The end of the year can be tough because, despite being filled with holiday cheer, it can also remind everyone of those who passed away. However, not every death is made the same, with some being more surprising than others. Here are the eight most unexpected celebrity deaths of 2024.
James Earl Jones
It’s hard to describe the death of James Earl Jones as “unexpected,” as he was 93 years old at the time. However, his impact on the entertainment industry made him feel as if he was larger than life and would be around forever.
Jones was an incredible stage performer, being inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 1985. He also appeared in countless iconic films, including Field of Dreams, The Lion King, and Coming to America. It was his role as the voice of Darth Vader in Star Wars that launched him into the stratosphere, though, being a major part of making the franchise the goliath it is today.
Maggie Smith
Dame Maggie Smith fits into the same category as Jones. Like the Star Wars actor, she spent a lot of her career on the stage. She won her fair share of awards and is one of the few to earn the Triple Crown of Acting, bringing home an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and an Emmy Award.
However, Smith’s most notable role came later in her life. She portrayed Professor Minerva McGonagall in all seven of the Harry Potter movies, and her death at 89 years old was so impactful that fans of the franchise flocked to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, Florida to honor her by raising their wands in the air.
O.J. Simpson
O.J. Simpson was one of the biggest celebrities on the planet in the ’80s. Following a successful NFL career, he took his talents to Hollywood, starring in all three of The Naked Gun movies. He was also up for other major roles, including the Terminator, but the good times didn’t last.
In 1994, Simpson was arrested in connection to the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown, and her friend, Ron Goldman. The trial was controversial, to say the least, but in the end, Simpson was found not guilty. He was later found liable in a civil case and ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages.
Simpson would return to the spotlight in the 2020s after gaining a large social media following. He died in 2024 after a battle with cancer at the age of 76, leaving behind a complicated legacy.
Carl Weathers
Another athlete-turned-actor who passed away in 2024, Carl Weathers is best known for her role as Apollo Creed in the Rocky franchise. He also appeared in notable projects such as Predator and Happy Gilmore. Weathers found himself part of another major franchise when he started playing Greef Karga in The Mandalorian, a role that nabbed him an Emmy nomination.
Sadly, in February 2024, Weathers passed away from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. He was 76 years old.
Tony Todd
It’s hard to think of a more impactful voice actor than Tony Todd. After already having a successful movie career under his belt, appearing in projects like The Rock, The Crow, and Candyman, he started voicing characters and found plenty of success. He’s best known for voicing Zoom in The CW’s The Flash, Venom in the video game Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, and the Fallen in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
Unfortunately, not long after his turn as Venom, Todd passed away from natural causes at 69 years old. His final on-screen appearance will be in Final Destination: Bloodlines in 2025.
Toby Keith
Country music has a lot of stars but few have ever hit the heights Toby Keith did. He came out of the gates swinging in the ’90s, with his debut single, “Should’ve Been a Cowboy,” reaching the Billboard Hot 100. And the artist never slowed down, releasing nearly 20 albums over a three-decade career.
Keith passed away in 2024 at 62 years old following a three-year battle with stomach cancer. His death came just hours before he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.
Liam Payne
Liam Payne became a superstar as a member of the boy band One Direction, and even after the group broke up, he had a successful solo career, selling millions of albums. Despite all the success, though, Payne was dealing with demons, battling substance abuse and mental health issues.
Tragically, Payne passed away in October 2024 when he fell from a third-floor balcony of the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A toxicology report showed that the artist had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant” in his system when he died. Three people were charged with “abandonment of a person followed by death” and “supplying and facilitating the use of narcotics” following Payne’s death at 31 years old.
And those are the 7 most unexpected celebrity deaths of 2024.
Published: Dec 23, 2024 06:00 pm