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  • Robin Williams committed suicide
    The death of comedian Robin Williams is still fresh in our memories and people are still grieving the untimely loss. Moreover, his suicide has brought much attention to depression and Parkinson's disease, since it was brought to the limelight by Williams' widow Susan Schneider that he was diagnosed with early stages of Parkinson's a few months prior to his death on 11 August. It was announced during the red carpet roll-out ceremony that Williams will be honoured at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards by close friend Billy Crystal.Reuters
  • Phillip Seymour Hoffman
    Actor Phillip Seymour Hoffman, four-time Oscar nominee and one time winner, was found dead on the bathroom floor of his New York apartment on 2 February with a syringe in his left arm. Ruling out accident, the New York medical examiner's office determined the cause of his death as an acute mixed drug intoxication that included heroin, cocaine, benzodiazepines and amphetamine. Police found nearly 50 envelopes of branded "Ace of Spades" filled with what they believe was heroin, used syringes, prescription drugs and empty bags, in the actor's Manhattan apartment.Reuters
  • Cory Monteith
    Glee actor Cory Monteith was found dead in a hotel room in Vancouver on 13 July 2013. He had checked in on 6 July and when he didn't check out, as expected on 13 July, hotel staff entered his room and found him unresponsive on the floor along with two empty champagne bottles. After investigation, it was determined that he died from using intravenous heroin combined with alcohol. Monteith had openly talked about struggling with addiction since he was a teenager many times. He said it was a serious problem and that he was "lucky to be alive".Reuters
  • Whitney Houston
    Whitney Houston was found submerged in the bathtub of her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on 11 February 2012, a day before the Grammy Awards. After conducting an autopsy and reviewing toxicology tests, The Los Angeles County Department of Coroner said that there was not enough water in her lungs to conclude she had drowned in her luxury hotel bathtub and in fact died before her head went under water. "Cocaine and metabolites" were contributory to Houston's death, but it also found other substances in her body including marijuana, Xanax, Flexiril, and Benadryl. The drugs are believed to have sedated Houston, causing her to fall asleep in the bathtub.Reuters
  • Amy Winehouse
    The reason for blues and jazz singer Amy Winehouse's death on 23 July 2011 remained under cloud for a long time and speculations were aplenty. It was understood that Winehouse, who was battling alcoholism and bulimia, spent final hours of her life drinking vodka and watching YouTube clips of herself. Her live-in security guard had said that when she went to show him some of her YouTube clips, he could tell she was drinking, but she wasn't completely drunk. On 23 July 2011, she was found dead beside her laptop and two empty vodka bottles. Couple of years after her death, her brother Alex Winehouse came out and said that he believed substance abuse didn't cause Winehouse's death, but bulimia did. That same year her father, Mitch Winehouse, however, said that Alcohol poisoning killed his daughter.Reuters
  • Heath Ledger
    A few months after filming his most popular role as the Joker in “The Dark Knight”, Heath Ledger was found naked and unconscious at the foot of his bed in his Manhattan home on 22 January 2008, by his masseuse and housekeeper. There were prescription and non-prescription pills scattered around him, including oxycodone, a painkiller sold as OxyContin, and used in other pain relievers such as Percodan and Percocet. Others included drugs sold as anti-anxiety pills Valium and Xanax, which are sedatives. However, it was clear that Ledger was not trying to kill himself and his death was indeed an accident. "He just took too many drugs having similar effects on the central nervous system," said Lawrence Kobilinsky, head of forensic science at John Jay College in New York.Reuters
  • Kurt Cobain
    Kurt Cobain, the lead singer, guitarist and songwriter for the rock band “Nirvana”, was found dead in his Seattle home on 5 April 1994. The circumstances surrounding Kurt Cobain's death have fuelled much analysis and debate, and although his death was initially ruled as a suicide, self-inflicted shotgun wound to the head, the discovery of a suicide note in his wallet raised some compelling arguments. In the undated letter, crawled on paper from the Phoenix Hotel in San Fransisco, Cobain accused his then-wife Courtney Love of "siphoning" all his money and branded her a "b**ch with zits". He concluded the letter by saying, "I don't have the passion anymore, and so remember it's better to burn out than to fade away."Reuters
  • Marilyn Monroe
    Over the years, the cause of death of Marilyn Monroe, born Norma Jean Mortenson, has remained a mystery. On 5 August 1962, Marilyn Monroe's body was found in the bedroom of her Brentwood home and it was concluded after autopsy that the cause of her death was due to acute barbiturate poisoning. Shortly after her body was discovered, it was reported that many items were removed from the scene, including a diary and an incriminating note, which could have far-reaching implications, if discovered. Witnesses said that prior to Monroe's death John and Bobby Kennedy had visited her and that they heard screams and the sound of glass breaking and a woman yelling, "Murderers! You are murderers! Are you satisfied now that she's dead?" With this revelation it is rumoured that the removal of key evidences was ordered by someone in the White House, in an attempt to save John F. Kennedy's presidency from toppling.Reuters

In the wake of Robin Wililams' sudden demise couple of weeks back, here is a look at some other beloved celebrities who committed suicide, and left a gaping hole in the field of their respective fields of art.