32 Hollywood Actors Who Tragically Died Before Turning 40

River Phoenix, Corey Haim, and Brittany Murphy are three big names who we all lost too soon under tragic circumstances, but they are hardly the only ones. Over the years, going back to the earliest days of Hollywood, some of the biggest stars have died before even making it to 40 years old. This list is dedicated to them, the stars we lost before they even had a chance to the "over the hill."

Corey Haim (38)

Corey Haim and Corey Feldman starred in seven movies together, and they will be forever linked as "The Two Coreys" from their heyday in the late '80s. Haim starred in a slew of Gen X classics like The Lost Boys, Lucas, Dream A Little Dream, and License to Drive. Sadly, once his fame faded a little, he never had a chance to make a comeback before he died of pneumonia in 2010 after battling addiction for years.

James Dean (24)

"Live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse," is a famous quote often associated with James Dean, who did just that. Though he only starred in three movies, his star status has remained constant in the seven decades since his death. Dean died in a car wreck in 1955.

Jayne Mansfield (34)

Jayne Mansfield was only 34 when she was killed in a car crash in 1967. Her young children, including future Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, were in the car with her, and luckily they did survive the crash. For many years, Hargitay spoke little of the event of her famous mother, but opened up in an HBO Max documentary in 2025.

Brandon Lee (28)

One of the most tragic deaths in Hollywood in the 1990s was the shocking death of Brandon Lee was killed while filming The Crow. The movie was going to be Lee's breakout, coming out from under the shadow of his famous father, Bruce Lee. The junior Lee was just 28 when he was killed on the movie set after being shot with a blank.

Marilyn Monroe (36)

Despite her death at just 36 in 1962, Marilyn Monroe's legacy is alive and well more than six decades after we lost one of Hollywood's biggest stars. Movies are still being made telling her tragic story, like the controversial Blonde in 2022 starring Ana de Armas as the screen legend.

Heath Ledger (28)

For many reading this list, there is no question that the first name they probably thought of after reading the headline is Heath Ledger. Ledger's career was rising to a new level when he sadly died of an overdose in 2008. Though he had been a star for about a decade when he died, he was coming off two legendary performances that have since defined the late Australian's career. The first, of course, is Brokeback Mountain, and the second is his Oscar-winning turn as The Joker in The Dark Knight. Ledger won the award posthumously, and fans felt the pain all over again, wondering how many more great performances we would have gotten from the actor.

Brittany Murphy (32)

Brittany Murphy had her breakout role as Tai Frasier in Clueless in 1995, and for the next decade, she continued to wow us in films like Drop Dead Gorgeous, Riding in Cars with Boys, and 8 Mile. Her death at just 32 in 2009 was shocking, and in the years since, it's still as mysterious as it was then.

Chris Farley (33)

Chris Farley was one of the most beloved members of the SNL cast ever, both by fans and by his fellow actors on the show. On SNL, he never failed to make everyone belly laugh at his over-the-top antics, and on the silver screen, whether in a small role like in Billy Madison or as a star in Tommy Boy, he was among the funniest ever. We never got to see enough of the star, though, as he died of an overdose at just age 33 in 1997.

Aaliyah (22)

There is something especially tragic about a plane crash. Especially when you are talking about a pop star. Aaliyah was more than a pop star, though, and she was just getting started in her acting career when she was killed in a crash in the Bahamas in 2001, not long after her film debut in Romeo Must Die.

Michelle Trachtenberg (39)

Michelle Trachtenberg is most famous for playing Georgina Sparks in Gossip Girl, but her seemingly endless number of credits proves she was great in a variety of roles. Her sudden death at age 39 in early 2025 shocked everyone, and while we may never be able to close the book on why she died, we will always have her work to look back on.

Bruce Lee (32)

It's almost hard to believe that Bruce Lee was only 32 when he died in 1973. He left an incredible legacy of films both in the US and in Hong Kong and has become a legend since his death. The martial arts master opened so many doors for Asian actors and films that it's impossible to measure his impact on Hollywood. It is exceptional.

John Belushi (33)

The first breakout star in SNL history was unquestionably John Belushi. Even in a cast that included Gilda Radner, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, and many others, Belushi stood above them all. He parlayed that into a wonderful, yet painfully short movie career with legendary roles in Animal House and The Blues Brothers, which is arguably the best movie based on an SNL character ever.

River Phoenix (23)

In the same way that Heath Ledger's death marks a moment in time for Millennials, River Phoenix's death in 1993 is the same for Gen X. Though Phoenix was only 23 years old, he was already a veteran actor, having gotten his start in Hollywood in commercials in the early 1980s. He rose to prominence with fantastic performances in movies like Stand By Me, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Mosquito Coast, and My Own Private Idaho. Phoenix earned an Oscar nomination for his role in Running on Empty at just age 18.

Brad Renfro (25)

Brad Renfro burst onto the scene as an 11-year-old in The Client, co-starring Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones. He put in a brilliant performance and followed it up with another 20 or so credits, including in Ghost World, Sleepers, and Apt Pupil. He tragically died of an overdose in 2008 when he was just 25 years old.

Cory Monteith (31)

There are some who claim there is a curse hanging over the cast of Glee. Whether you believe in such things or not, the show does have an unsettling history when it comes to actors dying young. Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson in the hit show, died in 2013 of an overdose. He was the first young cast member to die, but he wouldn't be the last.

Dana Hill (32)

Who doesn't love a great movie about a vacation gone wrong? National Lampoon's European Vacation, the second movie of the series, is wildly underrated, and Dana Hill's performance as Audrey in it is equally underrated. Sadly, Hill died at age 32 due to complications from diabetes.

Tupac Shakur (25)

Pretty much everyone knows the story of legendary rapper Tupac Shakur's murder in 1996. Though plenty of conspiracy theories surround the events, it remains unsolved. Tupac was best known for his music, but he also had some fantastic acting chops, as he showed in movies like Above the Rim and Poetic Justice. It's hard to believe he was only 25.

Anton Yelchin (27)

One of the more bizarre ways to go on this list is what happened to Anton Yelchin, the young star of the rebooted Star Trek movies. The actor, who played Pavel Chekov in Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond, was killed when he was pinned against a post by his own SUV.

Lee Thompson Young (29)

A generation of kids grew up with Lee Thompson Young as the titular star of the Disney show The Famous Jett Jackson. They followed him as a high school student in the original Friday Night Lights movie, and then in his biggest role as an adult on Rizzoli & Isles. That would be Young's final role as he took his own life in 2013.

Heather O'Rourke (12)

In just twelve short years in this world, Heather O'Rourke made a huge impact. She is most famous, of course, for Poltergeist, and her legendary line "They're heeeeere," she also appears on TV in Happy Days and Webster, and reprised her role in two Poltergeist sequels, the final of which was released after her death in 1988.

Sharon Tate (26)

In 1969, Sharon Tate's murder by the Manson Family became the most notorious crime in Hollywood history. The talented young actor, who was pregnant at the time, was just coming into her own as a star when her life was snatched from her at just age 26. It's a murder that Quentin Tarantino reimagined in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood with the happy ending we all long for it to have been for Tate.

Angus Cloud (25)

In a horrible case of life imitating art, Euphoria star Angus Cloud died of an overdose at age 25 in 2023. The actor rose to prominence on the controversial show about teen addiction, and before his career really got going, we lost him.

Naya Rivera (33)

The circumstances behind the death of Glee star Naya Rivera may never be fully understood. The actress drowned while boating with her young son, and though she was known to be a good swimmer, according to her son, she struggled to get back on the boat after they both went for a swim. Her body was found five days later. Rivera was only 33 when she died in 2020.

Andy Kaufman (35)

Now, should Andy Kaufman be on this list? Many believe that the enigmatic comedian actually faked his own death. Though this isn't true, he was taken by cancer at age 35 in 1984, the late Kaufman would love the idea that people still believed he was alive and in hiding somewhere. It's exactly the kind of prank he would pull while he was living.

Cameron Boyce (20)

Though his career only lasted about 12 years and he died at age 20, Cameron Boyce crammed a ton of acting into his short life. Boyce has almost four dozen credits to his name, though he is certainly best known for playing Carlos in the Descendants film series.

Chance Perdomo (27)

Chance Perdomo's big break came with a starring role in Gen V, the spinoff of The Boys from Amazon Prime. Sadly, he died in a motorcycle crash in Upstate New York before the second season of the show was shot, so we never got enough of Perdomo.

Ryan Dunn (34)

In a lot of ways, the tragic death of Ryan Dunn wasn't all that surprising. That's not to say it was very sad, because it was, but for the Jackass star to go out in a car crash seems very "on brand" for Dunn. He lived life fast and crazy, and that's how he went out. It's not exactly poetic, but there is something that makes sense about it, which is rare for this list.

Jean Harlow (26)

Hollywood's original "blonde bombshell" was the great Jean Harlow. Harlow's most famous role came in the Howard Hughes-directed classic Hell's Angels, and she's also well known for a string of comedic roles in the 1930s, before she died due to Kidney failure in 1937. She was only 26 at the time of her death.

Freddie Prinze (22)

Freddie Prinze is probably best known by most people today as the father of Freddie Prinze, Jr. Tragically, before the younger Prinze was even one year old, the senior Prinze took his own life at just age 22.

Jonathan Brandis (27)

Teen heartthrob Jonathan Brandis, like so many other actors, got his start in soap operas. His most prominent role came as Lucas Wolenczak on seaQuest DSV, which is where he truly became a beloved star. His fame faded somewhat after seaQuest DSV ended, and he tragically took his own life in 2003.

Dominique Dunne (22)

The Dunne family is Hollywood and literary royalty. Dominique Dunne, whose father was writer Dominick Dunne and whose brother is actor Griffin Dunne, was horrifically killed by her boyfriend in 1982 at just age 22. She was the first of two young stars to die from the cast of Poltergeist, along with Heather O'Rourke.

Thuy Trang (27)

The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers have become a much-loved franchise over the years, and it all started with the original cast of the first show. Thuy Trang was the first actor to play the Yellow Ranger on screen before she was killed in a car crash with her friend and fellow actor Angela Rockwood in 2001. Rockwood suffered a spinal injury that left her unable to walk, and Trang succumbed to her injuries before making it to the hospital. Like all the actors on this list, she sadly didn't make it 40, as she was just 27.