Nothing seems to capture people ’s attention like the death of a well - known celebrity . And when the renown break in a bizarre way or under suspicious circumstances , people pay even more attention . newsworthiness groove , web site and Twitter feeds go crazy with every development require a celebrity end . From Princess Diana to Whitney Houston and everyone in - between . People make love to follow the understanding why a noted celebrity has go . And with no terminal in sight to strange celebrity deaths , we wait at 10 truly flakey celebrity deaths that still make people shake up their heads to this solar day .
10. Michael Jackson
Everything about Michael Jackson ’s aliveness was somewhat freaky — the Neverland Ranch , ended with an entertainment park in the backyard , his monkey companion named “ Bubbles , ” log Z’s in an oxygen tent , purchasing the stiff of the Elephant Man , the whole skin white thing . We could go on . So it should come as no surprisal that Michael Jackson ’s last in 2009 at age 50 was as flakey as everything else associated with the ego - proclaim “ King of Pop . ” In demand of rest and sleep while preparing for a series of retort concert , Michael Jackson was given the powerful anesthetic Propofol to help him sleep by his personal physician Dr. Conrad Murray . However , the Propofol proved to be too powerful and it chair to Michael Jackson ’s death on June 25 , 2009 . Dr. Conrad Murray was subsequently convicted of nonvoluntary manslaughter in 2011 . That the destruction occurred as Michael Jackson seemed on the cusp of a counter made the whole affair that much more off-the-wall .
9. Sonny Bono
The ex - hubby of Cher and the author behind the classic call “ I get You Babe , ” became a U.S. Congressman and was direct a successful political career in 1998 when he died after skiing into a tree while on vacation in Lake Tahoe . years 62 at the time , Sonny Bono seemed perfectly fine when , for no ostensible reason , he skied off a lead and into a tree diagram . More unusual , Sonny Bono ’s wife at the time , Mary Bono , took over his Congressional seat and then fault the skiing accident on Sonny Bono have an alleged addiction to prescription drug . However , the coroner found no grounds of any drug in Sonny Bono ’s system at the clock time of his death .
8. William Holden
worker William Holden star is many classic Hollywood movies , includingSunset Boulevard , Bridge on the River Kwai , The Wild Bunch , The Towering InfernoandNetwork , to name only a few . He won an Academy Award for Best Actor for the 1953 filmStalag 17 . He was also a notorious juicer , which contributed to his bizarre death at long time 63 . On November 12 , 1981 , William Holden was alone and inebriated in his flat in Santa Monica , California , when he slipped on a rug , cut his brow on a bedside table and then slowly bleed to dying . His body was find four days afterwards and the coroner ruled that William Holden could have easily lived had he been sombre enough to call for avail after cutting his drumhead . In a strange twist , at the meter of his death , William Holden was date actress Stephanie Powers , who then starred on the television showHart to Hartwith actor Robert Wagner . A fiddling more than two weeks after William Holden died , Robert Wagner ’s then wife , Natalie Wood , also died under bizarre circumstances after accrue off a yacht on November 29 , 1981 — go out both genius ofHart to Hartin bereavement .
7. Steve Irwin
Known to television audience as the “ The Crocodile Hunter , ” Steve Irwin was a larger - than - life wildlife expert from Australia who regularly stuck his font near the jaw of crocodiles , sharks and a emcee of other dangerous creatures . In fact , getting close to deadly creature in the state of nature was Steve Irwin ’s shtick , and it endeared him to a propagation of minor and their parent . So it seemed bizarre when Steve Irwin was killed in 2006 after being stick in the heart by a stingray jibe while filming an underwater documentary titledOcean ’s Deadliest . People said the stingray strike was literally a one in a million occurrence that could belike not be replicated again . In fact , Steve Irwin ’s death is believe to be the only human death from a stingray ever captured on picture tape . Crikey !
6. Carl Switzer (aka Alfalfa)
As a tiddler , Carl Switzer play the original Alfalfa in theOur Gangshort films and later on theLittle Rascalstelevision show . The childhood graphic symbol of Alfalfa is ingrained in citizenry ’s memories , and beloved along with otherLittle Rascalssuch as Spanky , Porky , Darla and Buckwheat . So it was quite shocking when Carl Switzer was hit in 1959 at the age of 31 . As an adult , Carl Switzer appeared in minor roles in moving picture ( he is the guy who opens the gymnasium floor above a swimming pool inIt ’s A howling Life ) and also became a dog breeder and hunting usher . In a bizarre serial of issue , Carl Switzer was shoot to decease in the groin on January 21 , 1959 , over an arguing involving $ 50 that Carl Switzer feel he was owed for training a hunting dog . Weirdly , the man who dart Carl Switzer , Moses Samuel Stiltz , was found not guilty of murder as the shooting adopt place at Moses Samuel Stiltz ’s theatre and Carl Switzer was considered a interloper at the time of the shot . The killing was ruled “ self - defense ” by a judge . Stranger still , Carl Switzer was kill on the same day that fabled film producer Cecil B. DeMille died , and his death incur only venial aid in the medium .
5. Dar Robinson
Dar Robinson was a legendary stuntman who broke 19 macrocosm phonograph record and fix 21 existence ’s number one in stunt , which let in jumping off the CN Tower in Toronto , Canada , in 1980 . Dar Robinson also invented the “ Decelerator , ” a dragline cable , rather than an airbag , for stunts that call for jumping from gamey places . The Decelerator allowed camera operator to film a top - down horizon of a stuntman as he descend without showing an airbag on the ground . Dar Robinson did stunt for hugely popular goggle box shows and movies in the seventies and 1980s includingMagnum Force , Rollerball , The Fall GuyandTo Live and Die In L.A.One of the last pic that Dar Robinson work on wasLethal arm , which is dedicate to his memory . And in his integral career , Dar Robinson never broke one bone in his body . So it was freakish in 1986 when Dar Robinson accidentally drove his bike off a cliff while filming a stunt for the movieMillion Dollar Mystery . An inquest into the death rule that Dar Robinson unexpectedly attain the motorcycle accelerator rather than the pasture brake , causing it to found off the cliff .
4. John Denver
He sang sweet birdsong about Rocky Mountain high and sunshine on his shoulder , and those sweet tune made John Denver a leader of the singer - ballad maker motion of the seventies . He was also a conservationist and political militant who fight down to preserve nature from corporate development . John Denver was also an experienced buffer with nearly 3,000 60 minutes of flight of stairs under his belt . So it was outre on October 12 , 1997 , when John Denver fly his personal plane out over the Pacific Ocean until the fuel ran out and it crashed into the ocean , killing him at once . More off-the-wall was the fact that John Denver ’s pilot ’s license was suspended at the time of his death , following a series of inebriated driving convictions . With his 2nd union on the rocks at the time of his death , there was media speculation that John Denver committed suicide . However , an inquest into his death ruled it an fortuity and said the fuel in the experimental Rutan Long - EZ aircraft was unintentionally go off by John Denver , who was still learning how to vanish the plane at the metre he died .
3. Spalding Gray
Although not widely known , Spalding Gray was a grapheme actor and repair on the New York theater scene in the eighties and nineties . He had supporting function in movies such asThe Killing FieldsandBeaches . However , Spalding Gray died in a rather bizarre manner . After regard the Tim Burton filmBig Fishwith his two boy , Spalding Gray brought his boy home and then took a drive on the Staten Island Ferry where he jumpstart off the side into New York ’s East River and commit suicide on January 11 , 2004 . Spalding Gray was initially reported missing and was even the subject of an episode of the TV showAmerica ’s Most want , before his trunk was pull from the East River by two fisherman . No explanation was given for Spalding Gray ’s suicide other than that he had been struggling to overwhelm injury he suffered in a car wreck in Ireland in 2001 . People on the Staten Island Ferry who saw the actor just before his death report that he seemed happy and content .
2. Jeff Buckley
A now fabled singer - songwriter who was catch in the medicine press as the next freehanded affair in American careen , Jeff Buckley released only one album before his bizarre death at the untried age of 30 . The albumGrace , released by Jeff Buckley in 1994 , is considered one of the sound of the rock and roll cannon , andRolling Stonemagazine has label Jeff Buckley one of the best Isaac Merrit Singer ever . unhappily , Jeff Buckley died on May 29 , 1997 , in Memphis , Tennessee , while swimming in a channel of the Mississippi River . While talk the Led Zeppelin birdcall “ Whole Lotta Love , ” Jeff Buckley derail into the river wearing all of his apparel and iron boot . He never emerged , and his body was found in the nearby Wolf River Harbor two day later on . No drugs or alcohol were constitute in Jeff Buckley ’s scheme and his demise was govern an accident . Ironically , Jeff Buckley had arrive in Memphis sooner the day he died to record the follow - up to his only albumGrace .
1. Sam Cooke
Another all - time great singer , Sam Cooke is creditworthy for hit song such as “ Cupid , ” “ Chain Gang , ” “ Wonderful reality ” and “ Twisting The Night Away . ” In fact , Sam Cooke had thirty Top 40 hits between 1957 and 1964 . He even had three Top 40 hits after he died . unluckily , Sam Cooke died under really gonzo fortune in 1964 at the long time of 33 . Sam Cooke was fatally shoot by the manager of the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles after running into the hotel ’s front office stark au naturel , intoxicated out of his judgement and shout that his wearing apparel had been stolen . Sam Cooke had apparently checked into the dive motel earlier that evening with a prostitute who slip Sam Cooke ’s wallet once he was drunk , as well as most of his clothes , in the belief that it would prevent him from run after her . An inebriated Sam Cooke ran to the motel manager ’s office weary only a sports jacket and one horseshoe and nothing else . He face the coach , named Bertha Franklin , and demanded to know where the woman he was with was locate . Bertha Franklin respond by dart Sam Cooke in the spirit . After several inquiries , the shot was govern “ justifiable homicide . ” The last words Sam Cooke talk : “ Lady , you shot me . ”
