The 100 Greatest Entertainers To Die Young

Movies, Television

The 100 greatest entertainers to die young.  For musicians, even those with occasional film credits (Tupac, Elvis, Prince), see our upcoming music deaths list.  Not counting wrestlers (with apologies to Roddy Piper) or those that passed away after the age of 65.

 

  1.  Marilyn Monroe (36, 1926-1962)
  2.  James Dean (24, 1931-1955)
  3.  Heath Ledger (28, 1979-2008)
  4.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman (46, 1967-2014)
  5. Chadwick Boseman (43, 1976-2020)
  6.  Bruce Lee (32, 1940-1973)
  7.  Robin Williams (63, 1951-2014)
  8.  John Belushi (33, 1949-1982)
  9.  Chris Farley (33, 1964-1997)
  10.  Judy Garland (47, 1922-1969)
  11.  Lenny Bruce (40, 1925-1966)
  12.  Rudolph Valentino (31, 1895-1926)
  13.  John Cazale (42, 1935-1978)
  14.  Steve McQueen (50, 1930-1980)
  15.  James Gandolfini (51, 1961-2013)
  16.  Humphrey Bogart (57, 1899-1957)
  17.  Patrick Swayze (57, 1952-2009)
  18.  Jean Harlow (26, 1911-1937)
  19.  Carole Lombard (33, 1908-1942)
  20.  Phil Hartman (49, 1948-1998)
  21.  John Candy (43, 1950-1994)
  22.  Jayne Mansfield (34, 1933-1967)
  23.  Bill Hicks (32, 1961-1994)
  24.  Michael K Williams (54, 1966-2021)
  25.  Andy Kaufman (35, 1949-1984)
  26.  Irving Thalberg (37, 1899-1936)
  27.  River Phoenix (23, 1970-1993)
  28.  Gilda Radner (42, 1946-1989)
  29.  Anthony Bourdain (61, 1956-2018)
  30.  Natalie Wood (43, 1938-1981)
  31.  François Truffaut (52, 1932-1984)
  32.  Christopher Reeve (52, 1952-2004)
  33.  Sharon Tate (26, 1943-1969)
  34.  Peter Sellers (54, 1925-1980)
  35.  Grace Kelly (52, 1929-1982)
  36.  Audrey Hepburn (63, 1929-1993)
  37.  Carrie Fisher (60, 1956-2016)
  38.  Mitch Hedburg (37, 1968-2005)
  39.  Freddie Prinze (22, 1954-1977)
  40.  Montgomery Clift (45, 1920-1966)
  41.  Bernie Mac (50, 1957-2008)
  42.  Paul Walker (40, 1973-2013)
  43.  Bill Paxton (61, 1955-2017)
  44.  Sam Kinison (38, 1953-1992)
  45.  Anton Yelchin (27, 1989-2016)
  46.  Norm Macdonald (61, 1959-2021)
  47.  Robert Shaw (51, 1927-1978)
  48.  Graham Chapman (48, 1941-1989)
  49.  John Hughes (59, 1950-2009)
  50.  Michael Clarke Duncan (54, 1957-2012)
  51.  Clark Gable (59, 1901-1960)
  52.  Gary Cooper (60, 1901-1961)
  53.  Vivien Leigh (53, 1913-1967)
  54.  Betty Grable (56, 1916-1973)
  55.  Doug Kenney (33, 1946-1980)
  56.  John Singleton (51, 1968-2019)
  57.  Hal Ashby (59, 1929-1988)
  58.  Sergio Leone (60, 1929-1989)
  59.  Lon Chaney (47, 1883-1930)
  60.  Jim Henson (53, 1936-1990)
  61.  Anthony Minghella (54, 1954-2008)
  62.  Rock Hudson (59, 1925-1985)
  63.  Patrice O’Neal (41, 1969-2011)
  64.  Greg Giraldo (44, 1965-2010)
  65.  Luke Perry (52, 1966-2019)
  66.  John Ritter (54, 1948-2003)
  67.  Jean Vigo (29, 1905-1934)
  68.  Farrah Fawcett (62, 1947-2009)
  69.  John Cassavetes (59, 1929-1989)
  70.  Mabel Normand (37, 1892-1930)
  71.  Curly Howard (48, 1903-1952)
  72.  Fatty Arbuckle (46, 1887-1933)
  73.  Errol Flynn (50, 1909-1959)
  74.  Corey Haim (38, 1971-2010)
  75.  Brittany Murphy (32, 1977-2009)
  76.  Steve Irwin (44, 1962-2006)
  77.  Brandon Lee (28, 1965-1993)
  78.  Douglas Fairbanks (56, 1883-1939)
  79.  Paddy Chayefsky (58, 1923-1981)
  80.  Bruno Kirby (57, 1949-2006)
  81.  Sam Peckinpah (59, 1925-1984)
  82.  F.W. Murnau (42, 1888-1931)
  83.  Peter Finch (60, 1916-1977)
  84.  Richard Burton (58, 1925-1984)
  85.  Peter Lorre (59, 1904-1964)
  86.  Gregg Toland (44, 1904-1948)
  87.  Lou Costello (59, 1906-1959)
  88.  Sony Bono (62, 1935-1998)
  89.  Dorothy Stratton (20, 1960-1980)
  90.  Tyrone Power (44, 1914-1958)
  91.  Jean-Pierre Melville (55, 1917-1973)
  92.  Sergei Eisenstein (50, 1889-1948)
  93.  Sam Warner (40, 1887-1927)
  94.  Krzysztof Kieslowski (54, 1941-1996)
  95.  Corey Monteith (31, 1982-2013)
  96.  William Desmond Taylor (49, 1872-1922)
  97.  Bobby Driscoll (31, 1937-1968)
  98.  George P. Cosmatos (64, 1941-2005)
  99.  Gary Coleman (42, 1968-2010)
  100.  Harris Wittels (30, 1984- 2015)

Honorable Mentions: Chris Penn, Lee Marvin, Jeffrey Hunter, Sal Mineo, Irrfan Khan, William Holden, Gregory Hines, Reg E. Cathey, Richard Castellano, Charlie Murphy, Dustin Diamond, Bob Crane, Leslie Cheung, Verne Troyer, Anatoliy Solonitsyn, Totie Fields, Jonathan Brandis, Brad Renfro, Heather O’Rourke, Romy Schneider, Michael Landon, Susan Hayward, Brandon De Wilde, Lynn Shelton, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Robert Schimmel, Lee Thompson Young, Val Lewton, Andrei Tarkovsky, Kenji Mizoguchi, Gwili Andre, Anna Nicole Smith, David Mills, Bill Nunn, Virginia Rappe, Charlie Barnett, Johann Johannsson, Ryan Dunn, Josh Ryan Evans, Dominique Dunne, Divine, Véra Clouzot, Robin Harris, John Pinette, Lucy Gordon, John Spencer, Ulrich Mühe,  Warner Baxter, Robert Rossen, Robert Taylor, Jeff Richards, Dana Plato, Jon-Erik Hexum, Adrienne Shelly, Cameron Boyce, Frank Giering, Lisa Robin Kelly, Thuy Trang, Andy Hallett, Judith Barsi, Jiah Khan, Brent Briscoe, Kevin Peter Hall