Sylvia Plath in happier days, with her two children.

Final Curtain: Six Celebrity Suicides

A few famous folks and how they left the stage.

By: David Merline

Web2Carz Senior Writer

Published: August 20th, 2012

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his week the famous director Tony Scott (Top Gun, The Hunger, Days of Thunder) killed himself by jumping off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in Los Angeles. Celebrity suicides are always big news, not just because suicides are always confusing and tragic, but because when famous people kill themselves it strikes us as doubly confusing. After all, how could anyone be successful and famous and not be happy?

Of course, there’s more to people than what gets written about in magazines and newspapers. But unless you’re Tony Scott (whose suicide was perhaps precipitated by a diagnosis of inoperable brain cancer) or Thich Quang Duc (the Buddhist monk who set himself on fire to protest the persecution of Buddhists by the South Vietnamese government), the motives behind suicides, whether public or private, usually remain elusive. But fair or not, celebrity suicides make news. Here are some of the more notorious final exits of famous people.

"Dying is an art, like everything else, I do it exceptionally well." —Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath
One of the more notorious suicides, the poet and novelist Sylvia Plath was plagued by depression and other mental health issues throughout her life. In 1963, shortly after she separated from her husband, Ted Hughes, she turned on her oven, and stuck her head in, letting the carbon monoxide slowly suffocate her while her children were asleep.

Del Shannon had a hit with "Runaway," and later ran away from life.

Del Shannon
The chart-topping rock and roll singer/songwriter Del Shannon had a massive career in the 1960s, but his star faded in the 1970s and he turned to drink. He was being treated for depression when in 1990 he shot himself with a .22-caliber rifle.

Diff'rent Strokes star Dana Plato.

Dana Plato
One of the stars of the 1970s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes, Dana Plato had a troubled life even before she hit it big in Hollywood. At age 14, she overdosed on Valium, and there were rumors of drug use throughout her time on the hit TV show. After Diff’rent Strokes went off the air, Plato had trouble finding work. Her drug problems worsened and she turned to armed robbery and eventually began appearing in soft-core porn films. Plato took her own life in 1999 by overdosing on the muscle relaxant Soma. As a tragic postscript to the actress’ sad life, her son Tyler killed himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 25.

Charles Rocket, the unfunny years.

Charles Rocket
One of the lesser-known Saturday Night Live castmembers, Charles Rocket appeared on the late-night comedy show in the dark years of 1980-1981, following the departure of the original cast and show creator Lorne Michaels (who later returned to the show). He found some success after SNL in films such as Earth Girls Are Easy and Dumb and Dumber. In 2005, Rocket offed himself in a particularly grisly way, by slitting his own throat.

Kurt Cobain thought it was better to burn out than fade away.

Kurt Cobain
Grunge superstar Kurt Cobain was unprepared for the massive success that followed the release of his band’s second album, Nevermind. Cobain became addicted to heroin, which he took in part to ease the pain from his chronic stomach condition. Despite rumors that he was murdered with or without the involvement of Courtney Love, it seems clear that Kurt killed himself with a shotgun on April 5, 1994, but his body was not discovered until three days later.

"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro."
—Hunter S. Thompson

Hunter S. Thompson
Thompson’s was perhaps one of the least surprising celebrity suicides. Not that the famous “gonzo” journalist was depressed, but he lived his life so far on the edge that it only made sense that his death would be violent and premeditated. According to Thompson’s children, the writer had been suffering chronic pain from several medical conditions, including a hip replacement, and this may have been a factor in his decision to kill himself with a gunshot wound to the head.

Thompson’s suicide note read, “No More Games. No More Bombs. No More Walking. No More Fun. No More Swimming. 67. That is 17 years past 50. 17 more than I needed or wanted. Boring. I am always bitchy. No Fun — for anybody. 67. You are getting Greedy. Act your (old) age. Relax — This won't hurt.”

Even after his fatal gunshot, Thompson was determined to go out with a bang. In accordance with his final wishes, Thompson’s cremated remains were shot out of a cannon to the tune of Norman Greenbaum’s “Sprit in the Sky.”

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