Actors We Lost Far Too Soon

Heath Ledger, Paul Walker, Anton Yelchin, Sharon Tate, River Phoenix, and John Belushi. Hollywood is filled with names of actors whose potential was cut short way too soon. Seeing their names on the big screen and in the bright lights of Tinsel Town is the dream of any actor, but when that stardom occurs at a young age, the pain of their early deaths rob their legions of fans of the promise of what might have been.

But while these actors are no longer with us, the work that they left behind serves as a testament to their lives and allows them to remain in our hearts forever as their final goodbye. So whether it be the pressures of fame, a tragic accident, a senseless murder, or private struggles they no longer had the will or support to fight, here are a few actors who you may not know that we lost too soon.

Actor James Dean stopped by Blackwells Corner Grocery in Lost Hills, Calif. to buy a Coke and fill up the tank of his Porsche 550 Spyder on Sept. 30, 1955. A short while later, college student Donald Turnupseed veered into Dean's lane, causing a head-on collision and killing the Hollywood icon instantly. He was 24.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Rebel Without a Cause star died instantly at the scene "from a broken neck, numerous broken bones and severe lacerations over the entire body." Dean had just wrapped the filming of Giant the week of his death, a role that earned him a posthumous Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. His passenger in the vehicle, mechanic Rolph Wuetherich, survived and was rushed to the hospital with a fractured hip and jaw.

History reports that according to Hollywood legend, Dean's Porsche 550 Spyder was cursed. After the wrecked car was loaded onto a truck, it reportedly rolled off and crushed the legs of a mechanic. Parts of the car that were sold allegedly ended up in other vehicles that were involved in deadly car crashes. And the truck transporting the car's chassis was involved in a single-car accident that killed the truck's driver.

On March 16, 2009, Tony award-winning actress Natasha Richardson fell and hit her head while taking beginner skiing lessons at the Mont Tremblant ski resort in Quebec. According to ABC News, paramedics arrived on the scene where Richardson joked about the fall, refused to be taken to the hospital, and walked back to her room. Two days later she died of an epidural hematoma due to a blunt impact to the head. She was 45.

Richardson's husband at the time, actor Liam Neeson, released a statement after her death. "Liam Neeson, his sons, and the entire family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Natasha," the statement said. "They are profoundly grateful for the support, love, and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time."

During a 2014 interview with 60 Minutes, Neeson revealed that he still has trouble accepting her death. "She was on life support... I went into her and I told her I loved her, said, 'Sweetie, you're not coming back from this, you've banged your head," he told Anderson Cooper. "She and I had made a pact if any of us got into a vegetative state that we'd pull the plug. ... That was my immediate thought... 'Okay, these tubes have to go. She's gone.'" He also stated she "donated three of her organs" and felt she would be "thrilled and pleased" to know that she was "keeping three other people alive."

Bursting onto the scene in two back-to-back films by legendary director Hal Hartley, Adrienne Shelly's performances in The Unbelievable Truth and Trust made her an indie darling. However, her love of the medium pulled her to work behind the camera instead, and she wrote and directed her first feature film in 1996, the low budget comedy Sudden Manhattan.

Sadly, her life was cut short on Nov. 1, 2006, when she was found dead at the age of 40 in her Greenwich Village office. Initially thought to be a suicide, per The New York Times, a 19-year-old construction worker named was eventually charged for her murder. "He admits to hitting her, believes he had killed her, and wanted to fake her suicide. ... It appeared to be a suicide — he staged it as a suicide," an investigator said, adding that the detectives "never just accepted it for what it was staged to be."

Shelly's last directorial effort, Waitress, starring Nathan Fillion and Kerri Russell, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival three months after her death. Met with rave reviews, Shelly's final film earned a 90% on Rotten Tomatoes.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

British actress Lucy Gordon, best known for her role as reporter Jennifer Dugan in Spider-Man 3, was found dead in her Paris apartment in 2009. The cause of death was ruled a suicide, The New York Times reported. She was 28. "She's always loved being on stage and in front of the camera, and she has kept all her naturalness and charm all the way through," her father, Richard Gordon said, adding, "She has been the most beautiful daughter. We are obviously devastated."

According to the Daily Mail, Gordon left two suicide notes in her apartment and was described by neighbors as being "deeply affected" by the recent suicide of a friend. "Her death has come completely out of the blue and the entire family is devastated. Everything about how she died is just speculation at the minute, and we want to concentrate on paying tribute to our daughter," her father told the tab, adding, "We have loved her so much throughout her life. She was the light of mine, her mum's, and her sister's lives. Lucy was a lovely, generous and unselfish person who always gave so much thought to other people and put them before herself."

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

On Aug. 9, 2008, legendary comedian Bernie Mac died due to complications from pneumonia in his hometown of Chicago, Ill. (via People). He was 50. Mary Ann Grossett, Mac's sister-in-law, revealed The Original Kings of Comedy star suffered from an inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs in the body.

"He had sarcoidosis, but it was in remission," Grossett told the publication. "But because he had it, his immune system was compromised. He had an infection ... He was on a new medication that suppresses the immune system, and that's where the pneumonia came from." She also revealed Mac was in ICU during his entire stay in the hospital. "They tried to resuscitate him two times. One time he came back for about an hour, she said. "Then he went into cardiac arrest the second time."

A few weeks after his death, more than 6,000 people gathered at the House of Hope church in Chicago to remember and pay tribute to the iconic funny man (via The New York Times). Among those in attendance were Samuel L. Jackson, Cedric the Entertainer, D.L. Hughley, and the then-mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley. A condolences letter written by Barack Obama was read at the service. 

With her breakthrough role as Tai Frasier in 1995's cult classic Clueless, Brittany Murphy was a star on the rise. Murphy was active throughout the decade with independent films and a Broadway debut, then transitioned to stardom in the 2000s with roles in 8 Mile, Sin City, and Happy Feet. And who can forget her long-running turn as the voice of Luanne Platter in the animated series King of the Hill?

At the age of 32, her future looked bright but on Dec. 20, 2009, emergency responders fielded "a medical request" at the actress' home (via the Los Angeles Times). She was later pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after going into cardiac arrest. Even more shocking than the news of Murphy's passing was The Los Angeles County coroner ruling that Murphy's death was "accidental," caused "by a combination of pneumonia, an iron deficiency, and 'multiple drug intoxication,'" according to CNN. 

The full autopsy report obtained by CNN stated that multiple antibiotics and cold medicines were found in Murphy's system, which the coroner suggested was a "pattern of use" in order to fight "a cold or other respiratory infection." Roughly three months after Murphy's death, her husband Simon Monjack was found dead in the same house. His autopsy results showed he died in a similar way to Murphy — of "acute pneumonia and severe anemia" (via CNN).

The daughter of producer Dominick Dunne and brother of actor Griffin Dunne, Dominique Dunne was set for superstardom after landing her first movie role in the iconic horror film Poltergeist. But while her career looked bright, her personal life was not. Although she ended her romantic relationship with the violently abusive and possessive chef John Thomas Sweeney, he continued to terrorize her. On October 30, 1982, Sweeney arrived at her Santa Monica, Calif. home uninvited, where he proceeded to choke her and throw her limp body on the driveway (via People).

After spending five days on life support machines due to heart failure and no brain activity, her family removed her from the machines and she died instantly. She was 22. Sweeney was convicted of involuntary manslaughter. After only serving three and half years of this six-year sentence, Sweeney was hired as the head chef of The Chronicle in Santa Monica three months after his release (via Medium). Dunne's brother Griffin and her mother, Lenny, handed out flyers to patrons that read: "The food you will eat tonight was cooked by the hands that killed Dominique Dunne." Sweeney eventually quit the job and moved from Los Angeles.