Shocking Celebrity Deaths You Didn’t Hear About

Trevor Goddard

Trevor Goddward is best remembered for his role as Kano in Mortal Kombat. He went on to act in several other films and in the hit TV show Jag. Sadly, he died of a drug overdose. Heroin, cocaine, temazepam and vicodin were all found in his system.

Trevor Goodard

Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin clearly had an amazing love of all animals. He taught the world a great deal about animals but was also risking his life to do so. His death via stingray in 2006 shocked the world. The stingray pierced a vital organ in his upper body. His legacy will forever live on.

Steve Irwin

Richard Grittiths

Richard Grittiths is most well known for playing Harry Potter’s Uncle Vernon. He died following complications from heart surgery when he was 65 years old in 2013. He was a well known stage and screen actor and earned himself a Tony during his career for his role in The History Boys.

Richard Grittiths

Richard Attenborough

Richard Attenborough is well known for his role all of our childhood favorite movie, Jurassic Park. He was 91 when he died in 2014. He died from cardiovascular disease.

Richard Attenborough

Laura Branigan

Famous singer, Laura Branigan will always be remembered for her hit singles including “Self Control” and “Gloria.” These songs were featured in Flashdance. She died unfortunately of a ventricular brain aneurysm.

Laura Branigan

Gene Wilder

Of course we all remember Gene Wilder for his amazing performance in Willy Wonky and the Chocolate Factory. He sadly died of Alzheimer’s disease when he was 83 years old.

Gene Wilder

Michael Jetter

Michael Jetter is well known for his performances in films such as The Green Mile and Zeling. He died due to an epileptic seizure in 2003 when he was just 51 years old.

Michael Jetter

Nicole Dehuff

One of the younger celebrities on the list, Nicole Dehuff was only 30 when she died in 2005. She is known for her roles in the films Meet The Parents, See Arnold Run and The Court. Initially unsure of what illness she had, she entered the hospital two times complaining of respiratory problems. She was misdiagnosed and actually had a serious pneumonia. After being released from the hospital the second time she collapsed, was re-hospitalized, but it was too late. She passed away shortly after being taken to the hospital.

Nicole Dehuff

Len Lesser

Len Lesser is best known for his role as Uncle Leo on Seinfeld. Before he was an actor he actually was a soldier in World War II serving in China, Burma, and India. He died of an Pneumonia in 2011 at the age of 88.

Len Lesser

Cory Monteith

Cory Monteith was a Walmart employee before he became famous for his role on Glee. He had an on and off screen romance with co-star Lea Michelle. Sadly, he passed away due to a heroin and alcohol overdose. It is believed he had a long standing drinking and drug addiction problem and previously spent time in rehab. He died on July 13, 2013.

Cory Monteith

Lynee Thigpen

Best known for her role in the television adaption of Where in time is Carmen Sandiego? starlet Lynee Thigpen was born in 1948. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 2003 when she was 55 years old. Her final movie, Anger Management, was released after her death.

Lynee Thigpen

Lee Thompson Young

Lee Thompson Yong is best known for his memorable role on Friday Night Lights. He suffered from both bipolar disorder and committed suicide on August 19, 2013.

Lee Thompson Young

Leonard Nimoy

We all of course know Leonard Nimoy for his iconic role as Mr. Spock in the Star Trek franchise. He was a long time cigarette smoker, and he died of a lung related disease at age 83.

Leonard Nimoy

Chris Penn

Brother to the very famous Sean Penn, Chris was a talented actor in his own right. He had roles in films such as The Wild Life, Reservoir Dogs, Footloose, and The Boys Club. Initially doctors believed he died of heart disease, but it was later revealed that a number of prescription drugs including promethazine, codeine, valium, and morphine were found in his bloodstream as revealed by his toxicology report. He was only 40 years old when he died.

Chris Penn

Joanie Laurer (Chyna))

Joanie Laurer was a famous WWF wrestler. She was known for being incredibly strong and challenging sex and gender norms in the industry. She faced difficulties throughout her life, and toward the end of her life there were frequent reports of her struggle with drugs and alcohol. She overdosed on April 20, 2016.

Joanie Laurer

Michelle Thomas

Michelle Thomas was an actress and comedian known for her roles on The Cosby Show and Family Matters. Michelle had a rare form of stomach cancer called intra-abdominal desmoplastic small-round-cell tumor. She had surgery to remove the lemon-sized tumor, and another after the second growth ruptured. Sadly, she never came back. She passed away in 1998 at only 30 years old.

Michelle Thomas

Dana Hill

Actress and voice artist Dana Hill was known for role in National Lampoon’s European Vacation as Audrey Griswold. She was also in Shoot the Moon and Cross Creek. At a young age, Dana was diagnosed with Type I diabetes, still, she persevered to achieve her goal of becoming an actress. Sadly, in May 1996 she slipped into a diabetic coma and suffered a paralytic stroke a month later. She passed away on July 15, 1996 at 32 years old.

Dana Hill

Amanda Peterson

Amanda Peterson was a famous TV actress during the 80s. She became famous in the commedy, Can’t Buy Me Love! She died of an accidental drug overdose in 2015.

Amanda Peterson

Linda Lovelace

Linda Lovelace was an adult film star. After a car accident in 1970, she contracted hepatitis from a blood transfusion. In 2002, she was involved in another car accident, leaving her with major internal injuries. She later passed away on April 22, 2002.

Linda Lovelace

Pete Burns

Pete Burns of the band Dead or Alive was a pop music legend who unfortunately suffered from health problems for years. All of his medical treatment left him financially drained and towards the end of his life there were reports he could not afford to pay for medical treatment. He died in 2016 when he was 57 of cardiac arrest.

Pete Burns

Kenny Baker

Kenny Baker is well known for his role as R2D2 in the Star Wars saga. He died of chronic lung illness on August 13, 2016.

Kenny Baker

Miguel Ferrer

NCIS: Los Angeles actor, Miguel Ferrer appeared in over 100 movies and TV shows. He died of throat cancer in 2017.

Miguel Ferrer

Alan Thicke

Alan Thicke is best known for his role as Jason Seaver on the TV show Growing Pains. He is also the father of famous singer Robin Thicke. He sadly died while playing hockey with his son in December of 2006. He died of a heart attack.

Alan Thicke

Leonard Cohen

Legendary music icon, Leonard Cohen was a songwriter, poet and novelist. He died when he was 82. He had cancer but an accidental fall is responsible for taking his life.

Leonard Cohen

John Ritter

We all remember John Ritter from Three’s Company. He actually won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his performance. He died due to a fatal aortic dissection on September 11, 2003.

John Ritter

Sunny Johnson

Sunny Johnson’s most well known for her role in Flashdance. She died in 1984 when a blood vessel burst in her brain. She was put on life support but sadly this occurrence took her life.

Sunny Johnson

Garry Marshall

Director of Pretty Woman, and The Princess Diaries, Gary Marshall died in July of 2016 due to a fatal pneumonia.

Garry Marshall

Bill Nunn

Bill Nunn is best known for his role as Robbie Robertson in the Spiderman series. He tragically died of Leukemia in 2016 when he was 62 years old.

Bill Nunn

Christopher Lee

Christopher Lee will always be remembered for his role as Sauroman in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit series. He sadly died of heart failure on June 7, 2015 when he was 93 years old.

Christopher Lee

David Margulies

Davis Margulies is well known for his role as the mayor in Ghostbusters. He died of cancer in early 2016 when he was 78 years old.

David Margulies

Abe Vigoda

Legend Abe Vigoda is remembered for his roles in mobster movies such as The Godfather. He died of natural causes when he was 94 in January of 2016.

Abe Vigoda

George Gaynes

Best known for his role as Eric Lassard in the Police Academy series, George Gaynes died of natural causes in 2016 when he was 98 years old.

George Gaynes

Rob Knox

Rob Knox is remembered as Marcus Belby in the Harry Potter series. Shockingly, he was murdered when he was just 18 years old in 2008. He was stabbed outside a London club.

Rob Knox

George Kennedy

George Kennedy had an Academy Award winning performance for his role in Cool Hand Luke. He died of heart disease when he was 91.

George Kennedy

Chris Benoit

French-Canadian WWF/WWE superstar, Chris Benoit, had an amazing wrestling career. The end of his life is incredibly sad. He killed his son and wife and hung himself three days later. Some believe the tragic event was due to “roid rage” because toxicology reports revealed a high level of testosterone in his system. There were also a number of drugs found in his bloodstream as revealed by the report, and he had a long time battle with depression.

Chris Benoit

Andy Whitefield

Handsome Spartacus actor, Andy Whitefield, died in 2011 when he was only 39 years old due to cancer.

Andy Whitefield

Skye McCole Bartusiak

Skye was known for her role opposite Mel Gibson in the film, The Patriot. She died when she was only 21 years old of an accidental drug overdose.

Skye McCole Bartusiak

David Strickland

Known for his role in Suddenly Susan, Strickland committed suicide in a hotel room in 1991. He was only 29 years old.

David Strickland

Windell Middlebrooks

Middlebrooks acted in TV shows such as Hannah Montana and Scrubs. He died of a pulmonary embolism in 2015.

Windell Middlebrooks

Nathaniel Marston

Nathaniel Marston is best known for his role in the movie Love Is All There Is. He died in a car accident in 2015 when he was 40 years old.

Nathaniel Marston

Walter Becker

Walter Becker of Steely Dan sadly passed when he was 67 in 2016. No cause of death was released. He is certainly a music legend and will be missed.

Walter Becker

Ben Woolf

American Horror Story actor, Ben Wolf, sadly was involved in a traffic accident which led to the stroke that eventually took his life. He died in 2015 when he was 34 years old.

Ben Woolf

Suzanne Crough

70s TV star, Suzanne Crough, was famous for her role as Tracy Partridge in The Partridge Family. She died at the age of 52 from cardiomyopathy.

Suzanne Crough

Bob Peck

Jurassic Park actor, Bob Peck, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in 1994. The cancer was temporarily put in remission but it came back in 1999. This caused his death when he was 53 years old.

Bob Peck

Ashleigh Aston Moore

Ashleigh Aston Moore is remembered for her touching role in the 1995 film Now and Then. She suffered from a pneumonia and bronchitis back to back and complications eventually led to her death in 2007. She was only 26 years old.

Ashleigh Aston Moore

Sawyer Sweeten

One of the twins in the classic TV show Everybody Loves Raymond, Sweeten shockingly committed suicide in April of 2015. He was only 19 years old.

Sawyer Sweeten