Celebrity Deaths – K

by Michael RichComment — Updated August 3, 2023
Jack Kelly - Celebrity Deaths K
Jack Kelly
1992
Charles kuralt
Charles Kuralt
1997
DeForest Kelley
DeForest Kelley
1999
Captain Kangaroo
Bob Keeshan
2004
Alan King
Alan King
2004
Coretta Scott King
Coretta Scott King
2006
Don Knotts
Don Knotts
2006
Jack Kemp
Jack Kemp
2009
Teddy Kennedy
Edward “Ted” Kennedy
2009
Alex Karras
Alex Karras
2012
Jack Klugman
Jack Klugman
2012
Jane Kean
Jane Kean
2013
Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem
2014
Richard Kiel
Richard Kiel
2014
BB King Died
B.B. King
2015
George Kennedy
George Kennedy
2016

Madeline Gail Kahn b. 1942 d. 1999 (ovarian cancer)
Actress – Pauline in Cosby

Paul Kantner b. 1941 d. 2016 (complications from a heart attack)
Musician – lead guitarist and co-founder of The Jefferson Airplane and Starship

Robert Kardashian b. 1944 d. October 1, 2003 (cancer of the esophagus)
O.J. Simpson’s best bud and pal

Alex Karras b. 1935 d. 2012 (kidney failure)
Athlete / Actor – Detroit Lions (1958-1970), Mondo in “Blazing Saddles”

Casey Kasem b. 1932 d. 2014 (Lewy body dementia)
Radio Disk Jockey – American Top 40, American Top 20 and American Top 10 (1970-2009)

Andreas Katsulas b. 1946 d. February 13, 2006 (lung cancer)
Actor – GKar on Babylon 5

Andy Kaufman b. 1949 d. 1984 (lung cancer)
Comedian – SNL, Latka Gravas in Taxi

Danny Kaye b. 1913 d. 1987 (hepatitis)
Entertainer – The Danny Kaye Show

Elia Kazan b. 1909 d. September 28, 2003
Director – On the Waterfront, Streetcar Named Desire

Beau Kazer b. 1951 d. 2014
Brock Reynolds on “The Young and the Restless”

Jane Kean b. 1924 d. November 26, 2013
Actress – Trixie Norton in the “The Honeymooners Show” (1966-1970)

Joseph Kearns b. 1907. d. 1962
Actor – Mr Wilson on Dennis the Menace

Howard Keel b. 1919 d. November 7, 2004 (colon cancer)
Actor- Broadway – Kiss Me Kate; TV – Dallas

Ruby Keeler b. 1909 d. 1993 (cancer)
Actress – Married to Al Jolson

Bob Keeshan b. 1927 d. January 23, 2004
Legend – Captain Kangaroo

Carey Estes Kefauver b. 1903 d. 1963
U.S. Senator

Brian Keith b. 1921 d. 1997 (Suicide – after being bedridden with cancer, emphysema)
Actor – Uncle Bill on Family Affair

Helen Keller b. 1880 d. 1968
Woman about whom the movie Miracle Worker was made

Clarence M. Kelley b. 1911 d. 1997
Director, FBI

DeForest Kelley b. 1920 d. 1999 (stomach cancer)
Actor – Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy on Star Trek TOS

Brian Kelly b. 1931 d. February 12, 2005 (pneumonia)
Actor – Porter Ricks on Flipper

Emmett Kelly b. 1898 d. 1979 (heart attack)
Famous clown

Gene Kelly b.1912 d. 1996 (stroke complications)
Actor, Singer,Dancer – American in Paris

Jack Kelly b. 1927 d. 1992 (stroke)
Actor – Brother Bart on Maverick

Lisa Robin Kelly b. 1970 d. 2013 (possible overdose while in substance abuse facility)
Actress – Laurie Forman on “That ’70s Show”

Princess Grace (Kelly) b. 1929 d. 1982 (car crash)
Actress and Princess of Monaco

Jack Kemp b. 1935 d. 2009 (cancer)
Pro football player turned politician, Congressman and Secretary of HUD

Arthur Kennedy b. 1914 d. 1990 (brain tumor)
Actor – Pontius Pilate in Barrabbas

Burt Kennedy b.1922 d. February 15, 2001 (cancer)
Director – The Virginian, Combat, Lawman, Simon and Simon

Douglas Kennedy b. 1915 d. 1973 (cancer)
Actor – Marshal Steve Donovan on Steve Donovan, Western Marshal and Sheriff Fred Madden on The Big Valley

Edward Moore Kennedy b. 1932 d. Aug. 25, 2009 (brain cancer)
9 term US Senator from Mass. referred to as “The Lion of the Senate” younger brother of John and Bobby Kennedy

George Kennedy b. 1925 d. 2016
Actor – Academy Award for “Cool Hand Luke”

John Fitzgerald Kennedy b. May 29, 1917 d. November 22, 1963 (assasinated)
35th President of the United States

John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Jr. b. 1960 d. July 16, 1999 (plane crash)
Son of JFK, Publisher of George

Kara Kennedy (Allen) b. 1960 d. Sept. 16, 2011 (heart attack)
oldest child of Edward Kennedy

Robert Francis Kennedy b. 1925. d. June 6, 1968 (shot)
U.S. Attorney General – brother of JFK

Rose Kennedy b. 1890 d. 1995 (pneumonia)
Mother of JFK

Doris Kenner-Jackson b. 1942 d. February 4, 2000
Singer – A Shirelle

Shell Kelpler b. 1959 d. February 1, 2008
Actress – Amy Vining on General Hospital

Jack Kerouac b. 1922 d. 1969
Writer – On the Road – Beat architect

Deborah Kerr b. 1921 d. October 23, 2007 (Parkinson’s Disease)
Actress – From Here to Eternity and The King and I

Ken Kesey – b. 1935 d. November 10, 2001 (liver cancer)
Author – One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

Hank Ketchum b. 1920 d. June 1, 2001
cartoonist – Creator of Dennis the Menace

Jack Kevorkian b. 1928 d. 2011 (Kidney & Liver disease)
Pathologist – brought national attention to the “Death with Dignity” agenda

Persis Khambatta b. 1950 d. 1998 (heart attack)
Actress who shaved her head to co-star in Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini b. 1900 d. 1989 (heart failure)
Iranian revolutionary leader

Nikita Khrushchev b. 1894 d. 1971
Soviet Premier

Richard Kiel b. 1939 d. 2014 (complications from a a broken leg)
Actor – played the steel-toothed Jaws in two James Bond movies

Richard Kiley b. 1922 d. 1999 (blood disorder)
Actor/singer – The original Man of La Mancha

Dorothy Kilgallen b. 1913. d. 1965 (drug overdose, possible suicide)
Gossip columinist/celebrity – panelist, What’s My Line

Harmon Killebrew b. 1936 d. 2011
Baseball player – Minnesota Twins “Hammerin’ Harmon” top homerun hitter

Alan King b. 1927 d. May 9, 2004 (lung cancer)
Comedian/Actor

B.B. King b. 1925 d. 2015 (complications of high blood pressure and diabetes)
Blues singer/guitarist – “The King of Blues”

Cammie King b. 1935 d. 2010 (lung cancer)
Child Actress – “Bonnie Blue Butler” in Gone with the Wind (1939)

Coretta Scott King b. 1927 d. January 30, 2006
Widow of Martin Luther King and Civil Rights matriarch

Martin Luther King, Jr. b. 1929 d. 1968 (shot)
Civil Rights Activist

Yolanda King b. 1955 d. May 15, 2007
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s eldest child

Sam Kinison b. 1953 d. 1992 (killed in traffic accident)
Comedian

Bruno Kirby b. 1949 d. August 14, 2006 (leukemia)
Ed Funillo in City Slickers

Durward Kirby b. 1912 d. 2000 (congestive heart failure)
Sidekick – The Garry Moore Show and also Candid Camera

Phyllis Kirk b. 1929 d. October 20, 2006 (post-cerebral aneurysm )
Actress – Nora Charles on The Thin Man

Don Kirshner b. 1934 d. 2011 (heart failure)
Promoter – Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Carole King, The Archies, The Monkees

Eartha Kitt b.1927 d. 2008 (colon cancer) Entertainer/ Singer/ Actress
best known for singing the song Santa Baby

Richard C. Kleindienst b. 1924 d. February 2, 2000
Nixon’s Attorney General who served for one year during the Watergate scandal

Werner Klemperer b. 1920 d. December 6, 2000 (cancer)
Actor – Colonel Wilhelm Klink on Hogan’s Heroes

Jack Klugman b. 1922 d. December 24, 2012 (throat cancer)
Actor – Oscar Madison in “The Odd Couple” (1970 – ’75), “Quincy, M.E.” (1976 -’83)

Evel Knievel b. 1938 d. November 30, 2007
Legendary motorcycle daredevil

Ted Knight b. 1923 d. 1986 (kidney cancer)
Actor – Ted Baxter in the Mary Tyler Moore Show

Wyatt Knight b. 1955 d. 2011 (cancer then suicide)
Tommy Turner in the Porky’s trilogy

Don Knotts b. 1924 d. February 24, 2006 (pulmonary and respiratory complications)
Actor – Deputy Barney Fife on The Andy Griffith Show and landlord Ralph Furley on Three’s Company

Keith Knudsen b. 1948 d. February 8, 2005 (pneumonia)
Musician – Longtime drummer for the Doobie Brothers

Ed Koch b.1924 d. February 01, 2013 (heart failure)
Politician – 3 term Mayor of New York City

Howard W. Koch b. 1916 d. February 16, 2001
Producer/director – Johnny Ringo, Maverick, The Odd Couple

Mary Jo Kopechne b. 1940. d. July 19, 1969
Campaign worker Teddy Kennedy drove off a bridge, whereupon she drowned.

Ernie Kovacs b. 1919 d. 1962 (car crash)
Comedian – Husband of Edie Adams

Stanely Kramer b.1913 d.2001 (pneumonia)
Producer/director – High Noon

Ray Kroc b. 1902 d. 1984
Founder of McDonalds, the franchise

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross b. d. August 24, 2004 (compliations of strokes)
Psychiatrist & author – “On Death and Dying”

Stanley Kubrick b. 1928 d. 1999
Director – 2001, A Space Odyssey

Bowie Kuhn b. 1926 d. March 15, 2007
Former Major League Baseball commissioner

William Kunstler b.1919 d. 1995 (heart failure)
Lawyer/activist

Charles Kuralt b. 1934 d. 1997 (Lupus)
Journalist

Akira Kurosawa b. 1910 d. 1998 (stroke)
Movie Director

Burt Kwouk b. 1930 d. 2016 (cancer)
Actor – Cato in the “Pink Panther” films

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