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Something about dying on your birthday seems very neat and tidy to me. Despite this, not many people seem to manage it. But here are 10 who did:
1. Ingrid Bergman was born on August 29, 1915, in Stockholm, Sweden, She died 67 years later in 1982 in London after battling breast cancer (the official cause of death was lymphoma complications that came after a breast cancer operation).
2. Betty Friedan, the author of The Feminine Mystique, was born on February 4, 1921, and died on the same day in 2006. She was 85 when she was claimed by congestive heart failure.
3. Walter Diemer, the inventor of bubble gum, went “pop!” on his 93rd birthday on January 8, 1998. I apologize for the bad pun.
4. George “Machine Gun Kelly” was gunned down by… um, a heart attack. Sorry, I guess I can’t turn all of them into stupid jokes. He was exactly 59 years old, dying on his July 17 birthday in 1954. Kelly was incarcerated at Leavenworth at the time.
5. Levi P. Morton, Benjamin Harrison’s Vice President, died of pneumonia on his 96th birthday. He was alive from May 16, 1824 to May 15, 1920. That’s a pretty good run, if you ask me.
6. Johnny Longden was born on and died on Valentine’s Day – 1907-2003. He was a Triple Crown-winning jockey in 1943, taking home the wins at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes while riding Count Fleet.
7. Kamehameha V, King of Hawaii, died on his 42nd birthday on December 11, 1872.
8. Allen Drury, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist, died on his 80th birthday on September 2, 1998. The book that won him the Pulitzer, by the way, was his 1959 political novel Advise and Consent, based partially on the true-life story of the scandal and suicide of Senator Lester Hunt.
9. Swede Risberg of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal died on October 13, 1975, his 81st birthday.
10. Jean Felix Piccard. Name sound familiar? It’s because he and his twin brother Auguste Piccard were the inspirations for the name of Star Trek’s Jean-Luc Picard. Jean’s inventions have been used in building aircrafts, spacecrafts and balloons (see picture at left). He died on his (and his brother’s) birthday on January 28, 1963 at the age of 79. Auguste died the year before on March 24.
A few who were close but didn’t quite make it: Telly Savalas was over by a day – he died of prostate cancer on January 22, 1994, the day after his birthday. Marvin Gaye was short by one day – he would have been 45 if his dad hadn’t killed him the day before. Everyone’s favorite Golden Girl and Sylvester Stallone co-star, Estelle Getty, died three days short of her 85th birthday last year, and Julia Child missed her 91st birthday by just two days in 2004.
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Comments (23)
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Mark Twain….Haley’s comet. but if I know that, everyone knows that.
posted by Tommy on 3-9-2009 at 4:11 pm
Nevermind. God, I’m an idiot. Note to self: look on wikipedia BEFORE you post something…
posted by tommy on 3-9-2009 at 4:13 pm
Jewish tradition has it that Moses died on his birthday.
posted by Dov on 3-9-2009 at 4:20 pm
Shakespeare is traditionally considered to have been born on April 23, 1564 (although this is somewhat speculative)and is known to have died on that date in 1616. Interestingly, April 23 is St. George’s Day and St. George is England’s patron saint.
posted by Jon. on 3-9-2009 at 4:32 pm
William Shakespeare was born and died on April 23 (1564-1616)… or so they think. They only know the date he was baptized for sure, so his birth date is based on a couple of assumptions.
posted by Zach on 3-9-2009 at 4:34 pm
Ahahahahahaha…I was blowing a bubblegum bubble that popped right as I read number three. Good times; good times.
posted by JenPo on 3-9-2009 at 4:49 pm
Most recently:
Blues icon and master, Willie King, died yesterday – on his birthday. He was born March 8, 1943. Passed away on his 66th birthday…quite unexpectedly. He will be missed greatly.
posted by Jenipher on 3-9-2009 at 4:52 pm
Great post, Stacy. I also find the idea of dying on your birthday to be somehow appropriate, but I always get strange looks when I say this out loud.
posted by Adam on 3-9-2009 at 5:24 pm
@Adam… the only thing that could top it would be dying on your 100th birthday. Perfection!
posted by stacy on 3-9-2009 at 5:54 pm
A less famous birth/death-day–my great-aunt Gracie died on her 50th birthday. And to make it a bit weird, she called my grandmother (her sister) the week before and told her the day she would die (no, it was not a suicide–she had brain cancer).
posted by nutmeag on 3-9-2009 at 6:38 pm
Come on people how could you miss Paul Harvey
It was just last week!
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 3-9-2009 at 7:34 pm
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on the country’s birthday, July 2nd, 1826. While not their respective Bdays, they both were largely responsible for July 4th being the nation’s Bday.
posted by Jonny on 3-9-2009 at 9:08 pm
My boyfriend’s mother died on her birthday last year. I too, find that somehow fitting.
posted by Vickey on 3-9-2009 at 9:09 pm
My grandfather died on his birthday, but my grandmother only managed to die on my birthday.
posted by Elsa on 3-10-2009 at 12:38 am
Marvin Gaye’s death at the hands of his own father is the saddest one. Marvin’s compilation, “What’s Going On,” is the finest piece of work by any singer/songwriter; and that includes Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson. If something on that CD of Marvin Gaye’s doesn’t move you then you are dead.
posted by Sweet Marie on 3-10-2009 at 5:28 am
Paul Harvey didn’t die on his birthday, or anywhere close to it, really.
Born Sept. 4th, passed away Feb. 28th.
and now you know…the rest of the story.
posted by Michael on 3-10-2009 at 7:58 am
You forgot Harry Houdini (not his real name by the way), who was born and died on Halloween. I don’t remember what year, but if I recall correctly, he died from appendicitis (apologize if I’ve mispelled it).
posted by Yelena on 3-10-2009 at 9:29 am
Levi P. Morton died on May 16 (which would have been his birthday) not May 15 as you have listed above.
posted by Steven on 3-10-2009 at 9:34 am
Yasujirō Ozu, amazing Japanese filmmaker, was born and died on December 12 (which also happens to be my birthday).
posted by Paul on 3-10-2009 at 5:42 pm
Walter Diemer died one day after :)
posted by Axes on 3-10-2009 at 6:43 pm
Harry Houdini was born on March 24, 1874 in Hungary and died on October 31, 1926 in Detroit, MI.
posted by Bob on 3-10-2009 at 7:29 pm
Perhaps not as well-known, but certainly an important historical figure, John Harrison died March 24th, on his 83rd birthday. He was the inventor of the “marine chronometer”, the first seaworthy clock capable of keeping time accurately enough to measure longtitude while at sea.
posted by John on 12-17-2009 at 5:51 pm
I was looking through the death notices in the paper last year and spotted one old lady who died two days before her hundredth birthday. Its a long innings but I still felt sorry for her.
posted by tasmanian devil on 1-21-2010 at 10:06 pm