Random Famous People Who Died On Toilet (12 items)

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  (#5) Uesugi Kenshin

  • Dec. at 48 (1530-1578)

  This 16th-century Japanese warlord was one of the most important figures of his age. Uesugi Kenshin started his ascension to fame when he saved the life of his daimyo, or feudal master, and demanded he adopt Kenshin as gratitude. In battle, Kenshin reportedly was such an effective leader that he didn't need to speak to command his troops, and communicated solely through gestures. An extraordinarily brave man well-known for his epic rivalries with other lords, he also had a great impact on Japanese military technology, transmitting the recipe for gunpowder to his armies.

  Kenshin's epic life wasn't matched by his ignominious death. Legend has it that one of his rivals sent an assassin to hide in the sewer beneath his toilet. When Kenshin went to use the commode, the killer sprang up and skewered his target with a sword or spear. 
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  (#6) Evelyn Waugh

  • Dec. at 63 (1903-1966)

  Evelyn Waugh was a 20th-century British author with quite the interesting life. He dropped out of Oxford University before graduating, became an international journalist, and married a woman also named Evelyn. Also a soldier, Waugh wrote a lot about the military, which inspired his Brideshead Revisited; he also suffered from unrequited love and tons of physical ailments.

  The circumstances of Waugh's passing are a bit unclear. Some speculate he not only died on the toilet but actually drowned in it. According to reports, Waugh returned from mass and headed to the toilet. When he didn't return, his family went looking for him and found him dead on the floor. One friend said he was found with water in his lungs, though that is disputed. 

  Whether he died on it or in it, Waugh definitely collapsed in relation to the commode in 1966 and passed soon after. It was common knowledge that Waugh was in poor health and his official cause of death was determined to be heart failure. 
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  (#10) Edmund Ironside

  • Dec. at 27 (989-1016)

  A king of England in the late 10th and early 11th centuries (before William the Conqueror and his Norman-French came), Edmund II battled Danish invaders continuously during his reign. He received the nickname "Ironside" for his staunch opposition to the Danes. His countrymen were divided, some supporting Edmund and his father Aethelred the Unready, others his Danish rival, Cnut.

  After Aethelred died, Edmund had trouble holding onto this power base, and Cnut defeated him in battle. A month later in 1016, Edmund died, leaving the way open for Cnut to be sole king without opposition. Edmund was stabbed and killed while in the privy (a medieval bathroom). Perhaps this assassination, as medieval chroniclers suggest, was plotted by Cnut to facilitate his path to power.
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  (#2) Judy Garland

  • Dec. at 47 (1922-1969)

  Following a difficult childhood, the actor who would become known as Judy Garland took the stage and screen by storm. Like Elvis, she suffered from an addiction to drugs, but that didn't put a damper on the luster of her great career early on, which included a starring role in The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy. 

  Personal problems, ranging from nervous breakdowns and suicide attempts to bizarre behavior on set, led to the downfall of her Hollywood career. This was attributed to the cocktail of pills Garland regularly took, including barbiturates and amphetamines. At the age of 47 in 1969, Garland died on the toilet; her fifth husband found her body. Reports say Garland died sometime between 3 and 4 AM, her body slumped over the toilet with the bathroom door locked. 
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  (#7) Louis Kahn Stopped To Use The Restroom And... Died

  Louis Kahn was one of America's most celebrated architects, best known for combining Modernist sensibilities with inspiration from ancient monuments. Born in Estonia, he migrated to America in his childhood, but he did head back to Europe later in life, drawing on his recollections of medieval castles. Ultimately, his work was a composite of all sorts of fascinating influences; he taught at the most prestigious institutions in the country and designed some epic buildings.

  Sadly, Kahn died in 1974 in a not-so-glamorous building - New York City's Penn Station. This was where Kahn had stopped to use the bathroom, suffered a heart attack, and died.
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  (#8) Arius

  • Dec. at 80 (256-336)

  Arius was one of the most important men in early Christianity, founding a doctrine that was a legitimate rival to what became Catholic doctrine. Hailing from North Africa, this 3rd-century priest wrote and preached that the Holy Trinity was not an equal power, and that God the Father was the divine, not the Son.

  This theology, called Arianism, was one of many ideas on the nature of Christ floating about in the 4th century. Because of this, Arius suffered a great deal of ridicule and scorn. In 325, the Council of Nicaea condemned him as a heretic and sentenced him to suffer the consequences of such a label. However, he died before this came to fruition. Legend has it that Arius died either on the toilet or on his way to the toilet, perhaps of a stroke or heart attack, but this might have been a rumor designed to emphasize his lack of piety.

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