Celebrity Suicides

Freddie Prinze, star of NBC’s hit “Chico And The Man,” (with co-star Jack Albertson) and stand up comic. Freddie committed suicide on Jan. 29, 1977, at the age of 22. Heavy Quaalude use was blamed for his depression. Superstud Freddie is the father of actor superdud Freddie Prinze, Jr.

Ray Combs, host of “Family Feud” from 1988-1994 and stand up comic. Combs show was considered a success and he got a lot of work on the stand-up circuit. When the show went off the air, Ray was involved in a horrific car crash, had a business dispute with a partner, separated from his wife and six kids, and had trouble getting more TV work. After one failed suicide attempt, Combs succeeded by hanging himself with bed sheets while staying at a psychiatric hospital in 1996.

Chris Benoit, wrestler for WWE. Chris killed himself June 24, 2007 after murdering his wife, Nancy, and 7-year-old son, Daniel. Heavy steroid use and brain damage was blamed for Benoit’s mental state.

Kurt Cobain, leader of Nirvana. Kurt killed himself with a shotgun blast on April 5, 1994. He was found three days later. He left behind rocker wife Courtney Love and their daughter Frances Bean.

Herve Villechaize, starred as Tattoo on the hit ABC series “Fantasy Island” (1978-83). He was known for the signature line “Da plane, da plane!” After being fired from the show (he asked for more money and the producers said no), the 3′11″ Villechaize started drinking and became depressed. At the age of 50, in 1993, he shot and killed himself in the backyard of his North Hollywood home.

Brian Keith, actor most famous for starring in the 1960s sitcom “Family Affair.” Keith suffered from emphysema and lung cancer, despite having quit smoking ten years earlier. Keith was found dead in his home of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on June 24, 1997, two months after his daughter Daisy had committed suicide.

Phyllis Hyman, an R&B singer. Hyman won a legion of fans with her deep, sexy voice and jazzy stylings in the late 70s. By the 80’s, in the musical “Sophisticated Ladies” on Broadway, which earned her a Tony nomination. She got into a contractual battle with Arista records in the mid 80s which put her career on a down turn. By the early 90s, she was dealing with alcohol abuse, weight gain, depression over the deaths of her mother and grandmother within one month of each other. In 1995, she took an overdose of sleeping pills.

Margaux Hemingway, a successful model and actress. The granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, the acclaimed writer, Margaux’s face graced just about every magazine known to man, but she was never comfortable with her celebrity. After failed marriages, and heavy drinking Margaux, like her grandfather before her (and three other Hemingways), decided to take her own life and in 1996, she overdosed on pills and was found dead in her studio apartment in Santa Monica. Margaux’s death and Ernest’s death occured on the same day, July 2.

Rob Pilatus, one half of the superstar music group Milli Vanilli. The duo was famous for the songs “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl You Know It’s True” and even won the Grammy for best new artists. But scandal hit when it was revealed the duo was lip synching to other artists. The Grammy was revoked and Pilatus never lived down the scandal. After major bouts of depression and a failed comeback, Pilatus became heavily involved in drugs and even served time for robbery. In 1998, a then 32-year-old Pilatus was found dead in a German hotel having overdosed on booze and pills.

David Strickland, an actor on the amiable sitcom “Suddenly Susan.” In 1999, he had a co-starring role in the Ben Affleck-Sandra Bullock movie “Forces of Nature.” When most of his movie role hit the cutting room floor, Strickland, who was bipolar, became despondent said friends. He went to Las Vegas shortly after the movie premiered, drank heavily, and hanged himself using hotel bed sheets. He was six months shy of turning 30.

Hugh O’Connor, actor and son of the late Carroll O’Connor. Hugh co-stared with his father on the show “In the Heat of the Night” and they shared a bond until Hugh’s out-of-control drug use drove a wedge into the relationship. A despondent Hugh shot and killed himself at the age of 33 in 1995, on his third wedding anniversary. His father crusaded against drugs and drug dealers almost until the day he died in 2001 at the age of 76.

Wendy O. Williams, punk rocker with a penchant for shocking her audience. While music and fronting the band the Plasmatics was important to the Grammy-nominated Williams, making a statement was also high on her list of priorities. She would think nothing of smashing expensive equipment, TV’s, cars, etc., on stage. Williams shot herself, near her house in woods she liked to stroll, one month shy of her 49th birthday. In part, her suicide note read: “I don’t believe that people should take their own lives without deep and thoughtful reflection over a considerable period of time.”

Source: CBS2.com