-
Revisions and sourced additions are welcome.
- See also: List of famous deaths by accidental drug overdose, Lists of people by cause of death, and Category:Suicides by method
The following are lists of notable people who intentionally terminated their own lives. 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 intention to die is in dispute, but who are widely believed to have deliberately killed themselves, may be listed under Possible suicides.
Suicides
A
- Chris Acland (1996), British drummer (Lush), hanging
- Hatazo Adachi (1947), Japanese general, seppuku.
- Robert Adams, Jr. (1906), congressman from Pennsylvania, shot himself after heavy losses in stock speculation
- Stanley Adams (1977), American character actor, gunshot to the head
- Stuart Adamson (2001), Scottish singer (Big Country, Skids), self-strangulation after alcohol ingestion; possibly unintentional
- 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)
- Sergei Akhromeyev (1991), Soviet military commander who led an unsuccessful coup against Mikhail Gorbachev, hanging
- Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1927), Japanese writer (author of Rashomon), barbital overdose
- Clodius Albinus (197), Roman emperor, killed himself after a defeat in battle
- Ross Alexander (1937), actor, gunshot
- Michael Alfonso, a.k.a. Mike Awesome (2007), professional wrestler, hanging
- Prince Alfred of Edinburgh (1899), member of the British Royal Family, shot himself
- Leandro Alem (1896), Argentine politician, founder of the Radical Civic Union, gunshot to the head
- Salvador Allende (1973), president of Chile (elected 1970), and uncle of renowned author Isabel Allende; allegedly shot himself during a coup d'état against his regime orchestrated by General Augusto Pinochet — some sources allege that he was killed
- Jeff Alm (1993), NFL player, gunshot
- Jason Altom (1998), Ph.D. student, ingested potassium cyanide
- Jean Améry (1978), Austrian writer; overdose of sleeping pills
- Korechika Anami, War Minister (1945), seppuku
- Forrest Howard Anderson (1989), Governor of Montana, gunshot
- 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; self-immolation
- Roger Angleton (1998), murderer, cutting or hanging
- Mark Antony (30 BC), Roman politician and general; stabbed himself
- Marshall Applewhite (1997), leader of Heaven's Gate religious cult, overdose
- Hubert Aquin (1977), Canadian author; gunshot
- Diane Arbus (1971), American photographer; barbiturate overdose and slashed wrists
- Reinaldo Arenas (1990), Cuban-American artist and writer; drug and alcohol overdose
- Pedro Armendáriz, (1963), Mexican actor; gunshot
- Edwin Armstrong (1954), U.S. inventor of FM radio; jumped from a 13th floor window
- Nikolas Asimos (1988), Greek rock musician; hanging
- George Ault (1948), American painter; drowning
- Pekka-Eric Auvinen (2007), Jokela High School shooter, self-inflicted gunshot to the head
- Albert Ayler (1970), American jazz saxophonist; jumped into New York City's East River
B
- Nikki Bacharach (2007), Daughter of Burt Bacharach and Angie Dickinson, suffocated using plastic bag and helium
- Chet Baker (1988), Jazz musician, jumped off his hotel balcony
- James Robert Baker (1997), American writer
- Albert Ballin (1918), German businessman, overdose of sleeping pills
- José Manuel Balmaceda (1891), President of Chile, gunshot
- Robert Hayward Barlow (1951), writer and anthropologist, barbiturate overdose
- Isobel Barnett (1980), British TV personality, electrocution
- Don "Red" Barry (1980), actor (Adventures of Red Ryder), gunshot
- Diana Barrymore (1960), U.S. actress and writer, drug and alcohol overdose
- Gert Bastian (1992), German military officer and politician, gunshot
- J. Clifford Baxter (2002), Enron vice-chairman, gunshot
- Thomas McKee Bayne (1894), U.S. Congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot
- Scotty Beckett (1968), child actor, Our Gang films, cause of death inconclusive
- Charles Eugène Bedaux (1944), efficiency engineer charged with treason for collaboration with Vichy government
- Gertrude Bell (1926), archaeologist, writer, spy and administrator known as the "Uncrowned Queen of Iraq", overdose
- Peter Bellamy (1991), English folk singer
- Brenda Benet (1982), actress and former wife of Bill Bixby, gunshot
- Ota Benga (1916), African Pygmy put on "display" in United States, gunshot
- Walter Benjamin (1940), German cultural theorist, overdose morphine pills
- Jill Bennett (1990), British film actress
- Chris Benoit (2007), professional wrestler, murdered his wife and 7-year-old son and later hanged himself in his weight room
- Pierre Bérégovoy (1993), French Prime Minister, gunshot
- Hans Berger (1941), German physician and inventor of electroencephalography, hanging
- Mary Kay Bergman (1999), American voice actress, gunshot
- Ricky Berry (1989), NBA player for the Sacramento Kings, gunshot
- John Berryman (1972), American poet, jumped from bridge
- Bruno Bettelheim (1990), American psychoanalyst
- Robert Billings (1986), Canadian poet, drowned
- Clara Blandick (1962), actress, best known as Auntie Em from The Wizard of Oz, sleeping pill overdose and suffocation
- Kenny Blatchford (1933), Canadian politician, drowning
- Ludwig Boltzmann (1906), physicist, hanging
- Tadeusz Borowski (1951), Polish writer and concentration camp survivor, asphyxiation
- Georges Boulanger (1891), French politician and general, gunshot
- Tommy Boyce (1994), with Bobby Hart, songwriter for The Monkees, gunshot
- Karin Boye (1941), Swedish poet, sleeping pill overdose
- Charles Boyer (1978), film star, Seconal overdose
- Jonathan Brandis (2003), American actor, hanging
- Cheyenne Brando (1995), daughter of Marlon Brando, hanging
- Mike Brant (1974), pop singer, jumped from a window.
- Eva Braun (1945), mistress and then wife of Adolf Hitler, cyanide
- Richard Brautigan (1984), American writer, gunshot
- Herman Brood (2001), Dutch musician and painter, jumped from roof
- Barry Brown (1978), actor and writer, gunshot
- 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, fell on sword after failing to find volunteer to kill him
- Eustace Budgell (1737), friend of Samuel Johnson, threw himself out of a boat
- Bernard Buffet (1999), French painter ('The Crucifixion'), suffocation
- Rembrandt Bugatti (1916), Italian sculptor, natural gas
- Dan Burros (1965), Jewish Neo-Nazi, gunshot
C
- Andres Caicedo (1977), Colombian novelist, drug overdose
- Capucine (1990), French actress, jumped out of window
- Arthur Edmund Carewe (1937), American actor, gunshot
- Wallace Hume Carothers (1937), world renowned chemist, cyanide
- Don Carpenter (1995), American novelist, gunshot
- Dora Carrington (1932), artist, gunshot
- Kevin Carter (1994), award-winning South African photographer and member of the Bang-Bang Club, carbon monoxide
- Hugh Casey (1951), baseball player, gunshot
- Joseph Daniel 'Danny' Casolaro (1991), journalist, slashed wrists, disputed
- Adolphe Mouron Cassandre (1968), writer
- Gaius Cassius Longinus (42 BC), Roman politician, co-assassin of Julius Caesar, ordered his freedman to slay him
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), British politician, cut his throat
- Cato the younger (46 BC), Roman republican statesman, stabbed himself with his own sword
- Ugo Cavallero (1943), Italian Field Marshal, gunshot
- Paul Celan (1970), Romanian poet, drowning
- Valerie Chacon (1982), wife of Bobby Chacon, gunshot
- Pauline Chan (2002), Hong Kong actress, jumped off building[1]
- Iris Chang (2004), Chinese-American author, gunshot
- Kathy Change (1996), American performance artist and political activist, self-immolation
- Claude Chappe (1805), French inventor, threw himself down a well
- Thomas Chatterton (1770), English poet, arsenic
- Leslie Cheung (2003), Hong Kong movie star and singer, jumped off building
- Vere Gordon Childe (1957), Australian archaeologist and historian, jumped off Govett's Leap in the Blue Mountains
- Seung-Hui Cho (2007), shooter in the Virginia Tech massacre; turned his gun on himself after executing 32 people
- Chongzhen Emperor of China (1644), the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty, ordered his household to commit suicide, then hanged himself
- Edwin Pearce Christy, (1862), American entertainer, founder of the Christy Minstrels, threw himself from window
- Christine Chubbuck (1974), American television journalist, shot herself in the head on live TV after reading the news
- Chung Mong-hun (2003), Korean businessman, chairman of Hyundai Asan, jumped out of building
- Diana Churchill (1963), UK social worker, eldest daughter of Sir Winston Churchill, barbiturate overdose
- Jeremiah Clarke (1707), composer of Prince of Denmark's March (Trumpet Voluntary), shot himself
- Alasdair Clayre (1985), British academic, writer, broadcaster and singer, jumped in front of train
- Charles Clegg (1979), American author, photographer and railroad enthusiast
- Cleopatra (30 BC), Queen of Egypt, snake bite, disputed
- Charmian Clift (1969), Australian writer, wife of George Johnston, barbiturate overdose
- Robert Clive (1774), British conqueror of India and founder of the Empire, cut throat with pen-knife
- Kurt Cobain (1994), Lead singer of Nirvana, shotgun
- Sid Collins (1977), radio voice of the Indianapolis 500, hanged himself after being diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
- Ray Combs (1996), former host of popular game show Family Feud, hanging
- Pamela Courson (1974), longtime girlfriend of Jim Morrison, unknown whether she accidentally or purposefully overdosed
- F. W. S. Craig (1989), UK election expert
- Leighton Crandle (1995), UK musician / recording artist
- Hart Crane (1932), American poet; jumped from a boat
- Darby Crash (1980), American songwriter, singer of the Germs, intentional heroin overdose
- René Crevel (1935), French writer, gassed himself
- Richard Croft (1818), obstetrician, shot himself
- Dennis Crosby (1991), actor, son of Bing Crosby, gunshot
- Harry Crosby (1929), writer, publisher
- Lindsay Crosby (1989), actor, son of Bing Crosby, gunshot
- Géza Csáth (1919), Hungarian writer, poison
- Andrew Cunanan (1997), killer of Gianni Versace and four others, gunshot
- Will Cuppy (1949), American writer, humorist, sleeping pill overdose
- Ian Curtis (1980), lead singer and songwriter of Joy Division, hanging
- Adam Czerniakow (1943), Polish-Jewish head of the Warsaw Ghetto Judenrat, poisoned himself rather than hand over children for gassing.
D
- Stig Dagerman (1954), Swedish author
- Dalida (1987), French singer, barbiturate overdose
- Monika Dannemann (1996), girlfriend of Jimi Hendrix, carbon monoxide
- Bella Darvi (1971), actress, natural gas
- Dazai Osamu (1948), Japanese novelist, drowning
- Guy Debord (1994), French philosopher, member of Situationist International, gunshot
- Decebalus (106), Dacian king, cut his throat to avoid being exhibited as a Roman prisoner
- Jeanine Deckers (1985), Belgian religious, known as The Singing Nun, barbiturate and alcohol overdose
- Delphine Delamare (1848), French woman, the basis for Flaubert's Madame Bovary, cyanide
- Gilles Deleuze (1995), French philosopher, jumped from apartment window
- Brad Delp (2007), lead singer of Boston, asphyxiation by carbon monoxide
- 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
- Angela Devi (2006), American adult model, suicide by asphyxiation
- Patrick Dewaere (1982), French actor, gunshot
- Rudolf Diesel (1913), inventor of the Diesel engine, jumped from boat
- Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (2001), young King of Nepal, shot himself after assassinating his father, King Birendra, and other members of the royal family.
- Thomas Disch (2008), American poet and novelist, shooting
- Hugo Distler (1942), German composer, gas
- Desmond Donnelly (1974), British politician and journalist, barbiturate and alcohol overdose
- Terence Donovan (1996), English celebrity photographer, hanging
- Osvaldo Dorticós Torrado (1983), former president of Cuba, gunshot
- Chris Doty (2006), Canadian filmmaker and playwright, hanging
- Charmaine Dragun (2007), Australian newsreader, jumped from 'The Gap'
- Pierre Drieu La Rochelle (1945), French novelist
- Dr. Jonathan Drummond-Webb (2004), American heart surgeon, oxycodone overdose
- Micke Dubois (2005), Swedish comedian, hanging
- Thich Quang Duc (1963), Vietnamese Buddhist monk, self-immolation
- Pete Duel (1971), American actor, gunshot
- K. Sello Duiker (2005), South African author, hanging
- Davor Dujmović (1999), Yugoslavian-Roma actor, hanging
- R. Budd Dwyer (1987), American politician, shot himself on live television
E
- George Eastman (1932), inventor of the Eastman Kodak Camera, gunshot
- Paul Ehrenfest (1933), physicist, made major contributions to quantum mechanics, gunshot
- Peg Entwistle (1932), Welsh-born actress, jumped from the "Hollywood" sign
- Tom Evans (1983), musician and member of Badfinger, hanging
- Merritt A. Edson (1955), Medal of Honor recipient for actions at Guadalcanal, gas
F
- Richard Farnsworth (2000), U.S. actor, gunshot
- Justin Fashanu (1998), British footballer, hanging
- René Favaloro (2000), Argentinian doctor, creator of coronary artery bypass surgery, gunshot
- Paul Federn (1950), Austrian-American psychoanalyst
- Andrea Feldman (1972), American actress and Warhol superstar, jumped out of building
- George Fiske (1918), American photographer, shot himself
- Robert FitzRoy (1865), Governor-General of New Zealand, Royal Navy officer, Nephew of the Viscount Castlereagh, razor
- Ed Flanders (1995), American actor (St. Elsewhere), gunshot
- Frederick Fleet (1965), Titanic lookout who first spotted the iceberg, hanging
- John Gould Fletcher (1950), Pulitzer Prize winning poet, drowning
- Bernard Floud (1967), UK Member of Parliament, gas and barbiturates
- James V. Forrestal (1949), former U.S. Secretary of Defense, fall from window, possible homicide
- Dédé Fortin (2000), leader and singer of Québec band Les Colocs, stabbed himself
- Vincent Foster, (1993), Deputy White House Counsel, gunshot
- Wade Frankum (1991), spree shooter of Strathfield Massacre, gunshot
- Sigmund Freud (1939), founder of psychoanalysis, morphine overdose
- Hans Fischer (1945), A Nobel Prize winning German Chemist
- John Friedrich (1991), Australian businessman and fraud, gunshot
G
- Philip Gale (1998), American software developer, jumped out of window
- Hughie Gallacher (1957), Scottish footballer, threw himself in front of a train
- Zviad Gamsakhurdia (1993), former president of Georgia, gunshot, disputed
- Ted Gärdestad (1997), Swedish pop musician, jumped in front of train
- Dave Garroway (1982), television host, gunshot
- Romain Gary (1980), Russian-French novelist, film director and diplomat, gunshot
- Danny Gatton (1994), American guitarist, gunshot
- Michel Gauquelin (1991), French psychologist and astrology researcher
- Martha Gellhorn (1998), American author and war correspondent, poison
- Kostas Georgakis (1970), student, self-immolation as a protest to the Greek military junta of 1967-1974
- Peter George (1966), British author (Red Alert)
- Mark Gertler (1939), British artist
- Henri Giffard (1882), French aeronautical engineer
- Michael Gilden (2006), American actor, hanging
- Kimveer Gill (2006), Dawson College shooting, shot himself after being wounded by police
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman (1935), American feminist and author (Herland & The Yellow Wallpaper), inhaled chloroform
- Kurt Gödel (1978), German logician and mathematician, intentional self-starvation
- Joseph Goebbels (1945), German Nazi leader, gunshot
- Hermann Göring (1946), German Nazi leader, cyanide poisoning hours before he was due to be hanged
- Julen Goikoetxea (2006), Spanish cyclist, jumped off balcony
- Fritha Goodey (2004), British actress, stabbed self in chest
- Gordian I (238), Roman emperor, hanged himself with his belt
- Adam Lindsay Gordon (1870), Australian poet, gunshot
- Arshile Gorky (1948), Armenian painter, hanging
- Anders Göthberg (2008), Swedish guitarist, jumped from Västerbron, Stockholm.
- Eddie Graham (1985), American professional wrestler, gunshot
- Shauna Grant (1984), American adult film actress, gunshot
- Spalding Gray (2004), American playwright, drowned in Atlantic after jumping off Staten Island Ferry
- Richard Green (1983), boxing referee
- Peter Gregg (1980), race car driver, gunshot
- Robert von Greim (1945), German Luftwaffe air marshal, cyanide
- Louis-Gabriel Guillemain (1770), French violinist and composer, stabbed himself
- Antonio Guzmán Fernández (1982), serving president of the Dominican Republic, gunshot
H
- Clara Immerwahr Haber (1915) German chemical engineer and wife of Dr. Fritz Haber, gunshot
- Jerry Hadley (2007), American operatic tenor, gunshot
- Kenneth Halliwell (1967), British writer, lover and murderer of Joe Orton, sleeping pill overdose
- Mitch Halpern (2000), American boxing referee, gunshot
- Pete Ham (1975), Welsh musician and member of Badfinger, hanging
- Rusty Hamer (1990), American former child actor (The Danny Thomas Show), gunshot
- Lois Hamilton (1999), American actress, model, author, aviatrix, sleeping pill overdose and suffocation
- Thomas Hamilton (1996), killed 16 five-year-olds and their teacher in the Dunblane massacre, gunshot
- Walter Hammerl (1981), Singer with Austrian band Erste Allgemeine Verunsicherung.
- Tony Hancock (1968), British comedian, overdose of vodka and barbiturates.
- St. John Hankin (1909), British poet, drowning
- Edward Allen Hannegan (1859), U.S. Congressman from Indiana, morphine overdose
- Hannibal (182 BC), Carthaginian military commander, poison
- Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1922), British politician, killed himself after public exposure as a pedophile
- James Harden-Hickey (1898), U.S. eccentric and author of a book on the appeal of suicide, morphine overdose
- Mary Hardy (1985), Australian TV personality (found dead in the bath and was presumed to have committed suicide)
- Eric Harris (1999), one of the shooters in the Columbine High School massacre, gunshot
- Michael D. Harter (1896), U.S. Congressman from Ohio
- Brynn Hartman (1998), wife and murderer of actor Phil Hartman, gunshot
- Elizabeth Hartman (1987), U.S. actress, jumped from window
- Arihiro Hase (1996), Japanese voice actor, jumped from window
- Donny Hathaway (1979), American soul musician, jumped from window
- 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, barbiturate overdose
- Benjamin Haydon (1846), British painter
- Jeanne Hébuterne (1920), painter, partner of artist Amedeo Modigliani, jumped out of window
- Sadegh Hedayat (1951), Iranian writer, gas
- John Heddle (1989), British politician
- Ernest Hemingway (1961), American novelist, gunshot
- Margaux Hemingway (1996), American actress and model, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, phenobarbital overdose
- Benjamin Hendrickson (2006), American actor (As The World Turns), gunshot
- George Hennard (1991), American spree-killer (Luby's Massacre), gunshot
- James Leo Herlihy (1993), U.S. novelist (Midnight Cowboy), sleeping pill overdose
- Willard Hershberger (1940), Cincinnati Reds catcher, slashed wrists
- Rudolf Hess (1987), Nazi leader, self-asphyxiation, disputed
- Paul Hester (2005), Australian musician, drummer for Split Enz and Crowded House, self-strangulation
- George W. Hill (1934), American film director
- Heinrich Himmler (1945), German SS leader, cyanide
- Joel Henry Hinrichs III (2005), detonated suicide bomb at the University of Oklahoma
- Adolf Hitler (1945), leader of Nazi Germany, gunshot/cyanide
- Abbie Hoffman (1989), U.S. political activist and political demonstrator, phenobarbital overdose
- Don Hollenbeck (1954), CBS news anchor, inhalation of natural gas
- Doug Hopkins (1993), American musician and founding member of rock group Gin Blossoms, gunshot
- Elmyr de Hory (1976), Hungarian art forger, sleeping pill overdose
- Robert E. Howard (1936), American creator of pulp heroes Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja, gunshot
- Ivan Hribar (1941), Yugoslav politician, drowned himself in a river
- Danton Hughes (2001), Australian sculptor, son of Time magazine art critic Robert Hughes, gas
- Suad Husni (2001) Egyptian actress, jumped off balcony
- Michael Hutchence (1997), lead singer of Australian rock band INXS, hanging, disputed
- Phyllis Hyman (1995), American singer, overdose of alcohol and sleeping pills
- Robin Hyde (1939), New Zealand writer and poet, benzedrin poisoning
I
- William Inge (1973), U.S. playwright (Picnic, Come Back, Little Sheba, Bus Stop, Splendor in the Grass), carbon monoxide
- Juzo Itami (1997), Japanese actor and film director, jumped off building
J
- Cal Jammer (1995), adult film star, gunshot
- Alice de Janzé (1941), American heiress, gunshot
- Vittorio Jano (1965), automobile design engineer
- Richard Jeni (2007), comedian, gunshot
- Clayne Jeffs, nephew of Warren Jeffs, committed suicide with a firearm after admitting that Warren Jeffs had sexually assaulted him as a child.[2]
- Anson Jones (1858), doctor, businessman, congressman, and the last president of the Republic of Texas, gunshot
- 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, gunshot
- Alex Jordan (1995), American adult film actress, hanging
- Timothy Jordan II (2005), The All-American Rejects' touring keyboardist
- Nafisa Joseph (2004), Femina India Universe 1997, Miss Universe 1997 semi-finalist and MTV VJ, hanging
- Luc Jouret (1994), homeopath, Belgian cult leader
- Jung Da Bin (2007), South Korean Actress, hanging
- Claude Jutra (1986), Quebec film actor, writer, and director, drowning
K
- Aleksei Maksimovich Kaledin (1918), Cossack leader during the Russian Civil War
- Sarah Kane (1999), British playwright, hanging
- Kostas Karyotakis (1928), Greek poet, gunshot
- Romas Kalanta (1972), Lithuanian, self-immolation after speaking out against Soviet government
- Yasunari Kawabata (1972), Japanese writer and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate, gas
- Kawakami Bizan (1908), Japanese novelist
- Brian Keith (1997), American actor (Family Affair), gunshot
- Dr. David Kelly (2003), British scientist, source of BBC story about the September Dossier, overdose and slashed wrist
- Samuel Austin Kendall (1933), congressman from Pennsylvania, gunshot
- Preston King (1865), Senator from New York, leapt from ferryboat in New York Harbor
- James Arthur Kjelgaard (1959), American outdoorsman and author of young adult literature
- Heinrich von Kleist (1811), German dramatist and poet, gunshot
- Jochen Klepper (1942), German writer, poet and journalist, gas
- Dylan Klebold (1999), One of the teen gunmen of the Columbine High School Massacre, gunshot
- Günther von Kluge (1944), German Field Marshal, cyanide
- Fletcher Knebel (1993), U.S. novelist (Seven Days in May), sleeping pill overdose
- William F. Knowland (1974), former Senate Majority Leader, gunshot
- Sándor Kocsis (1979), Hungarian soccer player, jumped out of window, disputed
- Arthur Koestler (1983), journalist, novelist, political activist and social philosopher, overdose
- Sarah Kofman (1994), French philosopher
- Hannelore Kohl (2001), wife of German ex-chancellor Helmut Kohl, sleeping pill overdose
- Takako Konishi (2001), Japanese office worker whose death was mistakenly reported to involve the movie Fargo, overdose
- Prince Fumimaro Konoe (1945), Japanese war criminal, cyanide
- Alexandros Korizis (1941), Greek prime minister, gunshot
- Ruslana Korshunova (2008), fashion model, jumped from building
- Jerzy Kosinski (1991), Polish-American author, barbiturate overdose and suffocation
- Philip Taylor Kramer (1995), rock musician (guitarist of Iron Butterfly) and physicist
- Louis Krages (2001), German race car driver and businessman (raced under the name of "John Winter"), gunshot
- Ivar Kreuger (1932) Swedish financier, entrepreneur and industrialist, "The Match King", gunshot
- Friedrich Wilhelm Krüger (1945), Nazi official during WWII, gunshot
- Friedrich Alfred Krupp (1902), German industrialist, committed suicide when his homosexuality was revealed.
L
- 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, gunshot
- Karen Lancaume (2005), French adult film star; overdose on sleeping pills
- Carole Landis (1948), American actress; overdose of seconal
- James H. Lane (1866), senator from Kansas, general in Civil War, gunshot
- Hans Langsdorff (1939), captain of the Admiral Graf Spee, gunshot
- Napoleon Lapathiotis (1944), Greek writer, gunshot
- Florence Lawrence (1938), American film actress, poison
- George P. Lawrence (1917), representative from Massachusetts, jumped out of building to death due to stress caused by World War I
- Lee Eun-ju (2005), Korean actress, hanging
- Jon Lee (2002), drummer of the band Feeder, hanging
- Lee Kyung Hae (2003) South Korean farmer and activist, stabbed himself at a protest
- Megan Leigh (1990), American erotic dancer and porn star, gunshot
- Marc Lepine (1989), Canada's most prolific spree killer; gunshot
- Primo Levi (1987), Italian author and Auschwitz survivor, jumped out of building
- Robert Ley (1945), Nazi war criminal, hanging
- Friedrich Leibacher (2001), killer of 14 in Zug massacre, gunshot
- Max Linder, (1925), French actor
- Vachel Lindsay (1931), American poet, drank a bottle of Lysol
- Louis Lingg (1887), 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
- Diane Linkletter (1969), daughter of Art Linkletter, jumped out of window
- Friedrich List (1846), German economist
- Jesse Lauriston Livermore (1940), US stock trader, gunshot
- Mikael Ljungberg (2004), Swedish wrestler, Olympic gold medalist
- Peter Llewelyn-Davies (1960), UK publisher who inspired J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, threw himself in front of a train
- Ross Lockridge, Jr. (1948}, U.S. novelist, author of Raintree County, asphyxiation via car fumes
- Philip Loeb (1955), blacklisted American actor, barbiturate overdose
- Mark Lombardi (2000), U.S. artist whose art described international white-collar crime networks, hanging
- Jack London (1916), U.S. novelist, overdose of morphine and atropine (disputed by his widow)
- Terry Long (2005), former NFL player, ingested antifreeze
- Hans Loritz (1946), concentration camp commandant at various times - Esterwegen, Dachau, Sachsenhausen
- Noah Lottick (1990), Scientologist, profiled in TIME article The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power
- Malcolm Lowry (1957), British writer, sleeping pill overdose, disputed as to accidental
- Gang Lu (1991), physics graduate student and mass murderer at the University of Iowa, gunshot
- Gherasim Luca (1994), Romanian surrealist, jumped into the Seine
- Lucan (65), Roman poet, fatally cut himself
- Ron Luciano (1995), baseball umpire, carbon monoxide
- Aleksandr Mikhailovich Lyapunov (1918), Russian mathematician, mechanician and physicist
- Roman Lyashenko (2003), professional hockey player, hanging
- Frankie Lymon (1968), singer (Why do Fools Fall in Love?), drug overdose
M
- Billy Mackenzie (1997), lead singer of 1980s pop group The Associates, overdose
- Richard Manuel, (1986), singer, multi-instrumentalist, member of The Band, hanged himself while on tour in Florida
- Simone Mareuil, (1954), French film actress, self-immolation
- Andrew Martinez (2006), nude activist, suffocation by plastic bag
- Magnentius (353), Roman usurper, fell on his sword
- Anton Maiden (2003), Swedish singer
- Willy Mairesse (1969), Belgian race car driver
- Sándor Márai (1989), Hungarian writer and journalist, gunshot
- Harry Martinson (1978), Swedish author, by scissors
- Toshikatsu Matsuoka (2007), Japanese politician, hanging
- Denis Matthews (1988), UK pianist
- Maximian (310), Roman emperor, hanged himself after a failed plot
- Vladimir Mayakovsky (1930), Russian poet; his suicide note said "I don't recommend it for others," gunshot
- Jacques Mayol (2001), French free-diver, hanging
- Susannah McCorkle (2001), jazz singer, jumped from balcony
- Kid McCoy (1940), world champion boxer (real name: Norman Shelby), overdose
- Chris McKinstry (2006), researcher in Artificial Intelligence, gas
- Robert M. McLane (1904), mayor of Baltimore, gunshot[3]
- Gordon McMaster (1997), British politician, Asphyxia by automobile exhaust
- Charles B. McVay III (1968), commanded USS Indianapolis (CA-35) when torpedoed during World War II, gunshot
- Joe Meek (1967), record producer, gunshot
- Niklaus Meienberg (1993), Swiss writer and investigative journalist, suffocation by garbage bag
- Ulrike Meinhof (1976) German radical leftist terrorist; disputed, died in prison cell, hanging
- Kitty Melrose (1912), English actress
- Charlotte Mew (1928), English poet, drank Lysol (cleaner)
- Noel Mewton-Wood (1953), Australian pianist; drank prussic acid
- James Miller(2003), known as the Fan Man, parachutist, hanging
- Walter M. Miller, Jr. (1996), science-fiction writer, gunshot
- Mary Millington (1979), British adult film actress, overdose
- Freddie Mills (1965), world champion boxer, gunshot
- William Oswald Mills (1973), U.S. congressman from Maryland, gunshot
- John Milton (1865), Governor of Florida, gunshot
- Minamoto no Yorimasa (1180), Japanese poet, seppuku
- Yukio Mishima (1970), Japanese novelist; public ritual seppuku
- Ana Mladić (1994), daughter of Serbian General Ratko Mladić, indicted for war crimes, gunshot
- Vilhelm Moberg (1973), Swedish author and historian, drowned
- Walther Model (1945), German Field Marshal, gunshot
- Arthur Moeller van den Bruck (1925), German cultural historian
- George de Mohrenschildt (1977), gunshot wound to the mouth
- Moses Taiwa Molelekwa (2001), South African jazz pianist, hanging
- Henry de Montherlant (1972), French writer, cyanide pill and gunshot to the head
- Donnie Moore (1989), relief pitcher for the California Angels (today Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), gunshot
- Duane R. Morrison (2006), Platte Canyon High School shooting
- Ted Moult (1986), British television personality, gunshot
- Al Mulock (1968), Canadian actor, committed suicide on the set of his last film Once Upon a Time in the West, jumped from window
- David Munrow (1976), UK early music specialist, founder of the Early Music Consort, hanging
- James Murray (1936), American silent film actor (The Crowd), drowned in the Hudson River
N
- Scott Nearing (1983), American peace activist and practical conservationist; by self-starvation at nearly 100 years of age
- Oskar Nedbal (1930), Czech composer (The Tale of the Simply Johnny); jumped out a window on Christmas Eve
- Nero (68), emperor of Rome, stabbed himself while being pursued by Roman soldiers
- Gérard de Nerval (1855), French writer, hanging
- Joachim Nielsen (2000), Norwegian singer in the band Jokke & Valentinerne, overdosed on heroin
- Goce Nikolovski (2006), Macedonian singer, gunshot.
- Frank Nitti (1943), United States gangster, gunshot
- Maresuke Nogi (1912), Japanese hero of Russo-Japanese war, committed seppuku with his wife following death of Meiji emperor
- Jon Nödtveidt (2006), frontman of Swedish black metal band Dissection, gunshot
- Alighiero Noschese (1979), Italian impersonator, shot himself.
O
- Lawrence Oates (1912), Antarctic explorer; he said "I am just going outside and may be some time" when he walked out of the tent to his death in the blizzard, leaving behind Robert Falcon Scott and the others
- John O'Brien (1994), author of Leaving Las Vegas (on which the film was based), gunshot
- C. Y. O'Connor (1902), Irish engineer, gunshot
- Hugh O'Connor (1995), actor, gunshot
- Luis Ocaña (1994), Spanish cyclist, Tour de France winner, gunshot
- Phil Ochs (1976), American singer, hanged himself in sister's apartment, Far Rockaway, New York
- Per Yngve Ohlin (a.k.a. Dead), (1991), vocalist for band Mayhem, killed himself with a shotgun after having slashed his wrist and cut his throat
- Yukiko Okada (1986), Japanese idol of the 1980s, jumped from a seven story building after failed wrist slashing and gas inhalation attempts
- Otho (69), Roman emperor, stabbed himself with a dagger
P
- Jan Palach (1969), protesting Soviet crushing of the Prague Spring, self-immolation
- Billy Papke (1936), world champion boxer, gunshot
- Violeta Parra (1967), Chilean folk singer, gunshot
- Phasael (40 BC), prince from the Herodian Dynasty, head injury
- Jules Pascin (1930), French-American painter, slit wrists and hung himself
- 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
- Justin Pierce (2000), British Actor, hanging.
- Richard Piggott (1890), author of the Piggott Forgeries, gunshot
- Rob Pilatus (1998), Former member of the 90's duo group Mili Vanilli, overdose
- H. Beam Piper (1964), American science fiction writer, gunshot
- Alejandra Pizarnik (1972), Argentinean poetess, seconal overdose
- 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 of The Whitlams, jumped from Wentworth Falls
- Ben Pollack (1971), drummer and big-band leader from the mid '20s to the Swing era, hanging
- 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 forPack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit Bag and Smile, Smile, Smile, once described as "the most optimistic song ever written", gunshot
- Kiki Preston (1946), American heiress, Jumped from window
- Lucien Anatole Prevost-Paradol (1870), French journalist and diplomat, gunshot
- 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, gunshot
- Boris Pugo (1991), Latvian serving minister of the Interior of the USSR; self-inflicted gunshot
- Jack Purvis (1962), American jazz trumpeter
Q
R
- Jason Raize (2004), American Broadway actor and recording star who originated the role of Simba in the Lion king on Broadway.
- Florencio Morales Ramos (1989), known as Ramito, trova singer, gunshot
- Kuljeet Randhawa (2006), Indian television actress, hanging
- Danny Rapp (1983), frontman for Danny & the Juniors, gunshot
- David Rappaport (1990), actor, gunshot
- Margaret Mary Ray (1998), David Letterman stalker, knelt in front of a train
- Alfred Redl (1913), Austrian army officer, spied for Russia, gunshot
- George Reeves (1959), American actor, played Superman on television, death officially ruled as suicide by gunshot, but remains controversial to this day
- David Reimer (2004), Canadian advocate, known as the "John/Joan" case, gunshot
- John Reynolds (1966), American actor, played Torgo in the infamous cult classic "Manos" The Hands of Fate, gunshot or overdose
- Thomas Caute Reynolds (1887), Confederate Governor of Missouri, jumped down elevator shaft
- Thomas Reynolds (1844), Governor of Missouri 1840-1844, shot himself
- David Ritcheson (2007), hate crime victim; jumped off cruise ship
- René Rivkin (2005), Australian stockbroker and entrepreneur
- Carlos Roberto Reina (2003), former president of Honduras, gunshot
- Malachi Ritscher (2006), burned himself to death as an anti-war protest on Chicago's Kennedy expressway
- Angel Rivero Mendez (1930), Puerto Rican soldier for the Spanish Army, inventor, gunshot
- John Robarts, (1982), former Premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, 1961-1971; committed suicide with shotgun
- Rachel Roberts (1980), Welsh-born British actress, overdose
- Bill Robinzine (1982), American basketball player, carbon monoxide poisoning
- Charles Rocket (2005), American comedian, slit own throat
- Sue Rodriguez (1994), Canadian amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) victim and advocate for Euthanasia, assisted suicide
- Lukasz Romanek (2006), Polish Speedway rider, former World Under 21 champion. Found dead in his workshop
- Samuel Romilly (1818), British prison reformer, slit own throat
- Edgar Rosenberg (1987), husband of Joan Rivers, overdose
- Mark Rothko (1970), Russian-American painter, slit arms
- Jacques Roux (1794), leader of the Enrages in the French Revolution, stabbed himself while facing execution
- Ruan Lingyu (1935), Chinese actress, overdose
- Irv Rubin (2002), leader of the Jewish Defense League, cut throat and fell off balcony
- Thomas Jefferson Rusk (1857), senator from Texas, gunshot
- Michael Ryan (1987), mass murderer at Hungerford; self-inflicted gunshot wound after killing many others
- Jakub Jan Ryba (1815), Czech composer and teacher, slit own throat
S
- Emilio Salgari (1911), Italian writer, by seppuku
- Albert Salmi (1990), American actor, apparently shot his wife to death with one gun and shot himself in the heart with another
- Johanna Sällström: (2007) Swedish actress
- Alexander Samsonov (1914), Russian military commander, gunshot to head following disastrous Battle of Tannenberg
- George Sanders (1972), English actor, barbiturate overdose
- Alberto Santos-Dumont (1932), Brazilian aviation pioneer, hanging to protest against airplane use for war
- Bruce Sarver (2005), American NHRA driver, gunshot
- Drake Sather (2004), American standup comedian, 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 Nikolai Ivanovich Bobrikov, gunshot
- Margie Schoedinger (2003), filed lawsuit against George W. Bush claiming that she had been raped, gunshot
- Dave Schulthise (2004), bassist for Dead Milkmen
- Conrad Schumann (1998), GDR refugee, hanging
- Ingo Schwichtenberg (1995), former drummer of German power metal band Helloween, jumped in front of subway
- William Seabrook (1945), adventurer, travel writer, overdose
- Jean Seberg (1979), American actress, barbiturate overdose
- Edie Sedgwick (1972), American socialite, Warhol superstar, overdose
- Sergio López Segú (2006), Spanish footballer, threw himself under a train
- Seneca the Younger (65), was ordered to commit suicide by the emperor Nero
- Anne Sexton (1974), American poet, inhaled carbon monoxide
- Frances Ford Seymour (1950), NYC socialite, mother of Peter and Jane Fonda, slit own throat
- Shang Zhou (1046 BC), the last king of the Shang Dynasty of China, set fire to his palace while inside it
- Del Shannon (1990), American singer, gunshot
- Alice Bradley Sheldon, pen name James Tiptree, Jr (1987), American science fiction author, mercy-killed her terminally ill husband and then shot herself
- Shibata Katsuie (1583), Japanese military commander, seppuku
- Harold Shipman (2004), imprisoned British doctor found to have killed 250+ of his patients; disputed, found dead in prison cell, hanging
- Arthur Shrewsbury (1903), former captain of the England cricket team, gunshot
- Eli Siegel (1978), founded Aesthetic Realism
- Varnado Simpson (1997), Pfc jointly responsible for the My Lai Massacre
- Walter Slezak (1983), U.S. actor, gunshot
- Everett Sloane (1965), U.S. actor, part of Orson Welles' Mercury Theater
- Elliott Smith (2003), U.S singer, song writer, stabbed self two times in chest
- James Leonard Brierley Smith, (1968), South African paleoanatomist, cyanide poisoning
- Paul Snider (1980), promoter, murdered Playmate Dorothy Stratten then killed himself, gunshot
- Mitch Snyder (1990), U.S. activist, advocate for the homeless, hanging
- Soga no Emishi (645), Japanese statesman
- Somesvara I (also known as Ahavamalla or Trilokamalla) (1068), king of the Chalukya empire, drowning
- Mark Speight (2008), UK children's television presenter, hanging
- John Hanning Speke (1864), UK explorer of Africa, gunshot
- John Spence (musician) (1987), U.S. musician, original lead singer of No Doubt; shot himself 9 months after band's 1st official gig, gunshot
- Sir Bernard Spilsbury (1947), UK forensic pathologist who helped convict Dr. Crippen; gassed himself in an oven at his laboratory
- Serge Stavisky (1934), Russian-French swindler, gunshot, disputed
- Wilhelm Stekel (1940), Austrian psychoanalist
- Inger Stevens, (1970), Swedish born American film actress, overdose
- Gary Stewart (2003), country singer, gunshot
- Jay Stewart (1989), TV Announcer, gunshot
- Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1822), nineteenth-century British statesman, slit own throat
- Adalbert Stifter (1868), Austrian writer, slit own throat
- Alfonsina Storni (1938), Argentinian poetess; committed suicide, by entering the sea at the La Perla beach near Mar del Plata, Argentina.
- David Strickland (1999), actor, hanging
- István Széchenyi (1860), Hungarian statesman
- David Edward 'Screaming Lord' Sutch (1999), English rock singer and politician, hanging
T
- Yutaka Taniyama (1958), Japanese mathematician
- Alberts Tarulis (1927), Latvian footballer, hanging
- Victor Tausk (1919), pioneer psychoanalyst
- Tawfik Abu al-Huda Baja (1956), former prime minister of Jordan
- Sara Teasdale (1933), American poet, overdose
- Pál Teleki (1941), Hungarian statesman, gunshot
- Lou Tellegen (1934), Dutch-born American film actor, stabbed self in chest with scissors
- Luigi Tenco (1967), Italian singer-songwriter, gunshot
- Tewodros II of Ethiopia (1868), Ethiopian Emperor, gunshot
- Jason Thirsk (1996), bassist of the band Pennywise, gunshot
- Jesse B. Thomas (1853), U.S. Senator from Illinois
- Hunter S. Thompson (2005), American author, gunshot
- Georg Tintner (1999), Austrian-born conductor active in Canada and Australia; jumped 11 stories when he was no longer able to conduct due to illness
- Li Tobler (1975), Swiss actress, gunshot
- Mutsuo Toi (1938), killed 30 people in the Tsuyama massacre, gunshot
- Ernst Toller (1939), German writer, hanging
- Mikhail Tomsky (1936), Russian revolutionary, gunshot
- Wolfe Tone (1798), Irish independence leader
- John Kennedy Toole (1969), American novelist, asphyxiation by carbon monoxide
- Georg Trakl (1914), Austrain poet, cocaine overdose
- Silvanus Trevail (1903), Cornish architect, shot himself in the lavatory of a train
- Metod Trobec (2006), Slovenian killer
- Kokichi Tsuburaya (1968), Japanese Olympic marathon runner, slit own throat
- Marina Tsvetaeva (1941), Russian poetess and writer, hanging
- Kurt Tucholsky (1935), German journalist and satirist, overdose
- Alan Turing (1954), British mathematician and computer scientist, cyanide poisoning
- John Walker Turnbull (1999), British Soldier, gunshot
- Randy Turpin (1966), British world champion boxer, gunshot
- Tore Tønne (2002), Norwegian Minister of Health and Social Affairs
- Jim Tyrer (1980), All-Pro tackle for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, murder-suicide, killed his wife and then himself
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