Child Stars Who Died In Absolutely Bizarre Ways

Cute kids and their adorable antics have been captivating audiences since the earliest days of motion pictures, and child actors have been a big part of the Hollywood firmament from the very beginning. From Jackie Coogan's wide-eyed waif in the oft-misunderstood comedian and auteur Charlie Chaplin's 1921 classic "The Kid" to Macaulay Culkin's resourceful tyke in "Home Alone," child stars have been at the center of some hugely popular films and TV shows. 

Occasionally, those child stars have gone on to have successful careers as adults, such as Coogan, who will forever be better remembered as wacky Uncle Fester on TV's "The Addams Family" than for anything he did as a kid. However, more often than not they've found themselves struggling once adolescence hits and casting directors don't find them to be so cute anymore, and many child stars have simply disappeared from view.

Worse still, there are numerous child stars whose lives have ended tragically and often prematurely, for various reasons. In some cases, the circumstances behind those deaths have been both strange and unexpected. Here are the sad fates of some child stars who died in unusual and even bizarre ways.

Among the more memorable characters in the "Our Gang" shorts from the 1920s and '30s — renamed "The Little Rascals" for subsequent television syndication — was Alfalfa. Played by child actor Carl Switzer, Alfalfa was known for his freckled face, prominent cowlick, and delusional presumption of being a suave crooner — despite possessing an off-key, caterwauling singing voice. 

As he grew older, acting roles dwindled as he found himself typecast; relegated to low-budget B-movies and bit parts, he made ends meet by tending bar and hiring himself out as a hunting guide. He also bred dogs as a sideline, and it was that pursuit that ultimately led to his demise in 1959. Switzer had sold a dog to a fellow named Moses "Bud" Stiltz and believed that he still owed him $50. Switzer had been drinking when he showed up on Stiltz's doorstep, demanding that the debt be repaid immediately.

According to Stiltz, Switzer burst into his home and a scuffle ensued, during which Switzer pulled a knife. Stiltz, however, one-upped the former child star when he pulled out a gun, and ended the altercation by shooting Switzer dead. Stiltz was put on trial, and his claims that he acted in self-defense were upheld by the coroner's report. The jury agreed that he had been defending himself, and deemed Switzer's death to be a justifiable homicide.

Anton Yelchin was born in the Soviet Union in 1989, and immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 6 months when his parents fled Russia for a new life in America. He got his start in acting at an early age, booking his first TV role in a 2000 episode of "ER," before delivering a memorable performance in "Hearts in Atlantis," the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Yelchin successfully navigated the often-tricky transition to adult roles, most notably as Pavel Chekov in the "Star Trek" film franchise.

His star was on the rise when Yelchin tragically died in a freak accident involving his vehicle. TMZ was the first to report that his lifeless body was discovered pinned between a mailbox and the security gate in front of his home by his SUV, which had rolled down an incline while in neutral.

Yelchin's parents filed a lawsuit against the vehicle's manufacturer, Fiat Chrysler, claiming the vehicle's gear shifters were responsible for the fatal accident. Indeed, just a couple of months earlier, the company had recalled more than a million vehicles due to confusing gear shifters that led drivers to think their vehicles were in park when they were actually in neutral, resulting in numerous accidents. That was precisely what had happened to Yeltsin when he exited the vehicle to punch in the security code, and it unexpectedly caused his death. "Anton Yelchin was crushed and lingered alive for some time, trapped and suffocating until his death," the lawsuit declared (via the Los Angeles Times). 

Just 5 years old when she was discovered, Judith Barsi had a successful run as a child actor. Because she appeared younger than she actually was, Barsi was cast in dozens of TV commercials before going on to appear in numerous TV series and films, including "Jaws: The Revenge," and providing the voice of young dinosaur Ducky in animated hit "The Land Before Time."

Sadly, the young actor's life was cut short in 1988, when 11-year-old Barsi was found dead in her home, alongside the bodies of her mother and father, Maria and Josef Barzi. The latter had murdered his wife and daughter, shooting them both with a .32-caliber pistol. After pouring gasoline on the bodies and setting them aflame, he then fatally shot himself.

Subsequent reports pointed out that there were plenty of warning signs indicating Barsi was being continually abused by her father. A posthumous Los Angeles Times exposé quoted a relative who claimed that when Barsi left for Barbados to film the "Jaws" sequel, her father threatened to slash her throat if she didn't return. As her parents' marriage deteriorated, Barsi became so stressed by her father's threats of violence that she plucked out all her eyelashes. She'd told family friends how terrifying her home life had become. "I'm afraid to go home," those friends recalled Barsi saying. "My daddy is drunk every day, and I know he wants to kill my mother." 

If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.

One of the biggest child stars of the 1980s, Gary Coleman played wisecracking Arnold Jackson on hit sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes." Coleman had suffered health problems from an early age due to nephritis, a congenital defect of the kidney. As a result, Coleman required dialysis throughout his life and had undergone two kidney transplant operations, one at the age of 5, and another when he was a teenager. Given his chronic medical issues, Coleman's life expectancy was shortened, and in his later years he experienced some well-publicized health scares, including a seizure in February 2010 while on the set of "The Insider."

Just a few months later, the 42-year-old actor fell at his home just outside of Provo, Utah, and it was serious. "I heard this big bang and I went downstairs," his ex-wife, Shannon Price, said when she called 911 after the accident (as reported by ABC News). "There's blood everywhere."

First responders arrived on the scene, and Coleman was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors determined that he'd suffered an intracranial hemorrhage. Coleman was conscious when he first arrived at the hospital, but eventually slipped into a coma. He was placed on life support, which was discontinued soon after. "Family members and close friends were at his side when life support was terminated," a spokesperson for the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center said in a statement (via ABC News).

Just 6 years old when "Poltergeist" was released in 1982, Heather O'Rourke catapulted to stardom as the film's central character, a little girl named Carol Anne who's abducted by a vengeful ghost and taken to the spirit realm. She went on to appear in several TV series (including a recurring role on "Happy Days") and reprised the role in two "Poltergeist" sequels. 

Several months after completing "Poltergeist III," O'Rourke, then 12, died on an operating table in a San Diego hospital while undergoing surgery to address a bowel obstruction. The obstruction led to an infection that caused septic shock, which then resulted in pulmonary and cardiac arrest. What made O'Rourke's death so bizarre was that she hadn't demonstrated any symptoms, even though she'd had the undiagnosed condition since birth. ″I would have expected a lot of [digestive] difficulties throughout her life and not just to have developed a problem all of a sudden, gastroenterologist Dr. Daniel Hollander told The Associated Press. 

O'Rourke's tragic death came to become the cornerstone of the so-called "'Poltergeist' curse," which included the grisly murder of her onscreen sister, actor Dominique Dunne, and the eventual deaths of cast members Julian Beck (who died of cancer shortly after he played the evil clergyman in "Poltergeist II") and Will Sampson (who played Taylor, the Native American shaman, and later died in 1987, less than two months after receiving a heart and lung transplant).

Matthew Garber has delighted generations of children via his role as youngster Michael Banks in Disney's immortal 1964 musical "Mary Poppins." As a child actor, Garber wasn't exactly prolific; in fact, he made just three movies during his brief Hollywood career, all Disney productions. In addition to "Mary Poppins," he also appeared in 1963's "The Three Lives of Thomasina," and "The Gnome-Mobile" in 1967. After that, he gave up acting and returned to normal life in London, attending Highgate School until graduating in 1972.

A few years later, he embarked on that time-honored tradition of doing some traveling after completing his education. Garber was visiting India when he somehow became infected with hepatitis, and in the summer of 1977, decided to return to London for further medical treatment. Sadly, he'd waited too long; when he finally made it back to England, medical tests revealed that the hepatitis had spread to his pancreas. Shortly after receiving that diagnosis, he died at the age of 21. The official cause of death was determined to be hemorrhagic necrotizing pancreatitis, a rare but serious condition that had been left untreated for a tragically long period of time. 

Garber was honored in 2004 when he was posthumously named a Disney legend. 

Billy Loughlin was known for playing Froggy in "The Little Rascals" — originally called "Our Gang" — and was so named because of a deep, croaking voice not unlike that of Popeye, the spinach-loving cartoon sailor. Tragically, Loughlin, like his co-star Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer, suffered an unexpected and untimely death.

Loughlin continued appearing as Froggy in the "Our Gang" shorts until 1944. Just a few years later, the 16-year-old teenager was a passenger on a motor scooter when the driver, also 16, made an abrupt u-turn. A 1948 story in the La Puente Valley Journal (as detailed in a "Little Rascals" message board) reported that a truck that was following the scooter was unable to stop, and smashed into the scooter head-on after it made the sharp turn. Both boys were flung from the vehicle, with Loughlin flying 40 feet in the air before crashing down on the pavement. He died instantly.

The other boy was also thrown from the scooter but survived, escaping with only minor injuries. The driver of the truck, who was 25, wasn't held by the authorities, indicating that the accidental nature of Loughlin's death would have been immediately apparent.

A popular child actor in her native Britain, Mya-Lecia Naylor experienced early success as star of the kid's show "Tati's Hotel" before going on to appear in films such as "Cloud Atlas" and "Code Red." From 2014 until 2018, she was a cast member on popular British series "Millie Inbetween." 

She was just 16 years old when she died under tragic circumstances. Initial reports indicated that her death came after she'd collapsed, but that the cause of death wasn't yet known. A subsequent inquest determined that she'd died by hanging and categorized her death to have been caused by "misadventure," rather than death by suicide.

E News! obtained the coroner's report, in which the assistant coroner, Toby Watkin, came to conclude that Naylor's death had been accidental and that she "did not intend to end her own life." Her father, Martin Naylor, concurred when he testified at the inquest. "She had not been her normal self," he stated. "She was stressed about her exams ... I honestly believe she was just making some sort of point. I genuinely believe she did not mean to do it."

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J. Madison Wright was just 9 years old when she made her screen debut in a 1994 episode of "Grace Under Fire," before she guest-starred in the Fran Drescher sitcom "The Nanny." Later that same year, she was cast as a series regular in the NBC sci-fi series "Earth 2," which ran for just one season. She continued acting for a few more years, making her final screen appearance in the 1998 comedy "Safety Patrol." 

Wright was forced to put her acting career on pause after an x-ray revealed her heart was dangerously enlarged. She was diagnosed with restrictive cardiomyopathy, a condition in which the muscles in the heart's lower chamber become rigid and won't fill with blood. In 2000, the 15-year-old Wright underwent a life-saving heart transplant and subsequently became a vocal advocate for organ donation. 

In 2006, she married Brent Joseph Morris. One day after the newlyweds returned from their honeymoon to their home in Lexington, Kentucky, Wright had a fatal heart attack. She was just 21 years old at the time of her death.

Best known as a member of the boy band 2gether — and a star of the group's "2gether" TV series — actor and singer Michael Cuccione made his screen debut in 1997, appearing in an episode of "Baywatch." Prior to that, he'd had a difficult childhood, as he was just 9 years old when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma. Cuccione underwent an aggressive course of chemotherapy that lasted for six months, and was eventually declared free of cancer. Unfortunately, a routine checkup six months later revealed the cancer had returned, and Cuccione required a bone marrow transplant. Fortunately, the medical procedure was successful.

However, intensive chemo had left his organs in a perpetually weakened state, particularly his lungs. In late 2000, Cuccione and his mother were involved in a car accident, and he underwent surgery to repair a damaged diaphragm. While hospitalized, he became ill with pneumonia, and although doctors initially expected that he'd make a full recovery, his lungs had become so weakened by the chemotherapy from years earlier that, two weeks later, he was still unable to breathe on his own without a respirator. In January 2001, he died at age 16.

"He beat cancer," Cuccione's uncle, Steve Cuccione, told ABC News. "He was cancer-free for six years. But unfortunately the effects of the cure came back to haunt him."

In 1982, 10-year-old Samantha Smith had been watching TV shows detailing some of the messed up things about the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, including the ongoing nuclear arms race. Horrified by the idea of nuclear war, she wrote a letter to Soviet leader Yury Andropov, asking what plans he had to avoid it from happening. The letter made her a sensation in both Russia and the U.S., and in 1983, she and her parents were invited to visit Moscow.

Her popularity also exploded in her homeland. In 1984, she hosted her own TV special, "Samantha Smith Goes to Washington: Campaign '84," interviewing various American politicians. She then went on to dabble in acting, guest-starring in "Charles in Charge" and playing a recurring role in the TV series "Lime Street."

In August 1985, Smith and her father were returning to their home in Maine after she'd been shooting "Lime Street." They were flying in a small commuter plane when the aircraft crashed while attempting to land, killing them both. Oddly enough, Smith's death sparked a conspiracy theory in the Soviet Union, claiming that she'd been assassinated by the CIA because her childish efforts to avoid nuclear war didn't align with America's aggressively anti-Soviet policy at the time.

Best known for her role as Darla in "Our Gang" and "The Little Rascals" during the 1930s and '40s, Darla Hood shone in the role. Her character was the object of desire for pals Alfalfa (Carl Switzer) and Spanky (George McFarland), who would usually fall over themselves competing for her affection.

Hood continued her acting career into the 1950s as a series regular on TV's "The Ken Murray Show." She went on to experience success as a singer, performing in a nightclub act that saw her play such storied venues as the Sahara in Vegas, the Copacabana in NYC, and the Coconut Grove in LA. She also did voiceover work for TV commercials, singing jingles for Campbell's soup and Chicken of the Sea tuna.

Hood was just 48 years old when she died in 1979 after undergoing a routine operation to remove her appendix. An autopsy subsequently revealed that she'd received a transfusion of tainted blood during surgery and had inadvertently been infected with hepatitis, which led to heart failure. Her former "Our Gang" co-star, Billy Thomas, shared his grief with The New York Times. "I hate to hear it," he said. "She was an awful nice person, a fine woman. We got along real good as kids."