20 Haunting and Mysterious Hollywood Deaths

George Reeves

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Reeves played Superman in the 1950s TV show series, racking up fame and attraction from many of his fans. Reeves was found dead in 1959 due to a gunshot wound to his head. His death was ruled a suicide but a lot of people didn't buy it. His fiancée, as well as three other houseguests, were there when it happened and waited to call the police. Stray bullet cases were found around the house as well. No one was ever charge with his death.

Marilyn Monroe

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Monroe's death caused a lot of controversy in the media, not just because of her celebrity status, but because of her curious relationship with President John F. Kennedy. Her death was ruled a suicide by drug overdose. Many thought she was going to go public about an alleged affair with JFK, which would give someone the motive to silence her. The actress and model was only 36 when she passed away.

Ronni Chasen

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Ronni Chasen was a famous Hollywood publicist, known for representing actors and musicians. She died in 2010, as she was driving home from the movie premiere of Burlesque. Chasen was shot multiple times in her car in Beverly Hills. Police at first believed it was a robbery, even though her purse was still at the scene of the crime. The main suspect, a guy named Harold Martin Smith, shot himself with the same gun used to kill Chasen after police tried to search his apartment.

Bob Crane

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Bob Crane was an actor and a drummer who was brutally murdered in 1978 in his apartment in Arizona with an electrical cord tied around his neck. The main suspect was Crane's friend John Henry Carpenter who had flown out to Arizona to spend time with the actor just days before his death. Smears of Crane's blood were found inside Carpenter's rental car. Carpenter was acquitted in trial and Cranes' murder still remains unsolved.

Tupac Shakur

Tupac's death still reigns as one of the most controversial celebrity deaths in history, simply because no one was ever charged for his murder. Tupac was shot four times, sitting in his car at a red light in Las Vegas in 1996. A rival gang member named Orlando Anderson was the main suspect, but the police only questioned him once. The rapper was only 25 years old when he died.

David Carradine

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Known for his iconic roles in Kung Fu and Kill Bill, Carradine was found dead in his hotel in Bangkok in 2009. A hotel maid found him with a noose around his neck. Police deemed it an obvious suicide case. Later, a private autopsy was done that showed he died from asphyxiation, ruling out suicide, but his murder was never solved.

Elizabeth Short

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Better known as the case of Black Dahlia, Short's murder received extreme attention and coverage from the media not because of her status, but due to its gruesome nature. Her body was found mutilated in a Los Angeles park. She was only 22 years old. This case produced over 150 suspects, but no one was ever charged with her death.

Natalie Wood

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The West Side Story actress died in 1981 while boating off the coast of Catalina Island. Her husband, Robert Wagner, and actor Christopher Walken were also on board. Her cause of death was "accidental drowning" but many believe that there is more to the story. The case was reopened in 2011, 30 years after her passing and her husband was named as a person of interest.

Peter Ivers

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Ivers, a famous musician and TV show host, was found murdered in his apartment in Los Angeles in 1983. The weapon used to kill Ivers was a hammer. The police made a pretty big mistake with this case, in that they didn't close off the crime scene or secure the area, allowing friends and acquaintances to travel in and out, making the evidence contaminated. The murder was never solved.

Georgette Bauerdorf

This name may not ring any bells, but Bauerdorf's murder was so violent that many people today are still unsettled by the fact that it was never solved. The young dancer and singer was found dead in an overflowing bathtub in 1944, only two months after she had moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. She suffered from trauma to the head, a crushed hand, bruised inner thighs and was ultimately strangled with bandage material. She was only 20 years old.

Gary DeVore

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Now this one is crazy creepy. Gary DeVore was a Hollywood screenwriter, with connections to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Janet Jackson; overall a pretty well known guy amongst celebrities. He had just finished writing a screenplay called The Big Steal, a movie that was going to explain unknown details of why the United States invaded Panama. Suddenly, DeVore goes missing and no one finds him for over a year. His car and skeletal remains were found submerged below a bridge over the California Aqueduct in Palmdale, California. Here's the creepy part; both of his hands were missing, and when the police discovered what they thought were his hands, later investigation revealed that the hands they found were actually over 200 years old. Yeah, this was no accident.

Barbara Colby

Colby acted on Broadway but became famous when her television career took off. She gained popularity while starring in The Odd Couple, Columbo and Phyliss. She and a colleague were leaving an acting class in Venice when they were gunned down in the parking lot. Colby died at the scene and the police never caught the shooter.

Bruce Lee

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The actor and martial artist died at the age of 32. Cause of death: aspirin. The actor was having reoccurring headaches and seizures that led him to be previously hospitalized. The evening of July 20, 1973, Lee was set to meet with friends for a dinner. He got a headache and his colleague gave him some aspirin. He laid down to take a nap and never woke up. Doctors later labeled it as a "death by misadventure" because his brain had swollen, responding to an allergic reaction to the aspirin. Some fans believe that there was a curse on his family, which leads to our next Hollywood horror story...

Brandon Lee

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Bruce Lee's son, Brandon, also experienced a tragic death, reinforcing many fans' belief that there was indeed a death curse on their family. Brandon followed in his father's footsteps by pursing acting. He was on set, starring in a movie called The Crow, shooting a scene that involved him getting shot with a fake gun. According to a 1993 piece in Entertainment Weekly, "At about 12:30 in the morning on March 31, cameras began to roll on a scene in which Lee’s character, Eric, carrying a grocery bag, comes through a door and is shot several times. Alex Proyas, an Australian music-video director making his first American feature, had cameras capturing two different angles on the scene, as well as a video camera recording the action for quick playback. Actor Michael Massee, who played Funboy, was supposed to fire his .44-caliber revolver at Lee from a distance of about 15 feet, at which point Lee would detonate a "squib" (a small explosive charge) planted in the grocery bag to simulate the rip-and-shred effect of the bullet. As a crew of between 75 and 100 people looked on, Massee fired the gun, the squib in the grocery bag detonated on cue, and Lee fell to the ground. Not until the scene ended and Lee failed to get up did anyone realize he had been shot. "It didn’t really appear to the people on the set like anything was wrong," said one eyewitness." After the investigation concluded, it was released that the prop gun was not prepared correctly. Tragically, Lee died in surgery on March 31, 1993, with his fiancee by his side.

Brittany Murphy

The young actress' death shocked and confused many friends and family. She died in 2009 when she was 32 years old. Her cause of death was a combination of pneumonia, anemia and "multiple drug intoxication." Just five months after Murphy's death, her husband, Simon Monjack, was found dead in the very room that Murphy died in. His cause of death? The exact same thing.

Bobby Fuller

The singer-songwriter from Texas was climbing his way to success, reaching the peak of his musical career when he was found dead in 1966 at the age of 23. His body was found inside his car parked in front of his Hollywood apartment. Fuller was covered in gasoline and bruises. The police filed it as a suicide, but many people believe the mob had something to do with it.

Virginia Rappe

Rappe was known for her modeling and acting in silent films. She died in 1921 at the age of 26. Her cause of death was due to a ruptured bladder and secondary peritonitis, meaning the inner lining of her abdomen was inflamed. People find her death a mystery because the events prior to her death were never quite explained. She was at a party and some claimed her injuries were due to a sexual attack and rape by another famous silent film celebrity named Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who checked out of the room that Rappe was found dead in.

Wonderland Gang

The Wonderland Gang was known for dealing cocaine in Laurel Canyon and most of Los Angeles in the '70s and '80s. Three of the gang members, along with one of their girlfriends, were found brutally murdered in their Laurel Canyon home in 1981. There were multiple suspects and a couple arrests, but no one was ever completely charged for the murders. According to a 1988 LA Times piece on the murders: "John C. Holmes, the world's premier pornographic film star, sobbed as he sat in a steaming bathtub early one morning in July, 1981. Haltingly, Holmes confessed to his wife that he had played a central role in four brutal murders earlier that month in a drug dealers' hillside home in Laurel Canyon. "There's somebody out there who wants to kill me," Holmes told Sharon, his wife of 16 years. Frightened, she asked, "Why?" For a time, John Holmes was silent. Finally, he replied: "The murders . . . I was involved. . . . I know who did it." In a recent interview with The Times, Sharon Holmes, who divorced the late actor in 1984, described for the first time the story her husband told her less than three weeks after the July 1 killings. John Holmes recounted how he led three thugs to the tightly secured drug house on Wonderland Avenue, escorted them in, and stood by as they bludgeoned the five people inside, spattering Holmes with blood. One woman survived the attack. "He said, 'I had to stand there and watch what they did,' " Sharon Holmes recalled. "I said, 'John, how could you? You knew these people.' "And he said, 'They were dirt.' " The actor's wife paused. "I'll never forget that as long as I live," she said. John Holmes, who was tried for and acquitted of the crimes, never told his wife the names of the assailants, she said."

Thelma Todd

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Todd was known for her silent film acting and starred in about 120 films. She was an icon and her face was recognized by many. She died in 1935 after she attended a party that was thrown in her honor. She was found dead in her car inside the garage. Cause of death was labeled as carbon monoxide poisoning. At first, it was assumed an accident, but an autopsy later revealed a bruised face and cracked ribs. Many believed she was murdered and that her case will forever remain unsolved.

Phil Hartman

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The Saturday Night Live comedian was shot in 1998 by his wife, Brynn Hartman. Phil and his wife argued over her drug problems, which was a common problem between the couple. Phil went to bed and soon after, Brynn followed him then shot him twice in the head and once on the side of his body. She then locked herself in a room as police arrived and shot herself.