From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[edit] Famous people who died by suicide
- See also: List of famous deaths by accidental drug overdose and Lists of people by cause of death
- See also: List of songs about suicide and List of films about suicide
The following are lists of notable people who have definitely died intentionally by their own hand, regardless of the circumstances. Suicides committed under duress are included. Deaths by accident or misadventure are excluded. Individuals who might or might not have died by their own hand, or whose whose intention to die is in dispute, but who are widely believed to have deliberately killed themselves, may be listed under Possible suicides.
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[edit] Alphabetical
- Johnny Ace (1954), singer, American singer, playing Russian Roulette
- Chris Acland, British drummer (Lush), hanging
- Nick Adams (1968), American actor, overdose of paraldehyde and Promazine.
- Robert Adams, Jr. (1906), congressman from Pennsylvania, shot himself after heavy losses in stock speculation
- Stuart Adamson (2001), Scottish singer (Big Country, Skids), hanging
- Chris Adkisson, a.k.a. Chris von Erich, (1991), professional wrestler, gunshot to the head
- Kerry Adkisson, a.k.a. Kerry von Erich, (1993), professional wrestler, gunshot wound to the chest
- Mike Adkisson, a.k.a. Mike von Erich, (1987), professional wrestler, overdosed on the tranquilizer placidyl
- Neil Aggett (1982), South African worker's union leader; hanged in prison (murder is suspected by some)
- General Sergei Akhromeev (1991), Soviet military commander who led an unsuccessful coup against Mikhail Gorbachev
- Ryunosuke Akutagawa (1927), Japanese writer (author of "Rashomon"), barbital overdose
- Leandro Alem (1896), Argentine politician, founder of the Radical Civic Union
- Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1899), member of the British Royal Family
- Salvador Allende (1973), president of Chile (elected 1970), and uncle of renowned author Isabel Allende - allegedly shot himself during a coup d'etat against his regime orchestrated by General Augusto Pinochet - some sources allege that he was killed
- Marwan al-Shehhi (2001), Arabian suicide hijacker responsible for damages on 11 September 2001
- Jason Altom (1998), Ph.D. student
- Jean Améry (1978), Austrian writer
- Forrest Howard Anderson (1989), Governor of Montana
- Fridolin Anderwert (1880), Swiss Federal Councilor
- Aman Andom (1974), military ruler of Ethiopia; committed suicide to avoid his execution in an internal purge
- Gwili Andre (1959), Danish actress
- Roger Angleton (1998), brother of imprisoned Texas extortionist who admitted in his suicide note to killing his sister-in-law, socialite Doris Angleton
- Anson Jones (1858), doctor, businessman, congressman, and the last president of the Republic of Texas
- Mark Antony (30 BC), Roman politician and general
- Marshall Applewhite (1997), leader of the Heaven's Gate cult
- Hubert Aquin (1977), author
- Diane Arbus (1971), art photographer
- Reinaldo Arenas (1990), Cuban-American artist and writer
- Aristotle, Greek philosopher Although his death is sometimes reported as suicide, this is not historically proven, and many scholars believe Aristotle died a natural death
- Pedro Armandariz, (1963)
- Edwin Armstrong (1954), U.S. inventor of FM radio; jumped from a 13th floor window believing FM was a failure
- Howard Armstrong, invented FM radio
- Nikolas Asimos (1988), Greek rock musician
- Mohamed Atta (2001), leader of 19 Arabian suicide hijackers in the September 11, 2001 attacks, he himself being the suicide pilot of one of four teams; he crashed a plane into the North tower of the World Trade Center in New York City, causing its collapse, with a death toll of approx. 1800
- George Ault (1948), American painter
- Albert Ayler (1970), American jazz saxophonist; jumped into New York City's East River
- Andreas Baader (1977), leader of the German revolutionary organization RAF, founder of Baader-Meinhof gang- Although his suicide by gunshot to the head whilst in prison is certainly questionable.
- Milan Babić (2006), former leader of Republic of Serbian Krajina who pleaded guilty to war crimes
- James Robert Baker (1997), American writer
- Albert Ballin (1918)
- José Manuel Balmaceda (1891), President of Chile
- Barney Barnato (1897), South African diamond entrepreneur, jumped overboard while his ship was south of Madeira
- Isobel Barnett (1980), British TV personality
- Donald Barry, AKA Red Ryder (1980)
- Diana Barrymore (1960), U.S. actress, writer ('Too Much, Too Soon')
- Gert Bastian (1992)
- Gameel Al-Batouti (1999), pilot who deliberately crashed Egyptair Flight 990 into the Atlantic Ocean
- J. Clifford Baxter (2002), Enron vice-chairman
- Thomas McKee Bayne (1894), U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania
- Scotty Beckett (1960), child actor, Our Gang films
- Gertrude Bell (1926), archaeologist, writer, spy and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq"
- Peter Bellamy (1991), English folk singer
- Ota Benga (1916), African Pygmy put on "display" in United States
- Walter Benjamin (1940), German cultural theorist
- Jill Bennett (1990), British film actress
- Pierre Bérégovoy (1993), French Prime Minister, killed himself a month after losing a general election
- Hans Berger (1941), German physician and inventor of electroencephalography, by hanging
- Mary Kay Bergman (1999), American voice actress
- Paul Bern (1932), American film producer, director and writer, husband of Jean Harlow, bullet wound to the head, generally believed to be murdered by Dorothy Millette
- Ricky Berry (1989), American NBA Basketball player (Sacramento Kings)
- John Berryman (1972), American poet, jumped from the Washington Avenue Bridge (Minneapolis) after waving to passers-by
- Bruno Bettelheim (1990), child psychologist
- Ward Beysen (2005), Belgian politician
- Robert Bishop (1991), fetish artist
- Jens Bjørneboe (1976), Norwegian author
- Clara Blandick (1962), played Auntie Em in The Wizard of Oz
- Blossius of Cumae, Roman philosopher who led a failed revolt
- Barcroft Boake (1892), Australian poet, hanged himself from a tree
- Ludwig Boltzmann (1906), Austrian physicist
- Jeremy Michael Boorda (1996), 4-star Admiral, 25th Chief of Naval Operations in the U.S. Navy
- Ricardo Bordallo (1990), two-time Governor of Guam
- Adrian Borland (1999), British musician
- Ernest Borneman (1995), German sexologist
- Tadeusz Borowski (1951), Polish author
- Francesco Borromini (1667), architect
- Georges Boulanger (1891), French politician and general
- Tommy Boyce (1994), with Bobby Hart, songwriter for The Monkees
- Karin Boye (1941), Swedish author
- Charles Boyer (1978), French actor
- Frank B. Brandegee (1924), U.S. Senator from Connecticut, died in office
- Jonathan Brandis (2003), American actor
- Cheyenne Brando (1995), Daughter of Marlon Brando, hanged
- Eva Braun (1945), mistress and then wife of Adolf Hitler, cyanide
- Richard Brautigan (1984), American writer
- Herman Brood (2001), Dutch musician and painter
- Barry Brown (1978), actor and writer
- Oskar Brüsewitz (1976), East German cleric, committed self-immolation in protest of East Germany's persecution of Protestants
- Brutus (42 BC), Roman politician, assassin of Julius Caesar
- Eustace Budgell (1737), remembered because his death was discussed in a conversation between Samuel Johnson and his friend and biographer Boswell
- Bernard Buffet (1999), French painter ('The Crucifixion')
- Rembrandt Bugatti (1916), Italian sculptor
- Dan Burros (1965), Jewish Neo-Nazi
- Andres Caicedo (1977), Colombian novelist
- Wallace Hume Carothers (1937), world renowned chemist, suffered chronic depression; killed himself in a hotel in 1937
- Don Carpenter (1995), American novelist, friend of Richard Brautigan
- Dora Carrington (1932), artist
- Kevin Carter (1994), award-winning South African photographer and member of the Bang-Bang Club
- Capucine (1990), French actress
- Joseph Daniel 'Danny' Casolaro (1991), journalist
- Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1968), painter
- Gaius Cassius Longinus (42 BC), Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), British politician
- Cato the younger (46 BC), Roman republican statesman
- Ugo Cavallero (1943), Italian Field Marshal
- Paul Celan (1970), Romanian poet
- Valerie Chacon (1982), wife of Bobby Chacon
- Iris Chang (2004), Chinese-American author
- Claude Chappe (1805), French inventor
- Thomas Chatterton (1770), English poet
- Leslie Cheung (2003), Hong Kong movie star and singer
- Vere Gordon Childe (1957), Australian archaeologist and historian, jumped off Govett's Leap in the Blue Mountains
- Vern Christie, (1991), Australian businessman, General Manager of the Commonwealth Bank
- Edwin P. Christy, (1862), American entertainer, founder of the Christy Minstrels
- Christine Chubbuck (1974), U.S. newsreader, shot herself in the head on live TV after reading the news
- Chung Mong-hun (2003), Korean businessman, chairman of Hyundai Asan
- Diana Churchill (1963), UK social worker, eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill
- Jeremiah Clarke (1707), composer of Trumpet Voluntary, shot himself
- Cleopatra (30 BC), Queen of Egypt, snake bite
- Charmian Clift (1969), Australian writer, wife of George Johnston;
- Charles Clegg (1979), American author, photographer and railroad enthusiast
- Robert Clive (1774), British conqueror of India and founder of the Empire, cut throat with pen-knife
- Kurt Cobain (1994), Lead singer of grunge band Nirvana; self-inflicted shotgun wound.
- Harrison Cockrill (1876), U.S. Congressman from Kentucky
- Sid Collins (1977), radio voice of the Indianapolis 500, hanged himself after being diagnosed with ALS
- Ray Combs (1996), former host of popular American game show Family Feud, used bedsheets to hang himself
- Joseph Cordova (2006) shot himself after shooting boxer Vincente Garcia
- Pamela Courson (1974), long time girlfriend of Jim Morrison, unknown whether she accidentally or purposely overdosed
- Adam Couture, (1973), Former French politician and popular horse collector, used bed sheets to tie himself to horse and dragged across his 30 acre property
- F. W. S. Craig (1989), UK election expert
- Hart Crane (1932), American poet; jumped from a boat
- Darby Crash (1980), American songwriter, singer of the Germs
- René Crevel (1935), French writer, gassed himself
- Dennis Crosby (1991), actor, son of Bing Crosby
- Harry Crosby (1929), writer, publisher
- Lindsay Crosby (1989), actor, son of Bing Crosby
- Andrew Cunanan (1997), killer of Gianni Versace and four others
- Will Cuppy (1949), American writer, humorist
- Ian Curtis (1980), English singer and songwriter (Joy Division)
- Adam Czerniakow (1942), Warsaw Ghetto leader killed himself rather than obey Nazi orders
- Stig Dagerman (1954), Swedish author
- Dalida (1987), French singer
- Dorothy Dandridge (1965), American singer and actress, first black woman nominated for Academy Award as Lead Actress for "Carmen Jones", death ruled suicide by overdose
- Monika Dannemann (1996), Girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix
- Bella Darvi (1971), actress of Polish parentage, gas
- Dazai Osamu (1948), Japanese novelist
- Guy Debord (1994), French philosopher, member of Situationist International
- Jeanine Deckers (1985), Belgian religious, known as The Singing Nun
- Albert Dekker (1968)
- Delphine Delamare (1848), French woman, the basis for Flaubert's Madame Bovary
- Gilles Deleuze (1995), French philosopher, jumped from apartment window
- Penelope Delta (1941), Greek author, ingested poison the same day the Germans invaded Athens
- Denice Denton (2006), University of California Chancellor, jumped from 42-story San Francisco apartment building
- Patrick Dewaere (1982), French actor
- Rudolf Diesel (1913), Inventor of the Diesel engine
- Dioxippus (336 BC?); Greek pankration fighter who nakedly defeated an armored, and armed, soldier of Alexander the Great's; he was framed for theft, and forced into suicide, for his victory
- Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (2001), young King of Nepal, committed suicide after assassinating his father, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family
- Hugo Distler (1942), German composer, is believed to have committed suicide to avoid conscription into the German army
- Desmond Donnelly (1974), British politician who fitted into none of the parties he tried
- Terence Donovan (1996), English celebrity photographer
- Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (1983), former president of Cuba
- Chris Doty (2006), Canadian filmmaker and playwright
- Nick Drake (1974), British singer-songwriter, overdose (possibly accidental though officially ruled a suicide) of the anti-depressant, tryptizol
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1945), French novelist
- Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb (2004), American heart surgeon
- Micke Dubois (2005), Swedish comedian, hanged himself
- Thich Quang Duc, self-immolation, Saigon
- Pete Duel (1971), American actor
- K Sello Duiker (2005), South African author
- Davor Dujmović (1999), Yugoslavian-Roma actor
- James Dungy (2005), son of Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy
- Bud Dwyer (1987), American politician, shot himself on live television
- Jeanne Eagels (1929), American silent film actress
- John P. East (1986), U.S. Senator from North Carolina
- George Eastman (1932), inventor
- Richey Edwards (1995), member of the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers, missing since 1995, assumed to be suicide
- Ronnie Edwards (1994), British Great Train robber and flower seller
- Tristan Egolf (2005), writer, musician and campaigner
- Paul Ehrenfest (1933), Austrian physicist
- Harold 'Pompey' Elliott (1931), Australian Senator and war hero, first Federal politician to attempt suicide, gunshot
- John Ellis (1932), remorseful hangman
- Empedocles (432 BC), Greek philosopher, threw himself into Mt Etna
- Gudrun Ensslin (1977), German criminal, member of Baader-Meinhof gang
- Peg Entwistle (1932), U.S. actress, the first person to jump from the letter 'H' of the Hollywood sign; step-mother of Brian Keith who also committed suicide
- Sergei Esenin (1925), Russian poet, hanging
- Tom Evans (1983), Bass guitarist for Badfinger
- Richard Farnsworth (2000), U.S. actor, Oscar nominee
- Justin Fashanu (1998), British footballer
- Rainer Werner Fassbinder (1982), German film director (often listed as a drug overdose)
- René Favaloro (2000), Argentinian doctor, creator of the coronary artery bypass surgery
- Andrea Feldman (1972), Actor, Warhol superstar
- George Fiske (1918), photographer
- Ed Flanders (1995), U.S. actor (St. Elsewhere}
- John Gould Fletcher (1950), Pulitzer Prize winning poet
- James V. Forrestal (1949), former U.S. Secretary of Defense who quoted Sophocles in his suicide note
- Dédé Fortin (2000), leader and singer of Québec band Les Colocs
- Vincent Foster, (1993), Deputy White House Counsel, still controversial,
- Wade Frankum (1991), Spree shooter of Strathfield Massacre
- Sigmund Freud (1939), founder of psychoanalysis (lethal dose of morphine)
- John Friedrich (1991), Australian businessman and fraudster
- Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1993), former president of Georgia
- Ted Gärdestad (1997), Swedish pop musician
- Dave Garroway (1982), television host
- Romain Gary (1980), Russian-French novelist, film director and diplomat
- Danny Gatton (1994), American guitarist
- Michel Gauquelin (1991), French psychologist and astrology researcher
- Kostas Georgakis (1970), Geology student, committed suicide as a protest to the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
- Peter George (1966), author (Red Alert)
- Mark Gertler (1939), British artist
- Henri Giffard (1882), French aeronautical engineer
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1935), American feminist and author (Herland)
- Kurt Gödel (1978), German logician and mathematician (refused to eat any food)
- Joseph Goebbels (1945), German Nazi leader
- Hermann Göering (1946), German Nazi leader
- Julen Goikoetxea (2006), Spanish cyclist
- Fritha Goodey (2004), British actress
- Adam Lindsay Gordon (1870), Australian poet ('Life is mostly froth and bubble')
- Arshile Gorky (1948), Armenian painter
- Eddie Graham (1985), American professional wrestler
- Shauna Grant (1984), American adult film actress
- Spalding Gray (2004), American playwright, drowned in Atlantic after jumping off Staten Island Ferry
- Richard Greene (1983), boxing referee
- Peter Gregg (1980), race car driver, gunshot to head
- Robert von Greim (1945), German Air Marshal
- Anton Gustafsson (2003), Swedish singer (Anton Maiden)
- Antonio Guzmán Fernández (1982), serving president of the Dominican Republic
- Kenneth Halliwell (1967), English writer, lover of Joe Orton whom he killed before killing himself
- Mitch Halpern (2000), American boxing referee
- Peter Ham (1975), Welsh rock musician (Badfinger)
- Rusty Hamer (1990), American former child actor (The Danny Thomas Show)
- Lois Hamilton (1999), American actress, model, author, aviatrix
- Tony Hancock (1968), British comedian
- Hani Hanjour (2001), Arabian suicide pilot responsible in part for the 11 September, 2001 attacks
- Edward Allen Hannegan (1859), U.S. Congressman from Indiana
- Hannibal (182 BC), Carthaginian military commander
- Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1922), British politician who killed himself after knowledge of his attempted seduction of a 12 year old boy became public
- James Harden-Hickey (1898), U.S. eccentric who wrote a book about the appeal of suicide that also featured quotes on the subject from famous people; he chose an overdose of morphine
- Mary Hardy (1985), Australian TV personality (found dead in the bath and was presumed to have committed suicide)
- Eric Harris (1999), U.S. mass murderer, famous for the Columbine High School Massacre shootings with Dylan Klebold
- Michael Daniel Harter (1896), U.S. Congressman from Ohio
- Brynn Hartman (1998), wife of actor Phil Hartman whom she killed before turning the gun on herself
- Elizabeth Hartman (1987), U.S. actress who emulated a character in her film 'The Group' who jumped from a window
- Arihiro Hase (1996), Japanese voice actor best known for his role as Hikaru Ichijo from the anime TV series Super Dimensional Fortress Macross
- Donny Hathaway (1979), singer, best known for his duets with Roberta Flack
- Felix Hausdorff (1942), mathematician, committed suicide with his wife and sister-in-law in a concentration camp
- Phyllis Haver (1960), American actress of the silent film era
- Benjamin Haydon (1846), British painter
- Jeanne Hébuterne (1898-1920), painter, partner of Modigliani
- Sadegh Hedayat (1951), Iranian writer, gassed himself
- John Heddle (1989), British politician
- Ernest Hemingway (1961), American novelist, shotgun
- Margaux Hemingway (1996), American actress and model; Ernest Hemingway's granddaughter
- Benjamin Hendrickson 2006, American actor (As The World Turns), gunshot wound to the head
- George Hennard, American spree-killer (Luby's massacre)
- James Leo Herlihy (1993), U.S. novelist (Midnight Cowboy)
- Willard Hershberger (1940), baseball player, only major league player to commit suicide during the season
- Rudolf Hess (1987), Nazi leader
- Paul Hester (2005), Australian musician
- hide (1998), full name Hideto Matsumoto. Japanese musician and member of the band X Japan. Asphyxiative hanging by means of a towel, not proven to be suicide.
- George Hill (1934), American film director
- Heinrich Himmler (1945), German SS leader
- Adolf Hitler (1945), Nazi Germany's leader Shot/poisoned himself in bunker
- Abbie Hoffman (1989), U.S. political activist and political demonstrator. Some people claim he was murdured.
- Hong Xiuquan (1864), Chinese leader of the Taiping Rebellion
- Doug Hopkins (1993), musician, founding member of rock group The Gin Blossoms Killed himself with a .38 pistol December 5
- Elmyr de Hory (1976), Hungarian art forger
- Robert E. Howard (1936), American creator of "pulp" heroes Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja, shot himself in the head after learning that his mother was in a permanent coma
- Danton Hughes (2001), Australian sculptor, son of Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes, gassed himself at home
- Francis Hughes (1981), IRA member, died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Chuck Humphrey (1998), American Heaven's Gate cult member
- Martin Hurson (1981), IRA member, died during the 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Suad Husni (2001) Egyptian actress, jumped off balcony
- Phyllis Hyman (1995), American singer
- Dreyfal Hyatt (2006), AN HERO
- Jared High (1998), bully victim, killed himself at age of 13 due to the bully problems
- Cal Jammer (1995), Adult film star
- Alice de Janzé (1941), American heiress
- Vittorio Jano (1965), automobile design engineer
- Jim Jones (1978), leader of the Peoples Temple cult, died along with 914 of his followers in a mass murder-suicide at Jonestown, in northwestern Guyana
- Alex Jordan (1995), American porn film actress
- Luc Jouret homeopath, Belgian cult leader
- József Attila (1937), Hungarian poet (hit by a train, the fact that it was suicide was never proved and many people think it was an accident)
- Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (1918), Cossack leader during the Russian Civil War
- Sarah Kane (1999), British playwright
- Kostas Karyotakis (1928), Greek poet, shot himself
- Yasunari Kawabata (1972), Japanese writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, gassed himself
- Ivar Kreuger (1932), Swedish match industrialist, found dead in a hotel room in Paris
- Kawakami Bizan (1908), Japanese novelist
- Brian Keith (1997), American actor (Family Affair)
- Dr. David Kelly (2003), British scientist, source of BBC story about the September Dossier
- Samuel A Kendall (1933), congressman from Pennsylvania, self inflicted gunshot wound in the House Office Building
- Preston King (1865), Senator from New York, leapt from ferryboat in New York Harbor
- Dylan Klebold, Columbine massacre
- Heinrich von Kleist (1811), German dramatist and poet
- Jochen Klepper (1942)
- Günther von Kluge (1944), German Field Marshal
- Fletcher Knebel (1993), U.S. novelist (Seven Days in May)
- William F. Knowland (1974), former Senate Majority Leader, self inflicted gunshot
- Sándor Kocsis (1979), Hungarian football (soccer) player, killed himself in Barcelona after diagnosis of stomach cancer and leukemia
- Arthur Koestler (1983), journalist, novelist, political activist, and social philosopher
- Sarah Kofman (1994), French philosopher
- Hannelore Kohl (2001), wife of ex-chancellor of Germany Helmut Kohl
- Nestor Kombot-Naguemon (2004), diplomat and politician from the Central African Republic, jumped out of a window in Paris while serving as ambassador to France
- Woo Bum-Kon, spree killer, Uiryong, Korea
- Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1945), Japanese war criminal
- Alexandros Korizis (1941), Greek prime minister
- Jerzy Kosinski (1991), Polish-American author
- Philip Taylor Kramer (1995), rock musician and physicist
- Louis Krages (2001), German race car driver and businessman (raced under the name of John Winter)
- Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (1945), Nazi official during WWII
- Friedrich Alfred Krupp (1902), German industrialist, committed suicide when his homosexuality was revealed
- Alan Ladd (1964), U.S. film star, overdose of alcohol and pills, highly disputed for many years
- Paul Lafargue (1911), son-in-law of Karl Marx, communist theorist and author of The Right to Be Lazy
- Robert M. La Follette, Jr. (1953), Senator from Wisconsin
- Karen Lancaume (2005), French adult film star
- Carole Landis (1948), actress
- James H. Lane (1866), Senator from Kansas, general in Civil War, shot himself after being charged with financial irregularities
- Hans Langsdorff (1939), captain of the Admiral Graf Spee
- Napoleon Lapathiotis (1944), Greek writer
- Florence Lawrence (1938), Hollywood's first movie Star
- George P. Lawrence (1917), representative from Massachusetts, jumped out of building to death due to stress caused by World War I
- Katherine Lawrence (2004), writer
- Lee Kyung Hae (2003), South Korean activist
- Marshall Ledbetter Jr. (2003), lone man of non-violent protest within an office in Tallahassee, FL capitol building in 1991
- Jon Lee (2002), drummer of the band Feeder
- Richie Lee, vocalist with U.S. 90s alternative rock band Acetone
- Victoria Lee (1888), daughter of Emma Lee French
- Megan Leigh (1990), American erotic dancer and porn star
- Marc Lepine, Canada's most prolific spree killer
- Primo Levi (1987), Italian author and Auschwitz survivor
- Meriwether Lewis (1809), U.S. explorer with Clark; died in mysterious circumstances, either murder or suicide
- Robert Ley (1945), Nazi war criminal
- Max Linder, (1925), French actor
- Vachel Lindsay (1931), U.S. poet
- Louis Lingg, scheduled to be hanged for his alleged role in the Haymarket Square riot bomb, committed suicide by holding a lit stick of dynamite in his mouth
- Ruan Lingyu (1935), Chinese actress
- Friedrich List (1846), German economist
- Mikael Ljungberg (2004), Swedish wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
- Peter Llewelyn-Davies (1960), UK publisher who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan
- Ross Lockridge, Jr. (1948}, U.S. novelist, author of Raintree County
- Philip Loeb (1955), blacklisted American actor
- Mark Lombardi (2000), U.S. artist whose art described international white-collar crime networks; hanged himself in his Williamsburg, New York studio
- Jack London (1916), U.S. novelist (his doctor believed he had committed suicide by overdose of morphine and atropine, but his widow prevailed on a more senior doctor to ascribe the death to uremia, and had the body quickly cremated before an autopsy could be done)
- Terry Long (2005), Former NFL player
- Hans Loritz (1946), concentration camp commandant at various times - Esterwegen, Dachau, Sachsenhausen
- Lorenz Lotmar (1980), Swiss writer
- Malcolm Lowry (1957), British writer
- Gang Lu (1991), Physics graduate student at the University of Iowa
- Gherasim Luca (1994), Romanian surrealist
- Lucan (65), Roman poet
- Ron Luciano (1995), baseball umpire
- J Anthony Lukas (1997), U.S. author and journalist
- Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1918), Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist
- Roman Lyashenko (2003), professional hockey player
- Frankie Lymon (1968), singer ("Why do Fools Fall in Love?"), drug overdose
- Richard Manuel, (1986), singer, multi-instrumentalist, member of The Band, hanged himself while on tour in Florida
- Simone Mareuil, (1954), French film actress
- Andrew Martinez (2006), nude activist
- Susannah McCorkle (2001), jazz singer
- Kid McCoy (1940), world champion boxer (real name: Norman Shelby)
- Billy Mackenzie (1996), lead singer of 1980s pop group The Associates
- Gordon McMaster (1997), British politician
- Magnentius (353), Roman usurper
- Willy Mairesse (1969), Belgian race car driver
- Sándor Márai (1989), Hungarian writer and journalist
- Harry Martinson (1978), Swedish author
- Denis Matthews (1988), UK pianist
- Robert Maxwell (1991), Czech-born UK newspaper magnate who, some believe, jumped overboard in the Atlantic leaving a financial disaster in his wake - the official inquest ruled it was 'accidental drowning'
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1930), Russian poet; his suicide note said 'I don't recommend it for others'
- Jacques Mayol (2001), French free-diver
- Robert M. McLane (1904), mayor of Baltimore
- Joe Meek (1967), Record producer
- Niklaus Meienberg (1993), Swiss author
- Kitty Melrose (1912), English actress
- Joseph Merrick (1890), UK celebrity known as the Elephant Man; alleged to have committed suicide by allowing his massive head to obstruct his windpipe
- Charlotte Mew (1928), English poet
- Noel Mewton-Wood (1953), Australian pianist; drank prussic acid
- James Miller, fan man, (2003), parachutist
- Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1996), science-fiction writer
- Freddie Mills (1965), world champion boxer
- Mary Millington (1979), Britain porn star
- William Oswald Mills (1973), U.S. congressman from Maryland
- John Milton (1865), Governor of Florida
- Yukio Mishima (1970), Japanese novelist; committed public ritual seppuku
- Walther Model (1945), German Field Marshal
- Arthur Moeller van den Bruck (1925), German cultural historian
- George de Mohrenschildt, gunshot wound to the mouth
- Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (2001), South African jazz pianist
- Jürgen W. Möllemann (2003), German politician
- Marilyn Monroe (1962), American actress (some suspect foul play)
- Henry de Montherlant (1972), French writer
- Donnie Moore (1989), relief pitcher for the California Angels
- Duane R. Morrison (2006), Platte Canyon High School shooting
- Ted Moult (1986), British television personality
- Renate Müller (1937), German actress
- David Munrow (1976), UK early music specialist, founder of the Early Music Consort
- Al Mulock (1968), Canadian actor, committed suicide on the set of his last film, Once Upon a Time in the West
- James Murray (1936), American silent film actor, (The Crowd), drowned in the Hudson River
- Luis Ocaña (1994), Spanish cyclist, Tour de France winner
- Phil Ochs (1976), American singer, hanged himself in sister's apartment, Far Rockaway, New York
- John O'Brien (1994), author of Leaving Las Vegas (on which the film was based)
- Per Yngve Ohlin (a.k.a. Dead), (1991), vocalist for Mayhem, shot himself with a shotgun after having slashed his wrist and cut his throat
- Yukiko Okada (1986), Japanese idol of the '80s jumped from a 7 story building after failed wrist slashing and gas inhalation attempts
- Hugh O'Connor (1995), actor
- Lani O'Grady, American actress (The Waltons)
- Johnny O'Keefe (1978), Australian rock legend known as The Wild One; drug overdose
- Jan Palach (1969), protesting Soviet crushing of the Prague Spring
- Billy Papke (1936), world champion boxer
- Violeta Parra (1967), famous Chilean folk singer
- Jules Pascin (1930), French-American painter
- John Patrick (1995), U.S. playwright and screenwriter; placed a plastic bag over his head
- Cesare Pavese (1950), Italian poet, novelist
- George Periolat (1940), Silent film actor, drank arsenic
- Petronius Arbiter (66), Roman satirist; opened his own veins
- Richard Piggott (1890), author of the Piggott Forgeries
- Justin Pierce (2000), British Actor
- H. Beam Piper (1964), American science fiction writer
- Sylvia Plath (1963), American poet, author and essayist; gassed in kitchen oven
- Dana Plato (1999), American actress, drug overdose
- Derrick Plourde (2005), Musician, drummer of the Ataris, Lagwagon, Bad Astronaut, RKL and Mad Caddies shot himself on March 30th
- Stevie Plunder (1995), Australian guitarist, The Whitlams
- Ben Pollack (1971), Drummer and big-band leader from the mid '20s to the Swing era
- Jan Potocki (1815), Polish aristocrat, traveler, writer; shot himself with a silver bullet
- Marc Potvin (2006), Hockey coach, hanged himself
- Nicos Poulantzas (1979), Greco-French Marxist political sociologist
- Felix Powell (1942), UK song writer best known for "Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile", once described as 'the most optimistic song ever written'
- Lucien Anatole Prevost-Paradol (1870), French journalist and diplomat
- George R Price (1975), American population geneticist
- Freddie Prinze (1977), Puerto Rican American comedian and actor, best known for television show Chico and the Man, died of self inflicted gunshot wound
- Carlos Prío Socarrás (1977), former president of Cuba
- Boris Pugo (1991), serving minister of the Interior of the USSR
- Jack Purvis (1962), American jazz trumpeter
- Florencio Morales Ramos (1989), Ramito, trova singer
- Kuljeet Randhawa (2006), Indian television actress, hanging
- Danny Rapp (1983), frontman for Danny & the Juniors
- David Rappaport (1990), actor
- Jan-Carl Raspe (1977), German criminal in Baader-Meinhof gang
- Geli Raubal (1931), niece and possibly lover of Adolf Hitler; officially committed suicide but may have been murdered
- Margaret Mary Ray (1998), David Letterman stalker, knelt in front of a train
- Roy Raymond (1993), founder of Victoria's Secret
- Alfred Redl (1913), Austrian army officer, spied for Russia
- George Reeves (1959), U.S. actor, played Superman on television, death officially ruled suicide by gunshot, but remains controversial to this day
- David Reimer (2004), Canadian advocate/the "John/Joan" case
- Thomas Caute Reynolds (1887), Governor of Missouri
- Thomas Reynolds (1844), Governor of Missouri
- René Rivkin (2005), Australian stockbroker and entrepreneur
- Carlos Roberto Reina (2003), former president of Honduras
- Angel Rivero Mendez (1930), Puerto Rican soldier for the Spanish Army, inventor
- John Robarts, (1982), former Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, 1961 - 1971; committed suicide with shotgun
- Rachel Roberts (1980), Welsh-born British actress
- Bill Robinzine (1982), American basketball player
- Charles Rocket (2005), American comedian
- Sue Rodriguez (1994), Canadian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) victim and advocate for Euthanasia
- Samuel Romilly (1818), British prison reformer
- Erwin Rommel (1944), German Field Marshal
- Iris von Roten-Meyer (1990), artist and jurist
- Mark Rothko (1970), Russian-American painter
- Irv Rubin (2002), leader of the Jewish Defense League
- Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria (1889), heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne
- Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1857), Senator from Texas
- Michael Ryan (1987), mass murderer at Hungerford; shot himself as police closed in on him
- Jakub Jan Ryba (1815), Czech composer and teacher
- Akutagawa Ryunosuke (1927), Japanese novelist
- Johnathan Rubis (1892), American Columnist
- Alfonsina Storni (1938), Argentinian poetess. She committed suicide, by entering the sea at the La Perla beach near Mar del Plata, Argentina.
- Albert Salmi (1990), American actor, apparently shot his wife to death win one gun and shot himself in the heart with another
- Alexander Samsonov (1914), Russian military commander, gunshot to head following disastrous Battle of Tannenberg
- George Sanders (1972), English actor, barbiturate overdose
- Bobby Sands (1981), IRA member, died in the 1981 Irish hunger strike
- Monica Santa Maria (1994), "Dalina" (hostess) of the Peruvian children's series Nubeluz
- Alberto Santos-Dumont (1932), Brazilian aviation pioneer, hanging
- Bruce Sarver (2005), American NHRA driver, gunshot
- Savannah (1994), American porn actress, shot herself with a handgun
- Gia Scala (1972), British actress, overdose of drugs and alcohol, after previous unsuccessful suicide attempts
- David Scarboro (1988), British actor (EastEnders), threw himself from Beachy Head
- Eugen Schauman (1904), Finnish nationalist, assassin of Governor-General