Haunting last words of dying celebs – Kurt Cobain’s note to Elvis’ broken vow

With every new year we lose more tragic A-listers, and 2024 has already seen the passings of David Soul, Glynis Johns and Adan Canto.

And when it comes to the final words uttered by the dying, we might hope for an admission of love, a reveal about the afterlife or even a deathbed confession. But most often, the last words are something mundane or even something baffling – like the last phrase said by Walt Disney.

The Disney founder’s final words were actually a name – Kurt Russell. He scribbled down the name of Russell, who was still a child actor at the time of his death in 1966. Walt’s family had no idea of the significance, and neither does Kurt – to this day.

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He had worked on various Disney films, with Walt confessing he saw a “great acting future” for the star, and it’s been suggested he was workshopping projects the star could have worked on.

James Gunn went on a tour of Walt’s office and revealed: “They love their lore– all the Disney guys– and they kind of told me the whole story. I’ve seen that sheet on this desk, that spells it ‘Kirt Russell.’ It isn’t exactly a true story, that this was the last thing Disney wrote in his office. I talked to Kurt about it; he loves the story. I believed it. I think Kurt believes in it and [Marvel Studio Head] Kevin Feige believes it.”

Heath Ledger

Academy Award-winning actor Heath Ledger told his sister Katie that he just needed to get some sleep when he died at the age of 28 in January 2008. He told her he had taken a variety of prescription medications in an attempt to ward off insomnia.

Katie had shared her worry that it wasn’t good to mix drugs when Heath told her: “Katie, I’ll be fine.” Those were his last words, and a toxicology report run after his death revealed he had oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine in his system.

Amy Winehouse

Rehab hitmaker Amy Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning at the age of just 27 in July 2011, and her last words were truly chilling. She was found dead at her Camden home, just hours after a GP visited her before her last binge.

Amy refused mental health support from Dr Romete, who prescribed medication Librium to help her cope with the withdrawal symptoms of alcohol. She revealed in court: “She was one of the most intelligent young women I’ve ever met. She was very determined to do everything her way, including her therapy. She had very strict views on that.”

But in a desperate confession the night before she was found dead, Amy accepted how serious her condition was, telling the doctor: “I don’t want to die.”

Her blood was found with 416mg of alcohol per 100ml, over the 350mg threshold widely accepted to be the fatal dose.

Elvis Presley

In August 1977, Elvis Presley was found dead on his bathroom floor in a tragic circumstance nobody could have predicted. He’d had a dentist on call and in the middle of the night had gone outside to play racquetball with his fiancée Ginger Alden, cousin Billy and his wife Jo.

When the game was over – and after Elvis had serenaded the group with some ballads on the piano – Elvis was struggling to sleep, begging for more drugs to help his insomnia. Around 9:30 in the morning, he told Ginger he was heading to the bathroom, wearing a set of gold pyjamas.

Known for suffering chronic constipation, Elvis would spend long periods in the bathroom. Ginger warned him not to fall asleep in there, and Elvis vowed: “I won’t.” They turned out to be his last words – and a promise he couldn’t keep

Kurt Cobain

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain shocked the world in 1994 when he committed suicide at his home in Lake Washington. He shot himself, after an initial failed suicide attempt and an unsuccessful drug detox programme.

His last words uttered aren’t known, as Kurt was alone at the time, but he did pen an emotional suicide note to his childhood friend ‘Boddah’. The note ended: “Thank you all from the pit of my burning, nauseous stomach for your letters and concern during the past years. I’m too much of an erratic, moody, baby! I don’t have the passion anymore, and so remember, it’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

Though plenty of people credit the Neil Young quote ‘It’s better to burn out than to fade away’ from My My, Hey Hey as his last words, he technically ended the letter with a plea to his wife and daughter, Courtney Love and Frances Cobain.

That read: “Frances and Courtney, I’ll be at your altar. Please keep going Courtney, for Frances. for her life will be so much happier without me. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.”

Frank Sinatra

Iconic singer Frank Sinatra had been battling illness for months when he suffered a fatal heart attack in May 1998, while at Cedars-Sinai Medical Hospital in Los Angeles. The My Way singer was attended by his fourth wife, Barbara, when he slipped away.

He turned to her and uttered the words: “I’m losing.” According to Sinatra’s close friend Tony Oppedisano, the star “wasn’t panicked”, but struggled to get the words out “because of his breathing”.

He admitted to The Mirror in 2015: “He was just resigned to the fact that he had given it his best but he wasn’t going to come through. I told him I loved him but those were the last words I ever heard him say before he passed away.”

Betty White

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Golden Girls star Betty White passed away in December 2021 after suffering a stroke, just a few weeks before she was due to turn 100. She died in her sleep, but before she fell into her final slumber, her assistant heard her utter her last words.

Page Six revealed: “The very last word out of her mouth was ‘Allen’.” She was likely referring to her late husband Allen Ludden, who passed away in 1981 – and it’s even possible she was seeing him as she slipped away.

The pair originally tied the knot in 1963 after Betty appeared as a guest on Allen’s game show Password. She told People magazine: “He was the most genuine man I’ve ever known. I first fell in love with his enthusiasm. He was interested in everything.”

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk