Celebrity Car Crash Fatalities
As we well know, many celebrities – probably most in fact – have ‘skeletons’ lurking deep in their closet that even millions in the bank and an army of protective publicists can’t conceal.
Take this ‘not so magnificent seven’ for instance…a septet of rich and famous individuals who accidentally killed somebody from behind the wheel of their car.
Howard Hughes
1. Howard Hughes – Largely remembered these days for the eccentricities he displayed as a reclusive billionaire in later life but once upon a time, Hughes was a world-famous movie producer turned record-breaking aviator. It was during his halcyon days working in Hollywood in 1936 that Hughes gained a certain level of notoriety when killing a pedestrian at an intersection in Los Angeles. Originally arrested for ‘negligent homicide’ amid accusations that he had been drinking, Hughes’ powerful legal team ensured that all charges were dropped and a subsequent inquest held him blameless. Accusations of bribery persist to this day.
Ted Kennedy
2. Ted Kennedy – The younger brother of ‘JFK’ and Robert, charismatic senator Ted could well have followed in his brother’s footsteps to the White House if he hadn’t been forever tarnished by the fallout from a shocking driving accident forever known as the ‘Chappaquiddick incident’, which saw his pretty young campaign assistant Mary Jo Kepechne drown to death. On his way home from a late-night party, Kennedy – believed to be blind drunk – veered off a bridge into a deep tidal dyke but was able to swim ashore and save himself, leaving his travelling companion Mary Jo to drown in the process. Shockingly, it emerged that he didn’t report the accident until the next morning, nine hours later! Powerful family connections meant he avoided prison, but his career never truly recovered!
Laura Bush
3. Laura Bush – President George W Bush’s wife, Laura, was one of the most popular first ladies in recent American history, but that might not have been the case if details of a fatal 1963 driving accident were easier to come by. What is known is that in Laura – just 17 at the time – failed to stop her Chevy Sedan at a local Stop sign whilst hurrying to a drive-in theatre, causing a fatal accident which killed her popular classmate Michael Douglas in another vehicle. Official police records of the incident remain something of a mystery to this day, but Laura did finally break her silence over the incident once her husband had left the White House, admitting she was ‘wracked with guilt’ for years.
Keith Moon
4. Keith Moon – The Who drummer is widely-regarded as one of the greatest in rock history, but is more renowned for his wild, eccentric behaviour which bordered on lunacy at times. Even so, behind the zany pranks and endless partying, many close to Moon believe that he was never able to rid himself of guilt pangs following the events of one tragic, alcohol-fuelled night in 1970 which saw his good friend and bodyguard Neil Boland crushed to death under the wheels of Moon’s Bentley. The exact details of what happened that night remain unclear but it is believed that Moon and his entourage were trying to flee a mob of skinheads following a brawl in a pub car park and Boland was killed with Moon at the wheel. Moon he escaped charges after a coroner ruled the death an ‘accident’.
Matthew Broderick
5. Matthew Broderick – Famous for being the husband of Sex In The City actress Sarah Jessica Parker, Broderick was once a big name in his own right, particularly after his starring role in cult 80′s classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’. There is a school of thought in Hollywood that Broderick’s has career never scaled the heights expected because of the fallout from a shocking 1988 driving accident which saw him smash his rented BMW into an oncoming Volvo whilst driving in the wrong lane of a country road near Enniskillen in Northern Ireland, instantly killing the two female women in the oncoming car. Broderick and his then-girlfriend – Dirty Dancing actress Jennifer Grey – were both hospitalised themselves in the crash, but there was widespread outrage when he escaped with a mere $175 fine and a careless driving charge.
Patrick Kluivert
6. Patrick Kluivert – A prolific striker for Ajax, AC Milan and Barcelona amongst others, Dutch striker Kluivert was widely recognised as one of the world’s great strikers during much of the nineties and noughties, but his reputation was always tarnished by a 1996 death smash which saw him convicted of manslaughter. Driving a friend’s car twice over the speed limit and without insurance in a residential area, Kluivert – just 19 at the time – lost control of vehicle and the resulting crash killed a 56 year-old theatre director. Amazingly, and to much disgust in his homeland, he avoided a custodial sentence.
Brandy Norwood
7. Brandy Norwood – Known professionally as just ‘Brandy’, the Grammy-winning singer is one of the best-selling R&B artists in history having sold over 50 million records, but she was arguably fortunate to emerge with her reputation still largely intact following her involvement in three-vehicle 2006 death smash on a Los Angeles freeway. The chain of events which led to the fatality were the result of Brandy ‘rear-ending’ the car in front by failing to break, but she escaped charges due to ‘insufficient evidence’. Even so, a series of subsequent lawsuits filed by the dead woman’s family, ended up with Brandy paying a seven-figure sum in out-of-court settlements!
Author: Paul Wilkinson
