Top 10 Weirdest Celebrity Deaths in the 1940s
The heiress was strangled by an unknown assailant, who may have been hiding in her home. Her corpse was discovered lying face-down in her bathtub, and a piece of towel had been forced down her throat.
The primary cause for his death was previously thought to have been a car crash, but a stab wound was later found in his chest. It is believed that Bacon was murdered by a homosexual lover, who grew angry with the actor for not divorcing his wife.
Oakes' body was found beaten and partially burnt in his mansion, and his son-in-law was immediately arrested. However, he was eventually found not guilty, and no other suspects ever came forward.
Was, most probably, killed by the mob for trying to initiate a revolt against the union, and his body was found dumped in a lime pit. No one has been arrested for the crime, and one suspect was found dead a month after his questioning.
Was shot many times while at a friend's house, and the killing remains unsolved.
He was shot at a Manhattan intersection, and mobster Carmine Galante was seen fleeing the scene of the crime, but was not convicted.
The officer was supposedly beaten to death by French soldiers while he was imprisoned at Remscheid- Lüttringhausen, but no charges were ever brought.
Kenneth Anger's 1959 book 'Hollywood Babylon' birthed the urban legend that the large dose of Seconal pills Velez took to end her own life did not mix well with the spicy Mexican dinner she had recently eaten, and she slipped while making her way to the bathroom, dunking her head into the toilet and drowning.
Roz: Ever heard of Lupe Velez?
Frasier: Who?
Roz: Lupe Velez, the movie star in the '30s. Well, her career hit the skids, so she decided she'd make one final stab at immortality. She figured if she couldn't be remembered for her movies, she'd be remembered for the way she died. And all Lupe wanted was to be remembered. So, she plans this lavish suicide - flowers, candles, silk sheets, white satin gown, full hair and makeup, the works. She takes the overdose of pills, lays on the bed, and imagines how beautiful she's going to look on the front page of tomorrow's newspaper. Unfortunately, the pills don't sit well with the enchilada combo plate she sadly chose as her last meal. She stumbles to the bathroom, trips and goes head-first into the toilet, and that's how they found her.
Frasier: Is there a reason you're telling me this story?
Roz: Yes. Even though things may not happen like we planned, they can work out anyway.
Frasier: Remind me again how it worked for Lupe, ...more
Carole Lombard, born Jane Alice Peters (October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American film actress. She was particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in the screwball comedies of the 1930s. She was the highest-paid star in Hollywood in the late 1930s.
Lombard's career was cut short when she died at the age of 33 in an aircraft crash on Mount Potosi, Nevada, while returning from a War Bond tour. Today, she is remembered as one of the definitive actresses of the screwball comedy genre and American comedy, and ranks among the American Film Institute's greatest female stars of classic Hollywood cinema. Even though many people, including her mother, advised Lombard not to board the plane, she did so anyway, and sealed her fate. Some theorize that Carole was in a hurry to get back home, to put an end to the alleged affair between her husband Clark Gable and Lana Turner.
Landis committed suicide by overdosing on Seconal pills after her lover, Rex Harrison, refused to leave his wife for her.
Sidney Fox, born Sidney Leiffer (December 10, 1911 – November 15, 1942) was an American actress. She was married to screenwriter Charles Beahan from 1932 until her death in 1942 at age 30. She died of an overdose of sleeping pills which was officially ruled an accident.