List of suicides: Difference between revisions
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*[[Kenneth Williams]] (1988), English actor, barbiturate overdose. Williams was taking medication for back pain and stomach trouble, which he referred to in the last sentence in his diary, concluding "oh — what's the bloody point?". His diary had often spoke of suicidal thoughts. The coroner recorded an [[open verdict]]. |
*[[Kenneth Williams]] (1988), English actor, barbiturate overdose. Williams was taking medication for back pain and stomach trouble, which he referred to in the last sentence in his diary, concluding "oh — what's the bloody point?". His diary had often spoke of suicidal thoughts. The coroner recorded an [[open verdict]]. |
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* 27 Aug 2009 ... "We regret demise of a Wipro employee, Vishal Yadav, in Bangalore, ... trouble that made him commit suicide. Wipro does not care anyway |
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* [An Employee 2009 December 2nd] Join WIPRO Tech |
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===Y=== |
===Y=== |
Revision as of 10:52, 2 December 2009
Suicide |
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The following are lists of notable people who intentionally terminated their own lives. Suicides committed under duress are included. Deaths by accident or misadventure are excluded. Individuals who might or might not have died by their own hand, or whose intention to die is in dispute, but who are widely believed to have deliberately killed themselves, may be listed under Possible suicides.
Suicides
A
- Johnny Ace (1954) singer, self-inflicted gunshot
- Chris Acland (1996), British drummer (Lush), hanging
- Manuel Acuña (1873), Mexican poet
- Hatazo Adachi (1947), Japanese general, seppuku.
- Robert Adams, Jr. (1906), congressman from Pennsylvania, shot himself after heavy losses in stock speculation
- Stuart Adamson (2001), Scottish guitarist and singer (Big Country, The Skids), self-strangulation after alcohol ingestion
- Ahn Jae-hwan (2008), South Korean actor, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Sergey Akhromeyev (1991), Marshal of the Soviet Union, hanging
- Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1927), Japanese writer (author of Rashomon), barbital overdose
- Clodius Albinus (197), Roman emperor, killed himself after a defeat in battle
- Ross Alexander (1937), American actor, gunshot
- Michael Alfonso, a.k.a. Mike Awesome (2007), American professional wrestler, hanging
- Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1899), member of the British Royal Family, shot himself
- Leandro Alem (1896), Argentine politician, founder of the Radical Civic Union, gunshot to the head
- Salvador Allende (1973), president of Chile (elected 1970); shot himself during a coup d'état by General Augusto Pinochet — some sources allege that he was killed. See also Death of Salvador Allende
- Jeff Alm (1993), American NFL player, gunshot
- Marwan Al-Shehhi (2001), United Arab Emirate Al Qaeda terrorist, 9/11 attacks
- Jason Altom (1998), American Ph.D. student, ingested potassium cyanide
- Jean Améry (1978), Austrian writer; overdose of sleeping pills
- Korechika Anami, War Minister (1945), seppuku
- Forrest Howard Anderson (1989), Governor of Montana, gunshot
- Fridolin Anderwert (1880), Swiss Federal Councilor
- Gwili Andre (1959), Danish actress, self-immolation
- Roger Angleton (1998), American murderer, cutting or hanging
- Mark Antony (30 BC), Roman politician and general, stabbed himself
- Marshall Applewhite (1997), American leader of the Heaven's Gate religious cult, overdose
- Hubert Aquin (1977), Canadian author, gunshot
- Diane Arbus (1971), American photographer, overdosed on pills and slashed wrists[1]
- Reinaldo Arenas (1990), Cuban-American artist and writer, drug and alcohol overdose
- José María Arguedas, (1969), Peruvian novelist and poet, gunshot
- Pedro Armendáriz, (1963), Mexican actor, gunshot
- Edwin Armstrong (1954), American inventor of FM radio, jumped from a 13th floor window
- John Atchison (2007), American federal prosecutor and alleged child sex offender
- Mohamed Atta (2001), Egyptian Al Qaeda terrorist, 9/11 Attacks
- George Ault (1948), American painter, drowning
- Pekka-Eric Auvinen (2007), Finnish Jokela High School shooter, self-inflicted gunshot to the head
- May Ayim (1996), German author, jumped from 13th floor of a Berlin building
- Albert Ayler (1970), American jazz saxophonist, jumped into New York City's East River
B
- Nikki Bacharach (2007), Daughter of Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson, suffocated using plastic bag and helium
- James Robert Baker (1997), American writer
- Albert Ballin (1918), German businessman, overdose of sleeping pills
- José Manuel Balmaceda (1891), President of Chile, gunshot
- Robert Hayward Barlow (1951), American writer and anthropologist, barbiturate overdose
- Isobel Barnett (1980), British TV personality, electrocution
- Don "Red" Barry (1980), American actor (Adventures of Red Ryder), gunshot
- Gert Bastian (1992), German military officer and politician, gunshot
- Dave Batters (2009), Canadian politician
- J. Clifford Baxter (2002), American Enron vice-chairman, gunshot
- Thomas McKee Bayne (1894), U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot
- Charles Eugène Bedaux (1944), French efficiency engineer charged with treason for collaboration with Vichy government
- Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1849), English poet and dramatist, poisoning
- Peter Bellamy (1991), English folk singer
- Juan Belmonte (1962), Spanish bullfighter and matador, gunshot
- Brenda Benet (1982), American actress, gunshot
- Ota Benga (1916), Congolese pygmy put on "display" in United States, gunshot
- Walter Benjamin (1940), German cultural theorist, overdose morphine pills
- Jill Bennett (1990), British film actress
- Chris Benoit (2007), professional wrestler, hanged himself after killing his wife and 7-year-old son; see also Chris Benoit double murder and suicide.
- Pierre Bérégovoy (1993), French Prime Minister, gunshot
- John Berg (2007), American actor, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Marty Bergen (1900), American Baseball player, slit his throat with razor after killing his wife and two children with an axe
- Hans Berger (1941), German physician and inventor of electroencephalography, hanging
- Mary Kay Bergman (1999), American voice actress, gunshot
- Ricky Berry (1989), American NBA player for the Sacramento Kings, gunshot
- John Berryman (1972), American poet, jumped from a bridge
- Bruno Bettelheim (1990), American psychoanalyst
- Jens Bjørneboe (1976), Norwegian author, hanging
- Jeremy Blake (2007), American video artist, drowning
- Clara Blandick (1962), actress, best known as Auntie Em from The Wizard of Oz, sleeping pill overdose and suffocation
- Kenny Blatchford (1933), Canadian politician, drowning
- Barbara Blida (2007), Polish politician, gunshot
- Clara Bloodgood (1907), American Broadway actress, committed suicide by gunshot in her Baltimore hotel room despondent over a Clyde Fitch play The Truth which starred Bloodgood but which Fitch dedicated to actress Marie Tempest[2]
- Isabella Blow (2007), British fashion writer and stylist, poisoning
- Ludwig Boltzmann (1906), Austrian physicist, hanging
- Jeremy Michael Boorda (1996), Chief of Naval Operations, US Navy
- Tadeusz Borowski (1951), Polish writer and concentration camp survivor, asphyxiation
- Georges Boulanger (1891), French politician and general, gunshot
- Patrick Bourque (2007), Canadian bass guitarist (Emerson Drive)
- Tommy Boyce (1994), with Bobby Hart, songwriter for The Monkees, gunshot
- Karin Boye (1941), Swedish poet, sleeping pill overdose
- Charles Boyer (1978), French-born American actor, Seconal overdose
- Camilo Castelo Branco (1890), Portuguese writer, gunshot
- Jonathan Brandis (2003), American actor, hanging
- Cheyenne Brando (1995), daughter of Marlon Brando, hanging
- Mike Brant (1974), Israeli pop singer, jumped from a window.
- Eva Braun (1945), German mistress and then wife of Adolf Hitler, cyanide
- Richard Brautigan (1984), American writer, gunshot
- Herman Brood (2001), Dutch musician and painter, jumped from roof
- Barry Brown (1978), American actor and writer, gunshot
- Oskar Brüsewitz (1976), East German cleric, committed self-immolation in protest of East Germany's persecution of Protestants
- Brutus (42 BC), Roman politician, assassin of Julius Caesar, fell on sword after failing to find a volunteer to kill him
- Eustace Budgell (1737), English writer and politician, threw himself from a boat
- Bernard Buffet (1999), French painter ('The Crucifixion'), suffocation
- Rembrandt Bugatti (1916), Italian sculptor, natural gas
- Dan Burros (1965), American Jewish Neo-Nazi, gunshot
C
- Andres Caicedo (1977), Colombian novelist, drug overdose
- José Luis Calva (2007), Mexican writer, cannibal and serial killer, hanging
- Donald Cammell (1996), Scottish film director, gunshot
- Capucine (1990), French actress, jumped out of window
- Arthur Edmund Carewe (1937), American actor, gunshot
- Wallace Hume Carothers (1937), world renowned chemist, cyanide
- Don Carpenter (1995), American novelist, gunshot
- Dora Carrington (1932), artist, gunshot
- Kevin Carter (1994), award-winning South African photographer and member of the Bang-Bang Club, carbon monoxide
- Tim Carter (2008), British footballer, hanging
- Hugh Casey (1951), American baseball player, gunshot
- Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1968), French writer
- Gaius Cassius Longinus (42 BC), Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar, ordered his freedman to slay him
- Cato the Younger (46 BC), Roman republican statesman, stabbed himself with his own sword
- Ugo Cavallero (1943), Italian Field Marshal, gunshot
- Paul Celan (1970), Romanian poet, drowning
- Ana Cristina César (1983), Brazilian poet, jumped out window from parents' apartment
- Valerie Chacon (1982), wife of Bobby Chacon, gunshot
- Pauline Chan (2002), Hong Kong actress, jumped off building
- Richard Chanfray (1983) French public figure, overdose and carbon monoxide poisoning
- Iris Chang (2004), American author, gunshot
- Kathy Change (1996), American performance artist and political activist, self-immolation
- Claude Chappe (1805), French inventor, threw himself down a well
- Thomas Chatterton (1770), British poet, arsenic
- Leslie Cheung (2003), Hong Kong movie star and singer, jumped off building
- Vere Gordon Childe (1957), Australian archaeologist and historian, jumped off Govett's Leap in the Blue Mountains
- Brett Chidester (2003), American teenager, asphyxiation, led to Delaware's "Brett’s law"
- Isamu Chō, Japanese Army officer during the Battle of Okinawa, committed seppuku rather than surrender
- Seung-Hui Cho (2007), shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre; turned his gun on himself after killing 32 people
- Choi Jin-sil (2008), South Korean actress, hanging
- Chongzhen Emperor of China (1644), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered his household to commit suicide, then hanged himself
- Edwin Pearce Christy, (1862), American entertainer, founder of the Christy Minstrels, threw himself from window
- Christine Chubbuck (1974), American television journalist, shot herself in the head on live TV after reading the news
- Chung Mong-hun (2003), Korean businessman, chairman of Hyundai Asan, jumped out of building
- Diana Churchill (1963), British social worker, eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, barbiturate overdose
- Jeremiah Clarke (1707), British composer of Prince of Denmark's March (Trumpet Voluntary), shot himself
- Alasdair Clayre (1985), British academic, writer, broadcaster and singer, jumped in front of train
- Paul Clayton (1967), American folk singer, took electric heater into bath
- Charles Clegg (1979), American author, photographer and railroad enthusiast
- Cleopatra (30 BC), Queen of Egypt, poison
- Charmian Clift (1969), Australian writer, wife of George Johnston, barbiturate overdose
- Robert Clive (1774), British conqueror of India and founder of the Empire, cut throat with pen-knife
- Kurt Cobain (1994), American singer of Nirvana, shotgun (see also Death of Kurt Cobain)
- Bob Collins (2007), Australian politician, overdose
- Sid Collins (1977), American radio voice of the Indianapolis 500, hanged himself after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Ray Combs (1996), American TV personality (Family Feud), hanging
- Tarka Cordell (2008), British musician, hanging
- Hart Crane (1932), American poet; jumped from a boat
- Darby Crash (1980), American songwriter, singer of the Germs, intentional heroin overdose
- René Crevel (1935), French writer, gassed himself
- Richard Croft (1818), British obstetrician, shot himself
- Dennis Crosby (1991), American actor, son of Bing Crosby, gunshot
- Harry Crosby (1929), American writer, publisher
- Lindsay Crosby (1989), American actor, son of Bing Crosby, gunshot
- Géza Csáth (1919), Hungarian writer, poison
- Andrew Cunanan (1997), American killer of Gianni Versace and four others, gunshot
- Lester Cuneo (1925), American silent film actor, married to screen star Francelia Billington, gunshot
- Will Cuppy (1949), American writer, humorist, sleeping pill overdose
- Ian Curtis (1980), British singer and songwriter (Joy Division), hanging
- Adam Czerniakow (1943), Polish-Jewish head of the Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat, poisoned himself rather than hand over children for gassing.
D
- Stig Dagerman (1954), Swedish author
- Dalida (1987), French singer, barbiturate overdose
- Karl Dane (1934), Danish silent film actor, gunshot
- Monika Dannemann (1996), girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix, carbon monoxide
- Bella Darvi (1971), actress, natural gas
- Edward Davidson (2008), American spammer and convicted criminal, gunshot
- Cliff Davies (2008), British-American drummer, gunshot
- Osamu Dazai (1948), Japanese novelist, drowning
- Guy Debord (1994), French philosopher, member of Situationist International, gunshot
- Decebalus (106), Dacian king, cut his throat to avoid being exhibited as a Roman prisoner
- Jeanine Deckers (1985), Belgian religious, known as The Singing Nun, barbiturate and alcohol overdose
- Delphine Delamare (1848), French woman, the basis for Flaubert's Madame Bovary, cyanide
- Gilles Deleuze (1995), French philosopher, jumped from apartment window
- Brad Delp (2007), American singer (Boston), asphyxiation by carbon monoxide
- Penelope Delta (1941), Greek author, ingested poison the same day the Germans invaded Athens
- Denice Denton (2006), American University of California Chancellor, jumped from 42-story San Francisco apartment building
- Angela Devi (2006), American adult model, suicide by asphyxiation
- Patrick Dewaere (1982), French actor, gunshot
- Di Xin (1046 BC), the last king of the Shang Dynasty of China, set fire to his palace while inside it
- Deborah Digges (2009), teacher and author
- Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (2001), young King of Nepal, shot himself after assassinating his father, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family.
- Thomas Disch (2008), American poet and science fiction novelist, shooting
- Hugo Distler (1942), German composer, gas
- Desmond Donnelly (1974), British politician and journalist, barbiturate and alcohol overdose
- Terence Donovan (1996), English celebrity photographer, hanging
- Patric Doonan (1958), British actor
- Michael Dorris (1997), American writer, drug overdose and suffocation
- Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (1983), former president of Cuba, gunshot
- Chris Doty (2006), Canadian filmmaker and playwright, hanging
- Jon Dough (2006), American adult film actor, reportedly by hanging
- Charmaine Dragun (2007), Australian newsreader, jumped from a cliff
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1945), French novelist
- Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb (2004), American heart surgeon, oxycodone overdose
- Micke Dubois (2005), Swedish comedian, hanging
- Thich Quang Duc (1963), Vietnamese Buddhist monk, self-immolation
- Pete Duel (1971), American actor, gunshot
- K. Sello Duiker (2005), South African author, hanging
- Davor Dujmović (1999), Yugoslavian-Roma actor, hanging
- R. Budd Dwyer (1987), American politician, shot himself on live television
E
- John East (1986), US senator from North Carolina, carbon monoxide poisoning
- George Eastman (1932), inventor of the Eastman Kodak Camera, gunshot
- Merritt A. Edson (1955), American Medal of Honor recipient for actions at Guadalcanal, gas
- Richard Egan (2009), American businessman and ambassador to Ireland, shotgun
- Paul Ehrenfest (1933), Austrian physicist, made major contributions to quantum mechanics, gunshot
- Jim Ellison (1996), American lead singer and guitarist of Material Issue, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Robert Enke (2009), German football player, jumped in front of train
- Peg Entwistle (1932), Welsh-born actress, jumped from the "Hollywood" sign
- Tom Evans (1983), British musician and member of Badfinger, hanging
- Landis Everson (2007), American poet, gunshot
F
- Audrey Fagan (2007), Australian Federal Police assistant commissioner, hanging
- Angus Fairhurst (2008), British artist, hanging
- Richard Farnsworth (2000), American actor, gunshot
- Justin Fashanu (1998), British footballer, hanging
- René Favaloro (2000), Argentinian doctor, creator of coronary artery bypass surgery, gunshot
- Paul Federn (1950), Austrian-American psychoanalyst
- Jeff Fehring (2008), Australian footballer
- Andrea Feldman (1972), American actress and Warhol superstar, jumped out of building
- Hans Fischer (1945), German Nobel Prize winning chemist
- George Fiske (1918), American photographer, shot himself
- Robert FitzRoy (1865), Governor-General of New Zealand, Royal Navy officer, Nephew of the Viscount Castlereagh, razor
- Ed Flanders (1995), American actor (St. Elsewhere), gunshot
- Frederick Fleet (1965), British Titanic lookout who first spotted the iceberg, hanging
- John Gould Fletcher (1950), American Pulitzer Prize winning poet, drowning
- Bernard Floud (1967), UK Member of Parliament, gas and barbiturates
- James V. Forrestal (1949), former U.S. Secretary of Defense, fall from window, possible homicide
- Dédé Fortin (2000), Canadian leader and singer of Québec band Les Colocs, stabbed himself
- Seán Fortune (1999), Irish Roman Catholic priest charged with molesting children, overdose
- Vincent Foster (1993), American Deputy White House Counsel, gunshot
- Wade Frankum (1991), American spree shooter of Strathfield Massacre, gunshot
- Nora May French (1907), American poet, poison(swallowing cyanide)
- Sigmund Freud (1939), Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, morphine overdose
- John Friedrich (1991), Australian businessman and fraud, gunshot
- Misao Fujimura (1903), Japanese high school student, drowning
- Anton Furst (1991), British production designer, jumped from the eighth floor of a parking structure
G
- Philip Gale (1998), American software developer, jumped out of window
- Hughie Gallacher (1957), Scottish footballer, threw himself in front of a train
- Ted Gärdestad (1997), Swedish pop musician, jumped in front of train
- Dave Garroway (1982), American television host, gunshot
- Romain Gary (1980), Russian-French novelist, film director and diplomat, gunshot
- Danny Gatton (1994), American guitarist, gunshot
- Michel Gauquelin (1991), French psychologist and astrology researcher
- Martha Gellhorn (1998), American author and war correspondent, poison
- Kostas Georgakis (1970), Greek student, self-immolation as a protest to the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
- Peter George (1966), British author (Red Alert)
- Mark Gertler (1939), British artist
- Henri Giffard (1882), French aeronautical engineer
- Michael Gilden (2006), American actor, hanging
- Kimveer Gill (2006), Canadian Dawson College shooter, shot himself after being wounded by police
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1935), American feminist and author (Herland & The Yellow Wallpaper), inhaled chloroform
- Kurt Gödel (1978), German logician and mathematician, intentional self-starvation
- Joseph Goebbels (1945), German Nazi leader, gunshot
- Tooker Gomberg (2004), Canadian politician and activist, jumped from Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
- Hermann Göring (1946), German Nazi leader, cyanide poisoning hours before he was due to be hanged
- Julen Goikoetxea (2006), Spanish cyclist, jumped off balcony
- Fritha Goodey (2004), British actress, stabbed self in chest
- Gordian I (238), Roman emperor, hanged himself with his belt
- Adam Lindsay Gordon (1870), Australian poet, gunshot
- Lucy Gordon (2009), British actress, hanging
- Arshile Gorky (1948), Armenian painter, hanging
- André Gorz (2007), Austrian-French social philosopher, lethal injection
- Anders Göthberg (2008), Swedish guitarist, jumped from Västerbron, Stockholm
- Eddie Graham (1985), American professional wrestler, gunshot
- Shauna Grant (1984), American adult film actress, gunshot
- Spalding Gray (2004), American playwright, drowned in Atlantic after jumping off Staten Island Ferry
- Richard Green (1983), American boxing referee
- Peter Gregg (1980), American race car driver, gunshot
- Nora Gregor (1949), Austrian actress
- Robert von Greim (1945), German Luftwaffe air marshal, cyanide
- Kevin Grubb (2009), American NASCAR driver, gunshot
- Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (1770), French violinist and composer, stabbed himself
- Antonio Guzmán Fernández (1982), serving president of the Dominican Republic, gunshot
H
- Clara Immerwahr Haber (1915) German chemical engineer and wife of Dr. Fritz Haber, gunshot
- Jerry Hadley (2007), American operatic tenor, gunshot
- Ryan Halligan (2003), American teen cyber-bullying victim, hanging
- Kenneth Halliwell (1967), British writer, lover and murderer of Joe Orton, sleeping pill overdose
- Mitch Halpern (2000), American boxing referee, gunshot
- Pete Ham (1975), Welsh musician and member of Badfinger, hanging
- Rusty Hamer (1990), American former child actor (The Danny Thomas Show), gunshot
- Lois Hamilton (1999), American actress, model, author, aviatrix, sleeping pill overdose and suffocation
- Thomas Hamilton (1996), killed 16 five-year-olds and their teacher in the Dunblane massacre, gunshot
- Tony Hancock (1968), British comedian, overdose of vodka and barbiturates
- Hani Hanjour (2001), Saudi Al Qaeda terrorist, 9/11 attacks
- St. John Hankin (1909), British poet, drowning
- Edward A. Hannegan (1859), U.S. Congressman from Indiana, morphine overdose
- Hannibal (182 BC), Carthaginian military commander, poison
- Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1922), British politician, killed himself after public exposure as a pedophile
- James Harden-Hickey (1898), U.S. eccentric and author of a book on the appeal of suicide, morphine overdose
- Mary Hardy (1985), Australian TV personality (found dead in the bath and was presumed to have committed suicide)
- Eric Harris (1999), American shooter in the Columbine High School massacre, gunshot
- Tony Harris (2007), American FIBA basketball player, apparent hanging
- Michael D. Harter (1896), U.S. Congressman from Ohio
- Brynn Hartman (1998), American wife and murderer of actor Phil Hartman, gunshot
- Elizabeth Hartman (1987), American actress, jumped from window
- Arihiro Hase (1996), Japanese voice actor, jumped from window
- Imogen Hassall (1980), British actress, overdose
- Donny Hathaway (1979), American soul musician, jumped from window
- Felix Hausdorff (1942), German mathematician, committed suicide with his wife and sister-in-law in a concentration camp
- Phyllis Haver (1960), American actress of the silent film era, barbiturate overdose
- Brandi Hawbaker (2008), American poker player
- Benjamin Haydon (1846), British painter
- Jeanne Hébuterne (1920), painter, partner of artist Amedeo Modigliani, jumped out of window
- Sadegh Hedayat (1951), Iranian writer, gas poisoning
- John Heddle (1989), British politician
- Marvin Heemeyer (2004), American vigilante, gunshot
- Ernest Hemingway (1961), American novelist, gunshot
- Leicester Hemingway (1982) American novelist and younger brother of Ernest Hemingway, gunshot
- Margaux Hemingway (1996), American model and actress, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, phenobarbital overdose
- Benjamin Hendrickson (2006), American actor (As The World Turns), gunshot
- Konrad Henlein (1945), Czechoslovakian Nazi official, slashed wrists
- George Hennard (1991), American spree-killer (Luby's Massacre), gunshot
- James Leo Herlihy (1993), American novelist (Midnight Cowboy), sleeping pill overdose
- Willard Hershberger (1940), American baseball player (Cincinnati Reds), slashed wrists
- Paul Hester (2005), Australian musician, drummer for Split Enz and Crowded House, self-strangulation
- George W. Hill (1934), American film director
- Heinrich Himmler (1945), German SS leader, cyanide
- Joel Henry Hinrichs III (2005), American who detonated suicide bomb at the University of Oklahoma
- Adolf Hitler (1945), leader of Nazi Germany, gunshot/cyanide
- Abbie Hoffman (1989), social and political activist in the United States, overdose of Phenobarbital
- Don Hollenbeck (1954), CBS news anchor, inhalation of natural gas
- Doug Hopkins (1993), American musician and founding member of rock group Gin Blossoms, gunshot
- Harry Horse (2007), British author, illustrator and cartoonist, stabbing
- Elmyr de Hory (1976), Hungarian art forger, sleeping pill overdose
- Soad Hosny (2001) Egyptian actress, jumped from balcony
- Robert E. Howard (1936), American creator of pulp heroes Soloman Kane, King Kull, and Conan the Barbarian, gunshot
- Ivan Hribar (1941), Yugoslav politician, drowned himself in a river
- Willis Nathaniel Huggins (1941), American historian and activist, drowned in Hudson river
- Danton Hughes (2001), Australian sculptor, son of Time Magazine art critic Robert Hughes, gas
- Nicholas Hughes (2009), American marine biologist, son of Sylvia Plath, hanging
- Phyllis Hyman (1995), American singer, overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills
- Robin Hyde (1939), New Zealand writer and poet, benzedrin poisoning
I
- Youssef Idilbi (2008), Dutch actor, jumped from the roof of a building
- William Inge (1973), American playwright (Picnic, Come Back, Little Sheba, Bus Stop, Splendor in the Grass), carbon monoxide
- Juzo Itami (1997), Japanese actor and film director, jumped off building
- Bruce Edwards Ivins (2008), American microbiologist suspected of the 2001 anthrax attacks, Tylenol overdose
J
- Charles R. Jackson (1968), American author
- Ziad Jarrah (2001), Lebanese Al Qaeda terrorist, 9/11 attacks
- Jang Ja-yeon (2009), South Korean actress, hanging
- Vittorio Jano (1965), Hungarian automobile design engineer
- Alice de Janzé (1941), American heiress, gunshot
- Richard Jeni (2007), American comedian, gunshot
- Clayne Jeffs, nephew of Warren Jeffs, committed suicide with a firearm after admitting that Warren Jeffs had sexually assaulted him as a child.[3]
- Johnny "J" (2008), American record producer, jumped from ledge
- Anson Jones (1858), doctor, businessman, congressman, and the last president of the Republic of Texas, gunshot
- Jim Jones (1978), American leader of the Peoples Temple cult, died along with 914 of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at Jonestown in northwestern Guyana, gunshot
- Alex Jordan (1995), American adult film actress, hanging
- Timothy Jordan II (2005), The All-American Rejects' touring keyboardist
- Nafisa Joseph (2004), Femina India Universe 1997, Miss Universe 1997 semi-finalist and MTV VJ, hanging
- Luc Jouret (1994), Belgian cult leader
- Attila József (1937), Hungarian poet, jumped in front of train
- Jung Da Bin (2007), South Korean Actress, hanging
- Claude Jutra (1986), Canadian film actor, writer, and director, drowning
K
- Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (1918), Russian Cossack leader during the Russian Civil War
- Jörg Kalt (2007), Austrian film director and cinematographer
- Sarah Kane (1999), British playwright, hanging
- Kostas Karyotakis (1928), Greek poet, gunshot
- Romas Kalanta (1972), Lithuanian, self-immolation after speaking out against Soviet government
- Kazuhiko Kato (2009), Japanese musician and composer
- Yasunari Kawabata (1972), Japanese writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, gas
- Andrew Kehoe (1927), American mass murderer of the Bath School Disaster, bomb detonation
- Brian Keith (1997), American actor ("Family Affair", "Hardcastle & McCormick"), gunshot
- Dr. David Kelly (2003), British scientist, source of BBC story about the September Dossier, overdose and slashed wrist
- Samuel Austin Kendall (1933), American congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot
- Kim Ji-hoo (2008), South Korean actor and model, hanging
- Kim Daul (2009), Korean model, hanged
- Kim Kwang Suk (1996), South Korean Singer
- Preston King (1865), American Senator from New York, leapt from ferryboat in New York Harbor
- James Arthur Kjelgaard (1959), American outdoorsman and author of young adult literature
- Heinrich von Kleist (1811), German dramatist and poet, gunshot
- Jochen Klepper (1942), German writer, poet and journalist, gas
- Dylan Klebold (1999), American shooter in the Columbine High School Massacre, gunshot
- Günther von Kluge (1944), German Field Marshal, cyanide
- Ivan Korade (2008), Croatian general and murder suspect, gunshot
- Fletcher Knebel (1993), American novelist (Seven Days in May), sleeping pill overdose
- William F. Knowland (1974), American former Senate Majority Leader, gunshot
- Arthur Koestler (1983), Hungarian journalist, novelist, political activist and social philosopher, overdose
- Sarah Kofman (1994), French philosopher
- Hannelore Kohl (2001), wife of German ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl, sleeping pill overdose
- Takako Konishi (2001), Japanese office worker whose death was mistakenly reported to involve the movie Fargo, overdose
- Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1945), Japanese war criminal, cyanide
- Alexandros Korizis (1941), Greek prime minister, gunshot
- Jerzy Kosinski (1991), Polish-American author, barbiturate overdose and suffocation
- Philip Taylor Kramer (1995), American rock musician (Iron Butterfly) and physicist
- Louis Krages (2001), German race car driver and businessman (raced under the name of "John Winter"), gunshot
- Ivar Kreuger (1932) Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist, "The Match King", gunshot
- Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (1945), Nazi official during WWII, gunshot
- Friedrich Alfred Krupp (1902), German industrialist, committed suicide when his homosexuality was revealed.
L
- Paul Lafargue (1911), French son-in-law of Karl Marx, communist theorist and author of The Right to Be Lazy
- Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (1953), American senator from Wisconsin, gunshot
- Karen Lancaume (2005), French adult film star; overdose on sleeping pills
- Carole Landis (1948), American actress; overdose of seconal
- James H. Lane (1866), senator from Kansas, general in Civil War, gunshot
- Hans Langsdorff (1939), German naval officer; captain of the Admiral Graf Spee, gunshot
- Napoleon Lapathiotis (1944), Greek writer, gunshot
- Rod Lauren (2007), American actor and singer, jumped from balcony
- Florence Lawrence (1938), American film actress, poisoned herself with ant paste
- George P. Lawrence (1917), American representative from Massachusetts, jumped out of building to death due to stress caused by World War I
- Adam Ledwoń (2008), Polish footballer, hanging
- Lee Eun-ju (2005), Korean actress, hanging
- Jon Lee (2002), British drummer of the band Feeder, hanging
- Lee Kyung Hae (2003) South Korean farmer and activist, stabbed himself at a protest
- Trent Lehman (1982), American former child actor (Nanny and the Professor), hanging
- Megan Leigh (1990), American erotic dancer and porn star, gunshot
- Norman van Lennep (1897), Dutch chess master, drowning in the North Sea
- Marc Lépine (1989), Canada's most prolific spree killer; gunshot
- Primo Levi (1987), Italian author and Auschwitz survivor, jumped out of a building
- Mark Levy (2009), American attorney and former Clinton administration official, gunshot
- Meriwether Lewis (1809), U.S. explorer with William Clark, gunshot. There is some debate as to whether his death was a suicide.[4]
- Robert Ley (1945), German Nazi war criminal, hanging
- Friedrich Leibacher (2001), Swiss spree killer of 14 in Zug massacre, gunshot
- Max Linder, (1925), French actor, double-suicide pact with wife, poison
- Vachel Lindsay (1931), American poet, drank a bottle of Lysol
- Louis Lingg (1887), German anarchist scheduled to be hanged for his alleged role in the Haymarket Square riot bomb, committed suicide by holding a lit stick of dynamite in his mouth
- Friedrich List (1846), German economist
- Jesse Lauriston Livermore (1940), American stock trader, gunshot
- Mikael Ljungberg (2004), Swedish wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
- Peter Llewelyn-Davies (1960), British publisher who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, threw himself in front of a train
- Ross Lockridge, Jr. (1948), American novelist, author of Raintree County, asphyxiation via car fumes
- Philip Loeb (1955), American blacklisted actor, barbiturate overdose
- Mark Lombardi (2000), American artist whose art described international white-collar crime networks, hanging
- Terry Long (2005), American former NFL player, ingested antifreeze
- Hans Loritz (1946), German concentration camp commandant at various times — Esterwegen, Dachau, Sachsenhausen
- Noah Lottick (1990), American Scientologist, profiled in TIME article The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
- Gang Lu (1991), physics graduate student and mass murderer at the University of Iowa, gunshot
- Gherasim Luca (1994), Romanian surrealist, jumped into the Seine
- Lucan (65), Roman poet, fatally cut himself
- Ron Luciano (1995), American baseball umpire, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1918), Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist, gunshot
- Roman Lyashenko (2003), Russian professional hockey player, hanging
M
- Billy Mackenzie (1997), British singer (the Associates), overdose
- Richard Manuel, (1986), Canadian singer (The Band), multi-instrumentalist, hanging
- Simone Mareuil, (1954), French film actress, self-immolation
- Andrew Martinez (2006), American nude activist, suffocation by plastic bag
- Magnentius (353), Roman usurper, fell on his sword
- Anton Maiden (2003), Swedish singer
- Willy Mairesse (1969), Belgian race car driver
- Sándor Márai (1989), Hungarian writer and journalist, gunshot
- Harry Martinson (1978), Swedish author, by scissors
- Toshikatsu Matsuoka (2007), Japanese politician, hanging
- Denis Matthews (1988), British pianist
- Maximian (310), Roman emperor, hanged himself after a failed plot
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1930), Russian poet; his suicide note said "I don't recommend it for others," gunshot
- Jacques Mayol (2001), French free-diver, hanging
- Susannah McCorkle (2001), jazz singer, jumped from balcony
- Kid McCoy (real name: Norman Shelby), (1940), American world champion boxer, overdose
- Chris McKinstry (2006), Canadian researcher in Artificial Intelligence, gas
- Robert M. McLane (1904), American mayor of Baltimore, gunshot[5]
- Gordon McMaster (1997), British politician, asphyxia by automobile exhaust
- Charles B. McVay III (1968), American naval Rear Admiral, gunshot
- Matthew Mechtel (2008), American politician and agricultural promoter, gunshot
- Joe Meek (1967), British record producer, gunshot
- Abdullah Mehsud (2007), Pakistani Taliban commander, hand grenade
- Niklaus Meienberg (1993), Swiss writer and investigative journalist, suffocation by garbage bag
- Megan Meier (2006), American teenager whose suicide over apparent "cyber-bullying" sparked media controversy, hanging
- Kitty Melrose (1912), English actress
- Adolf Merckle (2009), German businessman, jumped in front of a train
- Charlotte Mew (1928), English poet, drank Lysol
- Noel Mewton-Wood (1953), Australian pianist; drank prussic acid
- James Miller (2003), known as the Fan Man, parachutist, hanging
- Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1996), American science-fiction writer, gunshot
- Mary Millington (1979), British adult film actress, overdose
- Freddie Mills (1965), British world champion boxer, gunshot
- William Oswald Mills (1973), American congressman from Maryland, gunshot
- John Milton (1865), Governor of Florida, gunshot
- Minamoto no Yorimasa (1180), Japanese poet, seppuku
- Yukio Mishima (1970), Japanese novelist, public ritual seppuku
- Kazuyoshi Miura (2008), Japanese businessman and suspected murderer, hanging
- Ana Mladić (1994), daughter of Serbian General Ratko Mladić, indicted for war crimes, gunshot
- Vilhelm Moberg (1973), Swedish author and historian, drowned
- Walther Model (1945), German Field Marshal, gunshot
- Arthur Moeller van den Bruck (1925), German cultural historian
- George de Mohrenschildt (1977), Russian-born American geologist, gunshot wound to the mouth
- Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (2001), South African jazz pianist, hanging
- Csilla Molnár (1986), Miss Hungary 1985, overdose
- Henry de Montherlant (1972), French writer, cyanide pill and gunshot to the head
- Donnie Moore (1989), American relief pitcher for the California Angels, gunshot
- Chris Morgan (2008), British journalist, threw himself in front of a train
- Duane R. Morrison (2006), American Platte Canyon High School shooting
- Ted Moult (1986), British television personality, gunshot
- Al Mulock (1968), Canadian actor, committed suicide on the set of his last film Once Upon a Time in the West, jumped from window
- David Munrow (1976), British music specialist, founder of the Early Music Consort, hanging
- Matthew J. Murray (2007), American spree killer (2007 Colorado YWAM and New Life shootings), self-inflicted gunshot after being shot by a security guard
- Saulius Mykolaitis (2006), Lithuanian actor, artistic director and composer, hanging
N
- Hisayasu Nagata (2009), Japanese politician, jumped from a building
- Murat Nasyrov (2007), Russian-Kazakh singer, jumped from balcony
- Scott Nearing (1983), American peace activist and practical conservationist; by self-starvation at nearly 100 years of age
- Oskar Nedbal (1930), Czech composer (The Tale of the Simply Johnny); jumped out a window on Christmas Eve
- Nekojiru (1998), aka Hashiguchi Chiyomi, Japanese mangaka
- Nero (68), emperor of Rome, stabbed himself while being pursued by Roman soldiers
- Gérard de Nerval (1855), French writer, hanging
- Ni Min-jan (2005), Taiwanese actor and comedian, hanged.
- Frank Nitti (1943), United States gangster, gunshot
- Maresuke Nogi (1912), Japanese hero of Russo-Japanese war, committed seppuku with his wife following death of Meiji emperor
- Jon Nödtveidt (2006), frontman of Swedish black metal band Dissection, gunshot
- Alighiero Noschese (1979), Italian impersonator, shot himself.
O
- Lawrence Oates (1912), Antarctic explorer; he said "I am just going outside and may be some time" when he walked out of the tent to his death in the blizzard, leaving behind Robert Falcon Scott and the others
- John O'Brien (1994), American author of Leaving Las Vegas (on which the film was based), gunshot
- C. Y. O'Connor (1902), Irish engineer, gunshot
- Hugh O'Connor (1995), American actor, gunshot
- Luis Ocaña (1994), Spanish cyclist, Tour de France winner, gunshot
- Phil Ochs (1976), American singer, hanged himself in sister's apartment, Far Rockaway, New York
- Per Yngve Ohlin (a.k.a. Dead), (1991), Norwegian vocalist for the band Mayhem, killed himself with a shotgun after having slashed his wrist and cut his throat
- Yukiko Okada (1986), Japanese idol of the 1980s, jumped from a seven story building after failed wrist slashing and gas inhalation attempts
- Lembit Oll (1999), Estonian chess Grandmaster, jumped out of window
- Otho (69), Roman emperor, stabbed himself with a dagger
P
- Wayne Pai (2008), Taiwanese businessman
- Jan Palach (1969), Czech student protesting the Soviet crushing of the Prague Spring, self-immolation
- Deborah Jeane Palfrey (2008), American escort agency proprietor, hanging
- Breece D'J Pancake (1979), American short story author, gunshot
- Billy Papke (1936), American world champion boxer, gunshot
- Violeta Parra (1967), Chilean folk singer, gunshot
- Phasael (40 BC), prince from the Herodian Dynasty, head injury
- Jules Pascin (1930), French-American painter, slit wrists and hanged himself
- John Patrick (1995), American playwright and screenwriter, suffocation after placing a plastic bag over his head
- Pat “Gravy” Patterson (2007), American college baseball coach, gunshot
- Cesare Pavese (1950), Italian poet and novelist, barbiturate overdose
- Alphonse Pénaud (1880), French aviation pioneer
- George Periolat (1940), American actor, drank arsenic
- Petronius (66), Roman satirist; slit his wrists
- William Phillips (2007), American gunman (Johnson Space Center shooting), gunshot
- Justin Pierce (2000), British actor, hanging
- Richard Piggott (1890), British author of the Piggott Forgeries, gunshot
- H. Beam Piper (1964), American science fiction writer, gunshot
- Alejandra Pizarnik (1972), Argentine poet, seconal overdose
- Sylvia Plath (1963), American poet, author and essayist; gassed in kitchen oven
- Dana Plato (1999), American former child actress (Diff'rent Strokes), drug and alcohol overdose
- Derrick Plourde (2005), American musician, drummer of the Ataris, Lagwagon, Bad Astronaut, RKL and Mad Caddies, gunshot
- Stevie Plunder (1995), Australian guitarist of The Whitlams, jumped from Wentworth Falls
- Ben Pollack (1971), American drummer and big-band leader from the mid '20s to the Swing era, hanging
- Jan Potocki (1815), Polish aristocrat, traveler, writer; shot himself with a silver bullet
- Marc Potvin (2006), Canadian hockey coach, hanging
- Nicos Poulantzas (1979), Greco-French Marxist political sociologist
- Felix Powell (1942), British song writer best known for Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile, once described as "the most optimistic song ever written", gunshot
- Sarah Goddard Power (1987), American Democratic Party activist and University of Michigan Regent, jumped from Burton Tower
- Lucien Anatole Prevost-Paradol (1870), French journalist and diplomat, gunshot
- Mark Priestley (2008), Australian actor (All Saints), jumped from the roof of a hotel in Sydney
- Carlos Prío Socarrás (1977), former president of Cuba, gunshot
- Nathan Pritikin (1985), American nutrition and longetivity pioneer, slit wrists
- Boris Pugo (1991), Latvian serving minister of the Interior of the USSR; self-inflicted gunshot
- Jack Purvis (1962), American jazz trumpeter
Q
- Antero de Quental (1891), Portuguese poet, gunshot
- Richard Quine (1989), American film director, gunshot
- Robert Quine (2004), American guitarist (Richard Hell & the Voidoids), overdose
- Qu Yuan (ca. 278 BC) Chinese patriotic poet during the Warring States Period, drowning
R
- Geli Raubal (1931), Austrian niece and possibly lover of Adolf Hitler, gunshot
- Jason Raize (2004), American Broadway actor and recording star who originated the role of Simba in the Lion King, hanging
- Lynne Randell (2007), Australian singer, overdose
- Kuljeet Randhawa (2006), Indian television actress, hanging
- Danny Rapp (1983), American singer (Danny & the Juniors), gunshot
- David Rappaport (1990), British actor, gunshot
- Abram Raselemane (2008), South African footballer
- Margaret Mary Ray (1998), American stalker of television host David Letterman, knelt in front of a train
- Liam Rector (2007), American poet, gunshot
- Alfred Redl (1913), Austrian army officer, spied for Russia, gunshot
- George Reeves (1959), American actor, played Superman on television, death officially ruled as suicide by gunshot, but remains controversial to this day
- David Reimer (2004), Canadian advocate, known as the "John/Joan" case, gunshot
- John Reynolds (1966), American actor, played Torgo in the infamous cult classic "Manos" The Hands of Fate, gunshot or overdose
- Thomas Caute Reynolds (1887), Confederate Governor of Missouri, jumped down elevator shaft
- Thomas Reynolds (1844), American Governor of Missouri 1840-1844, shot himself
- David Ritcheson (2007), American hate crime victim, jumped off cruise ship
- René Rivkin (2005), Australian stockbroker and entrepreneur
- Carlos Roberto Reina (2003), former president of Honduras, gunshot
- Malachi Ritscher (2006), American anti-war protester, self-immolation at Chicago's Kennedy expressway
- Angel Rivero Mendez (1930), Puerto Rican soldier for the Spanish Army, inventor, gunshot
- John Robarts (1982), former Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, 1961-1971; committed suicide with shotgun
- Rachel Roberts (1980), Welsh-born British actress, overdose
- Bill Robinzine (1982), American basketball player, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Charles Rocket (2005), American comedian, slit own throat
- Sue Rodriguez (1994), Canadian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) victim and advocate for Euthanasia, assisted suicide
- Roh Moo-hyun (2009), former president of South Korea, jumped from a cliff
- Lukasz Romanek (2006), Polish Speedway rider, former World Under 21 champion. Found dead in his workshop
- Samuel Romilly (1818), British prison reformer, slit own throat
- Edgar Rosenberg (1987), American husband of comedienne Joan Rivers, overdose
- Mark Rothko (1970), Latvian-American painter, slit arms
- Jacques Roux (1794), leader of the Enrages in the French Revolution, stabbed himself while facing execution
- Ruan Lingyu (1935), Chinese actress, overdose
- Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1857), American senator from Texas, gunshot
- Michael Ryan (1987), British mass murderer at Hungerford; self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing many others
- Jakub Jan Ryba (1815), Czech composer and teacher, slit own throat
S
- Matti Juhani Saari (2008), Finnish school shooter, gunshot
- Mário de Sá-Carneiro (1916), Portuguese poet, drank several bottles of strychnine
- Emilio Salgari (1911), Italian writer, by stabbing himself
- Albert Salmi (1990), American actor, apparently shot his wife to death with one gun and shot himself in the heart with another
- Johanna Sällström, (2007) Swedish actress
- Alexander Samsonov (1914), Russian military commander, gunshot to head following disastrous Battle of Tannenberg
- George Sanders (1972), English actor, barbiturate overdose
- Mónica Santa María (1994), Peruvian model and host of Nubeluz, gunshot
- Alberto Santos-Dumont (1932), Brazilian aviation pioneer, hanging to protest against airplane use for war
- Bruce Sarver (2005), American NHRA driver, gunshot
- Drake Sather (2004), American standup comedian, gunshot
- John Monk Saunders, American aviator & screenwriter , hanging
- Savannah (1994), American pornographic actress, shot herself with a handgun
- Gia Scala (1972), British actress, overdose of drugs and alcohol, after previous unsuccessful suicide attempts
- David Scarboro (1988), British actor (EastEnders), threw himself from Beachy Head
- Erich Schaedler (1985), Scottish footballer
- Petrus Schaesberg (2008), German art historian, jumped from building
- Eugen Schauman (1904), Finnish nationalist, assassin of Governor-General Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, gunshot
- Margie Schoedinger (2003), American woman who filed lawsuit against president George W. Bush claiming that she had been raped, gunshot
- Robert Schommer (2001), American astronomer
- Dave Schulthise (2004), American bassist for Dead Milkmen
- Conrad Schumann (1998), German refugee, hanging
- Ingo Schwichtenberg (1995), former drummer of German power metal band Helloween, jumped in front of subway
- William Seabrook (1945), American adventurer, travel writer, overdose
- Jean Seberg (1979), American actress, barbiturate overdose
- Sergio López Segú (2006), Spanish footballer, threw himself under a train
- Anne Sexton (1974), American poet, inhaled carbon monoxide
- Frances Ford Seymour (1950), NYC socialite, mother of Peter and Jane Fonda, slit own throat
- Leo Sgouros (1208), Byzantine Greek noble, jumped from a cliff on his horse
- Del Shannon (1990), American singer, gunshot
- David "Disco D" Shayman (2007), American record producer, hanging
- Alice Bradley Sheldon, pen name James Tiptree, Jr (1987), American science fiction author, mercy-killed her terminally ill husband and then shot herself
- Shibata Katsuie (1583), Japanese military commander, seppuku
- Harold Shipman (2004), imprisoned British doctor found to have killed 250+ of his patients, found dead in prison cell, hanging
- Arthur Shrewsbury (1903), former captain of the England cricket team, gunshot
- Eli Siegel (1978), Latvian-born American poet and critic who founded Aesthetic Realism, drug overdose
- Tiffany Simelane (2009), Miss Swaziland 2008, poison
- Varnado Simpson (1997), American Pfc jointly responsible for the My Lai Massacre
- Walter Slezak (1983), American actor, gunshot
- Everett Sloane (1965), American actor, part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater
- James Leonard Brierley Smith, (1968), South African paleoanatomist, cyanide poisoning
- Tempest Smith (2001), American school girl who was a target victim of bullying, hanging
- Paul Snider (1980), American promoter, murdered Playmate Dorothy Stratten then killed himself, gunshot
- Mitch Snyder (1990), American activist, advocate for the homeless, hanging
- Soga no Emishi (645), Japanese statesman
- Somesvara I (also known as Ahavamalla or Trilokamalla) (1068), king of the Chalukya empire, drowning
- Mark Speight (2008), British children's television presenter, hung himself at Paddington Station
- John Spence (musician) (1987), American musician, original lead singer of No Doubt, gunshot
- Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1947), British forensic pathologist who helped convict Dr. Crippen; gassed himself in an oven at his laboratory
- Edward Stachura (1979), Polish poet and writer
- Wilhelm Stekel (1940), Austrian psychoanalyst
- Inger Stevens, (1970), Swedish-born American film actress, overdose
- Gary Stewart (2003), American country singer, gunshot
- Jay Stewart (1989), American television and radio announcer, gunshot
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), nineteenth-century British statesman, slit own throat
- Shakir Stewart, (2008) American music producer, gunshot
- Adalbert Stifter (1868), Austrian writer, slit own throat
- Alfonsina Storni (1938), Argentinian poetess, drowning
- Otto Strandman (1941), Estonian politician, gunshot
- Martin Streek (2009), Canadian radio personality
- David Strickland (1999), American actor, hanging
- Steven Sueppel (2008), American businessman, thief and mass murderer, purposefully crashed his minivan at high speed
- David Edward 'Screaming Lord' Sutch (1999), English rock singer and politician, hanging
- Darren Sutherland (2009), Irish boxer, hanging
- Karel Svoboda (2007), Czech composer, gunshot
- István Széchenyi (1860), Hungarian statesman, gunshot
T
- Ronald Takaki (2009), American academic, historian, and author
- Vlado Taneski (2008), Macedonian journalist and serial killer, drowning
- Yutaka Taniyama (1958), Japanese mathematician
- Alberts Tarulis (1927), Latvian footballer, hanging
- Victor Tausk (1919), Slovakian pioneer psychoanalyst
- Sara Teasdale (1933), American poet, overdose
- Pál Teleki (1941), Hungarian statesman, gunshot
- Lou Tellegen (1934), Dutch-born American film actor, stabbed self in chest with scissors
- Luigi Tenco (1967), Italian singer-songwriter, gunshot
- Tewodros II of Ethiopia (1868), Ethiopian Emperor, gunshot
- Jack Thayer (1945), American Titanic survivor, slashed wrists and throat in his car
- Jason Thirsk (1996), American bassist of the band Pennywise, gunshot
- Dan Thomas (1980), American baseball player, hanging
- Jesse B. Thomas (1853), American Senator from Illinois
- Hunter S. Thompson (2005), American author, gunshot
- Georg Tintner (1999), Austrian-born conductor active in Canada and Australia; jumped 11 stories when he was no longer able to conduct due to illness
- Li Tobler (1975), Swiss actress, gunshot
- Mutsuo Toi (1938), Japanese mass murderer of 30 people in the Tsuyama massacre, gunshot
- Ernst Toller (1939), German writer, hanging
- Mikhail Tomsky (1936), Russian revolutionary, gunshot
- Wolfe Tone (1798), Irish independence leader, slit own throat
- Tore Tønne (2002), Norwegian Minister of Health and Social Affairs
- John Kennedy Toole (1969), American novelist, asphyxiation by carbon monoxide
- Dudu Topaz (2009), Israeli television personality, hanged himself in prison
- Georg Trakl (1914), Austrian poet, cocaine overdose
- Silvanus Trevail (1903), British architect, shot himself in the lavatory of a train
- Metod Trobec (2006), Slovenian killer
- Olaf Tryggvason (1000), king of Norway, leapt from his ship after losing in battle
- Kokichi Tsuburaya (1968), Japanese Olympic marathon runner, slit own throat
- Marina Tsvetaeva (1941), Russian poetess and writer, hanging
- Kurt Tucholsky (1935), German journalist and satirist, overdose
- Alan Turing (1954), British mathematician and computer scientist, cyanide poisoning
- John Walker Turnbull (1999), British soldier, gunshot
- Randy Turpin (1966), British world champion boxer, gunshot
- Helen Twelvetrees (1958), American stage and film actress, overdose
- Jim Tyrer (1980), American All-Pro tackle for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, murder-suicide, killed his wife and then himself
U
- U;Nee (2007), South Korean actress and singer, hanging
- Ernst Udet (1941), German air ace and Luftwaffe inspector general, gunshot
- Urmuz (1923), Romanian writer
- Mitsuru Ushijima (1945), Japanese military commander who lost the Battle of Okinawa, seppuku
V
- Vaishnavi (actress) (2006), Indian actress, hanging
- W. S. Van Dyke (1941), American film director, method unknown
- Vincent van Gogh (1890), Dutch Post-Impressionist painter, gunshot to chest
- Vicki Van Meter (2008), American pilot, gunshot
- Ike Van Zandt (1908), American baseball player, gunshot through his heart
- George Washington Vanderbilt III (1961), American yachtsman and scientific explorer, jumping from balcony
- Johannes Vares (1946), Estonian poet, doctor and politician
- Getúlio Vargas (1954), President of Brazil, killed himself during impeachment trial, gunshot
- Publius Quinctilius Varus (9), at the end of the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
- Minnie Vautrin (1941), American missionary who helped the Chinese during the Nanking Massacre in 1937, gassed self by kitchen oven
- Lupe Vélez (1944), Mexican-born American actress, overdose
- Juhan Viiding (1995), Estonian poet and actor, cut his veins
- Hervé Villechaize (1993), French actor, (Fantasy Island), gunshot
- Chris Von Erich (1991), American wrestler, gunshot to the head.
- Kerry Von Erich (1993), American wrestler, shot to the heart on father's ranch
- Mike Von Erich (1987), American wrestler, overdosed on the sleeping pill Placidyl and alcohol
W
- David Foster Wallace (2008), American writer, hanging
- Petri Walli (1995), Finnish rock musician, jumped from roof
- Marie Walcamp (1936), American film actress, drug overdose
- Larry Walters (1993), American lawn chair pilot; gunshot to the heart
- Wang Guowei (1927), Chinese poet and Imperial supporter, drowned himself when the revolutionary army captured Beijing
- Andre Waters (2006), former American football player, gunshot
- Doodles Weaver (1983), American comedian, member of Spike Jones' City Slickers, gunshot
- Gary Webb (2004), American investigative reporter; death ruled as suicide from two gunshots
- Debbie Weems (1978), American actress and singer (Captain Kangaroo), jumped from building
- Roland Weißelberg (2006) German Lutheran vicar, self-immolation
- Jaromír Weinberger (1967), Czech-American composer, drug overdose
- Otto Weininger (1903), Austrian philosopher
- Jeff Weise (2005), American Red Lake High School shooter, killed himself with a shotgun after being wounded by police
- Horace Wells (1848), American dentist who pioneered the use of anesthesia, slit artery in leg after first taking chloroform
- Vince Welnick (2006), American musician (Grateful Dead, The Tubes)
- Fred West (1995), husband of convicted British killer Rosemary West; hanged himself in prison whilst awaiting trial on the same crimes
- James Whale (1957), British film director, drowning
- Samuel Whitbread (1815), British Whig politician, slit throat
- Dan White (1985), American assassin of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and city manager Harvey Milk; carbon monoxide
- Charles White Whittlesey (1921), Medal of Honor Recipient, famed commander of WWI's Lost Battalion
- Mike Whitmarsh (2009), American beach volleyball player, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Kevin Whitrick (2007), British electrical engineer, hung himself live on webcam
- Warren Wiebe (1998) American session vocalist, method not known
- Bolesław Wieniawa-Długoszowski (1942) president of Poland in exile for one day
- Paul Williams (1973), American singer (The Temptations), gunshot
- Percy Williams (1982), Canadian athlete
- Rozz Williams (1998), American musician (Christian Death), hanging
- Wendy O. Williams (1998), American singer (The Plasmatics), gunshot
- De'Angelo Wilson (2008), American actor, hanging
- Greg Wilton (2000), Australian federal politician
- John Gilbert Winant (1947), American Governor of New Hampshire, gunshot
- John Winter (2007), American meteorologist, gunshot
- Sheree Winton (1976), British actress, drug overdose
- Eduard Wirths (1945), German military surgeon conducted research work at Auschwitz concentration camp, hanging
- Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz , also known as "Witkacy" (1939), Polish author, novelist, painter, philosopher, slit wrists
- Rafał Wojaczek (1971), Polish poet, overdose
- Frank Wolff (1971), American actor
- Woo Bum-kon (1982), South Korean man who killed 57 people in the Gyeongsangnam-do massacre, grenade explosion
- Woo Seung-yeon (2009), South Korean actress and model, hanging
- Wally Wood (1981), American cartoonist, gunshot
- Virginia Woolf (1941), British novelist, filled her pockets with stones and walked into a river near her home
- Shawn Woolley (2001), American EverQuest player, gunshot
Y
- Yasmine (2009), Belgian singer and broadcaster, hanging
- Kelly Yeomans (1997), British school girl whose death sparked media controversy, overdose
- Sergei Yesenin (1925), Russian poet, husband of Isadora Duncan, hanging
- Haile Yimenu (1991), former Prime Minister of Ethiopia
- Faron Young (1996), American country singer, gunshot
- Gig Young (1978), American actor, murder-suicide by gunshot
- Barbara Yung (1985), Hong Kong actress and former Miss Hong Kong contestant, carbon monoxide poisoning
Z
- Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1970), German composer (Die Soldaten)
- George Zinkhan (2009), American academic and poet, shot himself after fleeing arrest for a triple murder
- Marion Anthony Zioncheck (1936), American congressman from Washington, jumped out of office building
- Mahmoud Zuabi (2000), Syrian prime minister, shot himself on May 21, two months after resigning over corruption charges
- Stefan and Lotte Zweig (1942), Austrian novelist and his wife; barbital overdose
- Szmul Zygielbojm (1943), Polish politician who committed suicide to protest the indifference of Allied governments in the face of the Holocaust, carbon monoxide poisoning
Forced suicide
The following people committed forced suicide - acts of suicide as a punishment at the behest of civil or judicial authorities:
- Asano Naganori (1701), Japanese noble, forced to commit seppuku after attacking Kira Yoshinaka. The Forty-seven Ronin , former retainers of Naganori, were also ordered to commit seppuku in 1703 after killing Yoshinaka.
- Ludwig Beck (1944), German Chief of the General Staff of the OKH, forced to commit suicide after the failed 20th of July plot.
- Fusu (210 BC), son of the First Emperor of China Qin Shi Huang and brother of the Second Emperor Qin Er Shi; forced to commit suicide by a fake decree.
- Hōjō Ujimasa (1590), lord of Odawara, after Toyotomi Hideyoshi successfully besieged him.
- Hōjō Ujiteru (1590), brother of Hōjō Ujimasa
- Li Tan (757), son of Emperor Suzong of China; forced to commit suicide after false accusations that he meant to kill his brother Li Chu.
- Mori Ranmaru (1582), Oda Nobunaga's servant and close companion, forced to commit suicide along with him.
- Oda Nobunaga (1582), after being betrayed by his general Akechi Mitsuhide.
- Qin Er Shi (207 BC), the second emperor of Qin dynasty China, forced to commit suicide by Zhao Gao.
- Erwin Rommel (1944), German Field Marshal, was remotely connected to a plot against Hitler; forced to take poison in exchange for his family being protected from reprisals.
- Seneca the Younger (65), was ordered to commit suicide by the emperor Nero
- Socrates (399 BCE), Greek philosopher, ordered to drink hemlock juice after his trial in Athens. In the Crito, Socrates is offered a chance to escape but refuses.
Possible suicides
The following is a list of people whose cause of death is disputed, or whose intention to commit suicide is doubtful.
A
- George Washington Adams (1829), Member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and the son of John Quincy Adams. Adams drowned after going overboard. It is generally assumed that he committed suicide.
- Neil Aggett (1982), South African worker's union leader, hanged in prison; murder is suspected by some
- Aman Andom (1974), military ruler of Ethiopia; died while resisting troops sent to arrest him, but circumstances are unclear
- Pier Angeli (1971), Italian-born actress, died of an overdose of barbiturates. Speculation that her death was a suicide has never been officially confirmed.
B
- Diana Barrymore (1960), American stage and film actress, overdose of sleeping pills. It wasn't the first time she took sleeping pills for insomnia. Some historians speculate whether it was intentional.
- Andreas Baader (1977), leader of the German revolutionary organization Red Army Faction (RAF). His suicide by gunshot to the head whilst in prison is questioned by some supporters of the group.
- John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset (1444), English nobleman, allegedly killed himself after being excluded from court.
- Gertrude Bell (1926), British archaeologist, writer, spy and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq", overdose, but unknown whether it was intentional
- Anastasia Blue (2008), American adult film star , an overdose of Tylenol but no proof (such as a note or phone call) that it was intentional
- Boudica (61 AD), Iceni queen, reportedly either drank poison or died of an illness after her army was defeated by the Romans.
- Gaetano Bresci (1901), Italian anarchist, assassin of King Umberto I (officially died as a result of suicide, but was found strangled)
C
- Joseph Daniel 'Danny' Casolaro (1991), journalist, slashed wrists
D
- Rudolf Diesel (1913), inventor of the Diesel engine, went overboard from a passenger ship, but circumstances were never established
- Nick Drake (1974), British singer-songwriter, overdose of the anti-depressant tryptizol, possibly accidental
- Guru Dutt (1964), Indian actor and director; accidental or intentional overdose of sleeping pills
E
- Gudrun Ensslin (1977), German revolutionary, member of Red Army Faction (RAF)
G
- Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1993), former president of Georgia, gunshot
- Jessie Gilbert (2006), British chess player, fell from 8th floor after drinking heavily, inquiry led to an open verdict
- Odilo Globocnik (1945), Austrian Nazi leader; likely died by taking cyanide, but reports of his death are confused
H
- Rudolf Hess (1987), Nazi leader, self-asphyxiation
- Hong Xiuquan (1864), Chinese leader of the Taiping Rebellion, variously reported either to have poisoned himself or died of an illness
- Michael Hutchence (1997), Australian lead singer of rock group INXS, hanged himself in a hotel room; officially ruled as suicide, but widely believed to be a case of mishandled autoerotic asphyxiation
J
- Randall Jarrell (1965), American writer, struck by a car and killed at an odd hour of the evening on a lonesome stretch of road near Chapel Hill, North Carolina; after struggling with clinical depression and shortly after a suicide attempt in which he unsuccessfully slashed his wrists
- Judas Iscariot, traitor to Jesus, hanged himself according to the Gospel of Matthew; the Book of Acts suggests he died in an accidental fall, while the apocryphical Gospel of Judas suggests he was stoned to death by the other Apostles
K
- Frida Kahlo (1954), Mexican painter. Supposedly died of a pulmonary embolism, but no autopsy was performed, and many are convinced that she committed suicide.
- Weldon Kees (1955), American poet, artist and musician. Vanished in 1955; his car was found beside the Golden Gate Bridge, from which he may have leaped to his death. He had spoken to his friends of suicide beforehand, but had also spoken of departing for Mexico; either may have happened.
- David Kellerman (2009), Acting Chief Financial Officer of Freddie Mac. Reportedly committed suicide in his home in Reston, Virginia.
- Levi Kereama (2008), Singer; Australian Idol contestant, fell from a highrise; suicide is disputed by his family
- Sándor Kocsis (1979), Hungarian soccer player, jumped out of window, disputed
- Ruslana Korshunova (2008), fashion model, fell from building. It was ruled a suicide, though many people who knew her doubt this
L
- Alan Ladd (1964), U.S. film star, overdose of alcohol and pills, highly disputed for many years
- Alun Lewis (1944), British soldier and poet, found near the officers' latrine, a gunshot in his head, his revolver still in his hand. The official Army Court of Inquiry concluded that his death was accidental, but suicide has been suggested.
- Diane Linkletter (1969), American, daughter of Art Linkletter, jumped out of window, but may have been under the influence of drugs
- Jack London (1916), U.S. novelist, overdose of morphine and atropine (disputed by his widow)
- Malcolm Lowry (1957), British writer, sleeping pill overdose, disputed as to accidental
- Ludwig II of Bavaria (1886), drowned in captivity, officially ruled as suicide but circumstances are unclear
M
- Ettore Majorana, Italian physicist who disappeared in 1938; one of the possible considered explanations is that he committed suicide by drowning
- Jan Masaryk (1948), Czech statesman, found dead in the courtyard of the Foreign Ministry below his bathroom window. Though the initial 'investigation' stated that he committed suicide by jumping out of the window, it is now commonly believed that he was defenestrated by Communists.
- Hideto Matsumoto, also known as "hide" (1998), Japanese musician, lead guitarist of X Japan, hanging (possibly accidental)
- Robert Maxwell (1991), Czech-born UK newspaper magnate who, some believe, jumped overboard in the Atlantic leaving a financial disaster in his wake — the official inquest ruled it was 'accidental drowning'
- Ulrike Meinhof (1976) German radical leftist terrorist; disputed, died in prison cell, hanging
- Jürgen W. Möllemann (2003), German politician, parachute failure
- Marilyn Monroe (1962), American actress, found dead in her bed in her California home from an overdose of sleeping pills. For more information, see Death of Marilyn Monroe.
- Renate Müller (1937), German actress, fall from window originally reported as resulting from an epileptic seizure; also reported by some that the Gestapo was involved in her death
- James Murray (1936), American silent film actor (The Crowd), drowned in the Hudson River, but it was never officially determined whether it was suicide or an accident
P
- Pier delle Vigne (1249), Italian diplomat. Reportedly killed himself to avoid torture, although the circumstances of his death are not certain. In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri puts him among suicides.
- Giuseppe Pinelli (1969), Italian anarchist. Was picked up for questioning regarding the Piazza Fontana terrorist attack in Milan that killed 16 people and injured 84. On December 15, 1969 Pinelli was seen to fall to his death from a fourth floor window of the Milan police headquarters.
- John Polidori (1821), Poet, doctor, writer, apparently drank prussic acid in his bedroom, however, the coroner recorded death by natural causes.
- Freddie Prinze (1977), Puerto Rican American comedian and actor, best known for television show Chico and the Man, died of self inflicted gunshot wound, but later ruled an accidental shooting due to the influence of drugs
Q
- Quintillus (270), Roman emperor, various conflicting accounts of his death, but possible suicide by wrist-slitting
R
- Jan-Carl Raspe (1977), German criminal in Baader-Meinhof gang
- Dean Reed (1986), musician known as the "Red Elvis" for his leftist political views and popularity in the Soviet Bloc, drowned, but may have been accidental; his family claimed it was murder
- Irv Rubin (2002), leader of the Jewish Defense League, cut throat and fell off balcony while in prison, disputed by his family
- Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (1889), heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, gunshot, officially as part of a suicide pact, but there is substantial speculation about a murder coverup
S
- Romy Schneider (1982), Austrian actress, found dead in her apartment in Paris in May 1982, suggested suicide by taking a lethal cocktail of alcohol and sleeping pills. However, no post-mortem examination was carried out, and she was declared to have died from cardiac arrest.
- Edie Sedgwick (1972), American socialite, Warhol superstar, overdose. The coroner ruled Sedgwick's death as "undetermined/accident/suicide".
- Elizabeth Shin (2000), MIT student, died from burns inflicted by a fire in her dormitory room after sending emails to faculty members saying that she was depressed and wanted to kill herself.
- Elizabeth Siddal (1862), Pre-Raphaelite icon and wife of Dante Gabriel Rossetti, officially an accidental overdose, but Rossetti may have destroyed a suicide note
- Elliott Smith (2003), American musician (reported as suicide, still officially under investigation — no suspects named). Smith died of two fatal stab wounds to the chest after an argument with his girlfriend. An official autopsy was carried out, the results of which were inconclusive.
- Silk Smitha, South Indian actress, found dead in her apartment
T
- Saigō Takamori (1876), Japanese samurai, injured in battle, might have committed suicide, or been killed by comrades rather than being killed or captured by the enemy.
- Pyotr Tchaikovsky (1893), Russian composer. Generally assumed to have died of cholera; one account claims that he committed suicide by taking arsenic following an attempt to blackmail him over his homosexuality.
V
- Baroness Mary Vetsera (1889), mistress of Crown Prince Rudolph
- Sid Vicious (1978), English punk bassist of The Sex Pistols; possible intentional heroin overdose
- Pierre-Charles Villeneuve (1806), French admiral who lost the Battle of Trafalgar, stabbed in chest; recorded as suicide, but may have been murdered by agents of Napoleon
W
- Peter Warlock (1930), UK composer (also known as Philip Heseltine); gas poisoning, but suicide was never established definitively
- Kenneth Williams (1988), English actor, barbiturate overdose. Williams was taking medication for back pain and stomach trouble, which he referred to in the last sentence in his diary, concluding "oh — what's the bloody point?". His diary had often spoke of suicidal thoughts. The coroner recorded an open verdict.
- 27 Aug 2009 ... "We regret demise of a Wipro employee, Vishal Yadav, in Bangalore, ... trouble that made him commit suicide. Wipro does not care anyway
Y
- Alfredo Yabrán (1998), Argentine businessman, gunshot, sometimes alleged to have faked his death
References
- ^ Diane Arbus at the Jewish Virtual Library
- ^ "Bloodgood Suicide Laid to Anxiety". The New York Times. 7 December 1907. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
- ^ David Kelly and Gary Cohn. "Insider accounts put sect leader on the run" Los Angeles Times 2006-05-16
- ^ John D. W. Guice, James J. Holmberg, and Jay H. Buckley, By His Own Hand? The Mysterious Death of Meriwether Lewis. University of Oklahoma Press, 2006.
- ^ "BALTIMORE'S MAYOR COMMIT SUICIDE; Robert M. McLane, Married Two Weeks Ago, Shoots Himself". The New York Times. 1904-05-31. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-03-22.