The Last Known Photos Of 55 Famous People Before They Died

From Che Guevara to Charlie Chaplin to the Challenger space shuttle crew, these poignant photos capture historical figures who left a lasting mark on the world.

Last Known Photographs Of Freddie Mercury

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One of the last known photos of reggae icon Bob Marley in Germany, where he was receiving holistic treatment for cancer.

Bob Marley developed melanoma on his toe, but sought out alternative treatments, rather than listening to the advice he received from most doctors. Though there were many conspiracy theories about the 36-year-old's death on May 11, 1981, his failure to seek proper treatment was the real cause. Vintage Everyday

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Taken just a month before his death on Jan. 10, 2016, this is one of the last known photos of English rock star David Bowie. The image was captured at the opening of his stage show Lazarus in New York City in December 2015. While other photos released around the same time show him looking rather healthy, this photograph shows the effect of liver cancer on his body. Reddit

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It's believed that this is the actual last photograph of John Lennon before his murder in New York City on Dec. 8, 1980. While not as famous as the picture that shows Lennon signing an autograph for his soon-to-be killer, Mark David Chapman, this photo still has an eerie quality. The flash on the camera apparently failed to go off, resulting in a grainy image. Reddit

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The last known photo of comedian and actor Bob Saget, taken by a fan outside the Ritz-Carlton Orlando hotel where Saget would die after hitting his head on Jan. 9, 2022.Reddit

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The last picture taken of movie star Audrey Hepburn, shortly before her sudden death at age 63 on Jan. 20, 1993, just three months after she was diagnosed with cancer.Reddit

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The final photograph of legendary pop artist Andy Warhol, taken on Feb. 20, 1987. Warhol died two days later on February 22nd, due to complications following what was supposed to be a routine gallbladder surgery.Reddit

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The last known photo of Academy Award-winning actor Marlon Brando, taken shortly before he died of lung failure on July 1, 2004.Reddit

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The last image of director David Lynch, captured during a remote public appearance for his foundation Meditate America. His appearance at the ceremony was remote because he was suffering from emphysema.

At the end of the ceremony, the host, Hugh Jackman, said, "And we'll give the last word to David Lynch." The ceremony then cut to a recorded video of Lynch, who ultimately ended the ceremony by saying, "Peace."

David Lynch died on Jan. 16, 2025 at age 78. Meditate America

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The last known photograph of William "Buffalo Bill" Cody, taken shortly before he died from kidney failure on January 10, 1917.

Cody effectively created the Wild West as it is known today, thanks to his traveling road show, where he regaled people with riveting stories of outlaws and lawmen. Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo

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The last photo of Ernesto "Che" Guevara (right of center) shows the Marxist revolutionary studying a map of the Pesca River region — just weeks before he was executed by the Bolivian Army in 1967.Everett Collection Inc/Alamy Stock Photo

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One of the last photos taken of Heath Ledger on the set of Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, captured shortly before the actor died of an accidental drug overdose on Jan. 22, 2008.Jack Ludlam/Alamy Stock Photo

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One of the last photos of actress Sharon Tate and her friend Jay Sebring.

On August 9, 1969, Tate and Sebring and three others would be killed by the Manson Family cult in a brutal fashion. Tate was married to infamous director Roman Polanski at the time and heavily pregnant. Reddit

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The last known photo of English pop superstar and former Wham! singer George Michael, dining with his friends in 2016. He died on Christmas Day that same year after suffering from dilated cardiomyopathy with myocarditis and fatty liver. Reddit

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The last known photograph of AC/DC lead singer Bon Scott (right) partying in London. The 33-year-old died of acute alcohol poisoning the same night, on Feb. 19, 1980.Reddit

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The last photo of Kalakaua, the last king of the Kingdom of Hawai'i, who died in 1891.Wikimedia Commons

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The last photo of Vladimir Lenin, the former Soviet leader whose body remains eerily preserved in Moscow to this day.

Lenin died of a brain hemorrhage on Jan. 21, 1924. He was 53 years old.Wikimedia Commons

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The last photograph of comedian Harry Einstein, also known as Harry Parke, speaking to Milton Berle (right) at a Friars Club dinner in Los Angeles in 1958. Moments later, Einstein collapsed onto Berle’s shoulder, dead of a massive heart attack. Wikimedia Commons

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The last known photo taken aboard the Titanic shows Second Officer Charles Lightoller and First Officer William Murdoch before the vessel hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912. Though Lightoller would survive the ship's sinking, Murdoch would not.Wikimedia Commons

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The last photograph taken of U.S. President William McKinley as he ascended the stairs to the Temple of Music on Sept. 6, 1901, shortly before he was fatally shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz.Wikimedia Commons

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The last known photo of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis. Just days later, struggling with epilepsy and a failing marriage, the 23-year-old hanged himself in his kitchen on May 18, 1980.Reddit

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The last photo of Fast & Furious actor Paul Walker, moments before his death in a 100-mph car crash in Santa Clarita, California on Nov. 30, 2013. He was just 40 years old.Reddit

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The last photograph of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan before his death at the age of 93 in 2004. At the time, he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Reddit

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Alan Rickman, seen at his final public appearance in London on Dec. 7, 2015, about a month before his death on Jan. 14, 2016 from pancreatic cancer.Reddit

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Chinese leader Mao Zedong, pictured during his last public appearance before his death at age 82 on Sept. 9, 1976.Reddit

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Actor Gene Wilder attending the U.S. Open in 2015, his last public appearance before his death on August 29, 2016.Reddit

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Frame 312 of the Abraham Zapruder film, the last image of President John F. Kennedy alive. The first bullet that hit Kennedy struck him in the neck, and he can be seen here in pain before the next, fatal shot. Abraham Zapruder/Fair Use

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The last photograph of adventurer Chris McCandless, who ventured into the Alaskan wilderness in 1992 and died there, possibly of starvation or from eating poisonous seeds. He later inspired the book Into the Wild, and a movie by the same name.Chris McCandless

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The last photograph ever taken of Buddy Holly performing at the Surf Ballroom on Feb. 2, 1959. Mere hours later, the plane Holly was flying in crashed near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing him and the others on board. Mary Gerber

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The last photograph of Carrie Fisher, taken by a fan named Jonny Kennedy in London, shortly before Fisher died after going into cardiac arrest on Dec. 27, 2016.Jonny Kennedy

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The last photograph of Chester Bennington, the lead singer of Linkin Park.

The photograph was taken by Bennington's wife, just days before he hanged himself at the age of 41 on July 20, 2017. Talinda Bennington/Twitter

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The last photo of rapper Tupac Shakur, taken mere moments before he was fatally shot by an unknown gunman in Las Vegas on Sept. 13, 1996. He was just 25 years old. Leonard Jefferson

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The last known photo of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il. He died of a heart attack on Dec. 17, 2011.Reddit

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This is the final known photograph of Marilyn Monroe, taken during a visit with Frank Sinatra and singer-pianist Buddy Greco. The image was captured just days before Monroe died from an apparent drug overdose at age 36 on August 4, 1962.Reddit

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The last photograph of Bob Ross, the painter best known for his show The Joy of Painting. He died on July 4, 1995 of lymphoma. Reddit

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Rapper Biggie Smalls in a photo with disgraced record producer Sean "Diddy" Combs. The picture was taken shortly before Biggie was fatally shot by an unknown assailant in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997.Reddit

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The last known photograph of Holocaust victims Margot and Anne Frank together. After the Frank family went into hiding in an attempt to escape the Nazis, restrictions on photography largely prevented any further pictures of the girls from being taken, especially together. Anne Frank Fonds

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One of the last photos of U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt before he died of a cerebral hemorrhage on April 12, 1945. Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum

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The last known photograph of actor and director Charlie Chaplin, taken shortly before he died on December 25, 1977 at age 88.Reddit

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Legendary writer and humorist Mark Twain, pictured shortly before he died at the age of 74 on April 21, 1910.

In his last written statement, Twain mused about mortality: "Death, the only immortal who treats us all alike, whose pity and whose peace and whose refuge are for all — the soiled and the pure, the rich and the poor, the loved and the unloved."Reddit

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Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler pictured shortly before he killed himself on April 30, 1945.

Facing imminent defeat by the Allied forces and seeing Germany in ruins, Hitler married his longtime girlfriend Eva Braun, and the couple then committed suicide together.Austrian National Library

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Security camera footage captured the legendary singer, songwriter, and musician Prince as he entered a doctor's office shortly before he died from an accidental fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016.CCTV footage via AP

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One of the last photographs taken of Michael Jackson during the rehearsals for his planned This Is It concert residency. This image was captured just hours before the King of Pop's death from a fatal overdose on June 25, 2009.Reddit

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The last photo of Nikola Tesla, the pioneering engineer and inventor. Though he is credited with numerous technological advancements, he lived his final years in poverty and suffering from mental illness before dying at the age of 86 on Jan. 7, 1943. Public Domain

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Though there are numerous blurry photos claiming to be the official final picture taken of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, this is without question the final official portrait taken of America's 16th president.

It was taken on Feb. 5, 1865, not long before his infamous assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865.Public Domain

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One of the last known photos of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain before the 27-year-old died of an apparent suicide in his Seattle home on April 5, 1994.Reddit

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The last photo of the Challenger crew was taken shortly before they boarded the ill-fated space shuttle, which exploded just 73 seconds after liftoff on Jan. 28, 1986, killing everyone on board.

Hauntingly, the astronauts likely survived the initial breakup since the crew cabin broke apart in one piece in the explosion, and it's believed that they perished from oxygen deficiency just moments before the cabin crashed into the Atlantic Ocean. NASA

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The last photograph taken of former U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant before he died of throat cancer on July 23, 1885.Library of Congress

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Amy Winehouse seen walking in London shortly before her death on July 23, 2011.

It was soon determined that Winehouse died from alcohol poisoning after the 27-year-old singer resumed drinking following a period of attempted sobriety.Reddit

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In one of his last public photos, Robin Williams posed with a screen monkey named Crystal shortly before his death.

Williams died by suicide on August 11, 2014 in his California home. Though it was initially rumored that he was battling depression, an autopsy later showed that Williams was actually suffering from a severe brain disease called Lewy body dementia.Robin Williams/Instagram

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Famed "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin poses with marine biologist Chris Jones on his boat. This photo was taken just days before Irwin's death on Sept. 4, 2006, after being fatally attacked by a stingray. TMZ

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Jimi Hendrix poses with his guitar.

This photograph was taken just one day before the legendary musician died in London on Sept. 18, 1970. Officially, he accidentally asphyxiated on his own vomit after taking too many sleeping pills, but more ominous rumors about his cause of death persist to this day.Monika Dannemann

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The last known photo of Elvis Presley was taken as he drove into his Graceland estate just after midnight on August 16, 1977 — the same day that he died.

The official cause of the King of Rock 'n' Roll's demise was listed as cardiac arrhythmia, but he also had a number of drugs in his system at the time of his death.Getty Images

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The Doors frontman Jim Morrison posing with his longtime girlfriend Pamela Courson just five days before Morrison’s death in Paris on July 3, 1971. He was only 27 when he died, and the exact cause remains shrouded in mystery to this day.Getty Images

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Freddie Mercury, the frontman for the British rock band Queen, standing outside his home in 1991, shortly before he died of bronchial pneumonia, which resulted from AIDS, on November 24, 1991.YouTube

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James Dean always had a love of speed and living life on the edge. Dean had only owned the Porsche that he is pictured with in this photo for nine days when he crashed it on Sept. 30, 1955, dying in the process.Getty Images

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55 Haunting Photos Of Famous People That Were Taken Shortly Before Their Deaths

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The saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. That adage is especially true when it comes to the last photos of famous figures.

Even if you consider seeking out these kinds of photos to be a morbid pastime, these final images of historical icons serve as an apt reminder that even the best and brightest of us are not immune to the inevitable. The same goes for powerful people, and the perpetrators of unspeakable crimes.

Take a look at 55 last known photographs of some of history's most famous — and infamous — figures in the gallery above.

The Eerie Final Photographs Of John Lennon Just Before His Murder

Paul GoreshOne of the last photos of John Lennon captures the former Beatle signing an autograph for his soon-to-be killer, Mark David Chapman, near The Dakota in New York City. Chapman fatally shot Lennon later that night.

While the above photograph of John Lennon may not be the very last one taken of him before he was murdered, it is certainly well known, and for good reason. Not only does this photograph capture Lennon on the day of his death, but it also captures his killer, Mark David Chapman.

The photo was taken on Dec. 8, 1980, when Lennon was 40 years old. That same night, he and his wife Yoko Ono went to a listening session at the Record Plant in New York City. Around 10:50 p.m., they returned to their home at The Dakota, an upscale apartment building near Central Park.

As they neared the building, however, Chapman, who had been waiting outside for hours, stepped forward and shot Lennon four times in the back. Chapman, disturbingly calm, remained at the scene and began reading The Catcher in the Rye while waiting for police to arrive and arrest him.

Perhaps most chilling, he had gotten his victim's autograph earlier that day on a copy of the Lennon-Ono record Double Fantasy.

Lennon was rushed to Roosevelt Hospital, but he was pronounced dead on arrival. Chapman later said that he had killed Lennon to gain notoriety and because, despite being a Beatles fan, he viewed Lennon as a "phony."

Given that Lennon had spent much of his career trying to spread a message of peace through his music, the particularly grim and violent end to his life felt like the end of an era, both musically and culturally.

David Bowie's Secret Battle With Liver Cancer And His Sudden Death

InstagramOne of David Bowie's last photos shared on social media, posted just two days before he died. Part of the caption reads: "Why is this man so happy? Is it because it's his 69th birthday or that he has released his 28th studio album today..."

When David Bowie died on Jan. 10, 2016 — just two days after his 69th birthday — it was a shock. Bowie had just released his last album Blackstar, but unbeknownst to the general public, he had also been fighting an 18-month battle with liver cancer leading up to the release.

Only his closest friends and family members were aware of his illness, and the secrecy surrounding it gave his passing a somewhat surreal and theatrical quality — the end of his life, in a way, imitating his art.

Blackstar, which was released on Jan. 8, 2016, was critically well-received and immediately praised for its haunting, experimental sound. The album's songs were also noted for their deeply cryptic lyrics. In hindsight, however, the album almost seemed like a parting gift from Bowie: a meditation on mortality, legacy, and transformation. The song "Lazarus," for example, featured the lyrics, "Look up here, I'm in heaven," which many fans felt, following his passing, were somewhat prophetic in a way.

Even more eerie, the music video for the song featured Bowie in a hospital bed, with his eyes bandaged over, seemingly floating between life and death.

A music video that David Bowie released shortly before his death.

David Bowie died in New York City, where the English rock star had lived for years. Despite his fame, he was known for keeping a relatively low profile in his later life, especially after he retreated from the public eye following a heart attack in 2004. His death sparked an immediate global response, including tributes from fans, other artists, and even politicians. The world had lost one of its greatest artists, and many grieved the tragic loss.

But what made Bowie's death especially poignant was how carefully orchestrated it had all seemed. It felt almost as if he had planned his final artistic statement with the same level of care and detail he had applied to every persona and reinvention throughout his career. In the most Bowie way imaginable, his death was a final transformation and last performance.