Four Hollywood Stars that Committed Suicide

#4   Diana Barrymore 1921-1960

One of the legendary Barrymores of Hollywood. Her father was the legendary John Barrymore. She died January 25, 1960. Her death was not necessarily a suicide, and was thought to be an overdose, although no overdose was found. Still, many consider her death to be suicide. She starred in Nightmare (1942) Eagle Squadron (1942).

She is known and sometimes referred to as the “forgotten Barrymore”. Her famous family is full of actors and actresses, even being related to Drew Barrymore.









#3 Carole Landis 1919-1948 was of Norwegian and Polish descent. She started off as bit player in A Star is Born (1937)  A Day at the Races, Manila Calling, The Powers Girl. Her final two films were Brass Monkey (1948) and The Silk Noose (1948) She committed suicide by taking an overdose of Seconal in her California home. She was just 29 years old and made 49 pictures, which is quite a feat. It was said that she could have been one of the brightest stars in Hollywood history.

Her career started to short-circuit. Her contract with Fox was canceled, her marriages had failed, her last relationship was on the rocks. She also had some health problems that spelled disaster for her future.





#2  Stanley Adams 1915-1977 was a stocky character actor. He had relatively minor roles in pictures, with the exception of the role as Rusty Trawler of Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) He played characters mostly known for their first names. He was also known as the “Tribble Dealer” in a famous episode of Star Trek as Cyrano Jones. 
His suicide was noted to be attributed to severe depression as a result of a back injury  sustained earlier in the decade. Apart from the pain, it would have severely limited his employment in Hollywood. 


#1 Barbara Bates  1925-1969
In the last scene of “All About Eve”, Barbara’s character Phoebe looked into the mirror, imagining herself to be a star, holding the award that Eve Harrington just won. Even though her role was minor, many wanted to know who she truly was, intrigued with her scene stealing performance. 

A troubled woman, her life started unraveling after this film. She was susceptible to mood shifts, insecurity, il health, and chronic depression. By age 30, she was all washed up in Hollywood. She was able to get booked for another movie, but her signs of instability began to resurface and she was dropped. 
She was found dead in her car of carbon monoxide poisoning. Her mother was the one that found her. after her husband died from cancer in 1967. Another tragic ending to a promising Hollywood beauty who had it all and then lost it just as fast. 

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