Top 10 Celebrities Who Read Their Own Obituary

[bholas]

t is journalistic practice for rookies to start writing obits as their first assignments when first diving into the newspaper world. Sometimes these writers get ahead of themselves and some celebrities will find out that their obituaries have been written before their demise. And that means that a few of those people have the misfortune of actually seeing those obits printed before they have passed beyond the mortal realm. To be included on this list, the celebrity or historical figure had to be of some significance, either famous or infamous and declared dead by in a major news media market such as a newspaper, on radio, on television or on the Internet. Imagine their surprise when they found out they were dead – talk about morbid curiosity!
10. Daniel Boone



Explorer of the American West and folk hero, Daniel Boone was made a folk hero because of the publication of his exploits in dime serials of the day. Kentucky’s “first” resident, Boone’s obit was erroneously printed a few years before he died at the age of 86 in 1820. Who knows, the newspaper who put his obit in early might have thought he was exploring really new territory – beyond the grave!?

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[bholas]

t is journalistic practice for rookies to start writing obits as their first assignments when first diving into the newspaper world. Sometimes these writers get ahead of themselves and some celebrities will find out that their obituaries have been written before their demise. And that means that a few of those people have the misfortune of actually seeing those obits printed before they have passed beyond the mortal realm. To be included on this list, the celebrity or historical figure had to be of some significance, either famous or infamous and declared dead by in a major news media market such as a newspaper, on radio, on television or on the Internet. Imagine their surprise when they found out they were dead – talk about morbid curiosity!
10. Daniel Boone



Explorer of the American West and folk hero, Daniel Boone was made a folk hero because of the publication of his exploits in dime serials of the day. Kentucky’s “first” resident, Boone’s obit was erroneously printed a few years before he died at the age of 86 in 1820. Who knows, the newspaper who put his obit in early might have thought he was exploring really new territory – beyond the grave!?

[bholas]

9. Bertrand Russell



Welsh philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell was ill from pneumonia when he was reported dead by a Japanese newspaper in 1920 – some 50 years before he died. Supposedly the New York Times picked up the story and ran it. This prompted an apology by way of him writing his own obit – but supposedly that obit written for his own entertainment was quoted in 1970 when he did pass away.

[bholas]

8. P.T. Barnum



Perhaps the only member of this list to actually want to see his obituary printed before his death, PT Barnum, the genius behind the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, actually requested to see his printed in the New York Evening Sun. He got his wish on March 24, 1891; the obit was printed on the front page. How’s that for top billing? He died two weeks later.

[bholas]

7. Alfred Nobel



While most people recognize Nobel’s name for the prizes it confers each year, Alfred Nobel was known in his day as the “Merchant of Death” since he had invented both nitroglycerine and dynamite. When a newspaper printed his obit, 13 years before he died in 1896, and gave him that dreadful moniker, he decided to do something about it creating the stipulations for the prizes in his last will. How ironic, the Nobel Prize has been known for patting people on the back for peace, yet it’s funded by some of the most explosive discoveries in history!