Random Famous People Who Died On Toilet (12 items)

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  (#1) Elvis Presley

  • Dec. at 42 (1935-1977)

  One of the most famous singers to ever grace an American stage, Elvis Presley shot to fame in the 1940s and 1950s when he sang, danced, and acted his way into the country's hearts. Best known for songs like "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock," the hip-gyrating star made women swoon. But during the latter part of his career, he became addicted to drugs, leading to him to an untimely demise while on the commode. 

  Elvis was going to the bathroom in his Graceland mansion on August 16, 1977, when the years of drugs he'd taken finally began to catch up with him. The King fell off the toilet next to a pool of his own vomit. Later, it was revealed that an extreme cocktail of drugs caused his passing. 
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  (#2) Judy Garland

  • Dec. at 47 (1922-1969)

  Following a difficult childhood, the actor who would become known as Judy Garland took the stage and screen by storm. Like Elvis, she suffered from an addiction to drugs, but that didn't put a damper on the luster of her great career early on, which included a starring role in The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy. 

  Personal problems, ranging from nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts to bizarre behavior on set, led to the downfall of her Hollywood career. This was attributed to the cocktail of pills Garland regularly took, including barbiturates and amphetamines. At the age of 47 in 1969, Garland died on the toilet; her fifth husband found her body. Reports say Garland died sometime between 3 and 4 AM, her body slumped over the toilet with the bathroom door locked. 
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  (#3) George II of Great Britain

  • Dec. at 77 (1683-1760)

  This monarch was German by birth - his dad, George I, was a distant cousin of the last ruler, Queen Anne, and inherited the throne because he was a Protestant. George II didn't get along with his dad at all; they fought by allying with different political factions in England (the pattern repeated itself with George II's son, Frederick Louis). It was during George I's reign that the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745 took place.

  George died in a manner not befitting his royal status. In 1760, he was straining to get things moving in his intestinal tract when he felt so ill that he tried to ring for assistance and fell off the toilet. Hearing a loud noise and a thud coming from the bathroom, his servant ran in to help him. But it was too late - George wound up dying soon after. Doctors found that a ventricle in his heart had burst.
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  (#4) Godfrey IV, Duke of Lower Lorraine

  This 11th century monarch was known as the "Hunchback" for his stature. Despite his nickname, Godfrey was a well-thought-of leader in his own time, dubbed "a young man indeed with an excellent mind, but with a hump." His wife was his step-sister, Matilda of Canossa, an occasional military leader who ruled a large area of Italy and supported papal forces against imperial factions.

  In 1096, Godfrey was in Flanders when he was attacked by an assassin as he "answered the call of nature." He survived for nearly a week after the attack, but eventually died. It's believed he was killed in retaliation for a military victory.
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  (#5) Uesugi Kenshin

  • Dec. at 48 (1530-1578)

  This 16th-century Japanese warlord was one of the most important figures of his age. Uesugi Kenshin started his ascension to fame when he saved the life of his daimyo, or feudal master, and demanded he adopt Kenshin as gratitude. In battle, Kenshin reportedly was such an effective leader that he didn't need to speak to command his troops, and communicated solely through gestures. An extraordinarily brave man well-known for his epic rivalries with other lords, he also had a great impact on Japanese military technology, transmitting the recipe for gunpowder to his armies.

  Kenshin's epic life wasn't matched by his ignominious death. Legend has it that one of his rivals sent an assassin to hide in the sewer beneath his toilet. When Kenshin went to use the commode, the killer sprang up and skewered his target with a sword or spear. 
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  (#6) Evelyn Waugh

  • Dec. at 63 (1903-1966)

  Evelyn Waugh was a 20th-century British author with quite the interesting life. He dropped out of Oxford University before graduating, became an international journalist, and married a woman also named Evelyn. Also a soldier, Waugh wrote a lot about the military, which inspired his Brideshead Revisited; he also suffered from unrequited love and tons of physical ailments.

  The circumstances of Waugh's passing are a bit unclear. Some speculate he not only died on the toilet but actually drowned in it. According to reports, Waugh returned from mass and headed to the toilet. When he didn't return, his family went looking for him and found him dead on the floor. One friend said he was found with water in his lungs, though that is disputed. 

  Whether he died on it or in it, Waugh definitely collapsed in relation to the commode in 1966 and passed soon after. It was common knowledge that Waugh was in poor health and his official cause of death was determined to be heart failure. 
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  (#7) Louis Kahn Stopped To Use The Restroom And... Died

  Louis Kahn was one of America's most celebrated architects, best known for combining Modernist sensibilities with inspiration from ancient monuments. Born in Estonia, he migrated to America in his childhood, but he did head back to Europe later in life, drawing on his recollections of medieval castles. Ultimately, his work was a composite of all sorts of fascinating influences; he taught at the most prestigious institutions in the country and designed some epic buildings.

  Sadly, Kahn died in 1974 in a not-so-glamorous building - New York City's Penn Station. This was where Kahn had stopped to use the bathroom, suffered a heart attack, and died.
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  (#8) Arius

  • Dec. at 80 (256-336)

  Arius was one of the most important men in early Christianity, founding a doctrine that was a legitimate rival to what became Catholic doctrine. Hailing from North Africa, this 3rd-century priest wrote and preached that the Holy Trinity was not an equal power, and that God the Father was the divine, not the Son.

  This theology, called Arianism, was one of many ideas on the nature of Christ floating about in the 4th century. Because of this, Arius suffered a great deal of ridicule and scorn. In 325, the Council of Nicaea condemned him as a heretic and sentenced him to suffer the consequences of such a label. However, he died before this came to fruition. Legend has it that Arius died either on the toilet or on his way to the toilet, perhaps of a stroke or heart attack, but this might have been a rumor designed to emphasize his lack of piety.
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  (#9) Don Simpson

  • Dec. at 53 (1943-1996)

  Jerry Bruckheimer, the Hollywood producer behind moves like Black Hawk Down, had a powerful ally in his longtime business partner, the energetic and passionate Don Simpson. Together, the two helped create blockbusters like Top Gun and Beverly Hills Cop, but their bond suffered when Simpson became dangerously addicted to illegal prescription drugs. Simpson became reclusive and separated professionally from Bruckheimer, although he was planning a comeback in the 1990s.

  Sadly, before he was able to turn his life around, Simpson died on the toilet while reading a biography of director Oliver Stone. The official cause of death was ruled as a heart attack, likely caused by drug use.
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  (#10) Edmund Ironside

  • Dec. at 27 (989-1016)

  A king of England in the late 10th and early 11th centuries (before William the Conqueror and his Norman-French came), Edmund II battled Danish invaders continuously during his reign. He received the nickname "Ironside" for his staunch opposition to the Danes. His countrymen were divided, some supporting Edmund and his father Aethelred the Unready, others his Danish rival, Cnut.

  After Aethelred died, Edmund had trouble holding onto this power base, and Cnut defeated him in battle. A month later in 1016, Edmund died, leaving the way open for Cnut to be sole king without opposition. Edmund was stabbed and killed while in the privy (a medieval bathroom). Perhaps this assassination, as medieval chroniclers suggest, was plotted by Cnut to facilitate his path to power.
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  (#11) Elagabalus

  • Dec. at 19 (203-222)

  A 3rd-century Roman emperor, Elagabalus was best-known for his hedonistic ways. According to the Historia Augusta, he sold imperial and military offices for cash, raped Vestal Virgins, disrespected the Roman pantheon in favor of his Syrian patron deity, and practiced human sacrifice. 

  Eventually, the army got fed up and concocted a conspiracy to depose Elagabalus. The Historia states that soldiers tracked Elagabalus down to a bathroom where he was hiding, then killed him. To show their contempt for him, they dragged his corpse through the streets of Rome and around the Circus Maximus, tossed it in the sewer, and when it wouldn't sink, tied weights to it and disposed of it in the Tiber River.
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  (#12) Lenny Bruce

  • Dec. at 41 (1925-1966)

  Lenny Bruce was a famed stand-up comic whose career flourished in the mid-20th century. Formerly a soldier, he was discharged after claiming to be gay, then married stripper Honey Harlow. Best known for his acid tongue and biting satire, Bruce went on to become a champion of free speech.

  Bruce died at the age of 40 in 1966. He was found dead on the commode with a heroin needle stuck in his arm. 

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