Suicide in the Entertainment Industry - An Encyclopedia of 840 Twentieth Century Cases

This work covers 840 intentional suicide cases initially reported in Daily Variety (the entertainment industry's trade journal), but also drawing attention from mainstream news media. These cases are taken from the ranks of vaudeville, film, theatre, dance, music, literature (writers with direct connections to film), and other allied fields in the entertainment industry from 1905 through 2000. Accidentally self-inflicted deaths are omitted, except for a few controversial cases.
It includes the suicides of well-known personalities such as actress Peg Entwistle, who is the only person to ever commit suicide by jumping from the top of the Hollywood Sign, Marilyn Monroe and Dorothy Dandridge, who are believed to have overdosed on drugs, and Richard Farnsworth and Brian Keith, who shot themselves to end the misery of terminal cancer. Also mentioned, but in less detail, are the suicides of unknown and lesser-known members of the entertainment industry. Arranged alphabetically, each entry covers the person's personal and professional background, method of suicide, and, in some instances, includes actual statements taken from the suicide note.

List of contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments    

Foreword    

Preface    

The Cases    

Bibliography    

Appendix I: Occupations    

Appendix II: Methods of Suicide    

Index    

About the author

David K. Frasier is a reference librarian at the Lilly Library at Indiana University-Bloomington. He is the author of several books.

Product details

• Authors: David K. Frasier
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 22.03.2005
• EAN: 9780786423330
• ISBN: 978-0-7864-2333-0
• No. of pages: 440
• Dimensions: 178 mm x 254 mm x 22 mm
• Weight: 748 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Non-fiction book > Dictionaries, reference works; Social sciences, law, business > Social sciences (general); USA, Dance, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Death & Dying, 20th Century, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Reference, PERFORMING ARTS / Dance / General, PERFORMING ARTS / Reference, PERFORMING ARTS / Dance / Reference, 20th century, c 1900 to c 1999, Reference works, Other performing arts, United States of America, USA, Suicide, Sociology: death and dying, Sociology: Death & Dying, Dance & Other Performing Arts