From the sudden demise of blonde bombshells Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield to the traumatizing murder of Sharon Tate, these notorious deaths are Tinseltown's worst nightmares.
Hollywood conjures visions of celebrity and glamour, but underneath the twinkle of Tinseltown lies a sinister underbelly that has led some of the brightest stars to their tragic ends. Indeed, these famous celebrity deaths are particularly haunting.
For instance, there is the death of Hollywood icon James Dean, who was unexpectedly killed in a car crash just months before the premiere of Rebel Without a Cause that cemented his A-list status.
Then, as if his sudden death was not devastating enough, the fans who purchased parts of his totaled car were allegedly killed themselves, sparking conspiracies of a curse.
Perhaps the notion of a curse isn’t so unbelievable, given how Dean’s Rebel co-star, Natalie Wood, also makes this list of famous celebrity deaths. After disappearing at sea one night in 1981, Wood’s body was recovered off the shore of California’s Santa Catalina Island.
Though officials declared her death as most likely an accidental drowning, questions remained about how she ended up in the water in the first place, given that the starlet was terrified of the sea.
From a fast life of drinking and drugs to unfortunate accidents, alleged suicides, and suspected murders, the unhappy ends of these Hollywood stars are nearly as memorable as their careers.
The Famous Death Of Marilyn Monroe That’s Shrouded In Conspiracy
Wikimedia CommonsAs is the case with many famous celebrity deaths, Marilyn Monroe’s death was unexpected.
Pinup and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe was the impetus behind the term “blonde bombshell,” and she launched an archetype of sultry platinum blondes in 1950s Hollywood. But on August 4, 1962, her legacy was cut short by her notorious death.
The death of Marilyn Monroe spawned a tabloid fury that was never seen before in the city of angels — nor around the world.
Though her death was officially ruled a suicide, even decades later, many suspect that it was perhaps not an accident or suicide at all — but rather a politically-fueled murder.
But before she became one of the most famous dead celebrities of all time, Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926, in Los Angeles, California to a single mother. Her childhood was spent in foster homes and she was sexually abused multiple times during this period.
After being spotted by a photographer while working in a munitions factory in 1944, Monroe eventually made her foray into entertainment as a model and rose to fame through small film roles. By the 1960s, Monroe’s filmography was worth an estimated $2 billion.
Wikimedia CommonsMarilyn Monroe’s Los Angeles home where her body was found in 1962.
But Marilyn Monroe’s off-screen romances attracted just as much attention as her on-screen personas did, and her extreme celebrity status exacerbated a destructive drinking and drug habit, which has proven to be the downfall of many famous dead people.
“[She] was drinking champagne and straight vodka and occasionally popping a pill,” recalled James Bacon, Monroe’s close friend. “I said, ‘Marilyn, the combination of pills and alcohol will kill you.’ And she said, ‘It hasn’t killed me yet.’ Then she took another drink and popped another pill.”
Monroe was found dead inside her Los Angeles home by her psychiatrist Dr. Ralph Greenson, who had been called by her housekeeper. Monroe’s personal team described an eerie scene where she lay dead, sprawled naked in bed with her hand gripping the telephone and an assortment of prescription pills littered on her nightstand.
Her death was initially ruled an accidental overdose or possible suicide.
E. Murray/Fox Photos/Getty ImagesMonroe was found dead inside her bedroom, pictured here.
But questions about her death quickly emerged. Though it was believed that Monroe died of suicide, no capsules were found in her system following an autopsy. Those closest to her also believed that if she had killed herself, perhaps she would have left a note.
Among the most famous conspiracies surrounding Monroe’s death is the claim that U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy, brother of then-President John F. Kennedy, assassinated her. Rumors of an affair between Monroe and JFK had circled before she died, and some believed that Robert wanted to prevent her from leaking scandalous information about them to the press.
Others suspect that an employee of hers killed the actress through lethal injection to get her fortune.
But a report released under a second investigation into her death in 1982 again ruled it as a probable suicide. However, that report also stated that investigators found “factual discrepancies and unanswered questions” during their new examination.
Of all famous dead people, Marilyn Monroe remains one of the most well-known, and the truth of her demise remains hidden in the shadows of Hollywood, like that of so many others.
The Notoriously Grisly Death Of Jayne Mansfield
20th Century Fox/Wikimedia CommonsOf all famous celebrity deaths, Jayne Mansfield’s remains one of the most disturbing.
The success of Jayne Mansfield followed closely on the heels of Marilyn Monroe’s, and so too did her famous death.
Like Monroe, Mansfield had voluptuous lips and luscious platinum blonde locks. Also like Monroe, Jayne Mansfield died terribly too soon.
Mansfield’s talent landed her major roles in films like The Girl Can’t Help It and Too Hot to Handle. She also never shied away from the spotlight and eagerly played up her sex appeal, posing nude in Playboy and appearing naked in the 1963 film Promises! Promises!, making her the first mainstream American actress to perform a nude scene on camera.
“I think sex is healthy, and there’s too much guilt and hypocrisy about it,” she said. Her carefree attitude made her a media darling, but just as quickly as she had found success, Mansfield was killed in a terrible car accident in 1967.
The collision scraped off the top part of her automobile — and rumors swirled that she had been decapitated.
Bettman/Getty ImagesJayne Mansfield in 1965 with all five of her children. Mariska Hargitay, age one, is on the far right.
In the early morning of June 29, 1967, Jayne Mansfield left Mississippi and headed toward New Orleans in a car with her then-boyfriend Samuel S. Brody and three of her children. She had performed at a club the night before and needed to reach New Orleans in time for a television appearance the next day.
Mansfield, her boyfriend, and her driver packed into the front seat of her 1966 Buick Electra. Her children piled into the backseat, one of whom grew up to become actress Mariska Hargitay of Law & Order fame.
During the long drive, Mansfield’s car slammed into the back of a semi-truck and the impact sheared off the top of her car, instantly killing her and the two others beside her in the front seat. Remarkably, the sleeping children in the back survived.
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesThe aftermath of the car accident that caused the death of Jayne Mansfield at just 34 years old.
Photographs of the grisly accident soon surfaced and the police report stated that “the upper portion of this white female’s head was severed.” From this, rumors grew that the starlet had been decapitated in the accident. It didn’t help that in the photos her wig, which had flown from her head on impact, lay outside the car.
Mansfield’s death was actually more gruesome than a decapitation, though just as instantaneous. According to the police report, she suffered a crushed skull and a partial separation of her cranium, an injury more akin to a scalping than total decapitation.
The infamous death of the “naughtier Marilyn Monroe” spawned other bizarre conspiracies, too. One claimed that the accident had occurred as a result of a curse put upon her boyfriend by Anton LaVey, the founder of the Church of Satan who was once in a relationship with Mansfield.
According to this rumor, LaVey cursed the actress and her boyfriend Brody, who was also killed in the car crash. This, like many conspiracies involving famous dead people, has never been substantiated.
