Actor Deaths that Shocked The World

Hello, Everybody! Today I did a post of unexpected deaths of famous actors. These are ranked based on the impact of these deaths and most of these deaths have effected me as a person. 

Ok, guys. Get your tissues out and here’s my list.

25. Lisa Robin Kelly

Lisa Robin Kelly was mostly known for playing Laurie Forman, Eric Forman's sister on That 70's Show. She also had a share of many legal troubles, including a couple of DUI's. After checking into Pax Rehab House, she died from combined drug intoxication. She was 43. This isn't the first time that someone on this list died from drug intoxication.

24. Phil Hartman

Phil Hartman was a well-known voice actor who voiced many characters on The Simpsons, he also helped Paul Reubens develop his iconic character, Pee-Wee Herman, in which he took part in co-writing Pee-Wee's Big Adventure and won a Primetime Emmy for his work on Saturday Night Live and played Bill McNeal on NewsRadio. On the night of May 28th, 1998, he and his wife, Brynn Omdahl got into a heated argument, afterwards, she went into his bedroom and shot and killed Hartman before comitting suicide. Following his death, he was honored through countless tributes from Steve Martin and Simpsons creator, Matt Groening. It was truly unthinkable back then and now.

23. Chris Farley

Chris Farley was a comedy god, who was known for his loud, energetic style and was one of the greatest comedic actors of the 90s. After leaving SNL in 1996, he starred in 3 movies, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep and Beverly Hills Ninja and was originally the voice of Shrek, whose dialogue was 85% complete. For most of his life, he struggled with drug and alcohol abuse leading to his untimely death from an overdose on December 18th, 1997, his death was compared to the late John Belushi who also appeared on SNL.

22. James Dean

A young Hollywood cultural icon gone too soon. James Dean in appeared in 3 movies, with 2 of them, Giant being released posthumously, earning him a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and another one and Rebel Without a Cause making him a household name. On the night of September 30th, 1955, Dean was driving his new Porsche with Bill Hickman, a stunt coordinator, Sanford Ruth, a photographer from Collier's and Rolf Wutherich, a German mechanic on their way to an event, while driving on Route 466 from Los Angeles to Salinas, they all got into a car accident with all three passengers not surviving. It's amazing how an actor like James Dean can become famous following a film's release after his death.

21. Tupac Shakur

Not only was Tupac an amazing Hip-Hop artist, he was also a pretty talented actor starring in Poetic Justice and Juice. On the night of September 7th, 1996, Tupac was in Las Vegas attending a Mike Tyson  fight at the MGM grand and was on his way to a nightclub afterwards, the car, a black BMW, was pulled over by Las Vegas police, 15 minutes later, a white Cadillac pulled up to the passenger side and Tupac was shot multiple times by an unknown occupant and was immediately taken to the hospital. 6 days later, he died from internal bleeding. 

20. Burt Reynolds

Man... this one really hit me. Burt Reynolds has starred in many awesome movies and has played the iconic character of Bo Darville aka Bandit in Smokey and the Bandit. I also love the fact that he's used as a running gag in the animated series, Archer. On September 6th, 2018, he died from a heart attack at the age of 82.

19. Cory Monteith

Cory Monteith was a rising star in the 2010s playing Finn Hudson in Glee. He also had a troubled adolescence involving drug addiction for years and has expressed his history with drugs in an interview with Parade magazine, after being sent to rehab he was written out of two episodes from Glee's fourth season. On July 13th, 2013, he was found dead in his hotel room in Vancouver. On the wake of his death, the fan community and the cast & crew including Lea Michele and Ryan Murphy were in a sudden state of mourning, with the Fifth season episode, The Quarterback being a tribute to his life. 7 years later on the anniversary of Cory's death, fellow co-star Naya Rivera also passed away from drowning in Lake Piru. 

18. Philip Seymour Hoffman

Known for playing supporting characters, Hoffman was considered be one of the greatest actors of his generation, with his greatest performances being Truman Capote in Capote, earning him an Academy Award for Best Actor and Lancaster Dodd in The Master, earning him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Another actor who struggled with drug abuse, Hoffman was found dead in his apartment in Manhattan. He was 46.

17. Alan Rickman

Everytime I think about Alan Rickman, I will always remember his greatest creations, Severus Snape in the Harry Potter franchise and Hans Gruber in Die Hard. I still can't believe that he's gone. On August 2015, he suffered a minor strike which led to him being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the English actor then passed away on January 14th, 2016, 4 days after David Bowie's death. On the wake of Rickman's death, many Potterheads created a memorial underneath the Platform 9 3/4 sign at London's King's Cross station. Many Harry Potter co-stars including Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Jason Isaacs and Ralph Fiennes all paid tribute to the late thespian.

16. Garry Shandling

Garry Shandling made his career by writing for sitcoms like Welcome Back, Kotter and Sanford and Son before making a successful stand-up performance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and became a frequent guest-host and had his own fake talk-show host series, The Larry Sanders Show. Shandling suffered from a rare thyroid disease and on March 24th, 2016, he collapsed in his home and was rushed to the hospital where died from a blood clot in his leg. 

15. Gene Wilder

Wow. This man was a comedy legend! A frequent actor who starred in many movies from Mel Brooks, including his most famous movie, Young Frankenstein and he also played the iconic role of Willy Wonka in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. He suffered with Alzeimher's for 3 years, a condition that he kept private before passing away in his home on August 29th, 2016. 

14. Bill Paxton

You might know Bill Paxton as the guy who said "That's it, man. Game over, man! Game over!" in Aliens. He also appeared in Terminator and True Lies. All three movies directed by James Cameron. He of course,  starred in Twister and Near Dark and he also appeared on Apollo 13. At the beginning of 2017, he revealed that he had a heart condition since he was 13 years old. On February 14th, he underwent open heart surgery to repair his heart valve. 11 days later, he died from a stroke. He was 61. Learning of his death, storm chasers paid tribute to his death, while James Cameron expressed his grief in a Vanity Fair article. 

13. Brittany Murphy

Known for playing Tai Fraser in Clueless and Alex Latourno in 8 Mile, Brittany Murphy was one of the most defining actors of the 90s and 2000s. On December 20th, 2009, she mysteriously died from pneumonia when she was only 32 years old. Prior to her death, she ingested multiple drugs to battle her flu-like symptoms. On May 23rd, her widower, Simon Monjack passed away in the same residence. Toxic mold later became a factor, which Brittany's mother denied. No one really still knows how exactly they both died and it's very mysterious.

12. Marilyn Monroe

Marilyn Monroe was a Hollywood Icon of its Golden Age and even after 50 years, her presence is being felt in Tinseltown. During her career, she suffered from endometriosis, a condition in which tissue grows outside of the uterus and frequently showed up late on set while intoxicated and was prescribed to barbiturates. On August 5th, 1962, she was found dead in her bedroom by her housekeeper. She was 36. 

11. Bill Nunn

You may not know who Bill Nunn was, but you may know him as Radio Raheem on Spike Lee's magnum opus, Do The Right Thing. On September 24th, 2016, he died from leukemia at the age of 62.

10. Robin Williams

Even after 6 years, the death of beloved and comedic icon like Robin Williams still feels like yesterday. He broke barriers in both physical and vocal comedy by providing improvised voice acting to the character of The Genie in Aladdin and also starring in serious roles like Good Will Hunting and Dead Poets Society. For most of his life, he suffered from severe depression and hid it by making people laugh.  During his final years, he suffered from Lewy body Dementia and hid it from the public. On August 11th, 2014, Robin committed suicide and the world was shocked and many tributes were made from Jimmy Fallon, Billy Crystal and Barrack Obama.

9. Anton Yelchin

This Russian-American actor was one of the most promising young stars of this generation. His films included Alpha Dog, Like Crazy and the Star Trek reboot trilogy playing the role of Pavel Chekov. It came as a complete surprise that news broke that Anton died from blunt traumatic asphyxia after getting pinned between his Jeep Cherokee and a brick pillar outside his California home on June 19th, 2016. Celebrities including Chris Pine, Zoe Saldana and J.J.Abrams and Trekkies all over the world paid tribute to the late actor. His roles in Green Room and Thoroughbreds garnered critical praise, the latter being a posthumous release.

8. James Gandolfini

James Gandolfini gave birth to the first anti-hero, Tony Soprano in the greatest TV show of all time, The Sopranos which kickstarted a golden age of television. On June 19th, 2013(Wow, that's 3 years before Anton died) he was supposed to receive an award at the Taormina Film Fest in Rome. He was found unconscious in his hotel bathroom by his son, Michael and was taken to the nearest hospital. 20 minutes later, he died from a heart attack. 

7. Paul Walker

Paul Walker was well-known for playing Brian O'Connor in the Fast & Furious franchise and appeared in other films including the hit 90s flick She's All That. During production of Furious 7, Paul and his friend, Roger Rodas were on their way to a charity event and Rodas' Porsche crashed into a lamp post and two trees. Both of them died in the accident and fans of the Fast franchise and his fellow co-stars were in a sudden state of mourning. Furious 7 became a tribute to the late actor. Everytime I think about Paul Walker, I'll always remember his role as Brian.

6. Carrie Fisher

This death still hurts. Carrie Fisher was known throughout the entire galaxy as Princess Leia in the Star Wars franchise. After finishing her book tour, she went on a Commercial flight back to America where she had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. On December 27th, 2016, she passed away at the age of 60 and many Star Wars fans, including myself gave momentous tributes and J.J. Abrams, George Lucas, Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford shared their thoughts on her death. The force will always be with her. Her mother, Debbie Reynolds also passed away a few days later.

5. Luke Perry

Luke Perry was known as the James Dean of 90s television. His role as Dylan McKay in Beverly Hills, 90210 made him a household name and he made a career resurgence by playing Archie Andrews' dad, Fred on Riverdale. On February 27th, 2019 he had a severe stroke and was taken to the hospital, a few days later, he was removed from life support and fans of 90210 and Riverdale grieved his loss and many of his old co-stars including Shannon Doherty paid tribute and KJ Apa posted on Instagram with a picture of Perry with the caption reading "Rest in Love bro." In the Season 4 premiere episode of Riverdale, his character was killed off and was a tribute to the late actor.

4. Cameron Boyce

I literally grew up watching this guy. Cameron Boyce was a young Disney star who played Luke Ross in Jessie and Carlos De Vil in Descendants. On the morning of July 7th, 2019, news broke that Cameron died from a seizure when he was only 20 years old while sleeping. HE NEVER WOKE UP. It's truly unthinkable that you never know when your last day will be. His death was literally the first thing I woke up to! For most of his life, he suffered from epilepsy and did humanitarian work by starting a project called Wielding Piece, a campaign that was injunction with March for Our Lives. His family now does. charity work for people who suffer from epilepsy. On the wake of his tragic death, the red carpet premiere of Descendants 3 was canceled and his Descendants co-stars including Dove Cameron, Sofia Carson and China Anne McClain and his Jessie co-stars Karan Brar(who found him unconscious), Debbie Ryan, Peyton List and Skai Jackson shared immense grief for their close friend. Before he died, he joined two TV shows, Mrs. Fletcher and Paradise City which will come out soon.

3. Bruce Lee

Martial Arts superstar and influential icon, Bruce Lee was truly someone special. He starred in 5 movies before breaking into America with the release of Enter the Dragon, the greatest Martial Arts movie of all time. Lee suffered from cerebral edema, a condition with symptoms of headaches and seizures. On July 20th, 1973, Lee had dinner with George Lazenby discussing the making of his next movie Game of Death which was released posthumously with archival footage. They drove together with producer Raymond Chow to Betty Ting Pei's home. Lee complained of a headache and Ting gave him a painkiller which contained aspirin and a tranquilizer(which he was allergic to) and went to lie down for a nap and never woke up. One rumor indicated that Ting was part of the triads and poisoned him. Even after many decades, Bruce Lee still lives on as the Martial Arts movie genre continued strongly.

2. Chadwick Boseman

The most recent death on this list, Chadwick Boseman was one of the most talented and inspiring actors in recent memory by playing 4 iconic African Americans; Jackie Robinson in 42, James Brown in Get on. Up, T'Challa/Black Panther in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Thurgood Marshall in Marshall. His upcoming role in the Netflix movie, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is expected to receive award recognition. Since 2016, the same year he made his Black Panther debut in the MCU in Captain America: Civil War, he was treating colon cancer and kept from the fans and the public for 4 years. On August 28th, it was announced all over social media that he passed away with his family by his side. Many MCU fans and his co-stars shared their immense thoughts on their passing. His presence in the MCU will definitely be missed and his role as King T'Challa will forever be cemented in his legacy.

Honorable Mentions

- Brandon Lee

Died from a accidental gunshot in the abdomen while filming The Crow

- John Ritter

Died from a heart attack

- Judy Garland

Died from an overdose of Barbituates

- Patty duke

Died from sepsis of a ruptured intestine

- Penny Marshall

- Died from complications of Diabetes

- Alan Thicke

Died from type-A aortic dissection after collapsing while playing ice hockey. 

- Farrah Fawcett

- Died from Anal Cancer

- Jonathan Brandis

- Committed suicide in the hallway of his Los Angeles apartment.

- Lee Thompson Young

- Shot himself in the head in his Los Angeles apartment.

1. Heath Ledger

If there's one death that was even more shocking, it was Heath Ledger. Heath was a heartthrob of the 2000s starring in 10 Things I Hate About You and Lords of Dogtown and garnered significant critical praise for his role in Brokeback Mountain which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. His most famous role was playing The Joker in The Dark Knight. To prepare himself for the role, he isolated from himself by staying in his apartment for months which took a drastic toll on him and costed him his ability to sleep. Talk about dedication. He also has been suffering from pneumonia and took multiple drugs to combat his illness. On January 22nd, 2008, his housekeeper and masseus found him  unconscious in his loft bedroom in SoHo. 30 minutes later, he died from combined drug intoxication at only 28 years old. The role of The Joker earned him a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It even paved the way for extreme method acting in the biz.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to comment below which death impacted you the most as a person.