Showbizz Daily
Brittany Murphy, Heath Ledger and other stars who died young and tragically
Brittany Murphy (1977-2009)
32 years old - She jumped to fame at age 18 with 'Clueless'. Her death was surrounded by mystery. They thought she suffered from acute pneumonia, but shortly after, her husband also died. After many investigations, the cause was found in mold in their house with fatal consequences.
Heath Ledger (1979-2008)
28 years old - It was his year. He had nailed it as The Joker. He smelled of Oscar. Besides, he had the charm of those bad guys with the ravishing smile. But his inner demons, a complicated divorce and an overdose ended his life in a New York hotel.
Jonathan Brandis (1976-2003)
27 years old - 'SeaQuest 2032' turned him into a teen idol but Hollywood ruined him. After filming 'Hart's War' and seeing his scenes cut short, he took his own life. They rushed him to the hospital but couldn't save his life.
Naya Rivera (1987-2020)
33 years old - She was going for a little boat trip with her four-year-old son and took a swim in Lake Piru in California. That's when fate struck and caused 'Glee' actress Naya Rivera to go under. She could save her son but not herself. The police and rescue workers searched for five days until they found her body.
Aaliyah (1979-2001)
22 years old - This lovely singer was expected to be the new queen of Hollywood, but a terrible accident cost Aaliyah her life. On a trip to the Bahamas with a Sky Limo, her plane crashed. Eight people died.
Heather O'Rourke (1975-1988)
12 years old - Famous for playing Carol Anne Freeling in the 'Poltergeist' trilogy, the girl died at age 12 from a blatant medical error. She was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease when she actually had an intestinal obstruction. Heather died in the operating room, between septic shock and cardiac arrest, just weeks after shooting 'Poltergeist III.'
Nelsan Ellis (1977-2017)
39 years old - For many, he will always be Lafayette from 'True Blood.' For others, he is Shinwell from 'Elementary.' After a period of drug abuse, he died of heart failure.
Anton Yelchin (1989-2016)
27 years old - A talented young man, known from 'Star Trek,' who died in the cruelest and absurdest way possible. As he opened the door of his Jeep Cherokee in his garage, the car crushed him against a wall and killed him. The cause was an error in the transmission of the car.
River Phoenix (1970-1993)
23 years old - He was the actor of the moment thanks to 'Stand by me' and 'My Own Private Idaho.' Unfortunately, drugs got in his way. He died of an overdose at the entrance of 'The Viper Room', the club of his friend Johnny Depp in Los Angeles. His brothers Joaquin and Rain saw it all happen.
Paul Walker (1973-2013)
40 years old - This actor raised the 'Fast & Furious' saga to another level. But on November 30, 2013, returning from a charity event of his NGO Reach Out Worldwide, he had an accident with his brand new Porsche Carrera. They say the car was going 180 km/h and that Paul Walker was not the driver. He died on the spot.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962)
36 years old - She lived a seemingly glamourous life and left a precious corpse. The blonde ambition died, according to the autopsy, from an overdose of barbiturates. The halo of mystery surrounding her death persists more than half a century later.
Corey Monteith (1982-2013)
31 years old - Another death among the 'Glee' cast. This actor had addiction problems that cost him his life. He was found in a Vancouver hotel with a fatal combination of drugs and alcohol in his body. The autopsy determined that he had not overdosed by accident.
Corey Haim (1971-2010)
38 years old - 'The Lost Boys' elevated him to star status at the age of 16. At that time, he was already using cocaine regularly and was coping with a history of sexual abuse. Corey Haim's life ended with a lung congestion at the age of 38. The autopsy revealed that his body was burnt out because of too much consumption.
Jackson Odell (1997-2018)
20 years old - Jackson Odell's death cut short his career as an actor and composer. The mythical Ali Caldwell of 'The Goldbergs' reportedly took his own life.
Dana Plato (1964-1999)
34 years old - Arnold's television sister in 'Diff'rent Strokes' was addicted to alcohol and drugs at age 14. When she tried to get clean at age 27, she faced a divorce, her mother died, and her accountant stole almost all of her money. Seven difficult years later, she ended her own life.
John Belushi (1949-1982)
33 years old - One of the mythical Blues Brothers and a regular at Saturday Night Live, he looked older than he really was. The addictions took their toll. In the end, Belushi lost his life in Los Angeles after an overdose of heroin and cocaine.
Michelle Thomas (1968-1998)
30 years - Steve Urkel's famous girlfriend Myra in 'Family Matters' died after overcoming a rare cancer that grew rapidly and fatally. The first tumor to be removed was the size of a lemon. The second was too much for her.
Andy Whitfield (1971-2011)
39 years old - He was great in 'Spartacus' and destined to be the new hunk of Hollywood. But non-Hodgkin's lymphoma took him off the set. Having overcome it once, he was again hit by the disease. After 18 more months of fighting, his life was over.
Sage Stallone (1976-2012)
36 years old - Sylvester Stallone's son had arteriosclerosis, which led to a fatal heart attack in 2012.
Brad Renfro (1982-2008)
25 years old - The protagonist of 'The Sleepers' suffered a lethal heroin overdose. He lost his life in January 2008 in Los Angeles, leaving a legacy of 21 films.
Lucy Gordon (1980-2009)
28 years old - British actress and model Lucy Gordon was one of the UK's most prominent beauties. Her best friend's suicide affected her greatly, however, and months later she did the same thing.
Brandon Lee (1965-1993)
28 years old - Like his father Bruce Lee, he died of strange and suspicious causes. In the middle of filming 'The Crow', at the scene of the shooting, one of the pistol's bullets turned out not to be blanks and ended the actor's life almost instantaneously.
Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer (1927-1959)
31 years old - The mythical Alfalfa of 'Little Rascals' was the star of MGM before a strange misunderstanding tragically ended his life. He went to the house of an acquaintance who he thought owed him money and threatened the man with a knife. The alleged debtor defended himself by shooting Alfalfa with a .38 that caused his death within a few hours. As it turned out, it was someone else who had owed him the money.
Gary Coleman (1968-2010)
42 years old - The oldest person on this list is, curiously, the smallest. A domestic accident in May 2010 gave him a fatal intracranial hemorrhage.
Judith Barsi (1978-1988)
10 years old - 'Cheers', 'Growing Pains' and up to five films at such a young age: spectacular. The problem is that her father couldn't stand his daughter earning more than he did. On July 25, 1988, he shot both the girl and his wife. Two days later, still locked up with the corpses, he set fire to the house and committed suicide.
Matthew Garber (1956-1977)
21 years old - Michael Banks, the little boy whom Mary Poppins babysat, died very young. He contracted hepatitis from eating rotten meat in India in 1976. The disease spread to the pancreas and in June 1977 he died with horrible pains.
Sammi Kane Kraft (1992-2012)
20 years old - More of a sportswoman than an actress, she had her eyes on cinema and seemed to like it. Bad luck caused the actress of 'Bad News Bears' to suffer a horrible car accident. She was trapped between a truck and another vehicle that had ran over her car from behind.
Sawyer Sweeten (1995-2015)
19 years old - Young Geoffrey from 'Everybody Loves Raymond' (left in this photo) couldn't stand the pressure. When visiting his parents' home in Texas, he picked up a gun and shot himself in the head.
Tupac Shakur (1971-1996)
25 years old - The greatest rapper of all time had a tragic ending. Standing at a Las Vegas traffic light, he was shot 12 times by gangsters driving by in a white Cadillac. Three shots landed in the hand, chest and leg. One bounced off the femur and went to the lung. He died a few hours later in the hospital.
Lee Thompson Young (1984-2013)
23 years old - He had been a Disney idol at 14 years old and starred in series such as 'Smallville'. The talented actor suffered from depression and bipolar disorder, and he shot himself at age 23.