List of Autopsy: The Last Hours of... episodes
The following is a list of celebrities who have been profiled on the Channel 5 (UK) and Reelz (USA) documentary series Autopsy: The Last Hours of..., which delves into how they may have suddenly died.
Season 1 (January 7, 2014 – January 21, 2014)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Jackson | January 7, 2014 | On June 25, 2009, Jackson stopped breathing while attempting to sleep under the care of Conrad Murray, his personal physician. Murray had reportedly given Jackson an array of medications in an attempt to help him sleep at his rented mansion in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles. Attempts at resuscitating Jackson were unsuccessful.[1][2] Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics received a 911 call at 12:22 pm (PDT, 19:22 UTC), arriving three minutes later.[3][4] Jackson was reportedly not breathing and CPR was performed.[5] Resuscitation efforts continued en route to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, and for more than an hour after arriving there at 1:13 pm (20:13 UTC). He was pronounced dead at 2:26 pm Pacific time (21:26 UTC).[6][7] At the time of death, Jackson had been administered propofol, lorazepam, and midazolam,[8] and the Los Angeles coroner decided to treat the death as a homicide.[9][10] Law enforcement officials conducted a manslaughter investigation of his personal physician Conrad Murray, and charged him with involuntary manslaughter in Los Angeles on February 8, 2010.[11]
(This episode would be revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in December 2020) |
| Whitney Houston | January 14, 2014 | On February 9, 2012, Houston visited singers Brandy and Monica, together with Clive Davis, at their rehearsals for Davis' pre-Grammy Awards party at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills.[12][13] That same day, she made her last public performance, when she joined Kelly Price on stage in Hollywood, California, and sang "Jesus Loves Me".[14][15] Two days later, on February 11, Houston was found unconscious in Suite 434 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, submerged in the bathtub.[16][17] Beverly Hills paramedics arrived at approximately 3:30 p.m. and found the singer unresponsive and performed CPR. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. PST.[18][19] The cause of death was not immediately known.[18][20] Local police said there were "no obvious signs of criminal intent".[21] On March 22, 2012, the Los Angeles County coroner's office reported the cause of Houston's death was drowning and the "effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use".[22][23] The office stated the amount of cocaine found in Houston's body indicated that she used the substance shortly before her death.[24] Toxicology results revealed additional drugs in her system: diphenhydramine, alprazolam, cannabis and cyclobenzaprine.[25] The manner of death was listed as an "accident".[26] [This episode would be revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in October 2020] |
| Anna Nicole Smith | January 21, 2014 | On February 8, 2007, Smith was found dead in Room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.[27] Tasma Brighthaupt, a friend of Smith who was a trained emergency nurse, performed CPR for 15 minutes until her husband, Maurice "Big Moe" Brighthaupt, Smith's friend and bodyguard,[28] took over CPR. He had driven back to the hotel after being notified by his wife of Smith's condition.[28] According to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger, at 1:38 p.m. (EST) Maurice Brighthaupt, who was also a trained paramedic, called the hotel front desk from her sixth-floor room. The front desk in turn called security, who then called 911. At 1:45 p.m. (EST) the bodyguard administered CPR until paramedics arrived and Smith was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 p.m. (EST) and pronounced dead on arrival at 2:49 p.m. (EST) A phone call was released to the public on February 13, 2007, involving Seminole police and the local 911 operators, saying, "We need assistance to Room 607 at the Hard Rock. It's in reference to a white female. She's not breathing and not responsive... actually, it's Anna Nicole Smith."[29][30] After a seven-week investigation led by Broward County Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Joshua Perper in combination with the Seminole police and several independent forensic pathologists and toxicologists, Dr. Perper announced that Smith died of "combined drug intoxication" with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the "major component."[31] No illegal drugs were found in her system. The official report states that her death was not considered to be due to homicide, suicide, or natural causes.[32] The full investigative report has been made public and can be found online.[33] Additionally, an official copy of the autopsy report was publicly released on March 26, 2007, and can be found online.[34] Her death was ultimately ruled an accidental drug overdose of the sedative chloral hydrate that became increasingly lethal when combined with other prescription drugs in her system, specifically four benzodiazepines: Klonopin (Clonazepam), Ativan (Lorazepam), Serax (Oxazepam), and Valium (Diazepam). Furthermore, she had taken Benadryl (Diphenhydramine) and Topamax (Topiramate), an anticonvulsant AMPA/Kainate antagonist, which likely contributed to the sedative effect of chloral hydrate and the benzodiazepines.[35] Despite rumors of methadone use due to its involvement in Smith's son's death, Dr. Perper only found methadone in her bile, indicating it could only have been ingested 2–3 days prior to her death and therefore was not a contributing factor.[36] The autopsy report indicates that abscesses on her buttocks (presumably from prior injections of vitamin B12 in the form of cyanocobalamin, as well as human growth hormone), and viral enteritis were contributory causes of death. Tests for influenza A and B were negative.[37] It was reported that 8 of the 11 drugs in Smith's system, including the chloral hydrate, were prescribed to Howard K. Stern, not Smith. Additionally, two of the prescriptions were written for Alex Katz and one was written for Smith's friend and psychiatrist, Dr. Khristine Elaine Eroshevich. Dr. Perper acknowledged that all 11 prescriptions were written by Dr. Eroshevich herself.[38][39][40] |
Season 2 (July 24, 2014 – August 7, 2014)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Hutchence | July 24, 2014 | Hutchence and INXS went on a world tour to support the April 1997 release of Elegantly Wasted, both the album and its related singles having had less chart success than their prior releases.[41] During the tour, Yates planned to visit Hutchence with his daughter and Yates's three children, but Geldof was seeking legal action to prevent the visit.[42] The final leg of their 20th anniversary tour was to be in Australia in November and December. However, on the morning of November 22, 1997, Hutchence, aged 37, was found dead in Room 524 at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Double Bay, Sydney.[41][43] On February 6, 1998, after an autopsy and coronial inquest, New South Wales State Coroner, Derrick Hand, presented his report which ruled that Hutchence's death was a suicide while depressed and under the influence of alcohol and other drugs.[43] Former girlfriend Kym Wilson and her then-boyfriend, Andrew Reyment, were the last people to see Hutchence alive when they left him at 4:50 am; he was still awaiting a phone call from Yates in London concerning whether she would bring their daughter Tiger to Australia. Hutchence's second last outgoing phone call was to his personal manager, Martha Troup's voice-mail, "Marth, Michael here. I've fucking had enough." When Troup returned the call there was no answer. At 9:54 am he talked to his former longtime girlfriend, Michèle Bennett, who stated that he was crying, sounded upset and said he needed to see her. Bennett arrived at his door at about 10:40 am, but there was no response. Hutchence's body was discovered by a hotel maid at 11:50 am. Police reported that, "He was in a kneeling position facing the door. He had used his snake skin belt to tie a knot on the automatic door closure at the top of the door, and had strained his head forward into the loop so hard that the buckle had broken."[43] |
| Karen Carpenter[44][45][46][47][48] | July 31, 2014 | On February 4, 1983, less than a month before her 33rd birthday, Carpenter intended to sign papers making her divorce from Tom Burris official. Shortly after waking up, she collapsed in her bedroom at her parents' home in Downey, California. Paramedics called to the scene by Karen's mother found her heart beating once every 10 seconds.[49] She was taken to nearby Downey Community Hospital for treatment, where – by then in full cardiac arrest – she was pronounced dead 20 minutes later at 9:51 a.m. The acting Los Angeles County coroner Dr. Ronald Kornblum performed the autopsy on Karen Carpenter. The results of the autopsy and cause of death were released to the public on March 11, 1983, by way of a press conference and accompanying press release. A drug or medication overdose was explicitly ruled out.[50] The cause of Karen Carpenter's death was stated as "emetine cardiotoxicity due to or as a consequence of anorexia nervosa."[51] What was not specified in the report was how the emetine got into Carpenter's system.[52] The March 11, 1983, press release for the autopsy did not use the word "ipecac" and the link between the use of ipecac syrup and Carpenter's death was not made at that time. Media reports describing the primary cause of Carpenter's death frequently used the phrase "'heartbeat irregularities brought on by chemical imbalances' associated with anorexia nervosa," phrasing used by Dr. Ronald Kornblum during the press conference.[50] He explained in a 1985 interview, "It never occurred to me to mention ipecac. In my mind, emetine and ipecac are the same thing."[52] Two years after Carpenter's death, March 21, 1985, Kornblum was a part of a teleconference with other medical doctors. At that time, Kornblum explicitly stated that Carpenter's heart failure was caused by repeated use of ipecac syrup, an over-the-counter emetic often used to induce vomiting in cases of overdosing or poisoning.[51] During the teleconference, the process was explained "...over time, (emetine) attacks the heart muscle, ultimately causing disorders in the small electric impulses that coordinate the heart's beating. Those disorders lead to heartbeat irregularities, which in turn lead to death." Doctors on the 1985 conference call urged making ipecac syrup available only by prescription, or at the least, the addition of warning labels to the product.[53] The conclusion that Carpenter's death was caused by chronic use of ipecac syrup was disputed by her mother and brother, who both stated that they never found empty vials of ipecac in her apartment, and have denied that there was any evidence that she had been vomiting.[54] Richard has also expressed the belief that Karen was not willing to ingest ipecac syrup because of the potential damage that both the syrup and excessive vomiting would do to her vocal cords, and that she relied on laxatives alone to maintain her low body weight. Dr. Richard Shepherd, a forensic pathologist, believed that Karen's abuse of ipecac syrup and synthroid contributed to her death along with the singer's anorexia and shrunken heart.[55] |
| Brittany Murphy[56][57][58][59][60][61] | August 7, 2014 | At 8:00 AM on December 20, 2009, the Los Angeles Fire Department responded to "a medical request"[62] at the Los Angeles home Murphy and Monjack shared. She had apparently collapsed in a bathroom.[63] Firefighters attempted to resuscitate Murphy on the scene. She was transported to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she died at 10:04 after going into cardiac arrest.[62][63][64] Shortly after her death, Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter told the Associated Press: "It appears to be natural."[65][66][67] An autopsy was performed the day after she died. Her death certificate listed the cause of death as "deferred".[68] On February 4, 2010, the Los Angeles County coroner stated that the primary cause of Murphy's death was pneumonia, with secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication. On February 25, 2010, the coroner released a report stating that Murphy had been taking a range of over-the-counter and prescription medications, with the most likely reason being to treat a cold or respiratory infection. These included "elevated levels" of hydrocodone, acetaminophen, L-methamphetamine, and chlorpheniramine. All of the drugs were legal and the death was ruled to be an accident, but the report observed: "the possible adverse physiological effects of elevated levels of these medications cannot be discounted, especially in her weakened state."[69] |
Season 3 (December 2, 2014 – May 13, 2015)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Elvis Presley[70][71][72][73][74][75][76] | December 2, 2014 | Presley was scheduled to fly out of Memphis on the evening of August 16, 1977, to begin another tour. That afternoon, Ginger Alden discovered him unresponsive on his bathroom floor. Attempts to revive him failed, and death was officially pronounced at 3:30 p.m. at Baptist Memorial Hospital.[77] A pair of lab reports filed two months later each strongly suggested that polypharmacy was the primary cause of death; one reported "fourteen drugs in Elvis' system, ten in significant quantity."[78] Forensic historian and pathologist Michael Baden views the situation as complicated: "Elvis had had an enlarged heart for a long time. That, together with his drug habit, caused his death. But he was difficult to diagnose; it was a judgment call."[79] The competence and ethics of two of the centrally involved medical professionals were seriously questioned. Before the autopsy was complete and toxicology results known, medical examiner Dr. Jerry Francisco declared the cause of death as cardiac arrhythmia, a condition that can be determined only in someone who is still alive.[80] Allegations of a cover-up were widespread.[79] While Presley's main physician, Dr. Nichopoulos, was exonerated of criminal liability for the singer's death, the facts were startling: "In the first eight months of 1977 alone, he had [prescribed] more than 10,000 doses of sedatives, amphetamines and narcotics: all in Elvis's name." His license was suspended for three months. It was permanently revoked in the 1990s after the Tennessee Medical Board brought new charges of over-prescription.[81] Amidst mounting pressure in 1994, the Presley autopsy was reopened. Coroner Dr. Joseph Davis declared, "There is nothing in any of the data that supports a death from drugs. In fact, everything points to a sudden, violent heart attack."[81] Whether or not combined drug intoxication was in fact the cause, there is little doubt that polypharmacy contributed significantly to Presley's premature death.[80] Ben Portsmouth as "Elvis Presley". |
| Nicole Brown Simpson | April 29, 2015 | Early on the morning of June 12, 1994, Brown, aged 35, was found murdered outside her home, along with restaurant waiter Ron Goldman. She had been stabbed multiple times in the head and neck, and had defensive wounds on her hands. The wound on her neck was gaping; through it the larynx could be seen. The C3 vertebra was also incised. |
| Ron Goldman | April 29, 2015 | At the time he was murdered, on the evening of Sunday, June 12, 1994, Goldman had a job as a waiter at Mezzaluna Trattoria, a restaurant located at 11750 San Vicente Boulevard in Santa Monica. Brown had called there to report that her mother, Juditha Brown, had accidentally left her sunglasses on the table.[82] After a quick search, they were discovered in the gutter outside the restaurant. Although he had not served her table, he agreed to take them to her home after work. Before returning the glasses, Goldman stopped at his apartment, located at 11663 Gorham Avenue in Brentwood. He had after-work plans with his friend, Stewart Tanner, Mezzaluna's bartender, who said, "He was going to go home and change and then we were going to go out." The Los Angeles Times reports, "Goldman punched out at 9:33pm and stayed another 15 minutes to have a bottled water at the bar. Then he left, still in his uniform, black pants and white shirt, his tie shed. He carried the glasses that Brown wanted returned to her. 'I'll see you later,' he called to Tanner as he walked out."[83] When Goldman arrived at Brown's residence, at 875 South Bundy Drive, he was stabbed to death along with her, on the walkway leading to the condominium. He was just a few weeks shy of his 26th birthday.[83] During a reconstruction of the events, the police came to believe he had arrived during or shortly after her murder and was stabbed to death. His body, along with Brown's, was found shortly after midnight, when police arrived at the crime scene. |
| River Phoenix[84][85][86] | May 5, 2015 | During the early morning hours of October 31, 1993, Phoenix suffered a drug overdose, and collapsed outside and convulsed for over five minutes. When his brother Joaquin called 9-1-1, he was unable to determine whether Phoenix was breathing. His sister Rain proceeded to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.[87] During the episode, Johnny Depp and his band P (featuring Flea and Phoenix's friend Gibby Haynes of the Butthole Surfers) were onstage. According to Haynes, the band was in the middle of their song "Michael Stipe" while Phoenix was outside the venue having seizures on the sidewalk.[88] When the news filtered through the club, Flea left the stage and rushed outside. By that time, paramedics had arrived on the scene and found Phoenix turning dark blue, in full cardiac arrest and in a flatline state. They administered medication in an attempt to restart his heart. He was rushed to the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, accompanied by Flea, via an ambulance. Further attempts to resuscitate Phoenix were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at 1:51 a.m. PST on the morning of October 31, 1993, at the age of 23. Phoenix's autopsy, signed November 15, 1993, reads as follows in the section entitled "Opinion" by Christopher Rogers, MD: "Toxicology studies showed high concentrations of morphine and cocaine in the blood, as well as other substances in smaller concentrations." The cause of death was "acute multiple drug intoxication", including cocaine and morphine. [This episode was revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in June 2020][89] |
Season 4 (September 28, 2015 – December 10, 2015)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Robin Williams | September 28, 2015 | On August 11, 2014, Williams committed suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California, at the age of 63.[90] In the initial report released on August 12, the Marin County Sheriff's Office deputy coroner stated Williams had hanged himself with a belt and died from asphyxiation.[91][92][93] The final autopsy report, released in November 2014, affirmed that Williams had committed suicide as initially described; neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, while all prescription drugs present in his body were at "therapeutic" levels. The report also noted that Williams had been suffering "a recent increase in paranoia".[94] An examination of his brain tissue revealed the presence of "diffuse Lewy body dementia", which had been misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease.[95] Describing the disease as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain", his wife Susan Schneider stated that "however you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life."[96] [This episode was revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in June 2020] |
| Marilyn Monroe[97] | January 30, 2015 | Monroe's housekeeper, Eunice Murray, was staying overnight at Monroe's house at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive in Brentwood on the night of her death on August 5, 1962.[98] Murray awoke at 3:00 a.m. and sensed "that something was wrong". Although she saw light from under Monroe's bedroom door, she was unable to get a response and found the door locked. Murray then called Monroe's psychiatrist, Dr. Ralph Greenson, who arrived at the house shortly after and broke into the bedroom, finding Monroe deceased.[98] The death was officially confirmed by Monroe's physician, Dr. Hyman Engelberg, who arrived at the house at around 3:50 a.m.[98] At 4:25 a.m., they notified the Los Angeles Police Department.[98] The Los Angeles County Coroners Office was assisted in their investigation by psychiatrists from the Los Angeles Suicide Prevention Team, who had expert knowledge on suicide [99] It was estimated that Monroe had died between 8:30 and 10:30 p.m.,[100] and the toxicology report later revealed that the cause of death was acute barbiturate poisoning. She had 8 mg% (milligrams per 100 milliliters of solution) chloral hydrate and 4.5 mg% of pentobarbital (Nembutal) in her blood, and a further 13 mg% of pentobarbital in her liver.[101] Empty bottles containing these medicines were found next to her bed.[99] The possibility that Monroe had accidentally overdosed was ruled out, because the dosages found in her body were several times over the lethal limit.[102] Her doctors stated that she had been prone to "severe fears and frequent depressions" with "abrupt and unpredictable" mood changes, and had overdosed several times in the past, possibly intentionally.[102][103] Due to these facts and the lack of any indication of foul play, the coroner classified her death as a probable suicide.[104] [This episode would be revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in August 2020] |
| Liberace[105][106] | April 6, 2016 | Liberace was secretly diagnosed HIV positive in August 1985 by his private physician in Las Vegas, 18 months before his death. Also his lover of seven years, Cary James, was infected. Aside from his long-term manager Seymour Heller and a few family members and associates, Liberace kept his terminal illness a secret until the day he died and did not seek any medical treatment. In late 1986, during one of his last interviews, Liberace remarked: "How can you enjoy life if you don't have your health?" He was hospitalized from January 23 to 27, 1987. Liberace died of cytomegalovirus pneumonia[107] as a result of AIDS on February 4, 1987, at his home in Palm Springs, California.[108] He was 67 years old. A devout Roman Catholic to the end, he had a priest administer the last rites to him the day before his death. The original cause of death was attributed variously to anemia (due to a diet of watermelon), emphysema, and heart disease, the last of which was attested to by Liberace's personal physician, Dr. Ronald Daniels.[109] However, the Riverside County coroner, against the advice of Dr. Daniels, performed an autopsy and later stated that "a deliberate attempt" had been made to hide the actual cause of death by Liberace's doctors, his manager, and Liberace's entire immediate family. The post mortem discovered that Liberace had emphysema and coronary artery disease from years of chain smoking, but the real cause of death was pneumonia due to complications from AIDS.[107][109] Author Darden Asbury Pyron writes that Liberace had been "HIV-positive and symptomatic" from 1985 until his death.[110] |
| George Best | November 16, 2015 | On October 3, 2005, Best was admitted to intensive care at the private Cromwell Hospital in London, suffering from a kidney infection caused by the side effects of immuno-suppressive drugs used to prevent his body from rejecting his transplanted liver.[111] On October 27, newspapers stated that Best was close to death and had sent a farewell message to his loved ones. Close friends in the game visited his bedside to make their farewells, including Rodney Marsh, and the two other members of the "United Trinity", Bobby Charlton and Denis Law.[112] On November 20, the British tabloid News of the World published a picture of Best (at his own request) showing him in his hospital bed with jaundice, along with a warning about the dangers of alcohol with his message: "Don't die like me".[112] In the early hours of November 25, 2005, treatment was stopped; later that day he died, aged 59, as a result of a lung infection and multiple organ failure.[111][113] |
Season 5 (January 30, 2016 – February 27, 2016)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Amy Winehouse | September 28, 2015 | At 3:54 p.m. BST on July 23, 2011, two ambulances were called to Winehouse's home in Camden, London.[114][115] Winehouse was pronounced dead at the scene. Shortly afterwards, the Metropolitan Police confirmed that she had died.[116] After her death was announced, media and camera crews appeared, as crowds gathered near Winehouse's residence to pay their respects. Forensic investigators entered the flat as police cordoned off the street outside; they recovered one small and two large bottles of vodka from her room.[117] After her death, the singer broke her second Guinness World Record: for the most songs by a woman to simultaneously appear on the UK singles chart, with eight.[118] A coroner's inquest reached a verdict of misadventure. The report released on October 26, 2011 explained that Winehouse's blood alcohol content was 416 mg per 100 ml (0.416%) at the time of her death, more than five times the legal drink-drive limit.[117] According to the coroner, "The unintended consequences of such potentially fatal levels was her sudden death." On December 17, 2012, British authorities reopened the probe of Winehouse's death.[119] On January 8, 2013, a second inquest confirmed that Winehouse died of accidental alcohol poisoning.[120] In a late June 2013 interview, Alex Winehouse revealed his belief that his sister's eating disorder, and the consequent physical weakness, was the primary cause of her death[121] [This episode would be revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in August 2020] |
| Heath Ledger | October 5, 2015 | At about 2:45 pm (EST), on January 22, 2008, Ledger was found unconscious in his bed by his housekeeper, Teresa Solomon, and his masseuse, Diana Wolozin, in his fourth-floor loft apartment at 421 Broome Street in the SoHo neighbourhood of Manhattan.[122][123] According to the police, Wolozin, who had arrived early for a 3:00 pm appointment with Ledger, called Ledger's friend Mary-Kate Olsen for help. Olsen, who was in California, directed a New York City private security guard to go to the scene. At 3:26 pm, "less than 15 minutes after she first saw him in bed and only a few moments after the first call to Ms. Olsen", Wolozin telephoned 9-1-1 "to say that Mr. Ledger was not breathing". At the urging of the 9-1-1 operator, Wolozin administered CPR, which was unsuccessful in reviving him.[124] Paramedics and emergency medical technicians arrived seven minutes later, at 3:33 pm ("at almost exactly the same moment as a private security guard summoned by Ms. Olsen") but were also unable to revive him.[123][124][125] At 3:36 pm, Ledger was pronounced dead, and his body was removed from the apartment.[123][124] Two weeks later on February 6, 2008, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner of New York released its conclusions, based on an initial autopsy of January 23, 2008 and a subsequent complete toxicological analysis.[126][127][128] The report concludes, in part, "Mr. Heath Ledger died as the result of acute intoxication by the combined effects of oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam and doxylamine." It states definitively: "We have concluded that the manner of death is accident, resulting from the abuse of prescribed medications."[126][129] While the medications found in the toxicological analysis may be prescribed in the United States for insomnia, anxiety, pain, or common cold (doxylamine) symptoms, the vast majority of physicians in the US are extremely reluctant to prescribe multiple benzodiazepines (e.g., diazepam, alprazolam, and temazepam) to a single patient, let alone prescribe the same to a patient already taking a mix of oxycodone and hydrocodone. Although the Associated Press and other media reported that "police estimate Ledger's time of death between 1 pm and 2:45 pm" (on January 22, 2008),[130] the Medical Examiner's Office announced that it would not be publicly disclosing the official estimated time of death.[131][132] The official announcement of the cause and manner of Ledger's death heightened concerns about the growing problems of prescription drug abuse or misuse and combined drug intoxication (CDI).[128][133][134] [This episode was revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in June 2020] |
| Joan Rivers | October 12, 2015 | On August 28, 2014, Rivers experienced serious complications and stopped breathing while undergoing what was scheduled as a minor throat procedure at an outpatient clinic in Yorkville, Manhattan.[135][136] Resuscitated an hour later, Rivers was transferred to the hospital and later put on life support.[137] She died on September 4 at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, having never awoken from a medically induced coma.[138] The New York City Medical Examiner's Office said she died from brain damage caused by a lack of oxygen, and the details of her surgery would be investigated by officials.[139] Rivers was 81 years old. After nearly two months of investigations, federal officials said on November 10 that the clinic made a number of mistakes both before and during the procedure. Among those were the clinic's failure to respond to Rivers' deteriorating vital signs, including a severe drop in her blood pressure, possibly administering an incorrect anesthetic dosage, performing a surgical procedure without her consent, and other medical-clinic irregularities.[140][141] [This episode was revisited by Dr. Michael Hunter in June 2020] |
| Philip Seymour Hoffman | February 10, 2016 | Although friends stated that Hoffman's drug use was under control at the time,[142] on February 2, 2014, the actor was found dead in the bathroom of his Manhattan apartment by a friend – playwright and screenwriter David Bar Katz. Hoffman was 46 years old.[143] Detectives searching the apartment found heroin and prescription medications at the scene, and revealed that he was discovered with a syringe in his arm.[144] The death was officially ruled an accident caused by "acute mixed drug intoxication, including heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines, and amphetamine".[145] Whether Hoffman had taken all of the substances on the same day, or whether any of the substances had remained in his system from earlier use was not determined.[146] |
| Bobbi Kristina Brown | July 19, 2016 | On January 31, 2015, close family friend Nick Gordon and a friend found Brown face down in a bathtub in her Alpharetta, Georgia home.[111] Gordon began CPR until emergency medical services personnel arrived. According to a police spokeswoman, Brown was alive and breathing after being transported to North Fulton Hospital in Roswell, Georgia.[147] She further stated they found no evidence to indicate the incident was caused by drugs or alcohol.[148] Doctors placed Brown in a medically induced coma after determining her brain function was "significantly diminished", and her family was told any meaningful recovery would be "a miracle".[149] Brown died in hospice care on July 26, 2015, at the age of 22. The initial autopsy found no "obvious underlying cause of death and no significant injuries were noted", and the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office said more tests were forthcoming.[150] The Fulton County Medical Examiner's office stated they would release the report upon official receipt of the granted motion,[151] and gave an initial statement on March 3, 2016. The office indicated that it used both medical records and police investigative files to arrive at a determination.
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Season 6 (March 19, 2016 – April 2, 2016)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Natalie Wood[153][154] | January 30, 2016 | During the making of the film Brainstorm, Wood drowned while on a weekend boat trip to Santa Catalina Island on board the Splendour. Many of the circumstances surrounding her drowning are unknown; it was never determined how she entered the water. She was with her husband Robert Wagner, Brainstorm co-star Christopher Walken, and the Splendour's captain, Dennis Davern, on the evening of November 28, 1981. Wood's body was recovered by authorities at 8:00 a.m. on November 29, one mile away from the boat, with a small inflatable dinghy, named the Valiant, found beached nearby. According to Wagner, when he went to bed, Wood was not there.[155] The autopsy report revealed that Wood had bruises on her body and arms as well as an abrasion on her left cheek.[66] Later, in his memoir Pieces of My Heart, Wagner acknowledged that he had an argument with Wood before she disappeared.[66] The autopsy found that Wood's blood alcohol level was 0.14%, and there were traces of two types of medication in her bloodstream: a motion-sickness pill and a painkiller, both of which increase the effects of alcohol.[156] Following his investigation, Los Angeles County coroner Thomas Noguchi ruled her death an accident by drowning and hypothermia.[157] According to Noguchi, Wood had been drinking and may have slipped while trying to re-board the dinghy.[66][158] On January 14, 2013, the Los Angeles County coroner's office offered a 10-page addendum to Wood's autopsy report. The addendum stated that she might have sustained some of the bruises on her body before she went into the water and drowned, but that could not be definitively determined.[159] Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter has speculated that Wood was particularly susceptible to bruising due to the drug synthroid that she had taken.[160] |
| John Belushi[161][162][163] | March 4, 2017 | On March 5, 1982, after showing up at his hotel for a scheduled workout, his trainer Bill Wallace found Belushi dead in his room, Bungalow 3 at the Chateau Marmont Hotel on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood.[164] He was 33 years old. The cause of death was combined drug intoxication involving cocaine and heroin, a drug combination also known as a speedball. |
| Jimi Hendrix | March 12, 2016 | Although the details of Hendrix's last day and death are widely disputed, he spent much of September 17, 1970, in London with Monika Dannemann, the only witness to his final hours.[165] Dannemann said that she prepared a meal for them at her apartment in the Samarkand Hotel, 22 Lansdowne Crescent, Notting Hill, sometime around 11 p.m., when they shared a bottle of wine.[166] She drove Hendrix to the residence of an acquaintance at approximately 1:45 a.m., where he remained for about an hour before she picked him up and drove them back to her flat at 3 a.m.[167] Dannemann said they talked until around 7 a.m., when they went to sleep. She awoke around 11 a.m., and found Hendrix breathing, but unconscious and unresponsive. She called for an ambulance at 11:18 a.m., which arrived on the scene at 11:27 a.m.[168] Paramedics then transported Hendrix to St Mary Abbot's Hospital where Dr. John Bannister pronounced him dead at 12:45 p.m. on September 18, 1970.[169] To determine the cause of death, coroner Gavin Thurston ordered a post-mortem examination on Hendrix's body, which was performed on September 21 by Professor Robert Donald Teare, a forensic pathologist.[170] Thurston completed the inquest on September 28, and concluded that Hendrix aspirated his own vomit and died of asphyxia while intoxicated with barbiturates.[171] Citing "insufficient evidence of the circumstances", he declared an open verdict.[172] Dannemann later revealed that Hendrix had taken nine of her prescribed Vesparax sleeping tablets, 18 times the recommended dosage.[173] |
| Jim Morrison | February 13, 2016 | He died on July 3, 1971 at age 27.[174][175][176] He was found by Courson in a bathtub at his apartment. The official cause of death was listed as heart failure,[177] although no autopsy was performed, as it was not required by French law. |
| Donda West[178][179] | February 20, 2016 | On November 10, 2007, at approximately 7:35 pm, paramedics responding to an emergency call transported West's mother, Donda West, to the nearby Centinela Freeman Hospital in Marina del Rey, California. She was unresponsive in the emergency room, and after resuscitation attempts, doctors pronounced her dead at approximately 8:30 pm,[180] at age 58.[181] The Los Angeles County coroner's office said in January 2008 that West had died of heart disease while suffering "multiple post-operative factors" after plastic surgery. She had undergone liposuction and breast reduction.[181] Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Andre Aboolian had refused to do the surgery because West had a health condition that placed her at risk for a heart attack.[180] Aboolian referred her to an internist to investigate her cardiac issue.[180] She never met with the doctor recommended by Aboolian and had the procedures performed by a third doctor, Jan Adams.[180] The final coroner's report January 10, 2008, concluded that Donda West died of "coronary artery disease and multiple post-operative factors due to or as a consequence of liposuction and mammoplasty".[182] |
| Maurice Gibb[183] | March 19, 2016 | Maurice died unexpectedly at the age of 53 at Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach, Florida, on January 12, 2003, due to complications of a twisted intestine, with his wife, children, and brothers at his side.[184] |
| Rodney King[185][186][187] | February 27, 2016 | On the morning of June 17, 2012, King's fiancée Cynthia Kelly found him lying at the bottom of his swimming pool.[188][189] Police in Rialto received a 911 call from Kelly at about 5:25 a.m. (PDT).[190][191] Responding officers found King at the bottom of the pool, removed him, and attempted to revive him. He was transferred by ambulance to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, California and was pronounced dead on arrival at 6:11 a.m. (PDT) The Rialto Police Department began a standard drowning investigation and stated there did not appear to be any foul play. On August 23, 2012, King's autopsy results were released, stating he died of accidental drowning, and that a combination of alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, and PCP found in his system were contributing factors. The conclusion of the report stated: "The effects of the drugs and alcohol, combined with the subject's heart condition, probably precipitated a cardiac arrhythmia, and the subject, incapacitated in the water, was unable to save himself."[192] King had been a user of PCP.[193] |
| The Notorious B.I.G.[194][195] | March 26, 2016 | On March 9, 1997, at around 12:30 a.m., Wallace left with his entourage in two GMC Suburbans to return to his hotel after the Fire Department closed the party early due to overcrowding.[196] Wallace traveled in the front passenger seat alongside his associates, Damion "D-Roc" Butler, Junior M.A.F.I.A. member Lil' Cease and driver, Gregory "G-Money" Young. Combs traveled in the other vehicle with three bodyguards. The two trucks were trailed by a Chevrolet Blazer carrying Bad Boy's director of security.[197] By 12:45 A.M. the streets were crowded with people leaving the event. Wallace's truck stopped at a red light 50 yards (46 m) from the museum. A black Chevy Impala pulled up alongside Wallace's truck. The driver of the Impala, an African American male dressed in a blue suit and bow tie, rolled down his window, drew a 9 mm blue-steel pistol and fired at the GMC Suburban; four bullets hit Wallace in the chest.[197] Wallace's entourage rushed him to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, but he was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. |
| Phil Hartman[198] | February 6, 2016 | On the evening of May 27, 1998, Brynn Hartman visited the Italian restaurant Buca di Beppo in Encino, California, with producer and writer Christine Zander, who said she was "in a good frame of mind". After returning to the couple's nearby home, Brynn started a "heated" argument with her husband, who threatened to leave her if she started using drugs again, after which he then went to bed.[199] While Hartman slept, Brynn entered his bedroom sometime before 3:00 a.m. local time on May 28 with a .38 calibre handgun and fatally shot him twice in the head and once in his side.[199] She was intoxicated and had recently taken cocaine.[200] Brynn drove to the home of her friend Ron Douglas and confessed to the killing, but he did not initially believe her. The pair drove back to the house in separate cars, after which Brynn called another friend and confessed a second time.[199][201] Upon seeing Hartman's body, Douglas called 911 at 6:20 a.m. Police subsequently arrived and escorted Douglas and the Hartmans' two children from the premises, by which time Brynn had locked herself in the bedroom and committed suicide by shooting herself in the mouth.[199][202] Los Angeles police stated Hartman's death was caused by a "domestic discord" between the couple.[203] A friend stated that Brynn allegedly "had trouble controlling her anger [...] She got attention by losing her temper".[204] A neighbour of the Hartmans told a CNN reporter that the couple had been experiencing marital problems: "It's been building, but I didn't think it would lead to this", and actor Steve Guttenberg said they had been "a very happy couple, and they always had the appearance of being well-balanced."[111] Other causes for the incident were later suggested. Before committing the act, Brynn was taking the antidepressant drug Zoloft. A wrongful-death lawsuit was filed in 1999 by Brynn's brother, Gregory Omdahl, against the drug's manufacturer, Pfizer, and her child's psychiatrist Arthur Sorosky, who provided samples of Zoloft to Brynn.[205] |
| Don Cornelius[206][207][208] | April 2, 2016 | In the early morning hours of February 1, 2012, police officers responded to a report of a shooting and found Cornelius on the floor of his home at Mulholland Drive with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead by the Los Angeles County Assistant Chief Coroner.[209] According to former Soul Train host Shemar Moore, Cornelius may have been suffering from early onset of dementia or Alzheimer's disease and his health had been in decline.[210][211] An autopsy found that Cornelius had been suffering from seizures during the last 15 years of his life, a complication of a 21-hour brain operation he underwent in 1982 to correct a congenital deformity in his cerebral arteries. He admitted that he was never quite the same after that surgery and it was a factor in his decision to retire from hosting Soul Train in 1993. According to his son, he was in "extreme pain" by the end and said shortly before his death, "I don't know how much longer I can take this."[212] |
Season 7 (November 19, 2016 – February 25, 2017)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Chris Farley[213][214] | November 19, 2016 | On December 18, 1997, he was found dead by his younger brother, John, in his apartment in the John Hancock Center in Chicago.[215] An autopsy later revealed that Farley had died of an overdose of cocaine and morphine.[216] Advanced atherosclerosis was cited as a "significant contributing factor."[217] Farley's death is often compared to that of his SNL idol John Belushi, who also died at age 33 of an accidental drug overdose consisting of cocaine and heroin.[201] |
| Corey Haim[218][219][220][221] | November 28, 2016 | On March 10, 2010, after Haim's mother phoned 9-1-1, paramedics took Haim from their home to Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, where he was pronounced dead at 2:15 a.m. He was 38 years old. Los Angeles police stated that his death appeared to be an accidental overdose although no fewer than four different bottles containing Valium, Vicodin, Soma (a muscle relaxant) and Haloperidol (an antipsychotic) were retrieved,[222] later confirmed as needing to be prescribed by a specialist to acquire.[223] It emerged that Haim had illegally used aliases to procure over 553 prescription pills in the 32 days prior to his death, having "doctor-shopped" seven different physicians and used seven pharmacies to obtain the supply, all of whom failed due-diligence, and which included 195 Valium, 149 Vicodin, 194 Soma and 15 Xanax.[224] Haim had been ill with flu-like symptoms for two days before his death. A doctor called on him and took his temperature, but did not suspect serious problems. At one stage, Haim woke his mother and said, "Mom, can you please come and lie next to me, I'm not feeling very good." After he attempted to walk around shortly after midnight, she saw him collapse. Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said: "As he got out of bed he felt a little weak and went down to the floor on his knees."[225] The Los Angeles County Coroner's Office ruled that Haim's death was due to pneumonia.[226] Prior to the official autopsy reports being released publicly, Haim's mother stated that the coroner had given her a "courtesy call" to state his preliminary findings that Haim died of pulmonary edema and was suffering from an enlarged heart and water in the lungs, typical signs of drug abuse.[227][228] Haim's agent discounted the possibility of an overdose, citing his recent drive toward clean living and affirming that he had been completely drug-free for two weeks.[229] However Haim's primary doctor confirmed to Drug Enforcement Administration investigators that Haim was addicted to pain medication.[230] |
| Cory Monteith | December 3, 2016 | On Saturday, July 13, 2013, at the age of 31, Monteith was found dead in his room at the Fairmont Pacific Rim hotel in Vancouver. He had been scheduled to check out that day following a seven-night stay, but when he failed to do so, hotel staff entered his room and discovered his body around noon. The Vancouver Police Department stated that the cause of death was not immediately apparent, but ruled out foul play.[231] An autopsy was completed by the B.C. Coroners Service on July 15.[232] The preliminary autopsy report stated that Monteith died from "a mixed drug toxicity" consisting of heroin and alcohol,[233][234] and that his death appeared to have been accidental.[235] The final report, released by the B.C. Coroners Service on October 2, 2013, confirmed these findings. It noted that Monteith also had codeine and morphine in his system at the time of his death, and that he was found with drug paraphernalia that included a spoon with drug residue and a used hypodermic needle, as well as two empty bottles of champagne. The coroner wrote that Monteith had experienced intermittent periods of drug abuse and abstinence throughout his life, and that "after a period of cessation from opioid drug use, a previously tolerated drug concentration level may become toxic and fatal."[236] |
| Casey Kasem[237][238][239] | December 10, 2016 | In October 2013, Kerri Kasem said her father was suffering from Parkinson's disease, which a doctor had diagnosed in 2007;[240][241] a few months later, she said he was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia, which is often difficult to differentiate from Parkinson's.[242] Due to his condition, he was no longer able to speak during his final months.[243] On June 15, 2014, Kasem died at St. Anthony's Hospital in Gig Harbor, Washington at the age of 82. The immediate cause of death was reported as sepsis caused by an ulcerated bedsore.[244][245][246] He was survived by his wife, four children, and four grandchildren.[247] |
| Steve McQueen[248] | January 28, 2017 | McQueen developed a persistent cough in 1978. He gave up cigarettes and underwent antibiotic treatments without improvement. Shortness of breath grew more pronounced and on December 22, 1979, after filming The Hunter, a biopsy revealed pleural mesothelioma,[249] a cancer associated with asbestos exposure for which there is no known cure. A few months later, McQueen gave a medical interview in which he blamed his condition on asbestos exposure.[250] McQueen believed that asbestos used in movie sound stage insulation and race-drivers' protective suits and helmets could have been involved, but he thought it more likely that his illness was a direct result of massive exposure while removing asbestos lagging from pipes aboard a troop ship while in the Marines.[251][252] By February 1980, evidence of widespread metastasis was found. While he tried to keep the condition a secret, the National Enquirer disclosed that he had "terminal cancer" on March 11, 1980. In July, McQueen traveled to Rosarito Beach, Mexico, for unconventional treatment after US doctors told him they could do nothing to prolong his life.[253] Controversy arose over the trip, because McQueen sought treatment from William Donald Kelley, who was promoting a variation of the Gerson therapy that used coffee enemas, frequent washing with shampoos, daily injections of fluid containing live cells from cattle and sheep, massage, and laetrile; an anticancer drug available in Mexico, but described as canonical quackery by mainstream scientists.[254][255][256] McQueen paid for Kelley's treatments by himself in cash payments which were said to have been upwards of $40,000 per month ($124,000 today) during his three-month stay in Mexico. Kelley's only medical license (until revoked in 1976) had been for orthodontics.[257] Kelley's methods created a sensation in the traditional and tabloid press when it became known that McQueen was a patient.[258][259] McQueen returned to the US in early October. Despite metastasis of the cancer throughout McQueen's body, Kelley publicly announced that McQueen would be completely cured and return to normal life. McQueen's condition soon worsened and "huge" tumors developed in his abdomen.[257] In late October 1980, McQueen flew to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico, to have an abdominal tumor on his liver (weighing around five pounds) removed, despite warnings from his US doctors that the tumor was inoperable and his heart could not withstand the surgery.[257][260]:212–213 McQueen checked into a small Juarez clinic under the assumed name of "Sam Shepard", where the doctors and staff were unaware of his actual identity. On November 7, 1980, McQueen died of heart failure at 3:45 a.m. at the Juárez clinic, 12 hours after surgery to remove or reduce numerous metastatic tumors in his neck and abdomen.[260]:212–213 He was 50 years old.[261] According to the El Paso Times, McQueen died in his sleep.[262] |
| Kurt Cobain[263][264][265][266][267][268][269][270] | February 4, 2017 | On April 8, Cobain's body was discovered at his Lake Washington Boulevard home by electrician Gary Smith[271] who had arrived to install a security system. Apart from a minor amount of blood coming out of Cobain's ear, the electrician reported seeing no visible signs of trauma, and initially believed that Cobain was asleep until he saw the shotgun pointing at his chin. A note was found, addressed to Cobain's childhood imaginary friend Boddah, that stated that Cobain had not "felt the excitement of listening to as well as creating music, along with really writing [...] for too many years now". A high concentration of heroin and traces of diazepam were also found in his body. Cobain's body had been lying there for days; the coroner's report estimated Cobain to have died on April 5, 1994.[272] |
| Bob Marley | February 25, 2017 | In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of a toe. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match that year, but was instead a symptom of the already-existing cancer. Marley turned down his doctors' advice to have his toe amputated (which would have hindered his performing career), citing his religious beliefs, and instead the nail and nail bed were removed and a skin graft taken from his thigh to cover the area.[273][274][275] Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980.[276] Marley died on May 11, 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital), aged 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. |
| Dennis Wilson[277] | March 18, 2017 | On December 28, 1983, 24 days after his 39th birthday, Dennis drowned at Marina Del Rey, Los Angeles, after drinking all day and then diving in the afternoon, to recover items he had thrown overboard at the marina from his yacht three years prior.[278] Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter believes that Dennis experienced shallow water blackout just prior to his death.[279] |
| Richard Pryor[280] | March 25, 2017 | On December 10, 2005, Pryor suffered a heart attack in Los Angeles. He was taken to a local hospital after his wife's attempts to resuscitate him failed. He was pronounced dead at 7:58 a.m. PST. He was 65 years old. Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter believes Pryor's fatal heart attack was caused by coronary artery disease that was at least partially brought about by years of tobacco smoking.[281] |
| John Denver[282][283][284][285] | April 1, 2017 | Denver was killed on October 12, 1997 when his experimental Adrian Davis Long-EZ plane, aircraft registration number N555JD, crashed into Monterey Bay near Pacific Grove, California, while making a series of touch-and-go landings at the nearby Monterey Peninsula Airport.[286] The National Transportation Safety Board's (NTSB) accident ID is LAX98FA008.[287] Denver was the only occupant of the aircraft. The crash seriously disfigured Denver's head and body, making identification impossible by dental records, and his fingerprints were used to confirm that the fallen pilot was the singer.[288][289] |
Season 8 (May 20, 2017 – July 22, 2017)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Prince | May 20, 2017 | On April 21, 2016 at 9:43 a.m., the Carver County Sheriff's Office received a 9-1-1 call requesting that an ambulance be sent to Prince's home at Paisley Park. The caller initially told the dispatcher that an unidentified person at the home was unconscious, then moments later said he was dead, and finally identified the person as Prince.[290] The caller was Dr. Kornfeld's son, who had flown in with buprenorphine that morning to devise a treatment plan for opioid addiction.[291] Emergency responders found Prince unresponsive in an elevator and performed CPR, but a paramedic said he had been dead for about six hours,[292] and they were unable to revive him. They pronounced him dead at 10:07 a.m., 19 minutes after their arrival.[291] There were no signs of suicide or foul play.[291] A press release from the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office in Anoka County on June 2 stated that Prince had died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl,[293] at the age of 57.[294] |
| Natalie Cole | May 27, 2017 | It was reported on January 1, 2016, that she had died the day prior at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Her family stated that at the time of her death, Cole had "ongoing health issues".[295][296][297] According to Cole's publicist, Maureen O'Connor, the singer's death was the result of congestive heart failure.[298] In official news on her cause of death, her family stated that Cole was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension after her kidney transplant in 2009.[299] Although Cole was clean and sober at the time of her passing, her past intravenous drug use contributed to her demise.[300] |
| Patrick Swayze | June 3, 2017 | In late December 2007, just after filming the pilot episode for The Beast, Swayze began to suffer a burning feeling in his stomach caused by a blockage of his bile ducts.[301] Three weeks later, in mid-January 2008, he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. Swayze died, with family at his side, on September 14, 2009, at age 57, twenty months after being diagnosed.[302][303][304] Swayze's publicist confirmed to CNN that he had died of pancreatic cancer.[305] |
| Steve Jobs | June 10, 2017 | Jobs died at his Palo Alto, California home around 3 p.m. (PDT) on October 5, 2011, due to complications from a relapse of his previously treated islet-cell neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer,[306][307] which resulted in respiratory arrest.[308] He had lost consciousness the day before and died with his wife, children, and sisters at his side.[309] |
| Bernie Mac | June 17, 2017 | In the final three years of his life, Mac publicly disclosed that he had suffered from sarcoidosis, a disease of unknown origin that causes inflammation in tissue. Sarcoidosis frequently attacked Mac's lungs.[310] In 2008, Mac was admitted to the Northwestern Memorial Hospital in his hometown of Chicago, Illinois. After a week of unsuccessful medical treatment, Mac went into cardiac arrest and died during the early morning hours of August 9, from complications of pneumonia. |
| Gary Coleman | June 24, 2017 | Very few details of Coleman's medical history have been made public. His short stature (4 feet, 8 inches or 1.42 meters) stemmed from congenital kidney disease and its treatment.[311] He underwent at least two unsuccessful kidney transplants early in his life and required frequent dialysis, which he preferred not to discuss. In 2009, Coleman underwent heart surgery, details of which were never made public, but he is known to have developed pneumonia postoperatively.[312] In January 2010, Coleman was hospitalized after a seizure in Los Angeles, and in February he suffered another seizure on the set of The Insider television program.[313] On May 26, 2010, Coleman was admitted to Utah Valley Regional Medical Center in Provo, Utah, in critical condition[314] after falling down the stairs at his home in Santaquin and hitting his head, possibly after another seizure, and suffering an epidural hematoma.[315] According to a hospital spokesman, Coleman was conscious and lucid the next morning, but his condition subsequently worsened.[316] By mid-afternoon on May 27, he was unconscious and on life support.[317] He died at 12:05 pm MDT (18:05 UTC) on May 28, at the age of 42.[318][319] An investigation by Santaquin police was closed on October 5, 2010, after the medical examiner ruled Coleman's death accidental, and no evidence of wrongdoing could be demonstrated.[320][321] |
| Janis Joplin | July 1, 2017 | On October 4, 1970, producer Paul Rothchild became concerned when Joplin failed to show up at Sunset Sound Recorders for a recording session. Full Tilt Boogie's road manager, John Cooke, drove to the Landmark Motor Hotel in Hollywood where Joplin was staying. He saw Joplin's psychedelically painted Porsche 356 C Cabriolet in the parking lot. Upon entering Joplin's room (#105), he found her dead on the floor beside her bed. The official cause of death was a heroin overdose, possibly compounded by alcohol.[322][323] Cooke believes Joplin had been given heroin that was much more potent than normal, as several of her dealer's other customers also overdosed that week.[324] |
| Judy Garland | July 8, 2017 | On June 22, 1969, her husband Mickey Deans found Garland dead in the bathroom of their rented mews house in Chelsea, London; she was 47 years old. At the inquest, Coroner Gavin Thurston stated that the cause of death was "an incautious self-overdosage" of barbiturates; her blood contained the equivalent of 10 1.5-grain (97 mg) Seconal capsules.[325] Thurston stressed that the overdose had been unintentional and that no evidence suggested she had committed suicide. Garland's autopsy showed no inflammation of her stomach lining and no drug residue in her stomach, which indicated that the drug had been ingested over a long period of time, rather than in one dose. Her death certificate stated that her death had been "accidental".[326] Supporting the accidental cause, her doctor noted that a prescription of 25 barbiturate pills was found by her bedside half-empty and another bottle of 100 was still unopened.[327] A British specialist who had attended her autopsy said she had nevertheless been living on borrowed time owing to cirrhosis, although a later autopsy showed no evidence of alcoholism or cirrhosis.[328][329] She died twelve days after her forty-seventh birthday. Her Wizard of Oz co-star Ray Bolger commented at her funeral, "She just plain wore out."[330] |
| Bruce Lee | July 15, 2017 | On May 10, 1973, Lee collapsed during an ADR session for Enter the Dragon at Golden Harvest in Hong Kong. Suffering from seizures and headaches, he was immediately rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors diagnosed cerebral edema. They were able to reduce the swelling through the administration of mannitol. The headache and cerebral edema that occurred in his first collapse were later repeated on the day of his death.[331] On July 20, 1973, Lee was in Hong Kong, to have dinner with James Bond star George Lazenby, with whom he intended to make a film. According to Lee's wife Linda, Lee met producer Raymond Chow at 2 p.m. (HKT) at home to discuss the making of the film Game of Death. They worked until 4 p.m. and then drove together to the home of Lee's colleague Betty Ting Pei, a Taiwanese actress. The three went over the script at Ting's home, and then Chow left to attend a dinner meeting.[332][333] Later Lee complained of a headache, and Ting gave him an analgesic (painkiller), Equagesic, which contained both aspirin and the tranquilizer meprobamate. Around 7:30 p.m., he went to lie down for a nap. When Lee did not come for dinner, producer Raymond Chow came to the apartment, but was unable to wake Lee up. A doctor was summoned, who spent ten minutes attempting to revive Lee before sending him by ambulance to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. By the time the ambulance reached the hospital he was dead. He was 32 years old. There was no visible external injury; however, according to autopsy reports, Lee's brain had swollen considerably, from 1,400 to 1,575 grams (a 13% increase). The autopsy found Equagesic in his system. On October 15, 2005, Chow stated in an interview that Lee died from an allergic reaction to the tranquilizer meprobamate, the main ingredient in Equagesic, which Chow described as an ingredient commonly used in painkillers. When the doctors announced Lee's death officially, it was ruled a "death by misadventure".[334][335] Around the time of Lee's death, numerous rumors appeared in the media.[336] Lee's iconic status and untimely demise fed many wild rumors and theories. These included murder involving the Triads and a supposed curse on him and his family.[337] Donald Teare, a forensic scientist recommended by Scotland Yard who had overseen over 1,000 autopsies, was assigned to the Lee case. His conclusion was "death by misadventure" caused by an acute cerebral edema due to a reaction to compounds present in the combination medication Equagesic.[338] While there was initial speculation that cannabis found in Lee's stomach may have contributed to his death, Teare refuted this, stating that it would "be both 'irresponsible and irrational' to say that [cannabis] might have triggered either the events of Bruce's collapse on May 10 or his death on July 20".[338] Dr. R. R. Lycette, the clinical pathologist at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, reported at the coroner hearing that the death could not have been caused by cannabis.[338] At the 1975 San Diego Comic-Con convention, Bruce Lee's friend Chuck Norris attributed his death to a reaction between the muscle-relaxant medication he had been taking since 1968 for a ruptured disc in his back, and an "antibiotic" he was given for his headache on the night of his death.[339] |
| Anissa Jones | July 22, 2017 | Shortly before noon on August 28, 1976, after partying all night in the beach town of Oceanside, California, with her new boyfriend Allan "Butch" Koven and others, Jones was found dead in a bedroom of a house belonging to the father of a 14-year-old friend named Helen Hennessy.[340]:28 The coroner's report listed her death as a drug overdose, later ruled accidental;[341] cocaine, PCP, Quaalude, and Seconal were found in her body during an autopsy toxicology examination. The police report also indicated a small vial of blue liquid next to Jones at the scene, which was never identified. The coroner who examined Jones reported she died from one of the most severe drug overdoses he had ever seen. Jones was 18 years old.[340]:28 Six days after Jones' death, Dr. Don Carlos Moshos was arrested and charged with illegally prescribing Seconal to Jones, among other drugs-for-profit charges from a concurrent undercover criminal investigation. An envelope with Moshos' business address was present at Jones' scene of death, specifying a drug found in Anissa's toxicology report (Seconal), its dosage (1.5 gr), quantity (50), and the recipient's last name (Jones). Moshos was charged with 11 offenses, including second-degree murder;[342] while awaiting trial, Moshos died on December 27, 1976, four months after Jones. Although the murder charges were dropped before his death, Moshos' estate was sued by Jones' surviving family for $400,000; in July 1979, the verdict found him 30% liable and Jones 70% responsible for her death, and the resulting judgment was reduced to $79,500. |
Season 9 (February 11, 2018 – October 6, 2018)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| James Gandolfini[343][344][345] | February 11, 2018 | Gandolfini died suddenly at the age of 51 in Rome, on June 19, 2013. He was expected to travel to Sicily a few days later to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest. After he and his family had spent a day of sightseeing in sweltering heat, his 13-year-old son Michael discovered him unconscious at around 10 pm local time, on the bathroom floor at the Boscolo Exedra Hotel in the Piazza della Repubblica. Michael called reception, who in turn called emergency paramedics. Gandolfini reportedly arrived at the hospital at 10:40 pm and was pronounced dead at 11 pm.[346] An autopsy confirmed that he had died of a heart attack.[347] |
| Mindy McCready[348] | February 18, 2018 | On February 17, 2013, McCready's neighbors called the Sheriff's Office of Cleburne County, Arkansas, reporting gunshots. McCready was found dead on her front porch from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the same place where David Wilson, her former boyfriend and the father of her younger son, had fatally shot himself one month prior.[349][350] She was 37 years old.[351][352] She also fatally shot the pet dog that had belonged to Wilson.[349][353] |
| Marvin Gaye[354][355][356] | February 25, 2018 | At 12:38 p.m. (PST) on April 1, 1984, while Gaye was in his bedroom, his father Marvin Gay Sr. shot Gaye in the heart and then in his left shoulder, the latter shot taken at point-blank range.[357][358] Minutes earlier, the two men had been involved in a physical altercation when Gaye intervened in a fight between his parents. The first shot proved to be fatal. Gaye was pronounced dead at 1:01 p.m. (PST) after his body arrived at California Hospital Medical Center, one day short of his 45th birthday.[359] [358] |
| Mary Tyler Moore[360][361][362][363] | March 4, 2018 | Moore was a recovered alcoholic, and had been diagnosed with Type I diabetes in 1969, after having a miscarriage.[364] In 2011, she had surgery to remove a meningioma, a benign brain tumor.[365] In 2014, friends reported that she had heart and kidney problems and was nearly blind.[366] Moore died at the age of 80 on January 25, 2017, at Greenwich Hospital in Greenwich, Connecticut from cardiopulmonary arrest complicated by pneumonia after having been placed on a respirator the previous week.[367][368] |
| Farrah Fawcett[369][370] | March 11, 2018 | Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006[371] and began treatment that included chemotherapy and surgery.[372] Four months later, on February 2, 2007, her 60th birthday, the Associated Press reported that Fawcett was at that point cancer-free.[373] However, in May 2007, Fawcett experienced a recurrence and was diagnosed with stage IV cancer that had metastasized to her liver (which has a 5-year survival rate of <20%); a malignant polyp was found where she had been treated for the initial cancer. Doctors contemplated whether to implant a radiation seeder (which differs from conventional radiation and is used to treat other types of cancer).[374] Fawcett's U.S. doctors told her that she would require a colostomy.[375] Not wanting to proceed with a colostomy for treatment of her stage IV cancer, she traveled to Germany for treatments described variously in the press as "aggressive",[376] and "alternative".[377] There, Dr. Ursula Jacob prescribed a treatment including surgery to remove the anal tumor, a course of perfusion and embolization for her liver cancer by Doctors Claus Kiehling and Thomas Vogl in Germany, and chemotherapy back in Los Angeles. Although initially the tumors were regressing, their reappearance a few months later necessitated a new course, this time including laser ablation therapy and chemoembolization.[378] Aided by friend Alana Stewart, Fawcett documented her battle with the disease.[375] In early April 2009, Fawcett was back in the United States and hospitalized. Media reports declared her unconscious and in critical condition,[379][380] although subsequent reports indicated her condition was not so dire.[381] On April 6, the Associated Press reported that the cancer had metastasized to her liver. This was a development that Fawcett had learned of in May 2007 and which her subsequent treatments in Germany had targeted. A month later, on May 7, Fawcett was reported as being critically ill, with Ryan O'Neal quoted as saying she now spends her days at home, on an IV and often asleep.[382] The Los Angeles Times reported that she was in the last stages of terminal cancer and had the chance to see her son Redmond in April 2009, although he was shackled and under supervision because he was then incarcerated. Her 91-year-old father, James, flew out to Los Angeles to visit. Fawcett died at 9:28 a.m. PST on June 25, 2009, at the age of 62, at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, with O'Neal and Stewart by her side.[383][384][385] |
| Andy Kaufman | March 18, 2018 | At Thanksgiving dinner on Long Island in November 1983, several family members openly expressed worry about Kaufman's persistent coughing. He claimed that he had been coughing for nearly a month, visited his doctor, and been told that nothing was wrong. When he returned to Los Angeles, he consulted another physician, then checked himself into Cedars-Sinai Medical Center for a series of medical tests. A few days later, he was diagnosed with large-cell carcinoma, an extremely rare type of lung cancer. After audiences were shocked by his gaunt appearance during January 1984 performances, Kaufman acknowledged that he had an unspecified illness which he hoped to cure with natural medicine, including a diet of all fruits and vegetables, among other measures. Kaufman received palliative radiotherapy, but by then the cancer had spread from his lungs to his brain. His final public appearance was at the premiere of My Breakfast With Blassie in March 1984, where he appeared thin and had a partially shaved head.[386] The following day, he and Lynne Margulies flew to Baguio, Philippines, where as a last resort, Kaufman received treatments of a pseudoscientific procedure called psychic surgery. Kaufman died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 16, 1984, at the age of 35.[387][388][389] |
| Andy Warhol | March 25, 2018 | Warhol died in Manhattan at 6:32 a.m. on February 22, 1987 at age 58. According to news reports, he had been making a good recovery from gallbladder surgery at New York Hospital before dying in his sleep from a sudden post-operative irregular heartbeat.[390] Prior to his diagnosis and operation, Warhol delayed having his recurring gallbladder problems checked, as he was afraid to enter hospitals and see doctors.[391] His family sued the hospital for inadequate care, saying that the arrhythmia was caused by improper care and water intoxication.[392] The malpractice case was quickly settled out of court; Warhol's family received an undisclosed sum of money.[393] Shortly before Warhol's death, doctors expected Warhol to survive the surgery, though a revaluation of the case about thirty years after his death showed many indications that Warhol's surgery was in fact riskier than originally thought.[394] It was widely reported at the time that Warhol died of a "routine" surgery, though when considering factors such as his age, a family history of gallbladder problems, his previous gunshot wounds, and his medical state in the weeks leading up to the procedure, the potential risk of death following the surgery appeared to have been significant.[394] |
| Muhammad Ali[395][396][397] | April 1, 2018 | In February 2013, Ali's brother Rahman Ali said Muhammad could no longer speak and could be dead within days.[398] Ali's daughter May May Ali responded to the rumors, stating that she had talked to him on the phone the morning of February 3 and he was fine.[399] On December 20, 2014, Ali was hospitalized for a mild case of pneumonia.[400] Ali was once again hospitalized on January 15, 2015, for a urinary tract infection after being found unresponsive at a guest house in Scottsdale, Arizona.[401] He was released the next day.[402] Ali was hospitalized in Scottsdale on June 2, 2016, with a respiratory illness. Although his condition was initially described as "fair", it worsened, and he died the following day at age 74 from septic shock.[403][404][405][406] |
| Miles Davis | April 8, 2018 | In early September 1991, Davis checked into St. John's Hospital near his home in Santa Monica, California, for routine tests.[407] During his stay, his doctors suggested he have a tracheal tube implanted to relieve his breathing following his repeated bouts of bronchial pneumonia. This provoked an outburst from Davis that led to an intracerebral hemorrhage, followed by a coma. After several days on life support, Davis' machine was turned off and he died on September 28, 1991.[408] Davis was 65 years old. His death was officially reasoned as the combined effects of a stroke, pneumonia and respiratory failure.[409] According to Troupe, Davis was taking azidothymidine (AZT), a type of antiretroviral drug used for the treatment of HIV and AIDS, during his treatments in hospital.[410] |
| James Brown | April 15, 2018 | On December 23, 2006, Brown became very ill and arrived at his dentist's office in Atlanta, Georgia, several hours late. His appointment was for dental implant work. During that visit, Brown's dentist observed that he looked "very bad... weak and dazed." Instead of performing the work, the dentist advised Brown to see a doctor right away about his medical condition.[411] Brown went to the Emory Crawford Long Memorial Hospital the next day for medical evaluation and was admitted for observation and treatment.[412] According to Charles Bobbit, his longtime personal manager and friend, Brown had been struggling with a noisy cough since returning from a November trip to Europe. Yet, Bobbit said, the singer had a history of never complaining about being sick and often performed while ill.[411] Although Brown had to cancel upcoming concerts in Waterbury, Connecticut, and Englewood, New Jersey, he was confident that the doctor would discharge him from the hospital in time for his scheduled New Year's Eve shows at the Count Basie Theatre in New Jersey and the B. B. King Blues Club in New York, in addition to performing a song live on CNN for the Anderson Cooper New Year's Eve special.[412] Brown remained hospitalized, however, and his condition worsened throughout the day. On Christmas Day, 2006, Brown died at approximately 1:45 am EST (06:45 UTC), at age 73, from congestive heart failure, resulting from complications of pneumonia. Bobbit was at his bedside[413] and later reported that Brown stuttered, "I'm going away tonight," then took three long, quiet breaths and fell asleep before dying.[414] |
| Cass Elliot | April 22, 2018 | On July 29, 1974, Elliot, age 32, died in her sleep at the London flat where she was staying. According to forensic pathologist Keith Simpson, who conducted her autopsy, her death was due to "heart failure due to fatty myocardial degeneration due to obesity". A drug screen that was part of the forensic autopsy revealed there were no drugs in her system.[415][416][417] Elliot died in Flat 12, 9 Curzon Place (later Curzon Square), Shepherd Market, Mayfair, London, which was on loan from singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson. Four years later, The Who's drummer Keith Moon died in the same room, also aged 32 years.[418][419] The Associated Press quoted pathologist Simpson as saying the following at an August 5 inquest at Westminster Coroner's Court: "She weighed twice as much as she should have. One of her heart muscles had turned to fat."[420] Elliot was buried in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. An oft-repeated urban legend is that Elliot choked to death on a ham sandwich.[421][422] The story spread soon after the discovery of her body and was based on speculation in the initial media coverage. A 2014 article in Haaretz identified the person who started the false rumor as follows: "Unfortunately, the first doctor [in London] who examined her speculated to the press about the cause of death, and that's the version that stuck."[423] An autopsy had not been performed when the physician was quoted, and London police told reporters that a partially eaten sandwich found in her room might have been relevant to the cause of death. The post-mortem found that Elliot had died of heart failure, and no food was present in her windpipe,[417][423] yet the false story has persisted ever since. |
| James Dean | April 29, 2018 | Dean was scheduled to compete at a racing event in Salinas, California on September 30, 1955.[424] As the group traveled to the event via U.S. Route 466, (currently SR 46) at approximately 5:45 p.m.[425] a 1950 Ford Tudor was passing through an intersection while turning,[426] ahead of the Porsche.[427] Dean, unable to stop in time, slammed into the driver's side of the Ford resulting in Dean's car bouncing across the pavement onto the side of the highway. Dean's passenger, Wütherich, was thrown from the Porsche, while Dean was trapped in the car and sustained numerous fatal injuries, including a broken neck.[428] The driver of the Ford, Donald Turnupseed, exited his damaged vehicle with minor injuries. The accident was witnessed by a number of passersby who stopped to help. A woman with nursing experience attended to Dean and detected a weak pulse, but "death appeared to have been instantaneous".[428] Dean was pronounced dead on arrival shortly after he arrived by ambulance at the Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital at 6:20 p.m.[429] An inquest into Dean's death occurred three days later at the Paso Robles City Hall, where a coroner's jury delivered a verdict that he was entirely at fault due to speeding, and that Turnupseed was innocent of any criminal act.[430][431] However, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times of October 1, 2005, a former California Highway Patrol officer who had been called to the scene, Ron Nelson,[432] said the "wreckage and the position of Dean's body indicated his speed at the time of the accident was more like 55 mph".[433] |
| Elizabeth Taylor[434][435] | May 6, 2018 | Taylor struggled with health problems for most of her life. She was born with scoliosis[436] and broke her back while filming National Velvet in 1944.[437] The fracture went undetected for several years, although it caused her chronic back problems.[437] In 1956, she underwent an operation in which some of her spinal discs were removed and replaced with donated bone.[438] Taylor was also prone to other illnesses and injuries, which often necessitated surgery; in 1961, she survived a near-fatal bout of pneumonia that required a tracheotomy.[439] In addition, she was addicted to alcohol and prescription medications. She was treated at the Betty Ford Center for seven weeks from December 1983 to January 1984, becoming the first celebrity to openly admit herself to the clinic.[440] She relapsed later in the decade, and entered rehabilitation again in 1988.[441] Taylor also struggled with her weight – she became overweight during her marriage to Senator John Warner, and published a diet book about her experiences, Elizabeth Takes Off (1988).[442][443] Taylor was a heavy smoker until she experienced a severe bout of pneumonia in 1990.[444] Taylor's health increasingly declined during the last two decades of her life, and she rarely attended public events in the 2000s.[436][lower-alpha 1] She used a wheelchair due to her back problems, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 2004.[445][446] Six weeks after being hospitalized, she died of the illness at age 79 on March 23, 2011, at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.[447] |
| George Michael[448][449][450][451] | June 3, 2018 | In the early hours of Christmas morning on Sunday, December 25, 2016, Michael died at his home in Goring-on-Thames, aged 53. He was found dead, lying in bed, by his partner Fadi Fawaz.[452] No cause of death was immediately determined;[452] although his manager Michael Lippman conjectured that heart failure was the cause of death, and that Michael had "passed away peacefully". Fawaz described, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, finding the performer on Christmas morning, "I went round there to wake him up and he was just gone, lying peacefully in bed. We don't know what happened yet. Everything had been very complicated recently, but George was looking forward to Christmas, and so was I."[453] On December 29, 2016, a post-mortem was undertaken to determine the cause of death but was inconclusive. Further tests were carried out and on March 7, 2017, a senior coroner in Oxfordshire attributed the death to natural causes as the result of a dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and a fatty liver.[454][455][456] |
| George Harrison[457][458][459] | June 10, 2018 | In May 2001, it was revealed that Harrison had undergone an operation to remove a cancerous growth from one of his lungs,[460] and in July, it was reported that he was being treated for a brain tumour at a clinic in Switzerland.[461] While in Switzerland, Starr visited him but had to cut short his stay in order to travel to Boston, where his daughter was undergoing emergency brain surgery, prompting Harrison to quip: "Do you want me to come with you?"[462] In November 2001, he began radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital in New York City for non-small cell lung cancer which had spread to his brain.[463] When the news was made public, Harrison bemoaned his physician's breach of privacy, and his estate later claimed damages.[lower-alpha 2] On November 12, 2001 in New York, Harrison, Starr and McCartney came together for the last time.[469] Less than three weeks later, on November 29, 2001, Harrison died at a friend's home in Los Angeles, aged 58.[470] |
| David Bowie[471][472][473] | June 17, 2018 | On January 10, 2016, two days after his 69th birthday and the release of the album Blackstar, Bowie died from liver cancer in his New York City apartment.[474] He had been diagnosed 18 months earlier but had not made the news of his illness public.[475] The Belgian theatre director Ivo van Hove, who had worked with the singer on his Off-Broadway musical Lazarus, explained that Bowie was unable to attend rehearsals due to the progression of the disease. He noted that Bowie had kept working during the illness.[476] |
| Johnny Cash[477][478] | June 24, 2018 | While hospitalized at Baptist Hospital in Nashville, Cash died of complications from diabetes at approximately 2:00 a.m. CT on September 12, 2003, aged 71 — less than four months after his wife. It was suggested that his health worsened due to a broken heart over June's death.[479][480] He was buried next to his wife in Hendersonville Memory Gardens near his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee. In June 2005, Cash's lakeside home on Caudill Drive in Hendersonville was put up for sale by his estate. In January 2006, the house was sold to Bee Gees vocalist Barry Gibb and wife Linda, and titled to their Florida limited liability company for $2.3 million. The listing agent was Cash's younger brother, Tommy. On April 10, 2007, during major renovation works carried out for Gibb, a fire broke out at the house, spreading quickly due to a flammable wood preservative that had been used. The building was completely burnt down.[481] One of Cash's final collaborations with producer Rick Rubin, American V: A Hundred Highways, was released posthumously on July 4, 2006. The album debuted in the No.1 position on the Billboard Top 200 album chart for the week ending July 22, 2006. On February 23, 2010, three days before what would have been Cash's 78th birthday, the Cash Family, Rick Rubin, and Lost Highway Records released his second posthumous record, titled American VI: Ain't No Grave. |
| Lou Reed[482][483][484] | July 8, 2018 | Reed had suffered hepatitis and diabetes for several years. He was treated with interferon but developed liver cancer.[485] In May 2013, he underwent a liver transplant at the Cleveland Clinic.[486][487] Afterwards, on his website, he wrote of feeling "bigger and stronger" than ever, but on October 27, 2013, he died from liver disease[488] at his home in East Hampton, New York, at the age of 71. He was cremated and the ashes were given to his family.[489][490] |
| Gram Parsons | July 15, 2018 | In the late 1960s, Parsons began to vacation at Joshua Tree National Monument in southeastern California, where he frequently partook in psychedelics and reportedly experienced several UFO sightings. After splitting from Burrell, Parsons often spent his weekends in the area with Margaret Fisher and Phil Kaufman, whom he'd been living with. Scheduled to resume touring in October 1973, Parsons decided to go on another recuperative excursion. Accompanying him were Fisher, personal assistant Michael Martin, and Dale McElroy, Martin's girlfriend. During the trip, Parsons often retreated to the desert, while the group visited bars in the nearby hamlet of Yucca Valley, California on both nights of their stay. Fisher, Martin and Parsons consumed alcohol and barbiturates in high amounts. On September 18, Martin drove back to Los Angeles to resupply the group with marijuana. That night, after challenging Dale & Margaret to drink with him (Margaret didn't like alcohol and Dale was recovering from a bout of Hepatitis C) he said "I'll drink for the three of us," and proceeded to drink 6 double Tequilas. They then returned to the Joshua Tree Inn and Gram ran into the unknown woman. After being injected by her in room #8 with liquid morphine he overdosed. Fisher gave Parsons an ice-cube suppository, and later on a cold shower. Instead of moving Parsons around the room, she put him to bed and went out to buy coffee in the hope of reviving him, leaving McElroy to stand watch. As his respiration became irregular and later ceased, McElroy attempted resuscitation. Her efforts failed and Fisher, watching from outside, freaked out. After further failed attempts, they decided to call an ambulance. Parsons was declared dead on his arrival at High Desert Memorial Hospital at 00:15 on September 19, 1973 in Yucca Valley, California. The official cause of death was an overdose of morphine and alcohol.[491][492] According to Fisher in the 2005 biography Grievous Angel: An Intimate Biography of Gram Parsons, the amount of morphine consumed by Parsons would be lethal to three regular users; thus, he had likely overestimated his tolerance in light of his diminished intake despite his extensive experience with opiates. Keith Richards stated in the 2004 documentary film Fallen Angel that Parsons understood the danger of combining opiates and alcohol and should have known better. Upon Parsons' death, Fisher and McElroy were returned to Los Angeles by Kaufman, who dispersed the remnants of Parsons' drugs in the desert. Before his death, Parsons stated that he wanted his body cremated at Joshua Tree and his ashes spread over Cap Rock, a prominent natural feature there; however, Parsons' stepfather Bob organized a private ceremony back in New Orleans and neglected to invite any of his friends from the music industry.[492] Two accounts state that Bob Parsons stood to inherit Gram's share of his grandfather's estate if he could prove that Gram was a resident of Louisiana, explaining his eagerness to have him buried there.[44][45]To fulfill Parsons' funeral wishes, Kaufman and a friend stole his body from Los Angeles International Airport and in a borrowed hearse, they drove it to Joshua Tree. Upon reaching the Cap Rock section of the park, they attempted to cremate Parsons' corpse by pouring five gallons of gasoline into the open coffin and throwing a lit match inside. What resulted was an enormous fireball. The police gave chase but, as one account puts it, "were encumbered by sobriety," and the men escaped.[492] The two were arrested several days later. Since there was no law against stealing a dead body, they were only fined $750 for stealing the coffin and were not prosecuted for leaving 35 pounds (16 kg) of his charred remains in the desert. Parsons's body, what remained of it, was eventually buried in Garden of Memories Cemetery in Metairie, Louisiana. The site of Parsons' cremation was marked by a small concrete slab and was presided over by a large rock flake known to rock climbers as The Gram Parsons Memorial Hand Traverse. The slab has since been removed by the U.S. National Park Service, and relocated to the Joshua Tree Inn. There is no monument at Cap Rock noting Parsons' cremation at the site.[493] Joshua Tree park guides are given the option to tell the story of Parsons' cremation during tours, but there is no mention of the act in official maps or brochures.[493] Fans regularly assemble simple rock structures and writings on the rock, which the park service sand blasts to remove from time to time.[493] |
| Roy Orbison[494][495] | July 22, 2018 | Orbison performed at the Front Row Theater in Highland Heights, Ohio, on December 4. Exhausted, he returned to his home in Hendersonville to rest for several days before flying again to London to film two more videos for the Traveling Wilburys. On December 6, he spent the day flying model airplanes with his sons and ate dinner at his mother's home in Hendersonville. Later that day, he died of a heart attack, at the age of 52. |
| Florence Ballard | July 29, 2018 | On February 21, 1976, Ballard entered Mt. Carmel Mercy Hospital, complaining of numbness in her extremities. She died at 10:05 the next morning from cardiac arrest[496] caused by a coronary thrombosis (a blood clot in one of her coronary arteries), at the age of 32. Ballard is buried in Detroit Memorial Park Cemetery located in Warren, Michigan. |
| Chris Cornell[497][498] | August 12, 2018 | Around 12:15 a.m. on May 18, 2017,[499] Cornell was found unconscious by his bodyguard in the bathroom of his hotel room at the MGM Grand in Detroit, after performing at a show with Soundgarden at the Fox Theatre on May 17.[500] He was lying on the floor with an exercise band around his neck and blood in his mouth.[501] An MGM medic and EMS personnel were unable to revive Cornell.[501] Cornell was pronounced dead by a doctor at 1:30 a.m.[499] Police ruled out homicide by reviewing a hotel surveillance video, which showed nobody entering or exiting the suite after his bodyguard left at around 11:35 p.m.[502] The cause of death was determined to be suicide by hanging.[503] Cornell was 52 years old.[503] Footage of his final concert was posted on YouTube.[504] Cornell's widow contacted insurance lawyer Kirk Pasich within a few minutes after her husband's death.[505] Pasich became the spokesperson for Cornell's widow and blamed Ativan for the singer's death, stating that Cornell would not intentionally take his own life.[505][506] Cornell's widow said, "When we spoke after the show, I noticed he was slurring his words; he was different. When he told me he may have taken an extra Ativan or two, I contacted security and asked that they check on him."[506][507] |
| Hugh Hefner[508][509] | August 19, 2018 | Hefner died at his home in Holmby Hills, Los Angeles, California, on September 27, 2017, at the age of 91.[510][511] The causes were cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, sepsis and an E. coli infection.[512][513][514] |
| Tammy Wynette | September 9, 2018 | After years of medical problems which resulted in[515] numerous hospitalizations, roughly 15 major operations and an addiction to pain medication, Wynette died on April 6, 1998 at the age of 55 while sleeping on her couch. Wynette's doctor from Pennsylvania said she died of a blood clot in her lung. Despite her persistent illnesses, she continued to perform until shortly before her death and had other performances scheduled. A public memorial service, attended by about 1,500 people, was held at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium on April 9, 1998. A private, grave-side service had been held earlier with a crypt entombment at Nashville's Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery.[516] Her death solicited reactions such as that of songwriter Bill Mack, quoted in the Dallas Morning News, who said she was a "class act" and "irreplaceable" and that "she never knew a flat note." Lee Ann Womack was quoted also; she said of Wynette, whose songs often evoked strength and controlled passion, "You knew she knew what she was singing about. You can put her records on and listen and learn so much." Wynette was survived by her husband George Richey, four daughters and eight grandchildren.[517] In April 1999, her body was exhumed from her crypt in an attempt to settle a dispute over how she died.[518] A new autopsy was conducted on her a week after three of her daughters filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her doctor and her husband/manager, George Richey, claiming they were responsible for her death 12 months earlier. The coroner declared that she died from cardiac arrhythmia.[519][520] In May 1999, George Richey was dropped from the wrongful death lawsuit because he was preparing to sue them for frivolous litigation. Wynette's daughter, Jackie Daly, sold her story to Star magazine before asking Richey the "questions" she wanted answered about her mother's death. Richey never was personally asked these questions; the daughters sought solace in the press to garner these intimate personal details of their mother. Wynette was reinterred in the Woodlawn Cross Mausoleum, at Woodlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Nashville, Tennessee.[521] She rests in the same Nashville cemetery as other country music luminaries as former husband, George Jones who died in April 2013, Webb Pierce, Jerry Reed, Marty Robbins, Bobby Russell, Porter Wagoner, Red Foley and Eddy Arnold, among many others. In March 2012, the name on Wynette's tomb was changed from "Tammy Wynette" to "Virginia W. Richardson", her final legal married name.[522] In March 2014, the name on the tomb was changed back.[523] |
| Carrie Fisher[524][525][526][527][528] | September 16, 2018 | After finishing the European leg of her book tour (her last TV appearance was on an episode of The Graham Norton Show recorded four days before her death) Fisher was on a commercial flight on December 23, 2016, from London to Los Angeles when she suffered a medical emergency around fifteen minutes before the aircraft landed.[529][lower-alpha 3] A passenger seated near Fisher reported that she had stopped breathing;[532] another passenger performed CPR on Fisher until paramedics arrived at the scene. Emergency services in Los Angeles were contacted when the flight crew reported a passenger in distress prior to landing. Fisher was taken by ambulance to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where she was placed on a ventilator.[533][534] Following four days in intensive care at UCLA Medical Center, Fisher died on December 27, 2016, at 8:55 a.m. (PST); she was 60 years old.[535] Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, confirmed her mother's death in a statement to the press.[533] Many of her co-stars and directors from Star Wars and other works also shared their thoughts on her death.[536] On January 9, 2017, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health issued a death certificate that stated "cardiac arrest/deferred" as the cause of death. More tests were expected.[537] In a June 16, 2017, news release, the Los Angeles County coroner's office said that the exact cause of death could not be determined, but sleep apnea and the buildup of fatty tissue on the walls of arteries were among the contributing factors.[538] A full report from June 19, 2017, stated that Fisher had cocaine in her system, as well as traces of heroin, other opiates, and MDMA. The report also stated that the investigation was unable to determine when she had taken the drugs, and whether they contributed to her death.[539] Her daughter Billie Lourd stated that Fisher "battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life [and] ultimately died of it. She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases... I know my Mom, she'd want her death to encourage people to be open about their struggles."[540] The day after Fisher's death, her mother Debbie Reynolds suffered a stroke at the home of son Todd, where the family was planning Fisher's burial arrangements.[541] She was taken to a hospital, where she died later that afternoon.[542][543] According to Todd Fisher, Reynolds had said, "I want to be with Carrie" immediately prior to suffering the stroke.[544][545][lower-alpha 4] On January 5, 2017, a joint private memorial was held for Fisher and Reynolds. A portion of Fisher's ashes were laid to rest beside Reynolds in a crypt at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills.[547] The remainder of her ashes are held in a giant, novelty Prozac pill.[548] In her 2008 book, Wishful Drinking, Fisher wrote about what she hoped would eventually be her obituary: "I want it reported that I drowned in moonlight, strangled by my own bra." Several obituaries and retrospectives featured the quote.[549] In the absence of a star for Fisher on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, fans created their own memorial using a blank star. Along with flowers and candles, words put on the blank star read, "Carrie Fisher may the force be with you always".[550] In the video game Star Wars: The Old Republic, thousands of fans paid tribute to Fisher by gathering at House Organa on the planet Alderaan where Fisher's character in Star Wars resided.[551][552] Lightsaber vigils and similar events in Fisher's honor were held at various Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas theaters and other sites.[553][554][555] On January 6, 2017, the lights on Broadway in Manhattan were darkened for one minute in honor of Fisher and her mother.[556] Fisher and Reynolds were also both featured in the 89th Academy Awards In Memoriam segment.[557] On March 25, 2017, a public memorial for mother and daughter was held at the Hall of Liberty theater in Forest Lawn Memorial Park. The event was streamed live on Reynolds' website. On April 14, a special tribute to Fisher was held by Mark Hamill during the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando.[558] |
| Barry White | October 6, 2018 | White was overweight for most of his adult life and suffered from related health problems. In October 1995, White was admitted to a hospital as a result of high blood pressure. In August 1999, White was forced to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure. While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. On July 4, 2003, White died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 58.[559] His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the California coast. |
Season 10 (February 10, 2019 - December 29, 2019)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Christopher Reeve[560][561][562] | February 10, 2019 | In early October 2004, he was being treated for an infected pressure ulcer that was causing sepsis, a complication he had experienced many times before. On October 4, he spoke at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago on behalf of the Institute's work. This was to be his last reported public appearance.[563] On October 9, Reeve felt well and attended his son Will's hockey game. That night, he went into cardiac arrest after receiving an antibiotic for the infection. He fell into a coma and was taken to Northern Westchester Hospital in Mount Kisco, New York. Eighteen hours later, on October 10, 2004, Reeve died at age 52.[564] His doctor, John McDonald, believed an adverse reaction to the antibiotic caused Reeve's death.[565] |
| Rue McClanahan[566][567] | February 17, 2019 | McClanahan died on June 3, 2010, at age 76, at NewYork–Presbyterian Hospital after she suffered a brain hemorrhage.[568][569][570] After cremation, her ashes were given to her family. |
| Donna Summer[571][572][573][574] | February 24, 2019 | Summer died on May 17, 2012 at her home in Naples, Florida, aged 63, from lung cancer.[575][576] A nonsmoker,[577] she believed it was caused by inhaling toxic fumes and dust from the September 11 attacks in New York City. Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Hunter largely discounted that belief in a 2019 episode of the Reelz TV series Autopsy: The Last Hours of..., citing the fact that Summer was in a hotel when the attacks happened and would not have been nearly as affected by the resulting dust cloud as first responders. In the Autopsy episode, Dr. Hunter pointed out Summer's family history of cancer as well as her performances in smoked-filled venues. |
| John Candy[578] | March 3, 2019 | In 1994, while on vacation from film production (Wagons East!) in Durango City, Mexico, Candy called his friends, including Canadian Football League commissioner Larry Smith, and told them that he had just let go of his team and was putting it up for sale. He then called his assistant, who invited Candy to play golf with him in the spring when he returned to Toronto. After cooking a late spaghetti dinner for his assistants, Candy called his co-stars from his hotel, then went to sleep. Some time after midnight, on March 4, 1994, Candy was found dead from a presumed myocardial infarction even though this was unproven, as no autopsy was performed. He was 43 years old.[579][580] The heavyset Candy had struggled for some years with weight-related health issues.[580] |
| Lucille Ball[581][582][583][584] | March 10, 2019 | On April 18, 1989, Ball was at her home in Beverly Hills when she complained of chest pains. An ambulance was called and she was rushed to the emergency room of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. She was diagnosed with dissecting aortic aneurysm and underwent heart surgery for nearly eight hours, including the transplant of a new aorta. The surgery appeared to have been successful, and Ball began recovering very quickly, even walking around her room with little assistance. She received a flurry of get-well wishes from Hollywood, and across the street from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the Hard Rock Café erected a sign reading "Hard Rock Loves Lucy". However, shortly after dawn on April 26, Ball awoke with severe back pains and soon lost consciousness.[585][586] Attempts to revive her failed and her death was officially pronounced at 5:47 a.m. PDT. Doctors determined that Ball had succumbed to an abdominal aortic aneurysm and subsequent rupture, and that it was not directly related to her upper aneurysm and surgery the previous week. Cigarette smokers are known to have increased risk of abdominal aneurysm. Ball had been a heavy smoker most of her life mainly because advertisers required actors to use their products in advertisements. She was 77 years old.[587][588] |
| Jeff Conaway[589][590] | March 17, 2019 | On May 11, 2011, Conaway was found unconscious from what was initially described as an overdose of substances believed to be pain medication and was taken to Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center in Encino, California, where he was listed in critical condition.[591] After initial reports, Drew Pinsky, who had treated Conaway for substance abuse, said the actor was suffering not from a drug overdose but rather from pneumonia with sepsis, for which he was placed into an induced coma.[592][593] Though his pneumonia was not directly a result of drug usage, drug usage hampered Conaway's ability to recognize how severely ill he was and to seek treatment for pneumonia until it was too late.[594] On May 26, 2011, Conaway's family took him off life support after doctors determined they could do nothing to revive him. Conaway died the following morning at the age of 60.[594] Conaway's doctor attributed his death to his addiction, stating, "What happens is, like with most opiate addicts, eventually they take a little too much ... and they aspirate, so what's in their mouth gets into their lungs ... That's what happened with Jeff."[595] An autopsy performed on Conaway revealed that the actor died of various causes including pneumonia and encephalopathy attributable to drug overdoses.[596] |
| Lisa Lopes | March 24, 2019 | On April 25, 2002, in La Ceiba, Honduras, while driving a rented Mitsubishi Montero SUV, Lopes swerved slightly to avoid a truck (it is not clear if the truck was slow moving or stationary) then immediately to the right as she tried to avoid an oncoming car. The vehicle rolled several times after hitting two trees, throwing Lopes and three others out of the windows, and finally coming to rest in a ditch at the side of the road. Lopes died instantly of neck injuries and severe head trauma, and was the only person fatally injured in the accident. She was a month and two days shy of her 31st birthday. Her sister Reigndrop Lopes, who survived the accident, was in the front passenger seat videotaping at the time, so the last seconds leading up to the swerve that resulted in the fatal accident were recorded on video. Victims of the accident were taken to Liverpool Royal Hospital. |
| Howard Hughes[597] | March 31, 2019 | Hughes was reported to have died on April 5, 1976, at 1:27 p.m. on board an aircraft owned by Robert Graf and piloted by Jeff Abrams. He was en route from his penthouse at the Acapulco Fairmont Princess Hotel in Mexico to the Methodist Hospital in Houston. Other accounts indicate that he died on the flight from Freeport, Grand Bahama, to Houston.[598] |
| Michael Landon[599][600] | April 7, 2019 | In February 1991, Landon began to suffer severe abdominal pain while on a skiing vacation in Utah.[601] On April 5, 1991, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, which had metastasized to his liver and lymph nodes. The cancer was inoperable and terminal. On May 9, 1991, he appeared on The Tonight Show to speak about the cancer and to condemn the tabloid press for their sensational headlines and inaccurate stories, including the claim that he and his wife were trying to have another child. During his appearance, Landon pledged to fight the disease and asked fans to pray for him. On May 21, 1991, he underwent successful surgery for a near-fatal blood clot in his left leg.[602] In June 1991, he appeared on the cover of Life Magazine after granting the periodical an exclusive private interview about his life, his family, and his struggle to live. On July 1, 1991, at age 54, Landon died in Malibu, California.[603] |
| Michael Clarke Duncan[604] | April 14, 2019 | On July 13, 2012, Duncan was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center after suffering a heart attack.[605] Media reports suggested that his girlfriend, Omarosa Manigault Newman, had tried to save his life by performing CPR.[606] Duncan's publicist, Joy Fehily, issued a statement on August 6 that read he was moved from the intensive-care unit but remained hospitalized following his heart attack.[607] On September 3, Duncan died in Los Angeles.[608] |
| Davy Jones[609][610] | July 28, 2019 | On the morning of February 29 2012, Jones went to tend to his 14 horses at a farm in Indiantown, Florida. After riding one of his favourite horses around the track, he complained of chest pains and difficulty breathing, and was rushed to Martin Memorial South Hospital in Stuart, Florida, where he was pronounced dead of a severe heart attack resulting from arteriosclerosis.[611][612][613] |
| Luther Vandross | August 4, 2019 | Vandross suffered from diabetes and hypertension.[614] On April 16, 2003, Vandross suffered a severe stroke at his home in New York City and was in a coma for nearly two months.[615] The stroke affected his ability to speak and sing, and required him to use a wheelchair.[616] At the 2004 Grammy Awards, Vandross appeared in a pre-taped video segment to accept his Song of the Year Award for "Dance with My Father", saying, "When I say goodbye it's never for long, because I believe in the power of love" (Vandross sang the last six words). His mother, Mary, accepted the award in person on his behalf. His last public appearance was on May 6, 2004, on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Vandross died on July 1, 2005, at the JFK Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, at the age of 54 of a heart attack. |
| Rick James | August 4, 2019 | On the morning of August 6, 2004, James's caretaker found him dead in James's Los Angeles home at the Oakwood Toluca Hills apartment complex, just outside Burbank. He had died from pulmonary failure and cardiac failure, associated with his various health conditions of diabetes, a stroke, pacemaker, and heart attack. His autopsy found alprazolam, diazepam, bupropion, citalopram, hydrocodone, digoxin, chlorpheniramine, methamphetamine, and cocaine in his blood.[617] However, the coroner stated that "none of the drugs or drug combinations were found to be at levels that were life-threatening in and of themselves". |
| Aaron Hernandez | August 25, 2019 | On April 19, 2017, at 3:05 a.m. EDT, five days after Hernandez was acquitted of the 2012 Boston double homicide of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado, correction officers found Hernandez hanging by his bedsheets from his window in his cell at the Souza-Baranowski Correctional Center in Lancaster, Massachusetts. He was transported to UMass Memorial Hospital-Leominster, where he was pronounced dead at 4:07 am. He had been smoking K2, a drug associated with psychosis, within 30 hours of his death. Prison officials had not observed any signs that Hernandez was at risk for suicide, so he had not been put on around-the-clock watch. Upon completion of the autopsy by the medical examiner, the death was officially ruled a suicide by hanging. At the request of his family, Hernandez's brain was released to Boston University to be studied for signs of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a progressive degenerative disease found in people who have had a severe blow or repeated blows to the head, including football players who suffer concussions. His lawyer-agent, Jose Baez, quickly disputed any claim of suicide and stated that he would initiate his own investigation of the death. However, in 2018 Baez wrote that he was suspicious of the suicide announcement given Hernandez's optimistic demeanor after the not guilty verdict, but later came to believe Hernandez had taken his own life with CTE being a major contributing factor. In September 2017, researchers at the Boston University CTE Center released a statement diagnosing Hernandez as having brain injuries consistent with CTE, stage 3 out of 4, at the time of his death. The statement noted that "CTE is associated with aggressiveness, explosiveness, impulsivity, depression, memory loss and other cognitive changes." In interviews, the neuropathologist called Hernandez's brain a classic case of the pathology. After release of the statement, Hernandez's fiancée and daughter sued the Patriots and the NFL for causing Hernandez's death and depriving his daughter of her father's companionship, arguing that Hernandez's NFL career had caused "the most severe case of [CTE] medically seen" in a person at his age. Baez writes that he saw symptoms consistent with CTE from his earliest meetings with Hernandez: Hernandez sometimes showed keen insight and observational skills, while other times he had gaps in memory that were highly unusual for a young person. The suit on behalf of Hernandez's daughter was dismissed in February 2019 because the deadline to opt out of a class action suit against the league had been missed.[618] |
| Chyna[619][620][621] | August 25, 2019 | On April 20, 2016, Laurer was found dead at her home in Redondo Beach, California. She was 46 years old. Her manager Anthony Anzaldo had become concerned when Laurer did not post updates or content to her usual social media outlets for several days and subsequently found her body in her apartment.[622] Initial police reports stated she probably died of an accidental drug overdose or natural causes. Anzaldo suggested that any overdose was accidental, claiming that she was prescribed drugs but tended to use them improperly.[622] A report of her autopsy was released in December 2016. Laurer died on April 20 of an overdose of alcohol, combined with the anxiety drugs diazepam and nordazepam, painkillers oxycodone and oxymorphone, and sleeping aid temazepam.[622][623][624] |
| Garry Shandling | September 2, 2019 | On March 24, 2016, Shandling died in his home in Los Angeles, California, at age 66. The Los Angeles Police Department reported that he suddenly collapsed in his home and was rushed to a hospital,[625] suffering from an apparent medical emergency. By the time the paramedics arrived, Shandling was unconscious. The autopsy showed that he died from a pulmonary embolism.[626] |
| Gregg Allman | December 1, 2019 | He was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2007, which he attributed to a dirty tattoo needle.[627] By the next year, three tumors were discovered within his liver.[628] He went on a waiting list and after five months, he underwent a successful liver transplant in 2010.[629] Allman died at his home in Richmond Hill, Georgia, on May 27, 2017, due to complications from liver cancer [630][631] at the age of 69.[632] |
| Prodigy | December 29, 2019 | On June 20, 2017, it was reported that Prodigy had died at the Spring Valley Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, while hospitalized for complications related to his sickle-cell anemia. He was performing in the Art of Rap Tour in Las Vegas with Havoc, Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One, and Ice-T when he was hospitalized.[633] According to a coroner's report, Prodigy was admitted to Spring Valley Medical Center after suffering a significant medical episode arising from his life-long battle with sickle-cell anemia. Days later, on the morning of June 20, Prodigy was found unresponsive by hospital staff. It was reported at the time that Prodigy died from accidental choking. The complaint, which was filed on behalf of the family by The Gage Law Firm, alleges that the Spring Valley hospital breached their duty of care for Prodigy by "failing to maintain a working IV access," and by "failing to continuously monitor oxygen levels" as ordered by physicians in the hospital and that those failures led to Prodigy's death.[634] |
Season 11 (February 16, 2020 - present)
| Subject | Original airdate | Cause of death |
|---|---|---|
| Florence Henderson | February 16, 2020 | Henderson died on November 24, 2016 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California at the age of 82.[635][636] She had been hospitalized the previous day.[635] According to her manager, Kayla Pressman, Henderson died of heart failure.[636][637] Three days before her death, Henderson had attended the recording of Dancing with the Stars to support her friend and former on-screen daughter Maureen McCormick, who was a contestant.[638] Pressman stated that Henderson was not ill prior to her sudden hospitalization and that her death was a "shock".[639] |
| Alan Thicke[640] | February 23, 2020 | On December 13, 2016, Thicke collapsed while playing ice hockey with his son Carter at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank, California. The manager of the rink said he was talking and even joked to his son to take a photo as he was being wheeled out on a stretcher.[641] Thicke died of type-A aortic dissection at the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, at the age of 69.[642][643] |
| Andy Gibb | March 1, 2020 | On March 5, 1988, Gibb celebrated his 30th birthday in London while working on a new album. Two days after celebrating his birthday, he entered John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford complaining of chest pains. At around 8:30 am on March 10, 1988, Gibb's doctor told him that more tests were needed to determine the cause of his chest pains. Later that day, Gibb slumped into unconsciousness and died as a result of myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle caused by years of cocaine abuse that fatally weakened his heart. This diagnosis was supported by William Shell, a cardiologist who had previously treated Gibb.[644][645] With the announcement of Gibb's death, his ex-wife, Kim Reeder, was not surprised. "I always knew that one day I'd get a call with news like this. It was only a matter of time." The Gibb family would also maintain it was not an overdose that killed Gibb, as some media reports suggested, but natural causes after years of substance abuse. |
| Dana Plato | March 8, 2020 | On May 8, 1999, Plato and her fiancé Robert Menchaca were returning to California and stopped at Menchaca's mother's home in Moore, Oklahoma for a Mother's Day visit. Later on in the visit, Plato revealed that she felt unwell, and took a few doses of painkiller Lortab, along with the muscle-relaxant Soma,[646] and went to lie down inside her Winnebago motor home with Menchaca, which was parked outside the house. Upon waking up, Menchaca and their family discovered that Plato had passed away, which they later found out was due to an accidental overdose, which was later ruled a suicide based on Plato's long history of drug abuse.[647][648] |
| Chris Benoit[649] | March 15, 2020 | On June 25, 2007, police entered Benoit's home in Fayetteville, Georgia[650] when WWE, Benoit's employers, requested a "welfare check" after Benoit missed weekend events without notice, leading to concerns.[651] The officers discovered the bodies of Benoit, his wife Nancy, and their 7-year-old son Daniel at around 2:30 p.m. EDT.[652] Upon investigating, no additional suspects were sought by authorities.[653] It was determined that Benoit had committed the murders.[654] Over a three-day period, Benoit had killed his wife and son before committing suicide. His wife was bound before the killing. Benoit's son was drugged with Xanax and likely unconscious before Benoit strangled him.[655] Benoit then committed suicide by hanging himself on his lat pulldown machine.[654][656] |
| Audrey Hepburn | March 22, 2020 | Upon returning from Somalia to Switzerland in late September 1992, Hepburn began suffering from abdominal pain. While initial medical tests in Switzerland had inconclusive results, a laparoscopy performed at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in early November revealed a rare form of abdominal cancer belonging to a group of cancers known as pseudomyxoma peritonei.[657] Having grown slowly over several years, the cancer had metastasised as a thin coating over her small intestine. After surgery, Hepburn began chemotherapy.[658] Hepburn and her family returned home to Switzerland to celebrate her last Christmas. As she was still recovering from surgery, she was unable to fly on commercial aircraft. Her longtime friend, fashion designer Hubert de Givenchy, arranged for socialite Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from Los Angeles to Geneva. She spent her last days in hospice care at her home in Tolochenaz, Vaud and was occasionally well enough to take walks in her garden, but gradually became more confined to bedrest.[659] On the evening of 20 January 1993, Hepburn died in her sleep at home. |
| Glen Campbell[660] | March 29, 2020 | In June 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier.[661] He became a patient at an Alzheimer's long-term care and treatment facility in 2014.[662][663] That same year Campbell was the subject of the documentary Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me, directed by longtime friend James Keach, which examined Campbell's Alzheimer's diagnosis and how it affected his musical performances during his final tour across the United States with his family. The documentary received critical acclaim, being one of the rare films to achieve a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81.[664] He was buried in the Campbell family cemetery in Billstown, Arkansas.[665] |
| Jeffrey Epstein | April 5, 2020 | On July 23, 2019, three weeks prior to his death, Epstein was found unconscious in his jail cell with injuries to his neck. Epstein believed that he was attacked by his cellmate, who was awaiting trial for four counts of murder, while the correctional staff suspected attempted suicide. After that incident, he was placed on suicide watch.[666] Six days later, on July 29, 2019, Epstein was taken off suicide watch and placed in a special housing unit with another inmate. Epstein's close associates said he was in "good spirits".[667] When Epstein was placed in the special housing unit, the jail informed the Justice Department that he would have a cellmate, and that a guard would look into the cell every 30 minutes. These procedures were not followed on the night of his death.[668] On August 9, 2019, Epstein's cellmate was transferred out, and no new replacement cellmate was brought in.[669] Later in the evening, in violation of the jail's normal procedure, Epstein was not checked every 30 minutes.[670] The two guards who were assigned to check his jail unit that night fell asleep and did not check on him for about three hours; the guards falsified related records.[671] Two cameras in front of Epstein's cell also malfunctioned that night. Epstein was found dead in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in New York City at 6:30 a.m. EDT on August 10, 2019.[672][673] The Bureau of Prisons said lifesaving measures were initiated immediately upon the discovery of Epstein's body. Emergency responders were called and he was taken to a hospital. On August 10, 2019, the Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Attorney General William Barr called the death an apparent suicide, although no final determination had been made.[667] The circumstances leading up to his death are being investigated by the Justice Department.[674][675] |
| Desi Arnaz | June 7, 2020 | Arnaz was a regular smoker for much of his life and often smoked cigarettes on the set of I Love Lucy.[676] He smoked Cuban cigars until he was in his sixties.[677] Arnaz was diagnosed with lung cancer in 1986. He died several months later on December 2, 1986, at the age of 69. Arnaz was cremated and his ashes scattered. His death came just five days before Lucille Ball received the Kennedy Center Honors. He was predeceased by his second wife, Edith, who died a year earlier on March 23, 1985. His mother outlived him by almost two years. |
| Patty Duke | June 7, 2020 | Duke died on the morning of March 29, 2016,[678] in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho of sepsis from a ruptured intestine at the age of 69.[679] |
| Adam West[680] | June 14, 2020 | West died from leukemia, in Los Angeles, California, on June 9, 2017.[681][682][683] After his death, West's former Batman co-star and longtime friend, Burt Ward, released a statement; "This is a terribly unexpected loss of my lifelong friend, I will forever miss him. There are several fine actors who have portrayed Batman in films. In my eyes, there was only one real Batman that is and always will be Adam West. He was truly the Bright Knight."[684] Batman: The Animated Series actor Kevin Conroy (who performed alongside West in the episode "Beware the Gray Ghost") said "Adam West was an incredibly good, generous actor. Loved working with him as Gray Ghost. A true gentleman".[685] |
| Bill Bixby | June 14, 2020 | In early 1991, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and underwent treatment.[686] In early 1993, after rumors began circulating about his health, Bixby went public with his illness, and made several appearances on shows such as Entertainment Tonight, Today, and Good Morning America, among others. On November 21, 1993, six days after his final assignment on Blossom, Bixby died of complications from prostate cancer in Century City, Los Angeles. He was 59 years old.[687] |
| John Ritter | July 19, 2020 | On September 11, 2003, Ritter fell ill while rehearsing for 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. He was sweating profusely, vomiting and complained of having chest pains. He was taken to the Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center (the same hospital he was born in) at 6 p.m. that evening. Ritter was initially treated by emergency room physicians for a heart attack; however his condition quickly worsened.[688] Physicians then identified Ritter had an aortic dissection, and he was pronounced dead at 10:48 p.m. He was 54 years old, six days before his 55th birthday.[689] In 2008, Ritter's widow Amy Yasbeck, on behalf of herself and Ritter's children, filed lawsuits against doctors involved in Ritter's treatment and Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank. The lawsuits against Providence St. Joseph Medical center were settled out of court for $9.4 million.[690] A $67 million wrongful-death lawsuit against two of the physicians, radiologist Matthew Lotysch and cardiologist Joseph Lee, went to trial. Yasbeck accused Lee, who treated Ritter on the day of his death, of misdiagnosing his condition as a heart attack, and Lotysch, who had given him a full-body scan two years earlier, of failing at that time to detect an enlargement of Ritter's aorta.[691] In 2008, at the Los Angeles County Superior Court, the jury concluded that the doctors who treated Ritter the day he died were not negligent, and thus were not responsible for his death.[692][693] |
| Gilda Radner | July 26, 2020 | In 1985, Radner was experiencing severe fatigue and suffered from pain in her upper legs on the set of Haunted Honeymoon in the United Kingdom. She sought medical treatment, and for a period of 10 months, various doctors, most of them in Los Angeles, gave her several diagnoses that all turned out to be wrong because she continued to experience pain. Finally, on October 21, 1986, Radner was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer.[694] She immediately underwent surgery and had a hysterectomy.[658] On October 26, surgeons removed a grapefruit-size tumor from her abdomen. Radner then began chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatment, as she wrote in It's Always Something, and the treatment caused extreme physical and emotional pain. In September 1988, after tests showed no signs of cancer, Radner went on a maintenance chemotherapy treatment to prolong her remission, but three months later, in December, she learned the cancer had returned. She was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 17, 1989, to undergo a CT scan. She was given a sedative and went into a coma during the scan.[695] She did not regain consciousness and died three days later, from ovarian cancer on May 20, 1989; Wilder was at her side.[696] |
| David Cassidy[697] | August 2, 2020 | On November 18, 2017, it was announced that Cassidy had been hospitalized with liver and kidney failure, and was critically ill in a medically induced coma.[698] He came out of the coma two days later, remaining in critical but stable condition.[699] Doctors hoped to keep Cassidy stable until a liver became available for transplant, but he died of liver failure on November 21, 2017 at the age of 67.[700][701] |
| Larry Hagman | August 2, 2020 | In June 2011, Hagman said he had stage 2 throat cancer. He commented, "As J. R. I could get away with anything — bribery, blackmail and adultery. But I got caught by cancer. I do want everyone to know that it is a very common and treatable form of cancer. I will be receiving treatment while working on the new Dallas series. I could not think of a better place to be than working on a show I love, with people I love."[702][703] Hagman had an acorn-sized tumor removed from his tongue in 2011. In June 2012, the cancer was said to be in remission. Then, in July 2012, doctors diagnosed Hagman with myelodysplastic syndromes (formerly known as preleukemia). Hagman died on November 23, 2012, at Medical City Dallas Hospital in Dallas following complications from acute myeloid leukemia, after being interviewed for the National Geographic documentary, The '80s: The Decade that Made Us, which aired in April 2013.[704] In a statement to the Dallas Morning News, Hagman's family said: "Larry's family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. He died surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for."[705][706] The New York Times described him as "one of television's most beloved villains".[707] |
| Walt Disney[708] | August 9, 2020 | Disney had been a heavy smoker since World War I. He did not use cigarettes with filters and had smoked a pipe as a young man. In November 1966, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and was treated with cobalt therapy. On November 30 he felt unwell and was taken to St. Joseph Hospital where, on December 15, ten days after his 65th birthday, he died of circulatory collapse caused by the cancer.[709] His remains were cremated two days later and his ashes interred at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.[710][lower-alpha 5] |
| Dick Clark | August 9, 2020 | During an interview on Larry King Live in April 2004, Clark revealed that he had type 2 diabetes.[712][713] His death certificate noted that Clark had coronary artery disease at the time of his death.[714] In December 2004, the 75-year-old Clark was hospitalized in Los Angeles after suffering what was initially termed a minor stroke. Although he was expected to be fine, it was later announced that Clark would be unable to host his annual New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast, with Regis Philbin filling in for him. Clark returned to the series the following year, but the dysarthria that resulted from the stroke rendered him unable to speak clearly for the remainder of his life. On April 18, 2012, Clark died from a fatal heart attack[714] at the age of 82 while undergoing a transurethral resection procedure to treat an enlarged prostate. |
| Billy Mays | August 9, 2020 | Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida home on the morning of June 28, 2009.[715] He was pronounced dead at 7:45 am, appearing to have died sometime overnight.[716] The Associated Press reported that there were no indications that the house had been broken into, and that police did not suspect foul play. Initially, there was incorrect speculation that he had died of a head injury, after he was struck on the head by luggage after an airline landing mishap where tires blew out.[717] After an initial autopsy on Mays' body on June 29, 2009, Vernard Adams, the Hillsborough County, Florida medical examiner, stated that Mays suffered from hypertensive heart disease and that heart disease was the likely cause of his death. According to a toxicology report released August 7, 2009, heart disease was the "primary cause of death" and cocaine was listed as a "contributory cause of death."[718][719] In response to the release of the toxicology report, the Mays family issued a press release stating, "We are extremely disappointed by the press release released by the Hillsborough County medical examiner's office. We believe it contains speculative conclusions that are frankly unnecessary and tend to obscure the conclusion that Billy suffered from chronic, untreated hypertension" and said in the release that they were considering "an independent evaluation of the autopsy results".[720] The medical examiner "concluded that cocaine use caused or contributed to the development of his heart disease, and thereby contributed to his death," the office said in a press release. The office said Mays last used cocaine in the few days before his death but was not under the influence of the drug when he died. Hillsborough County spokeswoman Lori Hudson said nothing in the toxicology report indicated the frequency of Mays' cocaine use. Cocaine can raise the arterial blood pressure, directly cause hypertrophy of the left ventricle, and accelerate the formation of atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries, the release said. However, in October 2009, the results of a second medical examination, commissioned by Mays' family, concluded that "cocaine was not a significant contributing factor" to his death.[721] According to subsequent news reports,[722] the toxicology tests also showed levels of painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone, and tramadol, as well as anti-anxiety drugs alprazolam and diazepam. Mays suffered from hip problems and was scheduled for hip replacement surgery the day after he was found dead. |
| Burt Reynolds[723] | August 16, 2020 | Reynolds died of a heart attack at the Jupiter Medical Center in Jupiter, Florida, on September 6, 2018, at the age of 82.[724][725] His ex-wife Loni Anderson issued a statement explaining that she and their son Quinton would miss him and "his great laugh".[726] On September 20, 2018, the two held a private memorial service for Reynolds at a funeral home in North Palm Beach, Florida. Those in attendance included Sally Field,[727] FSU coach Bobby Bowden, friend Lee Corso, and quarterback Doug Flutie.[728] Reynolds' body was cremated and his ashes were given to his niece.[729] |
| Marlon Brando[730] | August 23, 2020 | On July 1, 2004, Brando died of respiratory failure from pulmonary fibrosis with congestive heart failure at the UCLA Medical Center.[731] The cause of death was initially withheld, with his lawyer citing privacy concerns. He also suffered from diabetes and liver cancer.[732] Shortly before his death and despite needing an oxygen mask to breathe, he recorded his voice to appear in The Godfather: The Game, once again as Don Vito Corleone. However, Brando recorded only one line due to his health, and an impersonator was hired to finish his lines. Some lines from his character were directly lifted from the film. Karl Malden—Brando's co-star in three films, A Streetcar Named Desire, On the Waterfront, and One-Eyed Jacks (the last being the only film directed by Brando) -- spoke in a documentary accompanying the DVD of A Streetcar Named Desire about a phone call he received from Brando shortly before Brando's death. A distressed Brando told Malden he kept falling over. Malden wanted to come over, but Brando put him off, telling him there was no point. Three weeks later, Brando was dead. Shortly before his death, he had apparently refused permission for tubes carrying oxygen to be inserted into his lungs, which, he was told, was the only way to prolong his life.[733] |
| Debbie Reynolds | August 23, 2020 | On December 23, 2016, Reynolds's daughter—actress and writer Carrie Fisher—suffered a medical emergency on a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles, and died on December 27 at the age of 60.[734] The following day, December 28, Reynolds was taken by ambulance to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, after suffering a "severe stroke," according to her son, Todd Fisher.[735] Later that afternoon, Reynolds was pronounced dead in the hospital; she was 84 years old.[736][737][738] On January 9, 2017, her cause of death was determined to be intracerebral hemorrhage, with hypertension a contributing factor.[739] Todd later said that Reynolds had been seriously affected by her daughter's death, and that her grief was partially responsible for her stroke, noting that his mother had stated "I want to be with Carrie" shortly before she died.[740][741][742] During an interview for the December 30, 2016 airing of the ABC-TV program 20/20, Todd elaborated on this, saying that his mother had joined his sister in death because Reynolds "didn't want to leave Carrie and did not want her to be alone."[743] He added, that "she didn't die of a broken heart" as some news reports had implied, but rather "just left to be with Carrie."[744] |
| Tom Petty | December 13, 2020 | Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in cardiac arrest, in the early morning of October 2, 2017. He was resuscitated and taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he died at 8:40 pm PDT[745] after premature reports of his death throughout the day.[746][747][748][749] On January 19, 2018, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner announced that Petty had died accidentally from mixed drug toxicity,[750][751] a combination of fentanyl, oxycodone, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl (all opioids); temazepam and alprazolam (both sedatives); and citalopram (an antidepressant).[752] In a statement on his official website, Petty's wife and daughter said he had multiple medical problems, including emphysema, knee difficulties "and most significantly a fractured hip". He was prescribed pain medication for these problems and informed on the day of his death that his hip injury had worsened. The statement read, "[it] is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication.[..] We feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident."[753] On September 28, 2018, Petty's wife Dana gave an interview to Billboard saying that Petty put off hip surgery his doctors had recommended for some time. "He'd had it in mind it was his last tour and he owed it to his long-time crew, from decades some of them, and his fans." Dana said that Petty was in a good mood the day before his death: "He had those three shows in L.A. Never had he been so proud of himself, so happy, so looking forward to the future – and then he's gone."[754] |
Notes
- Taylor had serious bouts of pneumonia in 1990 and 2000, underwent hip replacement surgery in the mid-1990s, underwent surgery for a benign brain tumor in 1997, and was successfully treated for skin cancer in 2002.[436]
- Harrison's estate complained that during a round of experimental radiotherapy at Staten Island University Hospital, the oncologist Dr Gilbert Lederman repeatedly revealed Harrison's confidential medical information during television interviews and forced him to autograph a guitar.[464][465][466][467] The suit was ultimately settled out of court under the condition that the guitar be "disposed of".[468]
- Radio transmissions and emergency calls included the phrases "cardiac episode" and "cardiac arrest"; witnesses believed they had seen Fisher having a heart attack.[530] Several news outlets called the episode a "massive heart attack".[531]
- In an interview with ABC News, Fisher later said that his mother "didn't die of a broken heart. ... It wasn't that she was sitting around inconsolable—not at all. She simply said that she didn't get to see Carrie come back from London. She expressed how much she loved my sister. She then said she really wanted to be with Carrie—in those precise words—and within 15 minutes from that conversation, she faded out. Within 30 minutes, she technically was gone."[546]
- A long-standing urban legend maintains that Disney was cryonically frozen.[711] Disney's daughter Diane later stated, "There is absolutely no truth to the rumor that my father, Walt Disney, wished to be frozen."
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Sources
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External links
- Series website (
United Kingdom) - Series website (
United States) - Autopsy: The Last Hours of... at IMDb
- Autopsy: The Last Hours Of... (TV Guide)
- Autopsy | REELZ - YouTube
- FindADeath.com – Directory
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