10 Bollywood Celebrities Who Died Young

Bollywood stars start their careers at a very young age and go on to become legendary actors. But some of them leave us ahead of their time at a young age. Dealing with showbiz is not that simple, and sometimes it takes the toll on these artists. Let’s take a look at 10 such Bollywood stars who died at a young age:

1.Divya Bharti: Bollywood’s yesteryear budding actress Divya Bharti who entered the industry at a very young age, died under mysterious circumstances. The actress who shot to fame in a really short span of time, died in the year 1993 after falling off from a five storey building in Versova. At the age of only 19, Divya’s death shocked the industry to the core.

2.Jiah Khan: Definitely one of the biggest deaths that shocked the entire Bollywood industry was of actress Jiah Khan. Jiah who committed suicide in the year 2013, passed away at the tender age of 25 leaving the industry in a state of shock. Her suicide letter seemed to indicate failure in this industry as the reason for her huge step. Actor Sooraj Pancholi was also involved in the actress’ suicide investigation case.

3.Aarthi Agarwal: One of the most shocking news of this year was actress Aarthi Agarwal’s death. The cause of actress’s death was said to be a sudden cardio arrest. The 31-year old actress Aarthi Agarwal was fighting obesity and pulmonary illness from a while. Aarthi underwent the risky procedure of liposuction, in order to get in shape for the showbiz and lost her life due to complications in the same.

4.Taruni Sachdev: Bollywood’s cute little angel face star Taruni Sachdev died at a tender age of 14 in a plane crash. The unfortunate mishap took place when the star was travelling back to India from Nepal, and her plane crashed. Best known for her role in the film Paa, Taruni’s death made the whole nation grieve for the young little star.

5.Soundarya: Another actress we lost in plane crash was Soundarya, who was not only a famous face in Bollywood, but also in the Southern film industry. The Suryavanshi actress died near Bangalore in a plane crash, accompanied by her brother who died as well. Soundarya was apparently on her way to Andhra Pradesh when the crash took place. She was only 28 years old.

6.Madhubala: Bollywood’s evergreen beauty Madhubala died at a young age of 39 years after losing a battle to sickness. The actress who is known as the epitome of beauty, is still remembered as an icon and her early death was felt as a loss to the entire film fraternity. Madhubala’s role as Anarkali in the iconic film Mughal-E-Azam is considered legendary.

7.Smita Patil: Another yesteryear beauty whose early death was a huge loss for Indian cinema was none other than actress Smita Patil. National Award and Padma Shri winner Patil passed away at only 31 years due to health problems. Her social work towards upliftment of women in rural India proves that she was one of the most humanitarian stars of her time. Her films also usually were women centric which was a great deal at that time.

8.Silk Smitha: Iconic actress Silk Smitha passed away at the early age of 36 after committing suicide. The actress was found dead in her Chennai apartment. Vidya Balan starrer The Dirty Picture, which was a biopic of Smitha’s life indicates how the showbiz got the best of the actress. Depression and problems in personal life were some of the reasons why Smitha took her life.

9.Abir Goswami: Television actor Abir Goswami died at a very young age of 37 due to cardiac arrest. After making a steady climb in his career with serials like Kkusum and Pyaar Ka Dard Hai, he has also acted in hit films like 2013’s Ugly and Hrithik Roshan starrer Lakshya. Abir passed away in May 2013 after a sudden massive heart attack while he was on a treadmill in his gym.

10.Sanjit Bedi: Popular Television actor Sanjit Bedi passed away recently in June 2015 after losing a battle with prolonged illness. Sanjit was suffering from brain sickness and was in coma for a long time. The actor passed away in June, at a young age of mid forty. Best known for his role in Sanjivani, he also starred in programs like Jaane Kya Baat Hui, Kyaa Hoga Nimmo Kaa and Kasautii Zindagii Kay

Child Stars That Tragically Died

1. Jonathan Brandis.

Jonathan Brandis was a model before landing the starring role in Steven Spielberg’s Seaquest DMV which also led to him working as a writer and producer. Unfortunately after a long struggle with depression Brandis hung himself at 27.

2. Matthew Garber

You might remember Garber from the classic Disney film Mary Poppins. He also featured in two more Disney movies before retiring. At 21 he died due to complications of Pancreatitis in 1977.

3. Michelle Thomas.

Thomas is best known as an actress on Family Matters and The Cosby Show. She died of stomach cancer in 1998 at age 29.

4. River Phoenix.

Definitely one of the most famous child star deaths of all time, Phoenix was being touted as one of the next big actors in Hollywood, appearing in Stand By Me and Running on Empty. On Halloween night 1993, Phoenix suffered a drug overdose and died outside the Viper Room on The Sunset Strip in front of his brother Joaquin and sister Rain.

5. Lee Thompson Young.

Young was an actor on the rise who had a lead role in Friday Night Lights but suffered from Bipolar disorder which led to him committing suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in 2013, aged 27.

6. Judith Barsi.

Barsi was in The Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven. Unfortunately she was in an extremely abusive domestic environment and was eventually murdered along with her mother by her father in 1988. She was only 10-years-old.

7. Josh Ryan Evans.

Evans was in Baby Geniuses and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. He would often play characters much younger than himself because he was born with Achondroplasia which is a type of dwarfism. He was 17 at the time of his biggest role when he played a child in Passions. He died in 2002 during an operation for a congenital heart condition.

8. Christopher Pettiet.

Pettiet was most famous for his role as Christina Applegate’s younger brother in Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. He died of an accidental drug overdose in 2000 at the age of 24.

9.  Ashleigh Aston Moore.

Moore started acting when she was four and her most notable role was in the film Now and Then. She retired from acting in 1997 but eventually went the way of many child stars and died of a heroine overdose in 2007.

10. Rob Knox.

Knox landed a role in Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. He was supposed to reprise the role in the final film however he was stabbed to death during a fight while trying to protect his younger brother when he was just 18.

11. Heather O’Rourke.

O’Rourke played Carol Anne in the iconic 1982 film Poltergeist. She was selected by Steven Spielberg himself for the part and spouts the now iconic line “they’re here”. Following the film she was diagnosed with Intestinal Stenosis in 1988 and died due to complications from an operation at the age of 12.

12. Justin Pierce.

Pierce was a British actor that played Casper in the film Kids and starred alongside Ice Cube in Next Friday. He was found hanging in his hotel room by a security guard in 2000 at the age of 25.

13. Bridgette Anderson.

This adorable child star was in Savannah Smiles, Family Ties, Fever Pitch and The Parent Trap II. However, she was another star that suffered addictions to alcohol and heroine, was estranged with her family and died following an overdose in 1997 at the age of 21.

14. Brad Renfro.

You might remember Renfro from his breakout role in The Client which led to his involvement with 21 other films in his short but illustrious career. He battled alcoholism and and a heroine addiction which ended up costing him his life at the young age of 25.

15. J. Madison Wright Morris.

The young actress from The Burning Zone and Safety Patrol struggled with health her whole childhood. She fought through multiple bouts of pneumonia, was diagnosed with Restricted Cardiomyopathy and had a heart transplant at 15 which only allowed her to reach the age of 21 before she suffered a heart attack and died one day after returning from her honeymoon.

10 Most Tragic Star Deaths

Hollywood stars may seem larger than life to their fans, but of course, they are just as vulnerable to life’s tragedies as the rest of us, including the chance of dying at a young age. And while the unexpected loss of a loved one is always a mournful occasion, the loss of a young person is particularly heartbreaking. Sadly, there have been quite a few Hollywood child stars who have died young. Here are 10 beloved child actors who passed away far too soon.

1. Gary Coleman (1968-2010)

Gary Coleman became a child star through his role as the wisecracking Arnold Jackson on the 1980s hit television series Diff’rent Strokes. On the show, Coleman played one of two African-American brothers that are adopted by a wealthy white widower. The show turned the diminutive actor into a pop culture phenomenon, thanks to his character’s memorable catchphrase: “What’chu talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” While Coleman was a child when he first starred on the show, he remained short-statured throughout his adult life due to multiple chronic health problems that permanently stunted his growth and kept his height at 4 feet, 8 inches.

Unfortunately, despite the fame that Diff’rent Strokes brought him, Coleman was plagued with money problems for most of his life. As an adult, he discovered that his parents and agent had misappropriated his childhood earnings. After a successful lawsuit, Coleman was awarded $1.3 million, as reported by Jet magazine. As he got older, Coleman gained further tabloid notoriety for multiple altercations with fans.

He was also cited for disorderly conduct for several incidents involving actress Shannon Price, his girlfriend and wife. Tragically, Coleman’s many health issues likely contributed to his early death at the age of 42. On May 28, 2010, after sustaining injuries due to a fall in his home, the troubled actor passed away from a brain hemorrhage at a hospital in Utah.


2. Corey Haim (1971-2010)

If you watched movies in the 1980s, you are probably familiar with Corey Haim. The young actor starred in many popular teen movies throughout the decade, often alongside real-life friend Corey Feldman. Haim made his feature film debut in 1984’s Firstborn, a movie about an abusive drug addict that also starred Sarah Jessica Parker, Robert Downey, Jr., and Peter Weller. A slew of other film appearances soon followed, including starring roles in Silver Bullet and made-for-TV drama Lucas (alongside a young Winona Ryder). In 1987, Haim starred in the teen horror film The Lost Boys alongside many other notable young 1980s stars. The success of the film made Haim a household name and led to many other teen movie roles.

Unfortunately, even while his acting career was taking off, Haim’s personal life was spiraling out of control. As noted in Feldman’s memoir Coreyography, both actors were introduced to hard drugs like cocaine at a young age. Feldman also claimed that they were both sexually abused as children by people in the movie industry, and that the trauma of that abuse likely fueled Haim’s self-destructive behavior. As Haim’s popularity began to wane in the early 1990s, his drug addictions became even more serious, despite multiple attempts to get clean with stints in rehab.

On March 10, 2010, an unresponsive Haim was found by his mother in the apartment that they shared. After being transported to a hospital, the 38-year-old Haim was pronounced dead. According to Access Hollywood, the coroner determined that the cause of death was due to pulmonary congestion and not a drug overdose, as many people initially assumed. However, it is widely believed that Haim’s years of drug abuse indirectly contributed to his death by taking a toll on his overall health.


3. River Phoenix (1970-1993)

River Phoenix was a promising young actor and musician who earned his fame at an early age thanks to his breakout role in 1986’s Stand By Me. Although Phoenix was best known for his acting work, this talented star was also a musician who sang and played lead guitar for Aleka’s Attic, a band he formed with his sister Rain. Phoenix’s well-received performance in Stand By Me soon led to additional roles in major motion pictures, including The Mosquito Coast, A Night in the Life of Jimmy Reardon, and Little Nikita.

In 1988, Phoenix garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his portrayal of a counterculture couple’s son in Sidney Lumet’s Running on Empty. The following year, he had a small role as a young Indiana Jones in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. In 1991, Phoenix delivered yet another critically acclaimed performance as a narcoleptic street hustler in Gus Van Sant’s My Own Private Idaho.

While it appeared that this young actor was well on his way to becoming a major movie star, sadly, this was not to be. In the early morning hours of October 31, 1993, Phoenix collapsed outside of a nightclub in Los Angeles in front of his brother Joaquin and sister Rain. Phoenix was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. As noted by The New York Times, the coroner reported finding “deadly levels of cocaine and morphine” in his system. He was only 23 years old.


4. Paul Walker (1973-2013)

While Paul Walker is primarily remembered today for his starring role in The Fast and the Furious films, this actor also appeared in multiple TV shows and movies as a child. His big break came when he was cast in 1986’s Monster in the Closet, a horror comedy movie that also featured Stacy Ferguson (of Black Eyed Peas fame), Howard Duff, and John Carradine. As a child actor, he appeared in several TV series, including Highway to Heaven and Throb.

However, his greatest career success came as an adult, when he was cast as Brian O’Conner in 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. The box office success of The Fast and the Furious led to roles in other major motion pictures, including Timeline, Into the Blue, and Flags of Our Fathers. He reprised his role as Brian O’Conner in five sequels to The Fast and the Furious, including 2015’s blockbuster Furious 7.

On November 30, 2013, Walker left a benefit event for his Reach Out Worldwide charity in a Porsche driven by a friend. The driver soon lost control of the car, and the subsequent fiery crash killed both men. According to investigators cited by CNN, the cause of the accident was “unsafe speed for the roadway conditions.” Walker had recently turned 40 years old.

5. Brittany Murphy (1977-2009)

Brittany Murphy appeared in several TV sitcoms and commercials before getting her big break with a role in the 1995 hit comedy film Clueless. In the film, Murphy portrayed an “ugly duckling” high school girl who is given a transformative makeover by a more popular girl, played by Alicia Silverstone. Loosely based on Jane Austen’s novel Emma, Clueless garnered critical acclaim and led to Murphy getting other roles in major motion pictures such as Girl, Interrupted; 8 Mile; and Sin City. She also lent her voice talents to Mike Judge’s animated TV show King of the Hill for the character of Luanne Platter.

On December 20, 2009, Murphy was taken to the hospital by emergency services after collapsing in her home. She was pronounced dead after going into cardiac arrest. According to the autopsy report obtained by CNN, Murphy had “acute pneumonia” and was suffering from a “chronic iron deficiency.” The report also noted the presence of multiple cold medications in Murphy’s system that may have contributed to her death. Murphy was only 32 years old.

Although Murphy’s death was ruled accidental, various conspiracy theories have emerged that blame her death on everything from toxic mold to harassment by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, as reported by The Huffington Post. The mystery surrounding this young star’s untimely death only deepened after Murphy’s husband, Simon Monjack, died under similar circumstances five months later in the same house.


6. Heather O’Rourke (1975-1988)

Heather O’Rourke was a child actor who is most famous for her role in the 1982 horror film Poltergeist and its two sequels, Poltergeist II: The Other Side and Poltergeist III. In the first film, the angelic-looking O’Rourke plays the role of Carol Anne Freeling, the youngest daughter in a family whose home is plagued by a supernatural apparition. The Poltergeist movie poster that features O’Rourke with her hands on a television screen transmitting static is perhaps one of the most iconic ever created, while the “They’re here” line that she delivers in the movie is so well known that it was included on The American Film Institute’s list of top movie quotes from the last 100 years.

Sadly, Poltergeist III was to be the last film that O’Rourke would ever make. Several months before filming began, O’Rourke became ill and was misdiagnosed as having Crohn’s disease. Unfortunately, the misdiagnosis was not discovered until it was too late. On January 31, 1988, O’Rourke collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. According to the Los Angeles Times, doctors at the hospital where she was brought found that her illness was caused by a longstanding bowel obstruction. An attempt to surgically remove the blockage led to septic shock and caused her to suffer a cardiac arrest. O’Rourke was just 12 years old when she passed away.

7. Brad Renfro (1982-2008)

Brad Renfro was a child actor who is perhaps best known for his big-screen debut in the critically acclaimed 1994 thriller The Client, based on a John Grisham novel of the same name. In the film, the 11-year-old Renfro plays the lead role of Mark Sway, a young boy who witnesses the suicide of a mob-connected lawyer. Renfro’s well-received performance led to roles in other major motion pictures, including Tom and Huck, The Cure, Sleepers, and Apt Pupil. Unfortunately, Renfro’s promising acting career was soon derailed by his increasing drug use.

After having already been cited for drug possession in the late ‘90s, Renfro earned further notoriety when he was arrested in 2000 for attempting to steal a yacht, as reported by the Spartanburg Herald-Journal. In 2002, he was ordered into a three-month rehab program following an arrest for public intoxication. In 2005, Renfro was arrested for attempting to purchase heroin from an undercover police officer in Los Angeles. On January 15, 2008, the 25-year-old Renfro was found dead of a heroin overdose by his friends.


8. Dana Plato (1964-1999)

Like Gary Coleman, Dana Plato found fame as a child actor on the 1980s sitcom Diff’rent Strokes. From 1978 to 1986, Plato played the role of Kimberly Drummond, the teenage daughter of a wealthy white widower who adopts two African-American brothers. Plato struggled with drug usage at an early age and was known to be abusing alcohol and Valium when she was only 14 years old, according to People magazine. In 1984, Plato was dismissed from the show after becoming pregnant, although she made several appearances in the final 1985-1986 season.

Despite the fame she achieved as a star on Diff’rent Strokes, Plato found it difficult to find quality work after leaving the show. In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, she starred in several forgettable B-movies and posed for Playboy magazine. Around the same time, Plato was beset by several personal tragedies when her husband divorced her, her mother passed away, and an accountant stole most of her money. She also lost custody of her son due to her ongoing drug and alcohol problems. In 1991, Plato hit rock bottom when she was arrested for a comically inept video store robbery that earned her five years of probation and a stint in a rehab program.

Unfortunately, Plato was never able to fully kick her drug habit. On May 8, 1999, the 34-year-old Plato was found dead of a drug overdose by her fiancé in their Winnebago motor home. According to People magazine, a medical examiner ruled her death a suicide.


9. Bobby Driscoll (1937-1968)


Although he may not be a familiar face to many people today, Bobby Driscoll was once a major child star.  As a young boy, Driscoll starred in several early Disney live-action films such as Song of the South, So Dear to My Heart, and Treasure Island. Driscoll also turned in a critically acclaimed dramatic performance as a witness to a murder in the 1949 film noir The Window, which earned him a juvenile Academy Award. However, Driscoll’s most famous role is one that never saw him appear onscreen. Driscoll was the voice actor and reference model for the titular character in Disney’s 1953 animated classic Peter Pan.

Unfortunately, Driscoll found it difficult to shed the child star image even after Disney terminated his contract when he got older. After a difficult stint at a public high school, Driscoll began abusing drugs and was eventually jailed in 1961. Unable to find work in the mainstream movie industry after his release, Driscoll headed to New York, where he appeared in Piero Heliczer’s experimental film Dirt and briefly joined Andy Warhol’s art community known as the Factory.

On March 30, 1968, two children discovered Driscoll’s body in an abandoned tenement building in New York. After no came forward to claim the body, the city buried him as a “John Doe” in an unmarked grave. Driscoll’s fate wasn’t discovered until over a year after his death, when his mother made inquiries about his location and postmortem fingerprints were used to identify him. Driscoll was 31 years old when he died.

10. Rob Knox (1989-2008)

Rob Knox was a young English actor who appeared to be on the cusp of a promising career after securing the role of Marcus Belby in the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Although his portrayal of Belby in the sixth Harry Potter film is his most famous role, Knox had previous acting experience through appearances on multiple British TV shows, as well as a small part in the 2004 film King Arthur.

On May 24, 2008, Knox was stabbed five times in the chest outside a bar in London as he was trying to defend his brother from an attacker, reported the BBC. Knox was only 18 years old when he died. His attacker — Karl Bishop — was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 20 years in 2009.