Top 10 Celebrities Who Read Their Own Obituary
10.
Daniel Boone
Explorer of the American West and folk hero, Daniel Boone was made a folk hero because
of the publication of his exploits in dime serials of the day.
Kentucky's "first" resident, Boone's obit was erroneously printed a few years before
he died at the age of 86 in 1820.
Who knows, the newspaper who put his obit in early might have thought he was exploring
really new territory -- beyond the grave!?
9.
Bertrand Russell
Welsh philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell was ill from pneumonia when he was
reported dead by a Japanese newspaper in 1920 -- some 50 years before he died.
Supposedly the New York Times picked up the story and ran it.
This prompted an apology by way of him writing his own obit -- but supposedly that obit written
for his own entertainment was quoted in 1970 when he did pass away.
8.
P.T.
Barnum
Perhaps the only member of this list to actually want to see his obituary printed before his
death, PT Barnum, the genius behind the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, actually
requested to see his printed in the New York Evening Sun.
He got his wish on March 24, 1891; the obit was printed on the front page.
How's that for top billing?
He died two weeks later.
7.
Alfred Nobel
While most people recognize Nobel's name for the prizes it confers each year, Alfred Nobel
was known in his day as the "Merchant of Death" since he had invented both nitroglycerine
and dynamite.
When a newspaper printed his obit, 13 years before he died in 1896, and gave him that
dreadful moniker, he decided to do something about it creating the stipulations for the
prizes in his last will.
How ironic, the Nobel Prize has been known for patting people on the back for peace,
yet it's funded by some of the most explosive discoveries in history!
6.
Paul McCartney
One of the two still-kicking Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney was declared dead by a caller
to Detroit DJ Russ Gibb in 1966.
In a separate case, a New York DJ discussed his death a few days later.
Both instances prompted many references to his death in future Beatles songs.
5.
Earnest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway and his wife Mary Welsh Hemingway were in a plane crash in 1954 prompting newspaper
to declare them dead.
Much to the chagrin of the news services, the Nobel Prize-winning author of "Old Man
and the Sea" was seriously injured but remained alive until 1961, seven years after the debilitating
accident.
4.
Ronald Reagan/Queen Elizabeth
These two prominent world leaders were victims of the 2003 CNN.com premature obit section.
The Queen Mother Elizabeth was also declared dead after a routine drill witnessed by a
rookie at Sky News.
When the rookie called his mother in Australia, the word got out and they weren't able to
verify before running the story.
As for Reagan, it is rather surprising that he was not declared dead after the failed
assassination attempt on his life in the early 80s.
Reagan is known as one of the most popular American presidents of the latter half of
the 20th Century.
3.
Mark Twain
Called the father of American Literature, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or Mark Twain, as
he is better known was reported as dead in 1897, some 13 years before he died.
Reading his obit he gave the famous quote -- "The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
It seems in life and death he could still captivate audiences with his words.
2.
Bob Hope
The charismatic vaudevillian Bob Hope died just a few years ago, but is the second dead
celebrity on our list to have read his obit not once, but twice.
Both times his death was reported on a website before it was yanked.
Hope is a prime example of the journalistic practice of writing obits for famous people;
he had been on the Celebrity Dead Pool for years before his actual death.
1.
Pope John Paul II
Known as one of the greatest popes ever to serve in the Vatican, Pope John Paul II is
the only person to have read his obit on three different occasions.
And like Hope, he was defying people's expectations for years before he actually walked through
the pearly gates.
The pontiff was announced dead in 1981 after an assassination attempt, in the CNN.com premature
obit section and once hours before he actually died.
Honorable Mention
James Earl Jones, George H.W.
Bush, Rudyard Kipling, James Whistler, Steve Jobs, Joe DiMaggio, Arthur C. Clarke, Alice
Cooper, Fidel Castro and Margaret Thatcher.