Celebrity Deaths – C

by Michael RichComment — Updated August 3, 2023
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
1992
John Candy
John Candy
1994
John Chancellor
John Chancellor
1996
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
1999
Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
2003
Grdon Cooper
Gordon Cooper
2004
Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
2005
Johnnie Cochran
Johnnie Cochran
2005
Darlene Conley
Darlene Conley
2007
Kitty Carlisle
Kitty Carlisle (Hart)
2007
George Carlin
George
Carlin
2008
Cyd Charisse
Cyd
Charisse
2008
David Carradine Died
David Carradine
2009
Walter Cronkite - Celebrity Deaths C
Walter Cronkite
2009
Robert Culp
Robert Culp
2010
Dixie Carter
Dixie Carter
2010
Gary Coleman
Gary Coleman
2010
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
2010
Stephen J Cannell
Stephen J Cannell
2010
Jill Clayburgh
Jill Clayburgh
2010
Charlie Callas
Charlie Callas
2011
Jackie Cooper
Jackie Cooper
2011
Jeff Conaway
Jeff Conaway
2011
Linda Christian
Linda Christian
2011
Annette Charles
Annette Charles
2011
Dick Clark
Dick Clark
2012
Gary Collins
Gary Collins
2012
Sid Caesar
Sid Caesar
2014
Mohamed Ali passed away
Cassius Clay
2016
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
2016
Mike Connors 2017 celebrity death
Mike Connors
2017
Robert Conrad Celebrity death 2020
Robert Conrad
2020

Sebastian Cabot b. 1918. d. 1977
(stroke) Actor – Mr. French on Family Affair

Dr.Robert Cade b. 1927 d. November 27, 2007 (kidney disease)
Univ. of Florida (Gator’s) researcher who invented Gatorade in 1965

Frank Cady b. 1915 d. 2012 (natural)
Actor – Sam Drucker on “Green Acres” (1965 – ’71)

Sid Caesar b. 1922 d. Feb. 12, 2014
Comedian – “Your Show of Shows” and “Caesar’s Hour”

James Cagney b. 1899 d. 1986 (heart attack/diabetes)
Actor – The Yankee Doodle Dandy

Rory Calhoun b. 1922 d. 1999 (diabetes and emphysema)
Actor – Bill Longely on The Texan

Charlie Callas b. 1927 d. 2011 (natural)
Comedian, frequently appeared with Jerry Lewis

Cab Calloway b. 1907 d. 1994 (stroke)
Jazz musician

David Canary b. 1938 d. 2015 (natural)
Actor – Candy on Bonanza (1967-73)

John Candy b. 1950 d. 1994 (heart attack)
Actor – Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Mary Grace Canfield b. 1924 d. Feb. 15, 2014 (lung cancer)
Actress – Ralph Monroe the carpenter on Green Acres

Stephen J Cannell b. 1941 d. 2010 (melanoma)
Screen Writer, Producer, Novelist – wrote or produced over 40 TV shows incl. Silk Stockings, Rockford files, A-Team

J.D. Cannon b. 1922 d. May 20, 2005
Actor – NYPD Chief Peter Clifford on McCloud

Truman Capote b. 1924 d. 1984 (disputed)
Writer – In Cold Blood, Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Alfred ‘Al’ Capp b. 1909. d. 1979
Cartoonist

Frank Capra b. 1897 d. 1991
Director – It’s a Wonderful Life and others

MacDonald Carey b. 1913 d. 1994 (cancer)
Actor – Dr. Tom Horton on Days of Our Lives

Harry Carey Jr. b. 1921 d. 2012
Actor – character actor in John Ford and Howard Hawks westerns and a regular on “Spin & Marty”

Ron Carey b. 1935 d. January 16, 2007 (stroke)
Actor – Ofc. Carl Levitt on Barney Miller

George Carlin b. 1937 d. 2008
Comedian – known for “off color language”

Kitty Carlisle (Hart) b. 1910 d. April 17, 2007 (pneumonia)
Actress – To Tell the Truth

Hoagy Carmichael b. 1899 d. 1981
Actor

Judy Carne b. 1939 d. 2015 (pneumonia) 
Actress – the “sock-it-to-me” girl on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In (1968-70)

Art Carney b. 1918 d. November 9, 2003
Actor – Ed Norton on the Honeymooners

Karen Anne Carpenter b. 1950 d. 1983 (heart failure resulting from years of anorexia)
Singer – The Carpenters, “We’ve Only Just Begun”

Charmian Carr b. 1942 d. 2016 (complications of dementia)
Actress – Liesl Von Trapp (eldest daughter) in The Sound of Music (1965)

David Carradine b. 1936 d. 2009 (circumstantial/accident)
Actor – best known for role in “Kung Fu” tv series and “Kill Bill” movies

Leo Carrillo b. 1881 d. 1961(cancer)
Actor – Pancho in the Cisco Kid

Janet Carroll b. 1940 d. 2012
Actress – Tom Cruises’s mother in “Risky Business”

Leo G. Carroll b. 1892 d. 1972 (pneumonia and cancer)
Actor – Cosmo Topper

Johnny Carson b. 1925 d, January 23, 2005 (emphysema)
King of Late Night TV – Host of the Tonight Show for nearly 30 years

Billy Carter b. 1937 d. 1988 (pancreatic cancer)
Brother of President Jimmy Carter

Dixie Carter b. 1939 d. April 10, 2010 (endometrial cancer)
Actress – Julia Sugarbaker on Designing Women for 7 years

Nell Carter b. 9/13/1948 d. January 23, 2003 (heart disease complicated by diabetes)
Actress – Nell Harper in Gimme a Break!

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter b. 1937 d. April 20, 2014 (colon cancer)
Boxer – Pro boxer who was wrongly jailed for 20 years, a song was written about his case

Barbara Cartland b. 1901 d. 2000
Romance novel writer

Johnny Cash – b. 1932 d. September 12, 2003 (complications of diabetes)
Singer – “Ring of Fire” and “I Walk the Line.” Wife, June (below.)

June Carter Cash b. 1929 d. May 15, 2003 (complications after heart surgery)
Singer/actress – wife of Johnny Cash and composer of “Ring of Fire”

Peggy Cass b. 1924 d. 1999 (heart failure)
Actress/panelist – To Tell the Truth

John Cassavetes b. 1929 d. 1989 (cirrhosis of the liver)
Actor/director – Victor Franko in The Dirty Dozen

David Cassidy b. 1950 d. 2017 (early onset dementia)
Actor/Singer – portrayed Keith Partridge in TV series “The Partridge Family” (1970-74)

Jack Cassidy b. 1927 d. 1976 (fire – fell asleep smoking in living room, couch ignited)
Actor – father of Shawn and David Cassidy

Fidel Castro b. 1926 d. 2016
Dictator – Prime Minister then President of Cuba from 1959-2008 then gave same powers to his brother

Joan Caulfield b. 1922. d. 1991(cancer)
Actress – “Dear Ruth”

Christine Cavanaugh b. 1963 d. 2014
Voice actress – voiced Babe in “Babe”

Eugene Cernan b. 1934 d. 2017
NASA astronaut – Gemini 9A (1966), Apollo 10 (1969), Apollo 17 (1972) last man to walk on the moon

Roger Chaffee b. 1935 d. 1967 (Killed when their Apollo 1 command module had a flash fire on the pad)
Astronaut

Wilt Chamberlain b. 1936 d. 1999 (heart attack)
Basketball player and self-professed stud

John Chancellor b. 1927 d. 1996 (cancer)
Journalist

Harry Chapin b. 1942 d. 1981(car accident)
Musician – Cat’s in the Cradle

Cyd Charisse b. 1922 d. 2008 (heart failure)
Dancer – Singing in the Rain

Annette Charles b. 1948 d. 2011 (lung cancer)
Actress – Cha Cha in Grease (1978)

Ray Charles b. 1918 d. June 10, 2004 (liver disease)
Composer/singer – Georgia on my Mind

Paddy Chayefsky b. 1923 d. 1981(cancer)
Director

John Cheever b. 1912 d. 1982
Writer – Falconer

Maurice Chevalier b. 1888. d. 1972 (cardiac arrest after surgery)
Actor – Honore Lachaille in GiGi

Chiang Kai-shek b. 1887 d. 1975 (heart attack)
Taiwan president – China’s only elected president in 1948

Julia Child b. 1912 d. August 12, 2004
Gourmet author – Known for “Bon Appetite”

Alex Chilton b. 1950 d. 2010 (heart attack)
musician had hit “The Letter” with the Box Tops in the 60’s

Linda Christian b. 1923 d. 2011 (colon cancer)
Actress – played the first Bond girl also married to Tyrone Power

Virginia Christine b. 1920 d. 1996 (heart disease)
Actress – Mrs. Olson in the Folger’s Coffee television commercials

Warren Christopher b. 1925 d. 2011 (kidney and bladder cancer)
Secretary of State during Pres. Clintons Administration

William Christopher b. 1932 d. 2016 (small-cell carcinoma)
Actor – Father Mulcahy on TV show M*A*S*H

Winston Churchill b. 1874 d. 1965
British Prime Minister and statesman

Craig Claiborne b. 1920 d. 2000
Writer – Food books and the NY Times

Liz Claiborne b. 1929 d. June 26, 2007 (cancer)
Famed fashion designer

Tom Clancy b. 1947 d. Oct. 1, 2013
Author – “The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games”

Dick Clark b. 1929 d. April 18, 2012 (massive heart attack)
Host of American Bandstand 1957 – 1987 also New Year’s Rockin’ Eve 1972 – 2011

Tom Campbell Clark b. 1899 d. 1977
U. S. Supreme Court Justice

Arthur C. Clarke b. 1917 d. March 18, 2008 (post-polio syndrome)
Writer – 2001: A Space Odyssey

Cassius Clay b. 1942 d. 2016 (Parkinson Disease)
Professional Boxer – (Mohamed Ali) three time heavyweight champion (1964, 1974, and 1978), proclaimed “The Greatest”

Jill Clayburgh b. 1944 d. 2010 (Leukemia)
Actress – “An Unmarried Woman”, “Starting Over”

Jan Clayton b. 1917 d. 1983
Actress – Lassie

Eldridge Cleaver b. 1935 d. 1998 (heart attack)
Militant Black Panther and activist

Roberto Clemente b. 1934 d. 1972 (Plane crash while delivering relief supplies to earthquake-ravaged Nicaragua)
Baseball Hall of Fame

Clarence Clemons b. 1942 d. 2011 (stroke)
Musician – Saxophone player and earliest member of Bruce Springsteens E Street Band

Clark Clifford b. 1906 d. 1998
Lawyer/DC insider

Montgomery Clift b. 1920 d. 1966 (heart attack)
Actor – Perce Howland in the Misfits

Patsy Cline b. 1932 d. 1963 (plane crash)
Singer and country music pioneer

Rosemary Clooney b. 1928 d. June 29, 2002
Singer/Actress – aunt of George Clooney; with Bing Crosby in White Christmas

Lee J. Cobb b. 1911 d. 1976
Actor – Judge Henry Garth on the Virginian

James Coburn b. 1928 d. November 18, 2002 (heart attack)
Actor – Magnificent 7, Affliction

Imogene Coca b.1908 d. June 2, 2001
Actress – co-star with Sid Caesar on Your Show of Shows

Eddie Cochran b. 1938 d. 1960 (car crash)
Musician – Summertime Blues

Johnnie Cochran b. 1937 d. March 29, 2005 (brain tumor)
Famed attorney who represented O.J. Simpson

Joe Cocker b. 1944 d. 2014 (lung cancer)
Singer – sang “With a Little Help from My Friends” at Woodstock

Iron Eyes Cody b. 1907 d. 1999
Actor – Native American who shed tear in environmental ads

Tristam Coffin b. 1909 d. 1990 (lung cancer)
Actor – Captain Tom Rynning on 26 Men

Leonard Cohen b. 1934 d. 2016 (in his sleep)
Poet / Songwriter – “Suzanne”, “Hallelujah” and “Bird on the Wire”

Claudette Colbert b. 1903 d. 1996 (stroke)
Actress – It Happened One Night

Nat ‘King’ Cole b. 1919 d. 1965 (lung cancer)
Singer – Unforgettable

Natalie Cole b. 1950 d. 2015 (congestive heart failure)
Singer – Daughter of Nat King Cole, sang “Unforgettable”

Gary Coleman b. 1968 d. 2010 (inter cranial hemorrhage)
Actor – Arnold Jackson on “Different Strokes

John Colicos b. 1928 d. 2000 (heart attack)
Actor – Baltar on Battlestar Gallactica

Gary Collins b. 1938 d. 2012
Actor – The Sixth Sense (1972), The Wackiest Ship in the Army” (1965-66)

Jackie Collins b. 1937 d. 2015 (breast cancer)
Novelist – Hollywood Wives (1983)

Bud Collyer b.1908 d. 1969
Game show host – To Tell the Truth

Alex Comfort b. 1919 d. 2000 (strokes)
Writer – Joy of Sex

Perry Como b. 1912 d. 5/12/2001
Singer – Catch a Falling Star

Jeff Conaway b. 1950 d. 2011 (pneumonia & sepsis)
Actor – Kenickie in “Grease” and Zack Allan on “Babylon 5”

Darlene Conley b. 1934 d. January 14, 2007 (stomach cancer)
Actress – Sally Spectra on Bold and the Beautiful

Joe Conley b. 1928 d. July 07, 2013
Ike Godsey the storekeeper on “The Waltons”

John B. Connally b. 1917 d. 1993
Texas Governor wounded in Dallas Nov. 22, 1963

Nellie Connally b. 1919 d. September 1, 2006
Wife of former Texas Governor John B. Connally

Chuck Connors b. 1921 d. 1992 (lung cancer)
Actor – Lucas McCain on The Rifleman

Mike Connors b. 1925 d. 2017 (leukemia)
Actor – Joe Mannix in TV show “Mannix” (1967-1975)

Charles Pete Conrad, Jr. b. 1930 d. 1999 (motorcycle accident)
Astronaut, third man to walk on the moon

Michael Conrad b. 1925 d. 1983 (urethral cancer)
Actor – Sgt. Phil Esterhauser in Hill Street Blues

Robert Conrad b.1935 d.2020 (heart failure)
Actor/stuntman/producer – played James West in TV Western “The Wild Wild West” (1965-’69) and Pappy Boyington in TV show “Baa Baa Black Sheep” (1976-’78)

William Conrad b. 1920 d. 1994 (heart attack)
Actor – Jake and the Fat Man also Cannon

Bert Convy b. 1933 d. 1991(cancer)
Actor/host – Win, Lose or Draw

Pat Conway b. 1931 d. 1981
Actor – Sheriff Clay Hollister on Tombstone Territory

Alistair Cooke b. 1908 d. March 30, 2004
Broadcaster – Letter from America

Jackie Coogan b. 1914 d. 1984 (cardiac arrest)
Actor – Uncle Fester in the Addams Family

Sam Cooke b. 1931 d. 1964 (shooting)
Singer – Wonderful World

Gary Cooper b. 1901 d. 1961(cancer)
Actor – Will Kane in High Noon

Gordon Cooper b. 1927 d. October 4, 2004
Astronaut – One of the original Mercury 7

Jackie Cooper b. 1922 d. 2011 (short illness)
Actor, Director, Producer – Perry White on originl Superman movies

Jeanne Cooper b. 1928 d. 2013
Actress – Katherine Chancellor on the soap opera “The Young and the Restless” (1973–2013)

Aaron Copland b. 1900 d. 1990 (Alzheimer’s disease)
Composer – Fanfare for the Common Man

Ellen Corby b. 1911 d. 1999
Actress – Grandma Walton on the Waltons

Kevin Corcoran b. 1949 d. 2015 (colorectal cancer)
Actor – Old Yeller and Spin & Marty

Don Cornelius b. 1936 d. February 01, 2012 (suicide – gunshot to the head)
TV host & producer – “Soul Train” creator and host

Charles Correll b. 1890 d. 1972
Actor – Andy of Amos and Andy

Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan b. 1907 d. 1995
Flew to Ireland instead of the West coast of US

Howard Cosell b 1918 d. 1995 (heart aneurysm)
Sports announcer

Lou Costello b. 1906 d. 1959 (heart attack)
Half of Abbott and Costello

Joseph Cotten b. 1905 d. 1994 (pneumonia)
Actor – Jedidiah Leland in Citizen Kane

Jacques-Yves Cousteau b. 1910 d. 1997 (heart attack)
Oceanographer

Sir Noel Coward b. 1899 d. 1973 (heart attack)
Playwright

William Cowsill b. 1948 d. February 18, 2006 (emphysema, osteoporosis, and other ailments)
Singer – The Cowsills, the band that inspired the TV series “The Partridge Family”

Archibald Cox b. 1912 d. May 29, 2004
Lawyer – Special Prosecutor, Watergate, fired in “Saturday Night Massacre” by Nixon

Wally Cox b. 1924 d. 1973 (heart attack)
Actor – Mr. Peepers

Buster Crabbe b. 1908 d. 1983
Actor – Tarzan

Yvonne Craig b. 1937 d. Aug. 17, 2015 (metastatic breast cancer)
Actress / Dancer – Batgirl and Barbara Gordon in Batman (1967-68)

Jeanne Crain b.1925 d. December 14, 2003 (heart attack)
Actress – “State Fair” and “Pinky”

Bob Crane b. 1928 d. 1978 (murdered)
Actor – Col. Robert Hogan on Hogan’s Heroes

Richard Crane b. 1918 d. 1969 (heart attack)
Actor – Rocky Jones, Space Ranger

Alan Cranston b. 1914 d. December 31, 2000
US Senator from California 1969 – 1993

Broderick Crawford b. 1911 d. 1986 (stroke)
Actor – Chief Dan Mathews on Highway Patrol

Joan Crawford b. 1904 d. 1977 (cancer)
Actress – also known as Mommie Dearest

Richard Crenna b. 1927 d. January 17, 2003 (pancreatic cancer)
Actor – Real McCoys and Rambo

Bob Crewe b. 1931 d. Sept. 11, 2014
Songwriter/singer/music producer – wrote and produced many of The Four Seasons hits

Francis Crick b.1916 d. July 28, 2004 (cancer)
Nobel Prize for Medicine – With Watson, revealed the structure of DNA

Judith Crist b. 1922 d. 2012
Film Criic and Author – Today Show Critic (1964 – ’73)

Jim Croce b. 1943 d. 1973 (plane crash)
Musician – Time in a Bottle

Walter Cronkite b. 1916 d. 2009 (cerebrovascular disease)
Broadcast Journalist – Anchored the CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981,he was considered an American icon

Hume Cronyn b. 1911 d. June 15, 2003 (prostate cancer)
Actor – Cocoon, husband of 52 years to Jessica Tandy

Bing Crosby b. 1904 d. 1977 (heart attack)
Singer/actor – Jim Hardy in Holiday Inn

Gary Evan Crosby b. 1933 d. 1995 (cancer)
Actor – Bing’s Son

Scatman Crothers b. 1910 d. 1986 (lung cancer)
Actor – Dick Hallorann in the Shining

Suzanne Crough b. 1963 d. 2015
Actress – Tracy Partridge on “The Partridge Family

George Cukor b. 1899 d. 1983
Director – My Fair Lady

Bill Cullen b. 1920 d. 1990 (lung cancer)
Host – The Price is Right, Name That Tune, Joker’s Wild

Robert Culp b. 1930 d. 2010 (head trauma)
played opposite Bill Cosby on “I Spy

Bob Cummings b. 1908. d. 1990
Actor – Love That Bob

Mario Cuomo b.1932 d. 2015 (heart failure)
Politician – Former Governor of New York from 1983 to 1994

Peter Cushing b. 1913 d. 1994 (cancer)
Actor – played both Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes

Ken Curtis d. 1991 b. 1916
Actor – Festus on Gunsmoke

Tony Curtis b. 1925 d. 2010 (cardiac arrest)
Actor – did comedies and serious , film and stage, “Some Like It Hot”

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