It has happened for just about ever, and will end just about never: premature obituaries. What was once a gossipy word-of-mouth process evolved to the printing press, then radio and TV, and currently email and websites. An erroneous report or claim of death is caused by many factors – fraud, mistaken identity, wishful thinking – and very often is received by the would-be-deceased in a light-hearted (perhaps relieved?) manner. And while some victims enjoy a reclaimed sense of notoriety, others have actually suffered lost employment. At least one man apparently died at the shock of hearing of his own death.

Here is a list of some higher-profile cases from the entertainment world:

Peter Boyle was reported dead after a 1990 stroke, but enjoyed many more years of successful acting before dying again in 2006.

Sean Connery began making public appearances in 1993 to refute reports of his death.

Miley Cyrus was twice reported dead in a 2008, once by a car accident, and once by a drunk driver.

Entertainment Weekly accidentally posted Lena Horne’s pre-written obituary in 2008.

Associated Press accidentally posted Bob Hope’s pre-written obituary in 1998, as did CNN.com in 2003.

When assassin James Earl Ray died in 1998, some in the media mistook it and reported it as the death of James Earl Jones.

Jerry “Leave It to Beaver” Mathers was rumored and finally reported in 1969 to have been killed in Vietnam.

Paul McCartney’s 1966 “death” was legendary, persisting for years with convoluted “clues” as interpreted by imaginative fans.

IMDB confused the very much alive Maureen O’Hara with the late Maureen O’Sullivan in 1998.

A pre-written obituary of Ozzy’s wife Sharon Osbourne was accidentally posted 2004 by the ABC News website.

In 2007, comedian Sinbad was reported dead by Associated Press from his very real heart attack.

Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears were reported as fatal victims of a car crash in 2001.

In 1982, People magazine referred to “the late Abe Vigoda,” prompting the actor to pose from inside a coffin holding the erroneous magazine.

Country singer Slim Whitman, whose yodeling saved the Earth in “Mars Attacks,” was reported dead in 2008.

Religious leaders aren’t exempt from such exaggerations…

Pope Benedict XV was reported dead of pneumonia in 1922, and then reported as having had a “remarkable recovery” before actually dying soon thereafter.

Pope John Paul II seems to have been a magnet for premature obituaries. In reporting the 1981 attempted assassination, CNN repeatedly referred to the Pope in the past tense. CNN.com accidentally posted his obituary in 2003, and in 2005 Fox News jumped the gun and reported him dead hours before he had actually succumbed.

And finally – for this week – a notable sports figure plays the “I’m not dead yet” routine…

In 1999, Joe DiMaggio saw his own death announced (two months early) in a text scrawl at the bottom of the screen as he was watching an NBC program.

More such reports next week!

O.C. DeeDee
Lists Editor

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