James Dean starred in three films, and only one of them, East of Eden, had come out when he was killed on a California highway on September 30, 1955. He was 24. Rebel Without a Cause and Giant were released after his death, and he was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar for East of Eden and for Giant, the only actor nominated twice after his death. Dean is the first name on any list of actors who died young, and Hollywood has added to it in every decade since.
1. James Dean (1955, aged 24)
Dean was driving his new Porsche 550 Spyder to a race in Salinas when a student turning across the road hit him near Cholame. He died at the scene. His passenger, a mechanic, survived.
2. Dominique Dunne (1982, aged 22)
Dominique Dunne played the older sister in Poltergeist, which opened in June 1982. In October her former boyfriend strangled her in the driveway of her West Hollywood home. He served less than four years in prison, and her father, the writer Dominick Dunne, spent the rest of his life writing about trials and the families of victims.
3. Heather O’Rourke (1988, aged 12)
Heather O’Rourke was the little girl who said “They’re here” in Poltergeist. She died in February 1988, before the third film was released, after a bowel obstruction caused by a condition doctors had not diagnosed. Two of the Poltergeist films’ young actresses died within six years of each other.
4. Brandon Lee (1993, aged 28)
Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, was shot on the set of The Crow on March 31, 1993, when a gun that should have fired blanks fired a bullet fragment left in the barrel. He was due to marry his fiancée, Eliza Hutton, weeks later. The film was finished with a double and digital effects and became a hit.
5. River Phoenix (1993, aged 23)
River Phoenix had been nominated for an Oscar for Running on Empty and starred in Stand by Me and My Own Private Idaho. He collapsed outside the Viper Room in Los Angeles on Halloween night 1993 from an overdose of cocaine and heroin. His brother Joaquin made the 911 call.
6. Heath Ledger (2008, aged 28)
Heath Ledger died in his New York apartment in January 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs, months after finishing his role as the Joker in The Dark Knight. He won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor the following year, and his family collected it.
7. Anton Yelchin (2016, aged 27)
Anton Yelchin played Chekov in the rebooted Star Trek films. In June 2016 he was crushed against a gate by his own car, which had rolled down the steep driveway of his Los Angeles home. The car’s gear selector was the subject of a recall at the time.
8. Cameron Boyce (2019, aged 20)
Cameron Boyce was a star of the Disney Channel’s Jessie and the Descendants films. He died in his sleep in July 2019 after an epileptic seizure. His parents set up a foundation in his name that funds research into sudden unexpected death in epilepsy.
The list gained a new name in 2026. Kaylee Hottle, the deaf actress who played Jia in Godzilla vs. Kong, was killed in a car accident in Maryland in July at 18, younger than anyone else on it except Heather O’Rourke.