Stars of Stage and Screen Who Have Committed Suicide

Hancock committed suicide, by overdose, in Sydney, on 25 June 1968. He was found dead in his Bellevue Hill flat with an empty vodka bottle and a scattering of amylo-barbitone tablets.

In one of his suicide notes he wrote: "Things just seemed to go too wrong too many times". His ashes were brought back to England by satirist Willie Rushton, and were buried in St. Dunstan's Church in Cranford, west London.

Spike Milligan commented in 1989: "Very difficult man to get on with. He used to drink excessively. You felt sorry for him. He ended up on his own. I thought, he's got rid of everybody else, he's going to get rid of himself and he did."

Tarrant suffered from depression and died on 26 January 2012 in the Bristol Royal Infirmary from stab wounds self-inflicted at his home in Bristol. Tarrant's death was ruled a suicide by Flax Bourton Coroner's Court.

Mario Fabrizi died on 4th April, 1963. Cause of death: stress related illness

Hindered by a long-term respiratory illness, Webb died of a self-inflicted gunshot in Van Nuys, California.

Jason died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound one week after the Combat! reunion, on October 16, 2000, in Moorpark, California, where he lived. He left no note. Authorities said the actor was "despondent" over "unspecified personal matters."

The coroner documented the cause of death as "swallowing a caustic substance" and, later, "acute barbiturate intoxication." It was ruled a suicide.

Sloane committed suicide by barbiturate overdose at age 55 on August 6, 1965, apparently because he feared he was going blind.

On 23 April 1972, Sanders checked into a hotel in Castelldefels, a coastal town near Barcelona. He was found dead two days later, having gone into cardiac arrest after swallowing the contents of five bottles of the barbiturate Nembutal. He left behind three suicide notes.

Suffering from depression, Goodliffe had a breakdown in 1976 during the period that he was rehearsing for a revival of Equus. He committed suicide a few days later by leaping from a hospital fire escape, while a patient at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London.

While undergoing painful chemotherapy treatments for incurable bladder cancer, Hall's health declined to a point that he found unbearable, and after telling friends that the pain of his illness was overwhelming, he committed suicide December 13, 1979, by gunshot to his head in his bedroom of the home.

After checking into Room 20 of the Oasis Motel in Las Vegas, Strickland consumed several bottles of beer, hanged himself with a bed sheet over the ceiling beam, and died during the morning hours of March 22, 1999. His body was discovered by a hotel desk clerk. Evidence of drug use was found in his room. The Clark County Coroner concluded that Strickland's body bore the marks of a previous suicide attempt.

Suicide by gunshot.

On 20 May 2009, Gordon was found hanging in the Paris flat she shared with cinematographer Jérôme Alméras. A French police official said she appeared to have committed suicide by hanging. She left two suicide notes, one detailing her last wishes regarding her estate, the other a letter for her parents. Her father, Richard Gordon, said a post-mortem examination proved she had died from hanging and that no other marks were found on her body. He said, "There is no question of foul play. Lucy committed suicide."

Adams died in 1977 as the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the age of 62.

During the latter part of his life, Keith suffered from emphysema and lung cancer, despite having quit smoking 10 years earlier. (He had appeared in an endorsement campaign for Camel cigarettes in 1955). On June 24, 1997, he was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his home at 23449 Malibu Colony Road in Malibu, California, two months after his daughter Daisy committed suicide. It was also reported that he had financial problems and suffered from depression throughout his final days.

Prinze suffered from depression, which deepened in the weeks following his wife's filing for divorce. On the night of January 28, 1977, after talking on the telephone with his estranged wife, Prinze received a visit from his business manager, Marvin "Dusty" Snyder. With Snyder looking on, Prinze put a gun to his head and shot himself. Prinze was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center to be placed on life support following emergency surgery. His family removed him from life support, and he died at 1 p.m. on January 29.

In 1977, the death was ruled a suicide. In a civil case brought years later, a jury found that his death was accidental. Prinze had a history of playing Russian roulette to frighten his friends for his amusement.[8] However, Prinze had left a note stating that he had decided to take his life.

On August 11, 2014, Williams committed suicide at his home in Paradise Cay, California at the age of 63. In the initial report released on August 12, the Marin County Sheriff's Office deputy coroner stated Williams had hanged himself with a belt and died from asphyxiation. The final autopsy report, released in November 2014, affirmed that Williams had committed suicide as initially described; neither alcohol nor illegal drugs were involved, while all prescription drugs present in his body were at "therapeutic" levels. The report also noted that Williams had been suffering "a recent increase in paranoia". An examination of his brain tissue revealed the presence of "diffuse Lewy body dementia", which had been misdiagnosed as Parkinson's disease. Describing the disease as "the terrorist inside my husband's brain", his wife Susan Schneider stated that "however you look at it—the presence of Lewy bodies took his life."

On 13 April 1992, Pollock, a known heroin user, took his own life by throwing himself under a train at Newtown railway station, Sydney, prior to the release of Romper Stomper. Pollock was 23 years old. Pollock was buried next to his late grandfather William "Bill" Pollock in Gol Gol, New South Wales, Australia.

On January 18, 1982, Lehman died after he hanged himself on a chain link fence outside of Vena Avenue Elementary School in Pacoima, California.

Reeves died of a gunshot wound to the head in the upstairs bedroom at his home in Benedict Canyon between approximately 1:30 and 2:00 a.m. on June 16, 1959, according to the Los Angeles Police Department report. Reeves' death was officially ruled a suicide, based on witness statements, physical evidence at the scene, and the autopsy report. Reeves's mother thought the ruling premature and peremptory, and retained attorney Jerry Giesler to petition for a reinvestigated of the case as a possible murder. The findings of a second autopsy, conducted at Giesler's request, were the same as the first, except for a series of bruises of unknown origin about the head and body. A month later, having uncovered no evidence contradicting the official finding, Giesler announced that he was satisfied that the gunshot wound had been self-inflicted, and withdrew.

He died on March 16, 2010, in Valencia, California at the age of 45. The Los Angeles County Coroner determined Steinberg's death to be suicide by hanging.

On October 27, 1964, Tong was found dead in his Palms, Los Angeles apartment by his close friend, Ben Wong. Tong died of an apparent suicide by barbiturate overdose. Police found an empty bottle of sleeping pills by his body and several notes addressed to his landlady, his attorney and police. In the note addressed to police, he gave no reason why he committed suicide only stating, "I have taken my own life. No one is to blame."

On October 15, 1984, a week before his 48th birthday, Vinson committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot in Redondo Beach, California, apparently because of impending legal trouble.

Keith Wayne committed suicide on September 9, 1995, in Cary, North Carolina. His last paper was a work called How to Find Chiropractic Help, Bursitis and Tendinitis, Sternum Noises, Knee and Neck Care; plus the Notice of the Death of Dr. Hartman.

On January 17, 1983, Weaver died of two self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the chest. His death was ruled a suicide. Weaver's son later said that his father had been despondent over his failing health. His funeral was held on January 22 at Forest Lawn mortuary in the Hollywood Hills. He was buried in Avalon Cemetery in Santa Catalina Island, California.