Top 10 Bizarre Hollywood Deaths

Bob Crane [1928-78]

Sex addict who videotaped his conquests "savagely beaten to death" in his apartment. Although Crane's friend, John Carpenter, has always been considered a prime suspect in the murder, he was charged and then acquitted of the crime in the mid-90s. (Source: Where Are They Buried? How Did They Die?)

Elvis Presley [1935-77]

Star of 33 mediocre films died at home on the toilet while reading The Scientific Search for the Face of Jesus.

Bobby Driscoll [1937-68] Child Star of the '40s Image

Actor who played Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island (1950), later became a drug addict and vagrant. According to The Film Encyclopedia, he moved to New York City in 1965, "where three years later his body was found in the rubble of an abandoned tenement, the victim of a heart attack. He was buried in a pauper's grave. It was not until 1969, a full year after the burial, that, through fingerprints, the body was identified as that of Driscoll."

Dorothy Stratten [1960-80] Playboy Playmate, Aspiring Actress Image

Star of Galaxina tortured and murdered by her psychotic husband, Paul Snider, at the age of 20. Snider shot himself - "but only after having sex with Dorothy's corpse." (Source: "Unsolved Hollywood Mysteries," The New National Enquirer)

Phil Hartman [1948-98]

"Saturday Night Live" star murdered by wife while he slept. His wife later returned to the murder scene and committed suicide by blowing her brains out.

Carl Switzer [1926-59]

Shot to death by a hunting buddy during a drunken brawl over a $50 debt at the age of 33. Believe it or not, police ruled the slaying a "justifiable homicide."

Vic Morrow [1932-82]

Decapitated by a helicopter during a stunt scene on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.

Peg Entwistle [1908-32] Aspiring Silent Film Actress Image

Dove off the 50-foot letter "H" of the HOLLYWOOD sign. In her suicide note, Entwistle wrote: "I'm afraid I'm a coward. I'm sorry for everything."

Elizabeth Short [1924-47]

Arguably the most disturbing (and still unsolved) murder in Hollywood history! Aspiring film actress was found in a vacant lot in downtown Los Angeles, her body "savagely mutilated" and "hacked in half at the waist." No one has ever been arrested in connection with the murder, which inspired the movie True Confessions.

Albert Dekker [1904-68]

The most bizarre one of all! Found in the bathroom of his apartment "hanging by his neck at the end of a rope that was tied to a shower curtain rod. The rope, knotted tightly around his neck, was also wrapped around both of his legs and around one of his arms. His hands were bound with a pair of handcuffs, and two hyperdermic needles were stuck in his body." The coroner recorded his death as an "accident." (Source: This is Hollywood)

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User Comments - Add a Comment

Sorcerer Mickey - 2008-02-22 17:10:00
RE: #3 Peg Entwhistle: Technically, in 1932 it would have been the HOLLYWOODLAND sign, with the last four letters of the real estate development still standing.

Anonymous - 2008-03-13 09:41:08
#1 really isn't that uncommon. Ask any veteran policeman. Nowadays, the medical examiner's report would probably read "auto-erotic asphyxiation." It probably WAS an accident. Asphyxiating oneself can heighten orgasm.

Ben - 2008-05-30 19:41:03
Shot to death by a hunting buddy during a drunken brawl over a $50 debt at the age of 33. Believe it or not, police ruled the slaying a "justifiable homicide." thats amazing, i can just imagine something like that. haha fucking genious.

Holly Wood - 2008-06-21 15:15:30
Anonymous, Ask any veteran police officer how many of those asphyxiation's were done with the hands handcuffed behind their back. Kinda tough to do by yourself, no?

faded glory - 2008-09-06 16:17:48

anonymous, wow. think about that one in ur head and tell me how that is even possible.

Anonymous - 2008-11-01 00:03:17

How about Alan J Pakula. He directed many films with conspiracy themes like All The President's Men and The Parallax view. Pakula died in 1998 in a bizarre car accident on the Long Island Expressway in Melville, New York at the age of 70. A driver in front of him struck a metal pipe, which went through Pakula's windshield, striking him in the head and causing him to swerve off the road and into a fence. He was killed instantly.

intersted - 2009-06-15 04:54:24

how the hell can u put handcuffs on then hang yourself i think that someone needs to re think this case cos im not sure how many people can do that? i would say none someone has obviously got away with murder here

MariaaaDunforddd :D - 2010-05-05 14:41:00

Yeah might wanna take another look at number one here. I mean Im not a cop but even I can figure out unless your some kind of boy wonder you cant hang yourself while your hand cuffed. And you cant tie one of your arms up and then hand cuff your self either. Someone got lucky there, cos they got handed a free murder pass

JimBobb - 2010-05-16 13:18:39

Okay. I happened on this site purely by happenstance. Regarding the rather undeniably "odd" details of No. 1...methinks it possible to pull this one off (excuse me) "single-handedly". Consider: You tie the rope around your neck ever-so-neatly; then, wrap it "however" around both your legs and fasten it to an arm. You attach the handcuffs to one wrist--on the opposite of the hand that you are in the habit of using. You shoot up with whatever was in the hypodermic needles. You put your wrist behind you and use your other hand to attach the free cuff to the free wrist, and snap the cuffs close. Then...you engage in whatever "twisted-sister" act you premeditated until you have you unplanned "oopsy" moment and inadvertently hang yourself.

Tim Theall - 2010-07-03 15:15:20

Ben, "genius" is not spelled "genious", genius.