Celebrities we wish were still alive

List of celebs who committed suicide.

Although many may deny it, time and again we come across news about a celebrity taking his or her life proving that the glitz and glamour of stardom has its downside. It takes aspirants onto a dream-filled journey, but not all of them attain success — for many of such underdogs, life ends in a crash-landing.

Below is a list of celebrities, compiled by the Times of India and examiner.com, who couldn’t handle the constant pressure of being in showbiz — be it lack of fame, a failed love affair or just stress-induced depression.

Jiah Khan



The 25-year-old Bollywood starlet, Jiah Khan, whose claim to fame became Ram Gopal Varma’s Nishabd, was found hanging from the ceiling at her Juhu residence on June 4, 2013. After debuting in Nishabd, for which she was put on the list of Best Debutante Female for the Filmfare Awards, Khan’s career slumped.

Following the movie, she played supporting roles in Ghajini and Housefull and to her dismay, she was not cast in any other movie afterHousefull in 2010. In a statement given to the Mumbai police, her mother, Rabia Amin, said that she was depressed having been rejected in an audition for a film.

Marilyn Monroe



Apart from being Hollywood’s unparalleled beauty, Marilyn Monroe, suffered from severe depression and was found dead in the bedroom of her Brentwood residence by her psychologist, who was called by Monroe’s housekeeper on the day she died.

Her physician termed it as “acute barbiturate poisoning” or drug overdose and was listed as a probable suicide. Although many detectives believe that she was murdered, no murder charges were ever filed in the case.

Divya Bharti



The Bollywood actor rose to stardom after winning the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for her role in Deewana. She became a household name and while she was reaching the heights of her career, her death was reported at midnight on April 5, 1993, when the actor fell off a five-storey building.

Due to lack of evidence, determining whether it was a suicide or a murder, the investigations were closed by the Mumbai police.

Nafisa Joseph



Actor and an RJ on MTV India, Nafisa Joseph, hung herself at her Mumbai residence. The actor wanted to marry an Indian businessman, but the commitment was called off after she learnt that he was already married.

Kuljeet Randhawa



Indian TV actor and model Kuljeet Randhawa hung herself from the ceiling of her Juhu apartment on February 8, 2006. In a suicide note recovered from her apartment, she had stated that she could not “cope with the pressures of life.”

Silk Smitha



The South Indian actor, whose life loosely inspired Vidya Balan-starrer The Dirty Picture, was found hanging from the ceiling of her Chennai apartment on September 23, 1996. Financial problems, an unsteady love affair and alcohol dependency are said to be the reasons for her depression-driven suicide.

Kurt Cobain



Frontman of American rock band Nirvana, Kurt Cobain’s body was discovered at his Lake Washington home by an electrician on April 8, 1994. The electrician had arrived at the residence to install a security system and he thought that the singer was asleep until he saw a shotgun pointed at his chin.

Apart from the blood coming out of Cobain’s ears, the forensic team found high concentration of heroin and traces of diazepam in his body, which had been lying there for three days.

Lucy Gordon



British actor Lucy Gordon, who played Jennifer Dugan in Spiderman 3, hung herself in her Paris flat after she reportedly had a tiff with her boyfriend.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2013.

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