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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Famous People's Final Words

10:53 PM Tribune

Famous people's final words

Famous people's final words should be, well, famous. But since most people don't know which words will be their last, those final utterances can be revealing, touching or just odd. We've rounded up the reported last words of some memorable people, from George Washington to Bob Marley to Princess Diana.

Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

Claim to fame: December 25, 1876 – September 11, 1948) was a 20th century Father of the Nation uaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's achievement as the lawyer, politician, statesman founder of Pakistan, dominates everything else he did in his long and crowded public life spanning some 42 years.

Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah

George Washington

Claim to fame: He led troops in the American Revolution.He later became the first president of the United States. Here are his first words in office in 1789.
Last words: (historians disagree between these three):
* "It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go."
* "I am just going. Have me decently buried; and don't let my body be put into the vault in less than three days after I am dead. Do you understand?
* "'Tis well, 'Tis well."
(d. Dec. 14, 1799)

President Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Claim to fame: America's Civil War president and stirring orator. Lincoln also wrote this document, which officially freed slaves in the South.
Last words: "They won't think anything about it," (after Mary Todd Lincoln asked him what the patrons of Ford's Theater might think of two old people holding hands)
(d. April 15, 1865)

President John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy

Claim to fame: The 35th and youngest-elected American president was also considered an inspiring speaker
Last words: "If someone is going to kill me, they will kill me," (on arriving in Dallas in 1963).
(d. Nov. 22, 1963)

Joan Crawford

Claim to fame: Actress known for glamour and over-the-top self-promotion. Crawford became infamous known as a mean mom -- at least according to this author. The book became a bigger-than-life movie and sparked a campy quote that lives on.
Last words: "Damn it ... Don't you dare ask God to help me." (Who did she say them to?)

(d. May 10, 1977)

Elvis Presley

Claim to fame: "The King" was arguably the most popular singer of his time.He also was a movie star.He became a superstar
Last words: "I hope I haven't bored you," (ending his last press conference).
Other reports say his last words were: "Okay, I won't" (last words spoken to this woman, who told him on the way to the bathroom not to "fall asleep in there.")
(d. Aug. 16, 1977)

James Dean

Claim to fame: Iconic, ill-fated talented actor who will forever be known as the face of rebellious youth in the 1950s. Here he is in his few movies - "East of Eden," "Rebel Without a Cause"
Last words: "That guy's got to stop ... he'll see us."
(d. Sept. 30, 1955)

Marilyn Monroe

Claim to fame: Sex symbol and Hollywood movie icon of the 1950s. Conventional wisdom said she had affairs with this man and his brother.
Last words: "Say goodbye to Pat (who?), say goodbye to Jack (see previous sentence) and say goodbye to yourself, because you're a nice guy." (Who did she say that to?)
(d. Aug. 4, 1962)

Tammy Faye Messner

Claim to fame: You may remember her as Tammy Faye Bakker, teary co-host of The PTL Club. Her ex-husband was a preacher, but he ended up in prison.
Last words: "I'm in the hands of Jesus."
(d. July 20, 2007)

Tim Russert

Claim to fame: Highly-regarded TV journalist, longtime moderator of NBC's "Meet The Press." One of his first jobs was as a worker for a fiery Democratic Senator. He gained fame penning a book about his dad -
Last words: "What's happening?" (What did he mean?) spoken as a greeting to a colleague)

Frank Sinatra

Claim to fame: Idolized singer of the 1940s, successful actor of the '50s and member of this celebrity gang.
Last words: "I'm losing." Other sources say, "I'm losing it." (according to his daughter)
(d. May 14, 1998)

Barry White

Claim to fame: Versatile, multi-award-winning R&B artist, master of soulful, smooth pop music in the 1970s..
Last words: "Leave me alone. I'm fine."
(d. July 4, 2003)

Edgar Allan Poe

Claim to fame: One of America's most famous writers of the 19th century, known for tales steeped in darkness, mystery and death.
Last words: "Lord, help my poor soul."
(d. Oct. 7, 1849)

Virginia Woolf

Claim to fame: One of the last century's most important authors, feminists and essayists; wrote classic "A Room of One's Own."
Last words: "I feel certain that I'm going mad again. I feel we can't go thru another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices."
(d. March 28, 1941)

Pablo Picasso

Claim to fame: Renowned artist, sculptor, founder of this art form, some consider him the 20th century's most famous artist.
Last words: "Drink to me!" Other reports say "Drink to me. Drink to my health. You know I can't drink any more."
(d. April 8, 1973)

Frida Kahlo

Claim to fame: Acclaimed Mexican artist, self-proclaimed Communist, creator of unique brand of folk art - among them vividly colored self-portraits.
Last words: "I hope the exit is joyful and hope never to return."
(d. July 13, 1954)

Marvin Gaye

Claim to fame: Motown music's smooth hit-maker, instrumental in growth and quality of diverse styles of popular music in the 1960s and '70s.
Last words: "Mother, I'm going to get my things and get out of this house. Father hates me and I'm never coming back."
(d. April 1, 1984)

John Lennon

Claim to fame: A founding member of The Beatles, went on to solo singing fame; controversial and vocal opponent of this war.

Last words: "Yes, I am," (while sitting in a police car on the way to a hospital, after officers asked him if he were John Lennon)
(d. Dec. 8, 1980)

Bob Marley

Claim to fame: Singer/songwriter/musician, considered the father of Jamaican reggae music and ambassador of this spiritual movement.

Last words: "Money can't buy life." (to one of his sons)
(d. May 11, 1981)

Malcolm X

Malcom X

Claim to fame: Activist, speaker and one of the nation's most influential - and controversial -- black leaders. He was also a member of this religious group.
Last words: "Cool it, brothers." Other reports say "Now, now, brothers, break it up, be cool, be calm." Still others say "Brothers, Brothers, please! This is a house of peace."
(d. Feb. 21, 1965)

Robert F. Kennedy

Claim to fame: Adviser and then attorney general to his brother and president John F. Kennedy, he ran for the presidency in 1968 (watch videos of his speeches).

Last words: "Is everyone else all right?" (whispered to his wife).
(d. June 5, 1968)

Martin Luther King Jr.

Claim to fame: Pastor, Nobel winner, acclaimed speaker , human-rights activist, champion of African-American civil rights, instrumental in success of this act passing. Read the speech he gave the day before he died.

Last words: "Make sure you play 'Take My Hand, Precious Lord.' Play it real pretty," (some disagree on the exact wording of this comment to musician Ben Branch, who was to perform at an event that evening).
(d. April 4, 1968)

Mother Teresa

Claim to fame: Humble, humanitarian Catholic nun who gave aid and hope to sick, orphaned and dying poor of India for more than 45 years.
Last words: "Jesus, I love you. Jesus, I love you."
(d. Sept. 5, 1997)

Pope John Paul II

Claim to fame: Polish native and beloved Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church; ( influential world leader
Last words: "Amen"
(d. April 2, 2005)

Babe Ruth

Claim to fame: Historic home-run king of American baseball, "the Bambino" was sports hero of 1920s.

Last words: "I'm going over the valley."
(d. Aug. 16, 1948)

Joe DiMaggio

Claim to fame: Joltin' Joe, considered one of the greatest baseball players in history.
Last words: "I finally get to see Marilyn" (referring to his ex-wife).
(d. March 8, 1999)

Saddam Hussein

Claim to fame: Iron-fisted dictator of Iraq for more than two decades; regime overthrown by U.S. military forces in 2003.
Last words: "I swear there is no God but Allah and Muhammad . . . "
(d. Dec. 30, 2006)

Al Capone

Claim to fame: Notorious Chicago gangster/mob boss who committed numerous crimes, including smuggling liquor in this era.
Last words: "You can get more with a kind word and a gun than you can get with a kind word alone."
(d. Jan. 25, 1947)

Indira Gandhi

Claim to fame: Only female prime minister of India, she served for 15 years, working to bring progress to her country.
Last words: "I don't mind if my life goes in the service of the nation. If I die today every drop of my blood will invigorate the nation."
(d. Oct. 31, 1984)

Winston Churchill

Claim to fame: Considered one of history's greatest wartime leaders and statesmen as Britain's Prime Minister during World War II.
Last words: "I'm bored with it all."
(d. Jan. 24, 1965)

Diana Spencer

Claim to fame: Popular first wife of Prince Charles of Wales, a pretty princess who became the unceasing focus of global media. She was also a humanitarian.

Last words: "My God. What's happened?"
(d. Aug. 31, 1997)

Alex the African grey parrot

Claim to fame: The subject of a 30-year scientific experiment to study the intelligence of parrots.
Last words: "You be good. See you tomorrow. I love you."

The World's Most Famous Celebrity Grave Sites

2:29 AM Tribune

The World's Most Famous Celebrity Grave Sites

Here are some other beloved stars' final burial spots.

Finally, after much ado about location, Michael Jackson's body was laid to rest at the star-studded Forest Lawn Glendale in Los Angeles. His final residence is now in the Great Mausoleum, a gallant structure on the grounds of the cemetery, and home to legendary stars like Clark Gable and Jean Harlow. Also buried in the cemetery are two of his lifelong heroes, Walt Disney and Larry Fine, one of the Three Stooges. We imagine this site will garner much attention and reverence from fans for many years to come.

Jim Morrison was a hard-living rock star whose candle burned from both ends up until his death in Paris at the age of 27. Like many deceased stars, there are numerous conspiracy theories surrounding Morrison's demise. Some say he died of a drug overdose in his apartment, while others suspect foul play. But due to French law, no autopsy was performed, so no one will ever know the truth behind the Doors singer's untimely death.His current resting place is in the ancient and world-famous Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris. His gravesite is never without an abundance of flowers and mementos, and people everywhere consider visiting his grave as a kind of rock 'n' roll pilgrimage

Marilyn Monroe is another star who should have lived and worked until old age. Instead, in 1962, the iconic actress was found dead in her Brentwood home at the age of 36. The cause of death, according to the autopsy report, was "acute barbiturate poisoning," resulting from a "probable suicide." Of course conspiracy abounds in this case, too.Marilyn is buried in a crypt at the Corridor of Memories at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, and, man, is it valuable real estate. The crypt above hers recently sold for $4.6 million

Like Marilyn, Princess Diana should have lived to a ripe, royal age. She was loved by pretty much everyone, so when she died in a car accident in August 1997, almost 2.7 billion people tuned in for her televised funeral. She was only 36 and had two small sons (who aren't so small anymore) and people blamed everyone from the paparazzi to the Queen of England for her death. It was

finally ruled in 2008 that the negligent driving of both parties (her driver and the cars following them) were to blame for the accident. Di's grave now sits on an island within the grounds of Althorp Park, the Spencer family home

Teenyboppers the world over seriously mourned Elvis Presley's death in 1977, even though the King of Rock 'N' Roll was just a shell of his former self right before his passing. There continues to be some argument about how Presley died. Some believe he died of ingesting a lethal combination of prescription pills, while others argue he died of a heart attack.Today, Elvis is buried at (you guessed it) Graceland, in an area known as the Meditation Garden.

Anna Nicole Smith (born Vickie Lynn Marshall) was larger than life in many ways. And though she was no stranger to the gossip rags and tabloids, nobody expected her sudden death just five months after the birth of her daughter Dannielynn. Like Elvis, her death was blamed on an overdose from prescription drugs and was fraught with controversy. The former Playboy model and reality star rests in Lakeview Memorial Gardens in Nassau, Bahamas. A tropical paradise isn't a bad place to spend eternity

Natalie Wood died in 1981 at the age of 43 from a seemingly minor boating accident that went horribly wrong. After drinking several glasses of wine, she fell overboard one night and accidentally drowned while on vacation with husband Robert Wagner.The actress's body is buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Talk about tragedy. James Dean's rocket of fame was just blasting off when Cal Poly college student Donald Turnupseed slammed head-on into the star's 1955 Porsche Spyder. Hours later, Dean died at the hospital at the age of 24. Famously, his last words (to his mechanic friend in the car with him) were rumored to be, "That guy's gotta stop ... He'll see us."Dean's body is buried in Park Cemetery in Fairmount, Ind., where he had spent his high school years

Old Blue Eyes lived a long, fast-paced movie star life up until he died of a heart attack in 1998 at the age of 82. Frank Sinatra's last words as the doctors attempted to stabilize him were, "I'm losing." What a sadly existential realization. He's buried in Desert Memorial Park in the California desert town of Cathedral City, near Palm Springs.

Like Frank Sinatra, classic Hollywood beauty Bette Davis lived a long life. After battling a number of ailments, she succumbed to breast cancer at the age of 81 in 1989. Her final resting place is at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills, along with the epitaph "She did it the hard way."

Mysterious Celebrity Deaths

10:07 PM Tribune

We're fascinated by the lives of celebrities, but when they pass on tragically, we can also be drawn to the way they died. In some cases, stars can become even more famous than ever for the mysterious circumstances under which they died. As a hat tip to this week's

premiere of the new History Channel series "Decoded," which has investigators looking into the untold histories of institutions such as the White House, the Statue of Liberty and more, we thought we'd take a look at stars whose untimely ends fascinate mystery buffs and conspiracy nuts alike.

Princess Diana

Princess Diana died tragically in a car accident with friend, multimillionaire Dodi Fayed, and a bodyguard on Aug, 31, 1997. While it is officially believed that aggressive paparazzi and an intoxicated driver were to blame for the fatal accident, multiple conspiracy theories began to pop up. The most widely disseminated theory is that the British Secret Service, the MI6, orchestrated the accident as a cover-up to the assassination of Diana.

Kurt Cobain

For any '90s child, Kurt Cobain's 1994 suicide was a defining moment, but for the conspiracy-minded, it was an all-around suspicious event. Some Nirvana fans claim that Cobain was in fact murdered, and they point to evidence such as the fact that Cobain had too much

heroin in his system to manipulate the shotgun that killed him and an alleged lack of gunpowder on his hands.

Marilyn Monroe

Officially, the cause of Monroe's 1962 death was ruled to be suicide by an overdose of pills. However, her alleged entanglements with John Kennedy prompted her fans to suspect that poor Norma Jean had been murdered. Regardless, Monroe is probably more famous today than

she was while she was alive.

Elvis Presley

Though only the nuttiest of conspiracy buffs claim that Elvis was bumped off, plenty of die-hard fans still believe that Presley didn't die at all. According to them, Presley longed to escape the spotlight and did just that, using his considerable means to fake his death and live out his

life privately -- just him, his records and a stack of peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches.

Natalie Wood

One of the strangest Hollywood deaths was that of Natalie Wood, who died at 43 years old on November 29, 1981. Along with her husband, Robert Wagner, and his costar, Christopher Walken, Wood sailed from Los Angeles to Catalina Island. Upon docking, however,

Wood fell out of the boat and drowned. It's not clear why Wood wasn't pulled back aboard or whether the cries for help heard by a witness actually came from Wood.

Bruce and Brandon Lee

After achieving fame in the U.S. on the original "Green Hornet" series, Bruce Lee seemed ready to become as big of a star worldwide as he had been in his native Hong Kong. However, in 1973 the seemingly invincible fighter lost consciousness after taking a painkiller and never

woke up -- his end being ascribed to "death by misadventure." Twenty years later, son Brandon Lee was poised to fulfill the family destiny of stardom when a prop malfunction caused him to be fatally shot on the set of "The Crow." Rumors of a curse on the Lee family have persisted ever since.

John Belushi

Founding "Saturday Night Live" cast member John Belushi was found dead in Bungalow No. 3 of the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood on March 5, 1982. Though the official cause of death was discovered to be a lethal combination of cocaine and heroin, the bizarre

incidents of the night begged the question of who was to blame. Both Robert DeNiro and Robin Williams had visited Belushi that night, as had groupie Cathy Smith. Smith later admitted to giving Belushi the fatal speedball shot and spent 15 months in prison on manslaughter charges.

Anna Nicole Smith

Less than a year after Smith's son Daniel died of a lethal combination of medications in his system, Smith died from what investigators determined to be the same cause. A lengthy investigation followed (both into Smith's death and the paternity of her baby daughter,

Dannielynn), and ultimately her lawyer and domestic partner, Howard K. Stern, was convicted of conspiracy -- allegedly enabling Smith's drug dependency as a means of controlling her fortune -- but no one has ever been charged with causing her death.

Jayne Mansfield

No one disputes that the voluptuous movie star was killed by a 1967 car accident, along with her boyfriend, Sam Brody (pictured). But a rather gory urban legend has persisted about her death: that she was decapitated. She wasn't, according to the police report, though a

well-circulated photo of the accident scene seemed to indicate otherwise. (A wig depicted near the car apparently misled some viewers.) Even more weirdly, a separate urban legend claims that the accident happened as a result of a curse placed on her by the Church of Satan.

Incidentally, Mansfield's children -- including a young Mariska Hargitay -- were in the back seat at the time at the time of the accident. The children were not seriously harmed

Phil Hartman

The manner of how the "SNL" star died is fairly cut-and-dry: He was fatally shot by his wife, Brynn. What lingers about the tragedy are the accusations of blame. In 1999, Brynn Hartman's brother filed suit against the makers of Zoloft and the doctor who gave Brynn samples

of the drug, on grounds that it helped bring about the murder-suicide. And actor Jon Lovitz has accused Hartman's "NewsRadio" costar Andy Dick of being responsible for having reintroduced Brynn to cocaine. Lovitz and Dick have feuded ever since.

Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen

When Spungen, girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, was found stabbed to death in October 1978, Vicious confessed to killing her even though he had no memory of the night. Some claimed that Spungen could have been murdered by a third party as a result of a drug

deal gone bad while Vicious was unconscious. The rocker was arrested but was released on bail. In February 1979, before a trial could determine who killed Spungen, Vicious fatally overdosed, preserving the mystery forever

Jon-Erik Hexum

The hunky '80s star and boyfriend of singer E.G. Daily seemed poise to make a major breakthrough with the NBC series "Cover Up," but accidentally took his own life on set. During a lull in filming, Hexum allegedly began playing with a prop gun that had been loaded with

blanks. He jokingly put the barrel to his head and then fired. Hexum apparently didn't realize that prop bullets package gun powder in hard substances, and the injuries he sustained from the blanks ultimately left him brain-dead. CBS kept the show on the air for the remainder of the season.

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