Famous people who died on Halloween

You know Houdini died on Halloween. Maybe you know Fellini. Maybe River Phoenix. Probably not Joseph Papp. And probably not MF Doom, whose fans didn’t find out until New Year’s Eve.

October 31 has a long list. Seven names follow, from 1926 to 2020. Most of the deaths weren’t exactly spooky, just sad, and a few were strange. We stick to what’s documented, and we keep it short.

Image Credit: Public Domain/Library of Congress.

The punch nobody can prove

Nobody can say for sure the punch killed Houdini. It’s the story everybody tells anyway.

Montreal, October 22, 1926. A McGill student named J. Gordon Whitehead hit him in the stomach, reportedly before he could brace. Houdini kept working. Two days later, he performed at Detroit’s Garrick Theatre, then collapsed, according to Michigan’s state archives.

He died at 1:26 p.m. on October 31, in Room 401 of Grace Hospital. Ruptured appendix. Peritonitis. He was 52.

He gave away Shakespeare

Joseph Papp’s big idea was simple: make Shakespeare free.

He was born Joseph Papirofsky. In 1954, he founded the New York Shakespeare Festival. His Public Theater launched “Hair” in 1967 and developed “A Chorus Line” in 1974.

Prostate cancer, diagnosed in 1987. He died on October 31, 1991, at 70. His son Tony had died of AIDS-related complications the same year. The theater now carries Papp’s name.

In her own garden

Indira Gandhi was killed by two of her own bodyguards.

October 31, 1984. India’s prime minister was walking through the garden of her New Delhi residence, heading to an interview with actor Peter Ustinov. Beant Singh and Satwant Singh opened fire, per EBSCO. It was revenge for Operation Blue Star, the army’s June 1984 assault on the Golden Temple.

Satwant Singh was arrested. He and Kehar Singh were hanged in 1989.

She heard it on TV

Fellini’s wife learned from television. He’d been in a coma in a Rome hospital since a heart attack on October 17. Giulietta Masina, his wife of 50 years, had been too distraught to stay at his bedside, the Roanoke Times reported. He died on October 31, 1993, at 73. The day before was their 50th wedding anniversary.

He won a lifetime-achievement Oscar that March, and four of his films also won Oscars, UPI noted. Masina died five months later.

The club that closed every Halloween

The Viper Room closed every October 31. Johnny Depp, who owned it, kept it dark until he sold his share in 2004.

There’s a reason. River Phoenix collapsed on the sidewalk outside it on October 31, 1993. He was 23, and he died of a drug overdose. He already had an Oscar nomination and was slated to star in “Interview with the Vampire.”

Quiet, in his sleep

Sean Connery’s death was the gentlest on this list.

He died in his sleep on October 31, 2020, at home in the Bahamas. He was 90. His son Jason told the AP he’d been “unwell for some time,” The Hollywood Reporter said.

Seven Bond films. One Oscar, for “The Untouchables.” He received a knighthood in 2000, at his request, with the ceremony held in Edinburgh. He called it “one of the proudest days” of his life.

Nobody knew for two months

MF Doom died on Halloween 2020, and nobody knew.

The masked rapper, Daniel Dumile, was 49. His wife, Jasmine, announced it on Instagram on December 31. No cause was given.

Earlier that month, a new Doom verse appeared on the “Grand Theft Auto Online” soundtrack. Fans had no idea he’d been dead for more than six weeks, CBS News noted.

Image Credit: Angelo Rizzuto/ Library of Congress

The bottom line

Fellini’s wife heard about his death on television. MF Doom’s fans were listening to a new song six weeks after his death, unaware.

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Famous people who died on Halloween