The following notable people have died by suicide. This includes suicides effected under duress and excludes deaths by accident or misadventure. People who may or may not have died by their own hand, whose intent to die is disputed, or who are alleged to have been killed, may be listed.
Confirmed A
Chris Acland (1996), English drummer for the band Lush, hanging Art Acord (1931), American actor and rodeo champion, ingestion of poison Robert Adams Jr. (1906), Congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot Stanley Adams (1977), American actor and screenwriter, gunshot wound Sergey Akhromeyev (1991), Marshal of the Soviet Union, hanging Stephen Akinmurele (1999), British suspected serial killer, hanging Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1927), Japanese writer, overdose of barbital Ross Alexander (1937), American actor, gunshot to the head Ghazaleh Alizadeh (1996), Iranian poet and writer, hanging Salvador Allende (1973), 28th president of Chile, gunshot Nadezhda Alliluyeva (1932), wife of Joseph Stalin, gunshot Jeff Alm (1993), American football player, gunshot Jason Altom (1998), American PhD student, potassium cyanide Jean Améry (1978), Austrian writer, overdose of sleeping pills Korechika Anami (1945), Japanese War Minister, stabbed himself as part of ritual seppuku disembowelmentMax Hastings (2008) Nemesis, The Battle for Japan, 1944–45, Harper Perennial p 557.Pacific War Research Society, Japan's Longest Day, pp. 88-89. Forrest H. Anderson (1989), Governor of Montana, gunshot Mary A. Anderson (1996), unidentified woman using an alias, cyanide poisoning Odysseas Angelis (1987), Greek general and head of the Hellenic Armed Forces during the Greek junta, hanging Roger Angleton (1998), American murderer, cut himself over 50 times with a razorSmith, Carlton (July 15, 1999). Death in Texas: A True Story of Marriage, Money, and Murder. St. Martin's True Crime. Marshall Applewhite (1997), American leader of the Heaven's Gate religious cult, suffocated himself as part of the cult's mass suicide that year Araki Yukio (1945), Japanese kamikaze pilot Diane Arbus (1971), American photographer, overdosed on pills and slashed her wrists Reinaldo Arenas (1990), Cuban-American artist and writer, drug and alcohol overdose José María Arguedas (1969), Peruvian novelist and poet, gunshot Pedro Armendáriz (1963), Mexican actor, gunshot Edwin Howard Armstrong (1954), American inventor of FM radio, jumped from a 13th floor window Süleyman Askerî (1915), Ottoman Army officier, gunshot Tore Asplund (1977), Swedish-born American painter, hangingMerkin, Robert (January 5, 1978). "Alone and depressed, artist couldn't face another year". The Miami News. p. A1, A10. Retrieved 2025-02-28 – via Newspapers.com. Ruben Oskar Auervaara (1964), Finnish con artist, hangingViljakainen, Miika: Auervaara syntyi ja kuoli Janssonina, Ilta-Sanomat 15 January 2017. Accessed on 3 December 2025. Marion Aye (1951), American actress, ingestion of bi-chloride of mercury tablets May Ayim (1996), German author, jumped from 13th floor of a Berlin building Albert Ayler (1970), American jazz saxophonist, jumped into New York City's East River
B
Andreas Baader (1977), German Red Army Faction (RAF) terrorist, official enquiries found that he died by prisoner suicide, by shooting himself in the back of the neck with his left hand, he was right-handed. For the method, see: , which cites Aust pages 424,411 and Yevgeni Babich (1972), Soviet ice hockey player, hanginghttps://web.archive.org/web/20200417223542/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ba/yevgeny-babich-1.html Josef Bachmann (1970), German anti-communist, who made an assassination attempt on the German student movement-leader Rudi Dutschke, asphyxiation with plastic bag Faith Bacon (1956), American burlesque dancer and actress, jumped from hotel window David Bairstow (1998), English cricketer, hanging James Robert Baker (1997), American writer, asphyxiation Section B Joe Ball (1938), American serial killer, gunshot"Two Barmaids, Five Alligators, and the Butcher of Elmendorf" . Texas Monthly. July 2002. Lou Bandy (1959), Dutch singer and comedian Somen "Steve" Banerjee (1994), Indian American entrepreneur, co-founder of Chippendales and convicted criminal, hangingWeinstein, Henry (October 25, 1994). "Chippendale Club Owner Kills Himself: Crime: Somen Banerjee, founder of the male-stripper nightspot, is found dead in his cell. He was to be sentenced in the murder-for-hire of his former business partner" . Los Angeles Times Bantcho Bantchevsky (1988), Bulgarian American singer, jump from New York Metropolitan Opera balcony Moshe Barazani, blew himself up with an IED in Jerusalem in 1947. Erich Bärenfänger (1945), German general R. H. Barlow (1951), American writer and anthropologist, barbiturate overdose Boris Barnet (1965), Russian film director, hangingKehr, Dave (December 11, 2009). "All-American Soviet Heroine" . The New York Times.Wilmington, Michael (February 6, 2004). "Boris Barnet series reveals a neglected Russian talent" . Chicago Tribune. Uwe Barschel (1987), German politician, ingested five sleeping potions Mark O. Barton (1999), American spree killer, gunshot Ralph Barton (1931), American artist, gunshot from the exhibition Eye Contact: Modern American Portrait Drawings from the National Portrait Gallery. Pierre Batcheff (1932), French actor, overdose of barbital Herb Baumeister (1996), American serial killer, gunshot Amelie "Melli" Beese (1925), German pioneer aviator, gunshotNaughton, Russell (1999). "Amelie 'Melli' Hedwig Beese-Boutard (1886–1925)" . Monash University. Peter Bellamy (1991), English folk musician and member of the band The Young Tradition Brenda Benet (1982), American television and film actress, gunshot Walter Benjamin (1940), German-Jewish literary critic and culture theorist, morphine overdoseLeslie, Esther (2000). "Benjamin's Finale". Walter Benjamin: Overpowering Conformism. Modern European Thinkers. Pluto Press. p. 215. . Retrieved August 28, 2009. Jill Bennett (1990), English actress, secobarbital overdoseUpton, Julie (2004) Fallen Stars: Tragic Lives & Lost Careers. Critical Vision. . Retrieved August 16, 2016. Louis Bennison (1929), American actor, gunshot"Noted Stage Stars in Murder-Suicide" . Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. June 10, 1929, p. 1. Archived at Google News. Retrieved April 22, 2017. Pierre Bérégovoy (1993), French politician and Prime Minister (1992–93), gunshot Mary Kay Bergman (1999), American voice actress, gunshotKemmerman, Kristin (November 17, 1999). "Mary Kay Bergman, voiceover actress, dead" Marty Bergen (1900), American baseball player, cut throat with a razor after killing his family with an ax John Berryman (1972), American poet, jumped off the Washington Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis, MinnesotaHealy, Steve (September 9, 1998). "John Berryman: The Dreamer Awakes." City Pages. Bruno Bettelheim (1990), Austrian-born US psychologist and writer, asphyxiation with plastic bagOsgood, Nancy J. (July 1992). Suicide in Later Life: Recognizing the Warning Signs. Lexington Books. p. 4. . Jens Bjørneboe (1976), Norwegian novelist, hangingCody, Gabrielle H.; Sprinchorn, Evert (2007). "Bjørneboe, Jens Ingvald (1920–1976)". The Columbia Encyclopedia of Modern Drama. 1. Columbia University Press. pp. 161–162. . Retrieved August 28, 2009. Eli M. Black (1975), CEO of United Fruit Co., jumped out of a buildingCole, Robert J. (May 17, 1975). "DIRECT BRIBE BID IS LAID TO BLACK" . The New York Times. Clara Blandick (1962), American stage and screen actress Vasily Blokhin (1955), Soviet general and NKVD executioner Adele Blood (1936), American actress, gunshot Clara Bloodgood (1907), American Broadway actress, gunshot Ludwig Boltzmann (1906), Austrian physicist, known for thermodynamics and atomic theory, hangingBoltzmann, Ludwig (1995). "Conclusions". in Blackmore, John T. Ludwig Boltzmann: His Later Life and Philosophy, 1900–1906. Book Two: The Philosopher. Springer. pp. 206–207. . Jeremy Michael Boorda (1996), US Chief of Naval Operations, gunshot to the chest Éric Borel (1995), French high school student and spree killer, gunshot Adrian Borland (1999), English singer-songwriter (The Outsiders, The Sound), jumped in front of a moving train Martin Bormann (1945), German head of the Nazi Party Chancellery, cyanide poisoning Jean-Louis Bory (1979), French writer, gunshot to the chest Yevgenia Bosch (1925), Soviet Bolshevik revolutionary and politician, gunshot Dallen Bounds (1999), American serial killer, gunshot John Bowers (1936), American actor, drowning Tommy Boyce (1994), American songwriter, gunshot Karin Boye (1941), Swedish writer"Karin Boye" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved August 12, 2017. Charles Boyer (1978), French actor, secobarbital overdose Thomas Lynn Bradford (1921), American spiritualist lecturer and psychic detective, gas inhalation Cheyenne Brando (1995), Tahitian model/actress, hangingMcGasko, Joe (June 18, 2013). "The Superman Curse" . Biography.com. Mike Brant (1975), Israeli pop starBrown, Hannah (September 10, 2014). "Mike Brant's life story to hit the silver screen " . The Jerusalem Post. jumped from his Paris apartment buildingCohen, Karine (June 13, 2003). "A Celebrity's Death Explored" . The Forward. Robert Eugene Brashers (1999), American serial killer, gunshot Eva Braun (1945), German wife of Adolf Hitler, cyanide poisoningJoachimsthaler, Anton (1999) The Last Days of Hitler: The Legends, the Evidence, the Truth, pp. 172, 173, 181. Richard Brautigan (1984), American writer, gunshot Gaetano Bresci (1901), Italian anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy, hanging James E. Brewton (1967), American painter and printmaker, gunshotGrafly, Dorothy (May 28, 1967). "Artist's Suicide Gives Tragic Overtone to Exhibit". Philadelphia Bulletin. Lilya Brik (1978), Russian author and socialite, overdose of sleeping pills John Munro Bruce (1901), Australian businessman, father of Prime Minister Stanley Bruce Roy Buchanan (1988), American guitarist and blues musician, hanging Dale Buggins (1981), Australian stunt motorcyclist, gunshot Wilhelm Burgdorf (1945), German general, Chief of the Army Personnel Office and Chief Adjutant to Adolf Hitler, gunshot Dan Burros (1965), Jewish American neo-Nazi activist and member of the Ku Klux Klan, gunshot to the head August Anheuser Busch Sr. (1934), American CEO of Anheuser-Busch, gunshotFrankel, Todd C. (December 26, 2010). "For Busch family, woman's death is latest in tragic history" . St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved April 21, 2018. Germán Busch (1939), Bolivian military officer and 41st and 43rd President of Bolivia, gunshot
C
Donald Cammell (1996), Scottish film director, gunshotParkin, Michael (May 8, 1996). "Donald Cammell: Obituary" . The Independent. Capucine (1990), French actress and model, jumped from an eighth-floor apartment George Caragonne (1995), American comic book writer, jumped from the 45th floor of the Marriott Marquis Hotel in ManhattanLambiet, Jose, Laurie C. Merrill and Corky Siemaszko (July 21, 1995). "Stunned Tourists See Man Plunge To Death". Daily News (New York). Wallace Carothers (1937), American inventor of nylon, cyanide poisoningHermes, Enough for One Lifetime p.291, which cites the Wilmington Morning News and The New York Times. April 30, 1937 Dora Carrington (1932), English artist, gunshotHaycock, David Boyd (June 1, 2010). A Crisis of Brilliance, Old Street Publishing, p. 313 Kevin Carter (1994), South African photojournalist, carbon monoxide poisoningMacLeod, Scott (September 12, 1994). . Time. Carlos Castilho (1987), Brazilian footballer and manager Paul Celan (1970), Romanian poet, drowning in the Seine Richard Chase (1980), American serial killer, anti-depressant overdose Gilles Châtelet (1999), French philosopher and mathematicianJohnson, Douglas (June 25, 1999). "Obituary: Gilles Chatelet" . The Independent.