O. actually died from either cancer caused by her black hair dye or from AIDS she contracted from frequent escort Rudolf Nureyev.

This is a thread about Darwin award-type stupidity that caused death, so of course some closeted piece of shit is going to say "she was so dumb she hung around with a gay!" is a perfect example.

Didn't Totie Fields compromise her already ill health with multiple cosmetic surgeries? Needing a leg amputated should have been a clear message to stop.

Joan Rivers was having a routine day surgery, an endoscopy for strained vocal chords and they weren't monitoring her properly, something to do with anaesthetic. It was only a short exploratory procedure. Melissa successfully sued for malpractice for an undisclosed sum and I don't blame her. It had nothing to do with Joan being stupid.

Steve Irwin's family and team made sure to destroy (not hide) the tape of his encounter with the sting ray which leads me to believe he was harassing it.

[quote]vocal chords

Oh, dear.

Hexum - what a loss but I know actors that say gun safety measures are heightened to this day so maybe his accident saved some lives

Sadly, not his

That dog-raped baby survived, I believe. Not a celebrity before but certainly a DL celebrity and cause célèbre afterwards.

All those members of the "27 Club" were pretty stupid: JImi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones, Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse. They all deliberately abused themselves with drink and/or drugs until it killed them. Stupid.

JFK Jr owns this thread. He died at his own hands not by accident as most deaths mentioned here. James Dean was killed by idiot teen driver, Joan Rivers by inept physicians, Irwin by bad luck, etc....

JFK Jr by all accounts including final report (pilot error) shouldn’t have been flying and shouldn’t have had a pilot’s license. There was s reason that Jackie forbade him to get one while she was alive. She knew about his ADHD and overly confident sense of self. Recipe for disaster.

Has anyone mentioned Herman Cain?

R34 Keanu still has a stunt double and listens to a director when they tell him he isn't doing the stunt. Now, Tom Cruise on the other hand... what was his latest accident? Snapping his ankle jumping between two buildings? That guy has such a boring life, probably because it is mostly Scientology, he is jumping off roofs and scaling buildings.

I don't know Carolyn and her sister, but I know a lot of straight guys who are so whipped it makes me cry.

Did John feel comfortable saying, look it's Friday night; we're getting a car service to take us to the Cape for the wedding.

It would have been a long ride, but just sit in a limo and relax.

William Holden, an alcoholic, got drunk and fell, hitting his head on the corner of a coffee table. He bled to death.

Someone had to say it: Natalie Wood.

[46] did the dog survive?

Laura Ashley of floral prints and prairie dresses was a houseguest and did not turn on a light to go wee during the night lest she disturb her hosts. Fumbling in the dark in a strange house, she made a wrong turn and instead of the loo fell down a flight of stairs breaking her neck. Or maybe she died for being overly polite?

Isadora Duncan.Strangled when her ginormous scarf was caught in the car wheels.

"Affectations can be dangerous"

[quote] JFK Jr owns this thread. He died at his own hands not by accident as most deaths mentioned here.

Have I got a surprise for you!!!

If hair bleaching and dyeing products caused cancer hairdressers worldwide would be dropping like flies.

R63, For marrying Robert Wagner a second time.

Steve Irwin knew what he was doing. I kind of wonder if he had a death wish

Ron Goldman

Jack Cassidy

Jean Harlow and Jackie O didn't die because they dyed their hair. That's stupid.

Steve Irwin did not die of his own stupidity. It was a freak accident. Thousands of people interact with stingrays all around the world every year.

R61 is one of those misogynists who blame women for the stupid shit men do

Men are more likely to die from accidents, because they're more likely to take stupid risks

Hermain Cain wins

I was going to mention Jack, r72, thanks for that.

I also think:

John Belushi and Chris Farley.

Cesar Milan. A dog he wrestled to the ground snapped and bit his head off.

He belongs in the evil celebrities thread R78.

R73, Jackie began turning gray very young. Hair dye in the 1950s was borderline lethal.

Margaret Sullivan died from an overdose of pills in a New Haven hotel room between the matinee and evening performances of a Broadway destined play in previews.

The producer was Martin Gabel, who cast his wife Arlene Francis after Sullivan's death, but it never made it to Broadway.

Darwin had a lot to say about celebrities!

Speaking of unnecessary cosmetic procedures: Olivia Goldsmith and Donda West.

Kobe Bryant told the pilot to fly anyway, despite the weather and poor visibility.

"Do Mame, you'll be fantastic. Gary said."

Carole Lombard's last minute decision to fly home to California from Indiana rather than take the train.

Michael Jackson's insomnia.

Does one choose to have insomnia?

It was an accident.

Anthony Bourdain

Asia Argento wasn't worth killing himself over. He should've known exactly what kind of woman she was when she asked him to pay off her #MeToo accuser and got out then.

Re: Steve Irwin---He was a terrible example of how to interact with animals. Hot doggin' and grabbing when he shouldn't, not giving appropriate space got him a barb to the heart. Then he died!

A friend of mine is a bush guide in the Belize rain forest/Mayan ruins in the San Ignacio district. SI came to do one of his Crocodile Hunter shows, and my friend was on the guide team. I saw the Belize show and stupid SI stuck his hand in a deep crevice to try pulling out a Wish Willy lizard. What a dumb ass! He pulled out the Wish Willy all right, but it was firmly chomped down on the part of his hand between thumb and forefinger, and was not inclined to let go. I asked my friend about it and he said they eventually got the lizard off and SI cried like a little bitch and needed medical treatment.

[quote] A friend of mine is a bush guide

Where does one find one of these? I’ve lost some gentlemen callers over the years.

Actor Robert Francis, 25, piloted a Beechcraft Bonanza out of Burbank and crashed into a parking lot minutes later, where it burst into flames, killing Francis and two others on board. He had no pilot certificate or rating.

Allegedly, Francis was Howard Hughes' boy, and Francis and Hughes would fly in and out of Catalina Island for weekend excursions. Hughes probably taught him how to fly while also paying for his acting classes. The Hughes association might explain why a handsome unknown with no prior acting experience landed a substantial part in "The Caine Mutiny" (1954).

R93, Plus, I don't believe the Robert Francis role and subsequent love story were in the original Broadway play.

John Denver.

Most people thought Steve Irwin would be killed by a crocodile, certainly not a stingray! He was always doing such insane things with crocs.

Remember when he was carrying one of his babies near a huge crocodile. Sheer insanity!

From 2010 . . .

A British businessman who bought the Segway company less than a year ago died after riding one of the scooters off a cliff and into a river near his Yorkshire estate.

Jim Heselden, known locally as Jimi, acquired the Segway company from its U.S. inventor Dean Kamen in December 2009.

According to the British media, Heselden, 62, plunged into the River Wharfe while riding a rugged country version of the two-wheeled transporter on Sunday.

R60 It's not that Tom Cruise has a boring life, it's that he's a sociopath who can only experience human like feelings thru adrenaline ramping situations. Regular sociopaths embezzle from the office and/or have risky sex encounters. Cruise gets movie studios to pay millions for him to hang off the side of a plane over and over when cgi or pro-stunts would satisfy the audience just as well.

Xenu will claim Tom Cruise one of these days but it'll probably be buttfucking on a motorcycle going 80 before it's a movie stunt.