24 Celebrities Who Were Found Dead In Hotels

Celebrities who died in hotels are by definition more alluring than celebrities who died in less glamorous places. If Whitney Houston had died 20 years later of natural causes in her childhood home, would it have made headlines? Probably, but it wouldn't have been perceived to be as tragic as it was. Dying in a hotel - away from hearth and home, away from friends and family - is as tragic as it gets. Many of these celebrities died way too young - some suffering heart and liver problems, others experiencing strokes, and the lion's share of them dying by drug overdoses. Many of the famous people who died in hotels were musicians - others were writers, actors, athletes, and performers.

Human beings have an intense fascination with the actual physical spots where celebrities have died. It's hard not to feel some macabre, otherworldly pull towards a place when you know a famous rock star bit the bullet there. For this reason, certain hotels have achieved infamy due to their connections to celebrity deaths. Whether or not you consider these rooms to be cursed or haunted depends on if you believe in that type of stuff. But one thing is for certain, all of the hotels here played some small role in history - and a huge one in the personal story of these celebrities. 

Former Playboy centerfold Anna Nicole Smith died at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida in 2007. After months of self-medication brought on by her son's tragic overdose that past summer and her fight to win custody of her daughter, she accidentally overdosed on sleep meds and at least eight other prescription substances. Although her fight over her late 89-year-old husband's estate had made it all the way to the Supreme Court, she was never able to settle the dispute.

Coco Chanel had a death that rivaled only her own life in fabulousness. She passed away in 1971 in her apartment at the Ritz Carlton in Paris, where she had lived for the past 30 years. 87 and ailing, Chanel had enjoyed a long and legendary career, and left behind a tremendous legacy. She was still designing clothing and jewelry at the time of her death. 

David Carradine was 72 when he died at the Swissotel Nai Lert Park Hotel in Thailand in 2009. An investigating officer told reporters his body was found naked and hanging in a closet. The Kill Bill actor, who was in the middle of filming Stretch at the time, had died of accidental auto-erotic asphyxiation.

After a day of journeying through Rome with his family in the sweltering heat, Sopranos star James Gandolfini died in July 2013 of a heart attack at the Boscolo Exedra Hotel. The 51-year-old had recently completed work on Enough Said, which was released later that year to widespread acclaim. 

Iconic singer-songwriter Janis Joplin died on October 4, 1970 at the Landmark Hotel, which was later renamed the Highland Gardens. Joplin’s four-year career was punctuated with “Piece of My Heart” and "Cry Baby," but the princess of rock and roll’s legendary life was cut short by an accidental heroin overdose. Joplin, who had struggled with addiction her entire life, had just finished recording her most well-received album, Pearl. After her death, her cover of "Me and Bobby McGee" was released and soared to No. 1 on the charts.

Comedian John Belushi was 33 when he died of an accidental speedball overdose at Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard in 1982. Belushi was at the height of his fame thanks to the success of The Blues Brothers, and was attached to five different film projects - including Ghostbusters - at the time of his death.

Comedian Mitch Hedberg, known for his trenchant one-liners and for looking like the frontman of Rush, died of an accidental cocaine and heroin overdose at a Livingston, New Jersey hotel in 2005. The 37-year-old, dubbed "the next Seinfeld" by Time magazine, had signed a half-million dollar sitcom deal with Fox at the time of his death. 

Essentially a co-inventor of electricity, Nikola Tesla is said to have gone mad later in life. He died at age 86 in 1943 at the Hotel New Yorker, where he had spent his final ten years.

The mythic playwright died in room 16 at the Hotel d’Alsace in Paris, which is now a luxury stayaway for wealthy travelers. For years, people believed Wilde suffered from syphilis, but doctors now think he died because of a severe ear infection. Drunk, destitute, and bereft of the will to live, Wilde spent his final days cursing the ugly wallpaper of his hotel room. In one of his final outings in Paris, he told a friend of his wallpaper: "One of us has to go."
 

Whitney Houston was about to perform at a pre-Grammy party when she died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on February 11, 2012. The singer, who had struggled with drug addiction for much of her life, was found underwater and unconscious, according to police. Toxicology reports later revealed that several drugs were in Houston's system at the time.