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People Who Died Young #1

Can you identify these famous people who died before the age of 45? Take this morbid quiz and find out.
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: December 16, 2019
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First submittedJuly 23, 2011
Times taken59,673
Average score55.0%
Rating4.15
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Age
Time and Place
How
Person
24
1955, California
Car accident
James Dean
27
1994, Seattle
Suicide
Kurt Cobain
27
1970, London
Asphyxiation after taking sleeping pills
Jimi Hendrix
27
2011, London
Alcohol poisoning
Amy Winehouse
32
1973, Hong Kong
Mysterious causes
Bruce Lee
33
≈ 33 AD, Jerusalem
Crucifixion
Jesus
40
1980, New York
Shot in the back
John Lennon
33
1982, Los Angeles
Speedball overdose
John Belushi
34
1994, Bologna
Formula One accident
Ayrton Senna
36
1962, Los Angeles
Barbiturate overdose
Marilyn Monroe
37
1941, New York
ALS disease
Lou Gehrig
39
1965, New York
Assassination
Malcolm X
39
1968, Memphis
Assassination
Martin Luther King, Jr.
35
1791, Vienna
Fever
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
33
323 BC, Babylon
Fever
Alexander the Great
39
1967, Bolivia
Summary execution
Che Guevara
42
1968, Los Angeles
Assassination
Robert F. Kennedy
24
1997, Los Angeles
Drive-by shooting
Notorious B.I.G.
25
1996, Las Vegas
Drive-by shooting
Tupac Shakur
40
2013, California
Car accident
Paul Walker
+3
Level 75
May 19, 2014
Heath Ledger? Janis Joplin?
+3
Level 44
May 19, 2014
Jim Morrison? Heath Ledger? Phillip Seymour Hoffman? The list, unfortunately, goes on and on......
+3
Level ∞
May 19, 2014
Relax, guys, there is a sequel coming.
+3
Level 82
Oct 18, 2016
Jon Bonet Ramsey? Or Gary Coleman? Oh wait... he was like 50. He only looked like he was 8.
+2
Level 52
May 10, 2021
Kobe Bryant?
+1
Level 67
Nov 14, 2021
:'(
+1
Level 65
Jan 31, 2023
Yah. Just type in famous people and your bound to get most of them. :D
+3
Level 56
May 19, 2014
Elvis Presley, Janis Joplin, Princess Diana ??!!!
+3
Level 68
Nov 6, 2020
I was almost sure Princess Diana would've been on this quiz. I guessed it right away but alas, I was mistaken....
+1
Level 79
Feb 22, 2021
2/3 are in the sequel.
+2
Level 23
May 7, 2021
also (died at 48) Whitney Houston
+1
Level 65
Jan 31, 2023
I typed those hoping some would hit :D
+2
Level 69
May 19, 2014
Che should be acceptable. You have him listed on another quiz as a one name person.
+3
Level ∞
May 19, 2014
Busted! Che will work now.
+1
Level 8
Dec 19, 2017
Can you please make biggie smalls work for notorious big?
+1
Level 61
May 5, 2021
Biggie worked for me. They must have added it.
+1
Level 28
Oct 8, 2014
ELVIS??!! Really? Some of these other yahoos did not do anything compared to him.
+6
Level 71
Oct 19, 2016
He sang songs?
+2
Level 61
May 5, 2021
Everyone knows Elvis isn't really dead...
+2
Level 26
May 13, 2016
Some people need to read this quiz properly- it says under 45, hence why Elvis isn't on this quiz. Duh.
+2
Level ∞
Aug 7, 2016
Elvis is here.
+1
Level 75
Oct 18, 2016
Elvis died at age 42. Duh.
+1
Level 37
Apr 23, 2019
TinkyFitchFeeley: Elvis was 42 years old when he died, so he fits the criteria of under 45.
+2
Level 78
May 5, 2021
TinkyFitchFeeley is right. Elvis is a 86 year old enjoying his retirement in an undisclosed family's furnished garage.
+1
Level 82
Sep 21, 2016
Before I took this I was sure I'd be seeing Jim Morrison, Princess Diana and Amy Winehouse. I was kinda shocked when none of them came up.
+2
Level 72
Oct 8, 2016
Ehhh Amy Winehouse is there! Lol
+1
Level 59
Aug 2, 2017
Wow! Shocked is a bit of an overreaction! Perspective, people!
+2
Level 69
Oct 18, 2016
In what order is this quiz supposed to be? It's killing me
+1
Level 58
May 5, 2021
Look at the leftmost column...
+1
Level 75
Oct 18, 2016
What about a quiz specifically about club 27?
+1
Level 75
Oct 18, 2016
Never mind, found them...
+1
Level 67
Feb 16, 2024
No. Just no.
+1
Level 67
Oct 18, 2016
This might sound stupid but how, when and why was Che Guevara executed in Bolivia?
+1
Level 67
Oct 18, 2016
He was hiding out there, trying to recruit people for his militia, when he was located and captured. I think the president of Bolivia ordered him shot the next day -- or close to it.
+1
Level 37
Oct 20, 2016
He was executed in 1966 and was in Bolivia to help the down- trodden by helping them to fight against the "oppressive regimes"

as he was wont to do.

+2
Level 82
Aug 13, 2017
don't believe the t-shirts. He wasn't what you think.
+1
Level 55
Oct 18, 2016
Christopher Wallace should be acceptable for Notorious BIG
+1
Level 58
May 5, 2021
"Wallace" would also fit for William Wallace - who died at an age of ~35 - nice coincidence...

And what about Big, B.I.G., Biggy?

+1
Level 67
May 5, 2021
B-I-G P-O-P-P-A. No info for the DEA.
+1
Level 41
Oct 18, 2016
Why is Ramanujan not on here?
+4
Level 59
Aug 2, 2017
It's not a list of ALL people who died young, you know. Nor is it a list to appease petty minded little idiots who get all upset over their own pet individual.
+1
Level 47
Oct 18, 2016
Why not say "Lou Gherigs Disease?
+1
Level 60
Oct 20, 2016
How did he not see that coming?
+1
Level 55
Oct 22, 2016
Ha!
+1
Level 37
Oct 20, 2016
Sorry, but BCE (Before Our Common Era) represents BC and our Common Era (CE is the equivalent of Anno Domini). This distinction was made when historians couldn't quite juxtaposition the birth of Christ (who was actually born in 2 BC) with the fact that he would

have been born before himself. Subtract the date he was crucified from his age at death (33) and you will arrive at the correct answer.

(remember, there was no year 0).

+1
Level 43
Oct 20, 2016
Didn't accept Bobby Kennedy :'(
+1
Level 53
Oct 21, 2016
I was going to say that Freddie Mercury should be on here but apparently he died AT age 45.
+1
Level 57
Oct 23, 2016
Ayrton Senna died at Imola not at Bologna
+1
Level 44
Feb 25, 2018
that one threw me off too.
+1
Level 66
May 5, 2021
But the city of Imola is part of the metropolitan city of Bologna, despite being 40km from the city of Bologna (which is also part of the metropolitan city of Bologna). So Bologna is wrong, but also right, and Imola is right as well. Hope that cleared it up.
+1
Level 67
Oct 24, 2016
Too necro-centric!
+1
Level 60
Aug 2, 2017
No Karen Carpenter?
+1
Level 59
Aug 2, 2017
Clearly no
+1
Level 67
Aug 2, 2017
Heath Ledger? Janis Joplin? Stevie Ray Vaughan? River Phoenix? Sammy Wanjiru? Buddy Holly? Charlotte Bronte? And Rik Mayall, who I know wasn't that young but I just wish like hell he was still alive.
+1
Level 12
Aug 2, 2017
Tell me, where is Steve Irwin?
+2
Level 62
Jan 3, 2018
This isn't a complete list of everyone famous who died before age 45. But at least Steve Irwin died doing what he loved -- having animals in his heart
+1
Level 55
Jan 8, 2023
Yeah let's make fun of the guy that was accidentally killed doing what he loved. Real mature.
+1
Level 62
Jan 3, 2018
The two that impress me the most are Alexander the Great and Kurt Cobain. Alexander expanded massively expanded his empire and is widely renowned as the greatest military commander in history... and he died in his early 30s. Kurt Cobain's music is still played today and he's been inducted into multiple halls of fame, and he did everything in his 20's.
+2
Level 44
Feb 25, 2018
Jimi Hendrix = better. he died in his 20s too, and hes more famous..;)
+3
Level 83
Apr 19, 2018
Than Alexander the Great? That's a bit of a stretch.
+1
Level 67
Feb 16, 2024
Most creatives do their best work in their 20s though, so that doesn't make Cobain unique.
+1
Level 55
Jan 10, 2019
add avici
+3
Level 82
Jan 10, 2019
I've only got one more year left to get on this quiz.
+2
Level 82
Mar 21, 2020
Did the upper limit just get extended by 5 years? Yes! Still got a chance...
+1
Level 68
Mar 21, 2020
Wow.... I admire people with ambitions!
+1
Level 77
Feb 11, 2019
Would have been nice to have Heath Ledger in the quiz whom died due to suicide in 2008
+2
Level 67
May 5, 2021
He didn't commit suicide. He mixed a bunch of medications together, but there was no conclusion that he intentionally killed himself.
+1
Level 67
Feb 16, 2024
I agree there should be a distinction between accidental and intentional overdose. It's a pity we can't just ask them afterwards.
+1
Level 70
Apr 23, 2019
There are a few here where it'd be better said that they didn't die old. 40+ isn't exactly "young".
+2
Level 82
May 5, 2021
It's young to die.
+1
Level 16
Apr 24, 2019
add avicii / Tim Bergling to this quiz he died at the age of 28 in Oman.
+1
Level 75
Apr 24, 2019
Only heard of seven
+1
Level 64
Apr 24, 2019
Alexander was 32.
+1
Level 50
Apr 24, 2019
Who's Paul Walker?
+1
Level 50
Apr 24, 2019
The star of all of the Fast & the Furious movies
+2
Level 82
Nov 6, 2020
Not all of them.
+4
Level 77
May 3, 2019
Well done! You have succeeded in taking Americo-centricity to a new level without exciting comment. Until now, that is.
+1
Level 45
Nov 6, 2020
Great quiz! I feel like Anne Frank should be on here though.
+2
Level 63
Nov 7, 2020
There is actually some evidence that Gehrig did not actually have Lou Gehrig's Disease (ALS) and may have just died of complications from years of concussions from the sport.
+2
Level 67
May 5, 2021
If he got successive concussions as a first baseman, baseball was a very different sport back then. Pretty much the only three ways to get concussions in baseball are by running into the outfield wall, which first basemen never do, getting beaned in the head by a pitch, which is possible but very rare because most pitchers are not monsters, and in a collision at home plate. I know they didn't wear helmets in Gehrig's time, so I could see him getting badly injured by a pitch to the head. Just surprising because the notion of a player getting repeated concussions playing baseball today sounds near-impossible.
+1
Level 55
Apr 22, 2021
maybe add Kobe in a sequel
+1
Level 74
May 5, 2021
Of all the names on the list, I'm a little surprised John Belushi is the least correctly answered.
+1
Level 43
May 5, 2021
I thought this would only be about people who actually existed.
+6
Level 78
May 5, 2021
As hard as it is to believe, Bruce Lee actually did exist and perform all these stunts.
+1
Level 53
May 5, 2021
LMFAO you made me laugh so hard
+1
Level 71
May 5, 2021
Huh, I thought some of these were still alive and active.
+1
Level 69
May 5, 2021
At least half were actors, musicians. I had no idea.
+1
Level 65
May 9, 2021
The whole world is a stage and all the men and women merely actors.
+1
Level 53
May 5, 2021
maybe add freddie mercury?
+1
Level 67
May 5, 2021
Quiz says people who died before 45. Mercury died at 45.
+1
Level 52
Jul 20, 2023
45 years, 2 months and 19 days.
+1
Level 53
May 5, 2021
Add avicii plz
+1
Level 67
May 5, 2021
I got them all until I got to 1979. Only got one that died after that date....
+2
Level 63
May 6, 2021
Kobe at 41 would be pretty noteworthy (Helicopter crash)
+1
Level 40
May 7, 2021
maybe you should have added xxtentacionxx and juice wrld
+1
Level 60
Sep 20, 2022
I second this honestly
+1
Level 21
May 8, 2021
You forgot Blaire Rivers from the Heart Attack Grill in Las Vegas. He died of obesity-related issues at 29 years old
+1
Level 77
Jan 9, 2023
Many famous people have died young. The quiz can't include all of them.
+1
Level 65
Oct 18, 2021
Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, not Los Angeles btw
+1
Level 77
Jan 9, 2023
You're thinking John F. Kennedy, in 1963. This is his brother, Robert F. Kennedy, in 1968.
+1
Level 60
Sep 15, 2022
Senna is one of my heroes, I'm very sad I'll never get to meet him.
+1
Level 49
Feb 28, 2023
So I wrote Che and I misspelled Guevara (used two Rs) and I got it wrong. Bogus.
+1
Level 52
Jul 20, 2023
Notorious BIG: Wallace also should be accepted.