Various notable people have had their death announced in error. This page lists both formal obituaries and published or broadcast reports of deaths (but not mere rumours of deaths). An obituary is a notice of the death of a person, usually published in a newspaper and usually including a short biography. ...

• Alan Abel, who staged his own death as an elaborate hoax in 1979 to get his obituary published in the New York Times.
• Nancy Allen: the actress was reported on Internet Movie Database to have died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Florida on October 12, 2006. Allen herself refuted the claim.
• Nnamdi Azikiwe, reported dead by Nigerian newspapers days before his actual death.
• William Baer (a New York University professor), published in the New York Times in 1942 as a result of a hoax by his students.
• Tom Baker, erroneously reported in several (unidentified) reference books published in the late 1980s as having died of a drug overdose in 1982, apparently confusing him with an American actor of the same name.
• Pope Benedict XV, announced by an (unidentified) New York newspaper with the front-page headline "Pope Benedict XV is dead", followed by a later edition headlined "Pope has remarkable recovery."^{[citation needed]}
• Jello Biafra: Reports of Biafra being shot to death in his bathroom were posted on the Internet in the mid-to-late 1990s ; Biafra later mocked these rumors on his 2000 spoken word album Become the Media.
• James Brady, who was shot in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan. Some media reports announced that Brady had died.
• Rodger Bumpass: reported in August 2006 to have died during heart surgery by IMDB and the Arkansas State University newsletter, apparently due to confusion with the 2005 death of a Roger [sic] Bumpass.
• Noam Chomsky: at a news conference after his address to the United Nations in September 2006, President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela praised Chomsky while regretting not having met him before his death. [1]
• Kurt Cobain, declared dead by CNN after an overdose in Rome in March, 1994.
• Jeffrey Combs was declared dead after the September 11, 2001 attacks when he was confused with a man named Jeffrey Coombs (different spelling) who was aboard one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center.
• Alice Cooper: when Melody Maker magazine confused readers by publishing a satirical concert review in the form of a mock obituary. Alice Cooper later reassured fans: "I'm alive, and drunk as usual."
• Lord Desborough on 2 December 1920, when The Times confused him with Lord Bessborough.
• Joe DiMaggio, broadcast by NBC in 1999 following newspaper reports that he was close to death.
• Ian Dury, announced on XFM radio by Bob Geldof in 1998, possibly due to hoax information from a listener disgruntled at the station's change of ownership. The incident caused music paper NME to call Geldof "the world's worst DJ."
• Will Ferrell, reported to have died on March 15, 2006 by iNewswire. A press release claimed that Ferrell died in a para-gliding accident in Torrey Pines, California. Ferrell has never been para-gliding.[2]
• Louise Fletcher, reported to have died on August 29, 2005 by the Internet Movie Database. The deceased was later discovered to have been another person of the same name.
• Frank Gorshin, when a Los Angeles newspaper misreported his motor accident in 1957. He had suffered a fractured skull and was unconscious for four days.
• Robert Graves, reported dead in 1916 after receiving life-threatening injuries at the Battle of the Somme. (The report however may only have been made to his family.)
• Friedrich Gulda (pianist), who in 1999 faxed the Austrian News Agency claiming he had died of a stroke at Zurich airport. Shortly afterwards he announced he was still alive and would be giving a 'Resurrection Recital', which was accompanied by go-go dancers. (He often played pranks to annoy the musical establishment.) Obituary in The Independent upon his actual death
• Ernest Hemingway, After the author and his wife Mary Welsh Hemingway were in an African plane crash in 1954, newspapers around the world reported that both had died. Hemingway suffered extensive injuries in the crash, not least of all to his pride: it is rumored that he received the Nobel Prize later that year when the Swedish Academy regretted that they had almost let him die without it.
• Michael Heseltine MP in 1994, when then-DJ Chris Morris implied on BBC Radio 1 (as a joke) that he had died. This led to an on-air tribute by fellow MP Jerry Hayes (during which Morris managed to make Hayes laugh innappropriately), and Morris's subsequent suspension. (See also Jimmy Savile)
• Cockie Hoogterp, the second wife of Baron Blixen, was declared dead in a Daily Telegraph obituary after the Baron's third wife died in an auto accident. (The Baron's first wife was the writer Isak Dinesen). Mrs. Hoogterp sent all her bills back marked "Deceased" and ordered the Telegraph to print that "Mrs. Hoogterp wishes it to be known that she has not yet been screwed in her coffin." [3]
• Bob Hope had two premature obituaries - one in 1998 erroneously posted on the Associated Press web site and then announced in the United States House of Representatives, and another in 2003 when several famous figures had pre-written obituaries published on CNN's web site due to a lapse in password protection.
• Pope John Paul II: on the eve of his death on April 1, 2005 after reports went out that his ECG had gone flat. The claim was removed after the Vatican clarified that they had no ECG at his bedside. Also in the CNN incident (see list below)
• James Earl Jones, erroneously announced in 1998 by a radio baseball commentator when James Earl Ray died.
• Nikita Khrushchev, announced in 1964 by a Cologne radio station which had received a (hoax?) telex report.
• Rudyard Kipling, published in an (unidentified) magazine, to which he wrote: "I've just read that I am dead. Don't forget to delete me from your list of subscribers."
• Larry Kramer, when his deterioration after an operation was misinterpreted by Internet journalists. (It is not clear whether any mainstream news source reported his death, though it may have been reported by Associated Press.)
• Titan Leeds, publisher of an almanac competing with Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac. Franklin had repeatedly predicted the death of Leeds in his publication, and when the date of Leeds' supposed passing had come and gone, published Leeds' obituary anyway. (See the somewhat similar case of John Partridge below)
• Gabriel García Márquez, published in Peruvian daily La Republica in 2000.
• Jerry Mathers, put out by Associated Press and United Press International when a similarly-named soldier was killed in Vietnam in December 1969 (or 1968; sources differ).
• Victor Mature, in an (unidentified) film book.
• Paul McCartney, proclaimed dead in 1969 by radio DJ Russ Gibb on WKNR-FM in Detroit, leading to interminable rumours that McCartney's supposed death (hinted at by a trail of clues in various Beatles songs) had been covered up and he had been replaced by a look-alike.
• Thomas Menino: as an April Fool's Day prank in 1998, shock jocks Opie and Anthony claimed on WAAF-FM radio that the Boston mayor had died in a car accident; they were fired as a result.
• Jayaprakash Narayan, erroneously announced by the Indian prime minister in 1979, causing a brief wave of national mourning, including the suspension of parliament and regular radio broadcasting, and closure of schools and shops.
• Alfred Nobel: the erroneous publication in 1888 of a French newspaper obituary condemning his invention of dynamite is said to have prompted his founding of the Nobel Prize in order to improve his posthumous legacy.
• Maureen O'Hara: listed as dead on the Internet Movie Database in 1998, apparently due to confusion with Maureen O'Sullivan.
• Sharon Osbourne, when a pre-written obituary [4] was accidentally published on the ABC News web site in October 2004.
• Robert Palmer, when a music critic of the same name died.
• Eduardo Paolozzi, published by an (unidentified) magazine when he suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2001 (source: The Times (London), 23 April 2005).
• John Partridge, an astrologer whose death Jonathan Swift (writing under a pseudonym) 'predicted' in a 1708 hoax almanac and later 'confirmed', prompting numerous anti-Partridge newspaper obituaries.
• Harold Pinter, who said on Newsnight on 13 October 2005 (the day his Nobel Prize was announced) that he had been reported dead on Sky News earlier that day. (Pinter had been suffering from cancer, and had also recently fallen and injured his head, which may have caused the report.)
• Velupillai Prabhakaran, reported by the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation as having died in the December 2004 tsunami.
• The Queen Mother's death was erroneously announced in the Australian media in 1993 after a Sky News internal rehearsal for her death was misinterpreted by a London-based employee, who phoned his mother in Australia with the 'news'. (The employee was sacked for the mistake, but then won a tribunal for wrongful dismissal.)
• Harley Race, reported by a St. Louis newspaper to have committed suicide by handgun in 1998; the victim turned out to be a similarly named person unrelated to the former wrestler.
• Lou Reed, by numerous US radio stations in 2001, caused by a hoax email (purporting to be from Reuters) which said he had died of an overdose.
• Adam Rich, by Might magazine, edited by Dave Eggers, in 1996. A hoax, which Rich was himself party to, the subject was originally intended to be Crispin Glover.
• Dorothy Southworth Ritter (also called Dorothy Fay), the widow of Tex Ritter and mother of John Ritter, was declared dead in an August 2001 Daily Telegraph obituary. Mrs. Ritter, who lived in a nursing home, had been taken to another room temporarily when a friend stopped by to visit. The friend was told that Mrs. Ritter was "gone"; he or she assumed she had died and telephoned Andrew McKie, then the Telegraph obituary editor.[5]
• Amnon Rubinstein, Israeli academic and retired politician, whose death was announced by Knesset (parliamentary) speaker Avraham Burg following a hoax telephone call. Rubinstein has in hospital at the time for a minor complaint.
• Bertrand Russell, twice - first in 1920 when he had been seriously ill with pneumonia in Beijing. Incorrect Japanese reports of his death caused The Times to print his obituary. The second time was in 1954 after Japanese journalists were refused an interview with him because he was seriously ill with bronchitis.
• Jimmy Savile in 1994, when then-DJ Chris Morris announced on BBC Radio 1 (as a joke) that he had collapsed and died. Savile began legal action against Morris. (See also Michael Heseltine)
• Terri Schiavo: a draft of her obituary appeared briefly on CBS's web site in advance of her death.
• Katharine Sergava, published in 2003 in the Daily Telegraph and repeated a few days later in the New York Times.
• Britney Spears, whose supposed death in a car crash was announced on the radio in 2001 by two Texas DJs as a joke; the radio station (KEGL) was sued and the DJs were fired.
• John Stonehouse MP, who faked his own death in order to escape financial difficulties; he was subsequently discovered in Australia and imprisoned.
• Dave Swarbrick: published in the Daily Telegraph in April 1999, prompting the remark "It's not the first time I have died in Coventry."
• Ana Torroja: the death of Spanish pop group Mecano's singer was erroneously announced twice, including on Spanish national news.
• Thuy Trang, who rose to fame in the mid-1990s playing "Trini Kwan/The Yellow Ranger in Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers, was incorrectly reported dead following an automobile accident in 1997. Ironically, Trang did subsequently die in a car accident, four years later.
• Mark Twain: published in the New York Journal, prompting his famous comment "the reports of my death are greatly exaggerated."
• Paul Vance, composer of the song Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini, following the September 2006 death of a man called Paul Van Valkenburgh who had told his wife he was the famous songwriter. The widespread reports (originating from Associated Press) even caused racehorses owned by Vance to be scratched from races.
• Abe Vigoda, reported in 1982 by People magazine. Vigoda then posed for a photograph showing him sitting up in a coffin, holding the magazine in question. He was also erroneously reported dead by a television reporter for WWOR-TV in 1987. An unofficial web site, abevigoda.com, continuously provides Vigoda's 'current status' (alive or dead) to avoid doubt in future.
• Alan Whicker, while reporting on the Korean war. He was flying with an aerial spotter in a Piper Aztec airplane behind enemy lines, as part of a story. His plane landed safely, but a similar craft was shot down on the same day. This was misinterpreted by British newspapers as being Whicker's plane.[6]
• James McNeill Whistler, following a heart attack. Whistler wrote to the Dutch newspaper concerned, saying that reading his own obituary induced a "tender glow of health."
• Edward Osborne Wilson, listed as dead in a 2005 San Francisco Chronicle article.
• Mara Wilson, in 2000 was listed as dead on the Internet Movie Database with the cause being "broken neck."

HEWHOCANNOTBENAMED - guitarist for the punk rock band The Dwarves. Faked his own death in 1995 saying he had been killed in a bar brawl. leading them to be dropped from the sub-pop record label. Alan Abel (b. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Nancy Allen (born June 24, 1950 in New York City died October 12, 2006) was an American film actress. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ... A cerebral hemorrhage or hemorrhagic stroke is a form of stroke that occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures or bleeds. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... 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Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), better known by the stage name Jello Biafra, is an American punk rock musician and political activist best known as the former lead singer and song writer of the Dead Kennedys. ... This article is about the year 2000. ... Become The Media is the sixth spoken word album by Jello Biafra. ... James Brady James Scott “Jim” Brady (born August 29, 1940) was Assistant to the President and White House Press Secretary under President Ronald Reagan. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ... Rodger Bumpass (born 23 January 1959 in Jonesboro, Arkansas) is a voice actor with credits in cartoons stretching back to the The Jetsons. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) [1] is an online database of information about actors, movies, television shows, television stars and video games. ... Arkansas State University student union, Jonesboro, AR. Arkansas State University (A-State) is a public university and is the flagship campus of the Arkansas State University System, the states second largest college system. ... Avram Noam Chomsky, Ph. ... Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías (IPA: ) (born July 28, 1954) is the 53rd[1] and current President of Venezuela. ... Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – c. ... Jeffrey Alan Combs (b. ... This article is about the date September 11 in general. ... This article is about the year 2001. ... Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948), is a rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans four decades. ... Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was (until its closure) the worlds oldest weekly music newspaper. ... William Grenfell William Henry Grenfell, Baron Desborough, KG, GCVO, (October 30, 1855 – January 9, 1945) was an athlete, sportsman, public servant and a Liberal Party politician who left to join the Conservatives. ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... Joseph Paul DiMaggio, born Giuseppe Paolo DiMaggio, Jr. ... It has been suggested that NBC Radio City Studios, NBC Studios be merged into this article or section. ... Ian Dury, in a look combining Gene Vincent with a Cockney pearly king. ... Xfm is a brand of commercial radio stations focused on current and unsigned alternative music and owned by GCap Media in the United Kingdom. ... Robert Frederick Zenon Bob Geldof, KBE (born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer, songwriter, actor and political activist. ... The New Musical Express (better known as the NME) is a music magazine in the UK which has been published weekly since March 1952. ... John William Will Ferrell (born July 16, 1967 [1]) is an Emmy and Golden Globe nominated American comedian, impressionist and actor who first established himself as a cast member of Saturday Night Live. ... March 15 is the 74th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (75th in Leap years). ... 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Louise Fletcher as Winn Adami on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Louise Fletcher (born July 22, 1934) is an Academy Award-winning American actress. ... August 29 is the 241st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (242nd in leap years), with 124 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ... Frank Gorshin as the Riddler, from the Batman TV series. ... Portrait of Robert Graves (circa 1974) by Rab Shiell Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English scholar, poet, and novelist. ... Combatants United Kingdom Australia Canada New Zealand Newfoundland South Africa France German Empire Commanders Douglas Haig Joseph Joffre Max von Gallwitz Fritz von Below Strength 13 British and 11 French divisions (initial) 51 British and 48 French divisions (final) 10½ divisions (initial) 50 divisions (final) Casualties 419,654 British Empire... Friedrich Gulda (16 May 1930 - 27 January 2000) was an Austrian pianist. ... Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. ... Mary Welsh Hemingway (April 5, 1908 – November 26, 1986) was an American journalist and the wife of Ernest Hemingway. ... Nobel Prize medal. ... Michael Heseltine walks out of the cabinet meeting having resigned, January 9, 1986 Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC (born 21 March 1933) is a British Conservative politician and businessman. ... Chris Morris in Brass Eye Chris Morris (born September 5, 1965 in Bristol, England) is an English comedy writer, satirist and radio DJ. Morris grew up in Cambridgeshire; both his parents were doctors. ... This article is about the UK radio station Radio 1. ... The tone of this article is inappropriate for an encyclopedia. ... Bror von Blixen-Finecke (July 25, 1886 – March 4, 1946) was a Swedish baron, writer, and African big-game hunter; he was the original archetype of the Great White hunter One of a pair of identical twins born to an aristocratic Swedish family (his twin, Hans, died in a plane... This article concerns the British newspaper. ... Blixen in Kenya, 1918 Isak Dinesen (April 17, 1885-September 7, 1962) was a pen name for the Danish author Karen Blixen. ... Bob Hope KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), born Leslie Townes Hope, was a British-born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... Seal of the House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives (or simply the House) is the lower of the two chambers of the United States Congress, the other being the Senate. ... The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Servant of God Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), (Italian: Giovanni Paolo II), born   (May 18, 1920, Wadowice, Poland – April 2, 2005, Vatican City) reigned as Pope... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 274 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... ECG may also refer to the East Coast Greenway Lead II An Electrocardiogram (ECG or EKG, abbreviated from the German Elektrokardiogramm) is a graphic produced by an electrocardiograph, which records the electrical voltage in the heart in the form of a continuous strip graph. ... James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931 in Arkabutla Township, Mississippi in Tate County) is among Americas best known film and stage actors. ... The person who killed Martin Luther King Jr. ... Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (Russian: ; IPA: ); surname more accurately romanized as Khrushchyov; April 17, 1894 [O.S. April 5]–September 11, 1971) was the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin. ... Joseph Rudyard Kipling (30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936) was a British author and poet, born in India, and best known today for his childrens books, including The Jungle Book (1894), The Second Jungle Book (1895), Just So Stories (1902), and Puck of Pooks Hill (1906); his novel... Larry Kramer (born June 25, 1935), American dramatist, author and gay rights activist, was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut and was educated at Yale University (class of 1957). ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... An almanac (also spelled almanack, especially in Commonwealth English) is an annual publication containing tabular information in a particular field or fields often arranged according to the calendar. ... Benjamin Franklin (January 17 [O.S. January 6] 1706 – April 17, 1790) was one of the most well known Founding Fathers of the United States. ... Poor Richards Almanack (sometimes Almanac) was a yearly almanac published by Benjamin Franklin, who adopted the pseudonym of Poor Richard or Richard Saunders for the purpose of this work in the title. ... Gabriel José García Márquez, also known as Gabo (born March 6, 1928), is a Colombian novelist, journalist, publisher, political activist, and recipient of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Literature. ... La República is a center-left newspaper published in Lima, Peru. ... Jerry Mathers (born June 2, 1948 in Sioux City, Iowa, USA), is best known for his role in the television sitcom series Leave it to Beaver (1957-1963), in which he starred as Theodore Beaver Cleaver, a child living in a somewhat ideal family. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... Front of UPI Headquarters, Washington, D.C. UPI redirects here. ... Victor Mature (29 January 1913 - 4 August 1999), an American film actor, was born in Louisville, Kentucky to a Tyrolean father, Marcellus George Mature, a cutler, and a Swiss-American mother, Clara Mature. ... Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. ... Russ Gibb has worn many hats in his time. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 as part of their first tour of the United States, promoting their first hit single there, I Want To Hold Your Hand. ... Thomas Michael Menino (born December 27, 1942) is the current mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the citys first Italian-American mayor as well as being the citys first non Irish-American mayor since 1884. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Opie (Gregg Hughes, b. ... This article is about the radio station. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... Cover of the book Jayaprakash by Lakshminarayan Lal. ...   (October 21, 1833, Stockholm, Sweden—December 10, 1896, Sanremo, Italy) was a Swedish chemist, engineer, innovator, armaments manufacturer and the inventor of dynamite. ... Dynamite is an explosive based on the explosive potential of nitroglycerin using diatomaceous earth (Kieselguhr) as an adsorbent. ... Nobel Prize medal. ... Maureen OHara Maureen OHara (born Maureen FitzSimons) on August 17, 1920 is an Irish film actress. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ... Maureen OSullivan as Jane in Tarzan and His Mate Maureen O’Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish actress. ... Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, then Arden; born 9 October 1952) is an English music promoter and TV personality. ... ABC News logo ABC News is a division of ABC television and radio networks (ABC), owned by The Walt Disney Company. ... The Riptide album was Palmers best selling work. ... Paolozzis Newton, bronze (1995) in the courtyard of the British Library. ... John Partridge was one of the foremost English astrologers of his time, some say perhaps the last major representative of the living astrological tradition in England, indeed in the Western world. ... Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish priest, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. ... 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Avraham Burg (born January 19, 1955) is an Israeli politician. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell OM FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. ... The Times is a national newspaper published daily in the United Kingdom since 1785, and under its current name since 1788. ... Sir Jimmy Savile OBE Sir James Wilson Vincent Savile OBE, (born 31 October 1926), commonly called Jimmy Savile, is a British DJ, actor and television personality. ... Chris Morris in Brass Eye Chris Morris (born September 5, 1965 in Bristol, England) is an English comedy writer, satirist and radio DJ. Morris grew up in Cambridgeshire; both his parents were doctors. ... This article is about the UK radio station Radio 1. ... Theresa Marie Terri Schiavo (December 3, 1963 – March 31, 2005) was a woman from St. ... CBS (an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ... Katharine Sergava is a dancer and actress, best known for portraying the dream-ballet version of Laurey, the heroine, in the original production of Oklahoma! In 2003 she was erroneously reported dead in the Daily Telegraph and New York Times. ... This article deals with The Daily Telegraph in Britain, see The Daily Telegraph (Australia) for the Australian publication The Daily Telegraph is a British broadsheet newspaper founded in 1855. ... The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is a Grammy Award-winning American pop singer, dancer, actress, author and songwriter. ... KEGL is a radio station transmitting on 97. ... John Stonehouse (1926 - 1988) was a British politician and minister under Harold Wilson. ... Dave Swarbrick with Martin carthy and Diz Disley (1967). ... Ana Torroja (born December 28, 1959) is a Spanish vocalist and the lead singer of the million-selling trio Mecano. ... (For the toy construction material, see Meccano) Mecano was a Spanish pop/alternative band whose debut coincided with La Movida Madrileña, a sociocultural movement that occurred in Spain during the 1980s. ... Thuy Trang (Vietnamese: Trang Thùy, Chinese: 莊陲 Zhuāng Chúi[], December 14, 1973 - September 3, 2001) was a Vietnamese American actress. ... Trini Kwan is a fictional character in the Power Rangers universe played by the late Vietnamese American actress Thuy Trang. ... The Yellow Mystic Ranger Yellow Ranger is a designation given to one character in all seasons of the Power Rangers TV series. ... Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a live-action television and movie series, based on the Super Sentai series Kyōryū Sentai Zyu-Ranger, literally Dinosaur Task Force Beast Rangers and often abbreviated as ZyuRanger (after the Kunrei-shiki romanization). ... A car accident in Yate, near Bristol, England, in July 2004. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, the lead section of this article may need to be expanded. ... The New York Journal American was a newspaper purchased by William Randolph Hearst in 1895 (at the time called the New York Morning Journal, then the New York Journal). ... Paul Vance (born 1929 in Coral Springs, Florida) is an American songwriter. ... Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini is a novelty song written by Paul Vance and Lee Pockriss. ... The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... Abe Vigoda, born Abraham Charles Vigoda on February 24, 1921, in New York City, is an American movie and television actor. ... WWOR-TV, channel 9, is a television station licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey, and serving the New York City metropolitan area. ... Alan Donald Whicker, CBE (born August 2, 1925) is a British journalist and broadcaster. ... Combatants United Nations: Republic of Korea  Australia  Belgium Canada  Colombia Ethiopia  France Greece  Netherlands  New Zealand  Philippines South Africa  Thailand  Turkey  United Kingdom United States Medical staff:  Denmark  India  Italy  Norway  Sweden Communist states: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea People’s Republic of China  Soviet Union Commanders Syngman Rhee... Piper Aztec The Piper PA-23, named Apache and later Aztec, was the first twin-engine aircraft built by Piper Aircraft. ... Self portrait James Abbott McNeill Whistler (July 14, 1834 – July 17, 1903) was an American-born, British-based painter and etcher. ... E.O. Wilson with Dynastes hercules E. O. Wilson, or Edward Osborne Wilson, (born June 10, 1929) is an entomologist and biologist known for his work on ecology, evolution, and sociobiology. ... The San Francisco Chronicle, the self-described Voice of the West, is Northern Californias largest newspaper. ... Mara Elizabeth Wilson (born July 24, 1987) is an award-winning American actress. ... The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about actors, films, television shows, television stars, video games and production crew personnel. ...

The CNN.com incident

These are people whose pre-written obituaries were erroneously made publicly available on the CNN website [7] on (or perhaps before) 16 April 2003. Due to a lapse in password protection, partial or complete obituaries were publicly visible on a development area of the website in the form of pre-written memorial pages. These pages were not linked to from the main CNN site, so they may have been publicly accessible for some time before they were actually noticed. Most of these obituaries contained references to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, whose obituary had apparently been used as a template. The Cable News Network, commonly known as CNN, is a major cable television network founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. ... April 16 is the 106th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (107th in leap years). ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

• Fidel Castro
• Dick Cheney
• Bob Hope
• Gerald Ford
• Pope John Paul II - the CNN template also had his birth year incorrect, stating that he was born in 1913 instead of 1920.
• Nelson Mandela
• Ronald Reagan

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (born on August 13, 1926) is the current President of Cuba but on indefinite medical hiatus. ... Richard Bruce Dick Cheney (born January 30, 1941) is the 46th and current Vice President of the United States, serving under President George W. Bush. ... Bob Hope KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), born Leslie Townes Hope, was a British-born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel. ... For other persons named Gerald Ford, see Gerald Ford (disambiguation). ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Servant of God Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), (Italian: Giovanni Paolo II), born   (May 18, 1920, Wadowice, Poland – April 2, 2005, Vatican City) reigned as Pope... Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (IPA ) (born July 18, 1918) was the first President of South Africa to be elected in fully-representative democratic elections. ... Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975). ...

Double recipients

Bob Hope, Bertrand Russell, Abe Vigoda and Pope John Paul II are notable for having received premature obituaries on two separate occasions. Bob Hope KBE (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003), born Leslie Townes Hope, was a British-born American entertainer who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, on radio and television, in movies, and in performing tours for U.S. Military personnel. ... Bertrand Arthur William Russell, 3rd Earl Russell OM FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970), was a British philosopher, logician, and mathematician, working mostly in the 20th century. ... Abe Vigoda, born Abraham Charles Vigoda on February 24, 1921, in New York City, is an American movie and television actor. ... Coat of Arms of Pope John Paul II. The Letter M is for Mary, the mother of Jesus, to whom he held strong devotion Servant of God Pope John Paul II (Latin: ), (Italian: Giovanni Paolo II), born   (May 18, 1920, Wadowice, Poland – April 2, 2005, Vatican City) reigned as Pope...

External links

• Dead People Server - database of dead celebrities; includes list of people incorrectly rumoured to be dead
• Dead or Alive - allows you to check whether celebrities are dead or alive
• Smoking Gun page about the leaked CNN obituaries