List of famous suicides
A list of famous people who have committed suicide.
- Includes only celebrities who are known to have committed suicide. Adding names of people who are only suspected of having killed themselves would only reflect an opinion of your part and not a fact.
| Table of contents |
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2 Monarchs 3 By Seppuku 4 Known afterwards 5 Related articles |
Alphabetical
A-B
- Johnny Ace, (1954), singer
- Nick Adams, (1968), actor
- Neil Aggett, (1982), South African worker's union leader
- Louis Althusser, (1990), French philosopher
- Jean Améry, (1978), Austrian writer
- Fridolin Anderwert, (1880), Swiss Federal Councilor
- Roger Angleton, (1998), brother of imprisoned Texas extortionist who admitted in his suicide note killing his sister-in-law, socialite Doris Angleton.
- Mark Antony, (30 BC), Roman politician and general
- Mohammed Atta, (2001), suicide bomber
- Mary Bacon, (1991), thoroughbred race horse jockey
- Albert Ballen, (1918)
- Isobel Barnett, (1980), British TV personality
- Cliff Baxter, (2002), Enron vice-chairman
- Gertrude Bell, (1926), archaeologist, writer, spy and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq"
- Walter Benjamin, (1940), German cultural theorist
- Pierre Bérégovoy, (1993), French politician, killed himself in after serving a year as prime minister
- Alain Bernardin, (1994), founder/owner of "Le Crazy Horse Saloon" - Paris
- Ricky Berry, (1989), American NBA Basketball player (Sacramento Kings)
- Bruno Bettelheim, (1990), child psychologist
- Ludwig Boltzmann, (1906), Austrian physicist
- Ernest Bornemann, (1995), German sexologist
- Francesco Borromini, (1667), architect
- Karin Boye, (1941), Swedish author
- Charles Boyer, (1978), French actor
- Jonathan Brandis, (2003), American actor
- Eva Braun, (1945), mistress of Adolf Hitler
- Richard Brautigan, (1984), American writer
- Herman Brood, (2001), Dutch musician and painter
- Brutus, (42 BC), Roman politician, assassin of Julius Caesar
- Eustace Budgell, (1737), remembered because his death was discussed in a conversation between Samuel Johnson and his friend and biographer Boswell
C-H
- Capucine, (1990), French actress
- Dora Carrington, (1932), artist
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh, (1822), British politician
- Cato the younger, (46 BC), Roman republican statesman
- Ugo Cavallero, (1943), Italian Field Marshal
- Paul Celan, (1970), Romanian poet
- Valerie Chacon, (1982), wife of Bobby Chacon
- Thomas Chatterton, (1770), English poet
- Leslie Cheung, (2003), Hong Kong movie star and singer
- Chung Mong-hun, (2003), Korean businessman, chairman of Hyundai Asan
- Kurt Cobain, (1994), American musician and singer (Nirvana)
- Billy Collins Jr, (1984), young boxer
- Ray Combs, (1996), former host of popular American game show Family Feud
- Hart Crane, (1932), American poet
- Andrew Cunanan, (1997), killer of Gianni Versace and four others
- Ian Curtis, (1980), English singer and songwritter (Joy Division)
- Adam Czerniakow, (1942), Warsaw Ghetto leader killed himself rather than obey Nazi orders
- Dalida, (1987), French singer
- Gilles Deleuze, (1995), French philosopher
- Pete Duel, (1971), American actor
- Budd Dwyer, (1987), American politician
- George Eastman, (1932), inventor
- Brian Epstein, (1967), British manager of The Beatles
- John Gould Fletcher, (1950), Pulitzer Prize winning poet
- Romain Gary, (1980), Russian - French novelist, film director and diplomat
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman, (1935), American feminist and author (Herland)
- Joseph Goebbels, (1945), German Nazi leader
- Hermann Göring, (1946), German Nazi leader
- Richard Greene, (1983), boxing referee
- Robert von Greim, (1945), German Air Marshal
- Mitch Halpern, (2000), boxing referee
- Pete Ham, (1975), rock musician (Badfinger)
- Tony Hancock, (1968), British comedian
- Hannibal, (182 BC), military commander
- Larry James Harper, (2001), member of the Texas 7
- Donny Hathaway, (1979), singer, best known for his duets with Roberta Flack
- Felix Hausdorff, (1942), mathematician. He committed suicide with his wife and sister-in-law in the concentration camp.
- Benjamin Haydon, (1846), British painter
- Ernest Hemingway, (1961), American novelist
- Margaux Hemingway, (1996), American actress and model
- Heinrich Himmler, (1945), German SS leader
- Adolf Hitler, (1945), Nazi Germany's leader
- Doug Hopkins, (1993), musician, founding member of rock group The Gin Blossoms. Killed self with a .38 pistol December 5
- Michael Hutchence, (1997), Australian lead singer of rock group INXS
- Phyllis Hyman, (1995), singer
I-M
- Judas Iscariot, (1st century), according to the Bible, betrayed Jesus
- Isocrates, (338 BC), Greek rhetorician
- Jim Jones, (1978), reverend, leader of the "People's Temple" cult. Died during mass suicide that cost the lives of more than 500 in Guyana.
- Sarah Kane, (1999), British playwright
- Terry Kath, (1978), guitarist, Chicago (died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound)
- Brian Keith, (1997), American actor (Family Affair)
- Dr. David Kelly, (2003), British scientist and source of BBC story about the Dodgy Dossier
- Heinrich von Kleist, (1811), German dramatist and poet
- Hans von Kluge, (1944), German Field Marshal
- Arthur Koestler, (1983), Hungarian novelist, political activist and social philosopher
- Hannelore Kohl, (2001), wife of ex-chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl
- Jerzy Kosinski, (1991), Polish-American author
- Paul Lafargue, (1911), son-in-law of Karl Marx, communist theorist and author of The Right to Be Lazy
- Hans Langsdorff, (1939), captain of the Admiral Graf Spee
- Hector Lavoe, (1993), salsa music singer
- Florence Lawrence, (1938), Hollywood's first movie Star
- Lee Kyung Hae, (2003), South Korean activist
- Primo Levi, (1987), Italian author
- John Lovelock, (1949), New Zealand doctor and Olympic athlete
- Malcolm Lowry, (1957), British writer
- Gherasim Luca, (1994), Romanian surrealist
- Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov, (1918), Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist
- Billy MacKenzie, (1996), lead singer of 1980s pop group The Associates
- Magnentius, (353), Roman usurper
- Niklaus Meienberg, (1993), Swiss author
- Kitty Melrose, (1912), English actress
- Charlotte Mew, (1928), English poet
- Kid McCoy, (1940), world champion boxer (real name: Norman Shelby)
- James Miller, fan man, (2003), parachuter
- Walther Model, (1945), German Field Marshal
- Marilyn Monroe, (1962), American actress
- Donnie Moore, (1989), relief pitcher for the California Angels
- Ted Moult, British television personality
- Renate Müller, (1937), German actress
N-Z
- Gérard de Nerval, (1855), French writer
- Luis Ocańa, (1994), Spanish cyclist, Tour de France winner
- Phil Ochs, (1976), American singer
- Hugh O'Connor, (1995), actor
- Dazai Osamu, (1948), Japanese novelist
- Billy Papke, (1936), world champion boxer
- Jules Pascin, (1930), French-American painter
- Sylvia Plath, (1963), American poetess, author and essayist
- Dana Plato, (1999), American actress
- Freddie Prinze, (1977), Puerto Rican comedian and actor
- George Reeves, (1959), actor, played Superman on television
- Carlos Roberto Reina, (2003), former president of Honduras
- Erwin Rommel, (1944), German Field Marshal
- Iris von Roten-Meyer, (1990), artist and jurist
- Mark Rothko, (1970), Russian-American painter
- Irv Rubin, (2002), leader of the Jewish Defense League
- Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria, (1889), see Mayerling)
- Akutagawa Ryunosuke, (1927), Japanese novelist
- George Sanders, (1972), actor
- Alberto Santos-Dumont, (1932), aviation pioneer
- Jean Seberg, (1979), American actress
- Anne Sexton, (1974), American poet
- Del Shannon, (1990), American singer
- Harold Shipman, (2004), British doctor, serial killer
- Elizabeth Siddal, (1862), Pre-Raphaelite icon
- The Singing Nun, (1985), Belgian singer
- Gary Stewart, (2003), Country singer
- Rory Storm, (1972), singer of the Hurricanes (the band Ringo Starr was in before he joined the Beatles), in a pact with his mother
- David Strickland, (1999), actor
- Sara Teasdale, (1933), American poet
- Wolfe Tone, (1798), Irish independence leader
- John Kennedy Toole, (1969), American novelist
- Marina Tsvetaeva, (1941), Russian poetess and writer
- Kurt Tucholsky, (1935), German journalist and satirist
- Alan Turing, (1954), British mathematician and computer scientist
- Randy Turpin, (1966), British world champion boxer
- Ernst Udet, (1941), German air ace and Luftwaffe inspector general
- Amy Vanderbilt, (1974), etiquette writer
- Vincent van Gogh, (1890), Dutch painter
- Getúlio Dornelles Vargas, (1954), president of Brazil. Killed himself during impeachment trial.
- Lupe Velez, (1944), actress
- Sid Vicious, (1979) bass player of the Sex Pistols, not long after killing his girlfriend
- Hervé Villechaize, (1993), French actor
- Otto Weininger, (1903), Austrian philosopher
- Fred West, (1995), husband of convicted British killer. Killed himself whilst awaiting trial on the same crimes.
- James Whale, (1957), film director
- Paul Williams, (1973), singer (Temptations)
- Rozz Williams, (1998), Musician, "Christian Death"
- Wendy O. Williams, (1998), musician, The Plasmatics
- Virginia Woolf, (1941), British novelist
- Mahmoud Zuabi, (2000), Syrian prime minister shot himself on May 21, two months after resigning over corruption charges
- Stefan and Lotte Zweig, (1942), Austrian novelist and his wife
Monarchs
- Shang Zhou, (1046 BC), the last king of the Shang Dynasty of China
- Ying Fu Su, (210 BC), brother of Ying Huhau, forced to commit suicide by a fake decree
- Ying Huhai, (207 BC), the second emperor of Qin dynasty
- Cleopatra VII of Egypt, (30 BC), last Ptolemaic Queen of Egypt
- Nero, (68), emperor of Rome (under duress)
- Otho, (69), Roman emperor
- Boudicca, (1st century), Celtic chieftainess
- Decebal, (106), Dacian king
- Clodius Albinus, (197), Roman emperor
- Gordian I, (238), Roman emperor
- Quintillus, (270), Roman emperor
- Maximian, (310), Roman emperor
- Eugenius, (394), Roman emperor
- Chongzhen, (1644), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty of China
By Seppuku
- Oda Nobunaga, (1582)
- Akou-Roushi (47 ronins), (1703)
- Yoshida Shoin, (1859)
- Takechi Hanpeita, (1865)
- Saigo Takamori, (1876), Japanese politician
- Kimitake Hiraoka, better known as Yukio Mishima, (1970)
- the Soga
- Hashimoto Sanaii
- Kusaka Gennai
Known afterwards
- Eric Harris, (1999), alleged Columbine High shooter
- Dylan Klebold, (1999), alleged Columbine High shooter
- Sarah Marple-Cantrell, (2003), 12 year old girl who became famous after committing suicide
