Beneath the glitz and glamour, Hollywood has a dark underbelly, with a history of unsolved crimes dating back decades.
The lives of some celebrities came to a tragic end, with the circumstances around their deaths still shrouded in mystery today.
While the fates of certain stars are still open police cases, others have been plagued by troubling conspiracy theories for years.
The deaths of major celebs like Marilyn Monroe, Tupac Shakur and Natalie Wood have been eternally linked with mystery, leaving fans digging for answers.
Below, we take a look at some of Hollywood’s most mysterious deaths.
JonBenét Ramsey
The mystery behind JonBenét Ramsey’s death has never been solved (Image: Daily Record)
In 1996, America was gripped by tragedy when child beauty pageant star JonBenét Ramsey was killed in her Colorado home.
Before her death, Ramsey won a number of coveted pageant titles, including America’s Royale Miss, Little Miss Colorado, and National Tiny Miss Beauty.
Tragically murdered at just six years old, her death has remained a mystery to this day.
Her parents, Patsy and John Ramsey, claimed to have received a ransom note hours before her body was found, demanding $118,000 (£95,835).
The police initially suspected the child’s parents had been involved in the murder, but they were later proven innocent after DNA analysis.
An open investigation today, prosecutors claim that DNA suggests an “unexplained third party” was behind the murder.
Natalie Wood
Rebel Without A Cause star Natalie Wood died in 1981 (Image: Getty Images)
Natalie Wood’s life and legacy has inspired a recent HBO documentary, titled Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind.
In the opening scenes, the director – Natalie’s daughter Laurent Bouzereau – reflects on hearing about her mother’s death in 1981.
She says: “Since then, there’s been so much speculation and focus on how she died that it’s overshadowed her life’s work and who she was as a person.”
Rising to fame in the 50s, Wood starred in major films like Rebel Without a Cause, Splendor in the Grass, and West Side Story.
However, she met a tragic fate when she was found dead in the water near Catalina Island, off the California coast.
Wood had been aboard a yacht with her husband Robert Wagner and her co-star Christopher Walken when she went missing one November evening.
Ruled as an accidental drowning, what happened that night remains a mystery to this day.
In 2011, the case was reopened by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, though no further resolution has been found.
Tupac Shakur
Tupac was shot dead in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas (Image: The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)
Born in New York, Tupac “2Pac” Shakur cemented his status as one of the most influential rappers of all time in his short life.
With albums 2Pacalypse Now and Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z… to his name, his 1995 album Me Against the World went on to earn international acclaim.
Aged just 25, the rapper was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in Nevada in 1996, driving along Las Vegas Boulevard.
Shot four times while driving away from a boxing event, Shakur died in a nearby hospital four days later.
Six months later, Shakur’s friend-turned-rival Biggie Smalls was also murdered in a drive-by shooting in Los Angeles.
No arrest has ever been made in relation to either of their deaths.
Nicole Brown Simpson
The case was revisited in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (Image: AFP/Getty Images)
In one of Hollywood’s most shocking news stories, model Nicole Brown Simpson and her boyfriend Ron Goldman were stabbed to death outside her California home in 1994.
Her ex-husband, O.J. Simpson, was arrested and charged with both murders, leading to a high-profile televised trial.
The following year, after a nine-month trial, the actor and former American football player was acquitted on both counts of murder.
O.J. was later sentenced to 33 years in prison for his involvement in an unrelated armed robbery.
The Nicole Brown murder case more recently inspired the true-crime drama The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, starring Cuba Gooding Jr. as O. J. Simpson.
O.J. was released from prison in October 2017.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe’s death sparked a number of conspiracy theories (Image: Getty Images)
One of Hollywood’s most iconic stars, Marilyn Monroe’s death has been plagued by mystery in the five decades since her passing.
The actress, then aged 36, was found dead in her Los Angeles home in 1962.
Ruled a “probable suicide,” the autopsy report found that Monroe had fallen into a coma after overdosing on sleeping pills.
In the years that followed, a number of conspiracy theories have emerged surrounding her death, claiming she had been murdered.
Written by Norman Mailer, Marilyn: A Biography was released in 1973, suggesting that Monroe had been murdered by rogue CIA agents to hide her alleged affair with President JFK.
Mailer later confessed to speculating when it came to describing certain events surrounding her death.
Los Angeles County District Attorney John Van de Kamp later looked into the case, examining whether it should be reopened, but decided that there was no evidence of foul play.
Bob Crane
Hogan’s Heroes star Bob Crane died in 1978 (Image: Getty Images)
Rising to fame as Colonel Hogan in the US sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, Bob Crane was one of the most beloved comic actors of the 60s.
In 1978, the 49-year-old star was found bludgeoned to death in his apartment in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Ruled a homicide by the police, the murder remains an unsolved “cold case” today.
At the time of his death, Crane was a popular TV star, but when details of his life – particularly the sexual encounters he had filmed – emerged after his death, he became a more controversial figure.
Crane’s friend, John Carpenter, was tried for the crime when the case was reopened in 1994 but was later acquitted.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
