Top 20 Tragic Celebrity Love Stories

The Australian conservationist may have been an unlikely TV star, but his endearing personality and unwavering dedication to all things wildlife soared him to international stardom in the 1990s via his show “The Crocodile Hunter”. Steve Irwin’s passion for wildlife and its conservation was shared by his wife and co-star, Terri. Unfortunately, in 2006, at only 44 years old, a stingray injury resulted in his death. Though their story together ended, Steve’s legacy lives on in their children, Bindi and Robert, who proudly took up their parents’ line of work. Terri had said that she may never remarry, and that she’s okay with having already had her happily ever after with Steve.

Comedian and character actor Patton Oswalt married true crime author Michelle McNamara in 2005. The two were heavyweights in their respective careers. McNamara’s life’s work was a book about the Golden State Killer, a serial murderer who preyed on California in the 1970s and ‘80s. Sadly, McNamara passed away suddenly in 2016 before she could finish her manuscript. Oswalt worked to ensure that McNamara’s efforts were not in vain. He oversaw the completion and publication of her book, “I’ll Be Gone in the Dark,” later expressing that finishing the book was as painful as it was rewarding.

Paul McCartney met Linda Eastman when he was still in the Beatles, and she was a photographer of famous musicians. The two married in 1969. Once the Beatles broke up, Paul and Linda fronted a pop band all their own. They released several incredible hit records under the name Paul McCartney and Wings. The couple created a beautiful family, and spent much of their lives together as champions of animal rights. But Linda and Paul’s story came to an end in the late 1990s. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, and she passed away three years later at the age of 56.

If any Hollywood actress was fit to be a princess, it was Grace Kelly. Her dignified and chic on-screen persona made her marriage to Prince Rainier of Monaco seem all the more like a fairytale romance. Their lavish wedding captured the world’s attention. She never made a real return to movies after the marriage, instead prioritizing her duties as princess. In 1982, Kelly suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while driving, and she and her daughter Stéphanie were injured in a car accident. Both were lucky enough to survive the crash but, while Kelly was expected to make a full recovery, she was stuck with a second fatal hemorrhage at the hospital. Rainier never remarried and, when he died in 2005, he was buried beside his deceased wife.

With so many marriages comes a lot of heartbreak. After two divorces, Liz Taylor’s third husband, Mike Todd, devastatingly died in a plane crash. Then, there was her tempestuous marriage to Richard Burton that looms largest over her romantic history. They were married in 1964, divorced in 1974, and then remarried a year later in 1975, only to re-divorce the next year. They were as electric off-screen as they were on, and the passion in their relationship inevitably destroyed it. Taylor remarried twice more, but there was no getting over Burton, who died in 1984. Their former houses in Puerto Vallarta are still a tourist attraction for visiting lovers, with the bridge that connected them dubbed the “Lover’s Arch.”

The story of Selena’s life is tragic enough. She was only 23 years old and on the cusp of worldwide superstardom when she was murdered by her friend and business colleague, Yolanda Saldívar. The performer left behind her husband, musician and Selena y Los Dinos guitarist Chris Pérez. Their love story was full of obstacles, including the disapproval of Selena’s father. Selena and Pérez eloped, estranging them from her family for a time. But tensions had eased by the time of her death, and Selena was about to release an English crossover album when she passed away. Their story has since been immortalized in films, print, and TV.

Keanu Reeves’ easy and warm demeanor can’t have come easy if you know what he’s been through. He and his former partner Jennifer Syme were both waist-deep in the entertainment industry. Reeves was – and is – a movie star, and Syme was an assistant who had worked closely with director David Lynch for nearly a decade. Their two-year relationship was hit hard by their daughter’s stillbirth. The grief was too much, and they ended their relationship. However, soon afterward, they got back together. Unfortunately, their reconnection didn’t get the time it deserved because, in 2001, Syme was killed in a car accident. Reeves marks the tragedy as a major turning point in his life.

It was a known secret that the two frequent co-stars were lovers for over two decades. However, the circumstances that never allowed them to be open about their relationship were complicated. Old Hollywood studios maintained tight control over bad publicity. Spencer Tracy, a lifelong Catholic, refused to divorce his estranged wife, who refused right back. Hepburn became Tracy’s live-in nurse at the end of his life, caring for him in his final days. However, his legal marriage meant that once Tracy passed away in 1967, respect had to be upheld. Hepburn, who found his body, was left out of media reports of his death, and did not go to his funeral out of courtesy for his family.

The deaths of Brittany Murphy and her husband, British screenwriter Simon Monjack, have captivated and disturbed fans for years. Rumors about Murphy’s health and substance use disorder, as well as allegations about Monjack’s past and his being a controlling husband, ran rampant. When Monjack died a few months later, however, it only reignited speculation, this time about everything from medical conditions to toxic mold in the couple’s home. A 2021 documentary was released but it didn’t do much to illuminate the public about one of Hollywood’s biggest modern-day tragedies.

Two-time Oscar winner Vivien Leigh met Laurence Olivier on the set of “Fire Over England.” Their love affair was marked by career highs, lows, infidelity, and mental health crises. While the two were purportedly irrevocably in love, Leigh’s bipolar disorder and Olivier’s affairs led to heavy emotional disturbances for them both. They were divorced in 1960, although it was said their marriage was over long before then. Leigh died of tuberculosis in 1967. Despite being divorced and having found new life partners by then, Olivier rushed over to see her, even though she was already gone.

Blind dates can be disasters waiting to happen. But, when the biggest movie star met the biggest sports star on one such date in the early 1950s, the world seemed to stop. Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe’s whirlwind romance was the stuff of Hollywood dreams. Their deep passion, however, belied a tense and sometimes violent marriage. DiMaggio was reportedly jealous of Monroe’s status as a cinematic sex symbol. Despite divorcing several years before, DiMaggio claimed the star’s body after her death in 1962, and even helped with funeral arrangements. As the famous story goes, we would then send roses to her grave for two decades afterward. A witness who was with him when he died even said DiMaggio’s last words were about Monroe.

Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger met and began dating while playing a married couple in “Brokeback Mountain.” The couple soon moved in together and welcomed their daughter to the world. In late 2007, however, they broke up and, not long after that, Ledger suddenly passed away, mere months after completing his work on “The Dark Knight.” Though the two weren’t together at the time of his death, his loss had a profound effect on Williams. Both actors in this Hollywood power couple were famously hesitant about putting their personal lives on display for the public. But the ensuing media circus surrounding the end of his life, as well as rumors about what may have caused it, brought unwanted attention to the details of their relationship.

Before he became the face of James Bond in the 1990s, Pierce Brosnan was actually married to a former Bond actress. Cassandra Harris had appeared as a glamorous countess romanced by Roger Moore in 1981’s “For Your Eyes Only.” Harris passed away in 1991 from ovarian cancer at the age of 43. The actors had one son together, and after her death, Brosnan adopted Harris’ two children from a previous marriage. Brosnan remarried in 2001, however, he is still a devoted advocate for ovarian cancer awareness. In 2013, Harris’ daughter and Brosnan’s stepdaughter, Charlotte, ended up passing away from the same disease.

She was the blonde bombshell with a wicked sense of humor, and he was the virile leading man of swashbucklers and romcoms alike. Together, they were a power couple. Though Gable had been romantically linked with many actresses, his relationship and three-year marriage to Lombard remains one for the books. Things were sadly cut short in 1942. Lombard was on a tour selling war bonds when she, her mother, and Gable’s press agent died in a violent airplane crash. His wife’s untimely death spurred him to join the war effort, and he became a pilot in the Army Air Forces before making a return to films. Longtime friends would say he was never the same after losing Lombard.

He was easily one of the most charming leading men of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Patrick Swayze was a heartthrob for millions, but only Lisa Niemi got to call him hers. The two were aspiring dancers when they married in 1975, and were together until his heartbreaking death from pancreatic cancer in 2009. Until the end, the two were devoted to each other. Niemi took charge of Swayze’s care. She kept track of his medical records and medications and made specially prepared meals to keep his weight up. As a licensed pilot, she even flew Swayze to his cancer treatments. Though she has since remarried, Niemi maintains that Swayze’s death wasn’t the end of their love story.

“Glee” was a cultural phenomenon with a dedicated fandom. So, when it was announced that co-stars and on-screen lovers Lea Michele and Cory Monteith were dating in real life, fans were immediately invested. For them, it felt like they had followed the relationship through the characters they played. Losing Monteith so suddenly in 2013 was a crushing blow to Gleeks everywhere, and we can’t even imagine the pain Michele went through. Monteith was only 31 but had struggled with substance use disorder for most of his adult life. In the series’ fifth season, the show aired an entire episode dedicated to the death of his character, Finn Hudson, which served as a stand-in for a public memorial for the actor who played him.

The former “SNL” cast member and “Willy Wonka” star were both high-profile celebrities when they met on the set of “Hanky Panky” in 1981. Gilda Radner and Gene Wilder married in 1984, and were by all accounts, crazy about each other. After the couple’s several unsuccessful attempts to have children, Radner experienced pain and fatigue that went misdiagnosed. It took almost a year for Radner to be diagnosed with the ovarian cancer that would later kill her. Wilder dedicated himself to advocacy about the disease, opening up foundations in her name. While they were only together for about eight years, these two comedic geniuses lived and loved enough for a lifetime.

Like many of the couples on this list, these two esteemed actors met when they became co-stars. Liam Neeson, the stage actor turned action hero, met Natasha Richardson, the product of one of England’s foremost acting dynasties, while working on Broadway in the early 1990s. They married and had two sons. In 2009, Richardson injured her head during a skiing lesson. Although she walked away from the accident seemingly unscathed, she subsequently passed away due to internal bleeding in the head. Neeson at least derives comfort in the fact that her organs were donated to keep three other people alive.

John Cazale, who gave stunning and subtle performances in some of the greatest movies of the decade, was an acting powerhouse. In 1976, he began seeing his very talented co-star, an up-and-coming actress named Meryl Streep. Just as she was making her big break in movies like “Julia” and “The Deer Hunter,” Streep was going through an impossibly painful situation. Cazale was dying of lung cancer. Streep took all the time off they could afford given the mounting medical bills and her budding fame to care for him. When Cazale passed on in 1978, it profoundly changed her as a person and artist.

In 1995, the “Superman” actor’s life changed forever when he was thrown from a horse. Christopher Reeve stopped breathing for several minutes before being revived, and when he awoke at the hospital, he was paralyzed from the neck down. Initially, he expressed to his wife, Dana Morosini, that he didn’t want his condition to become a burden on her. But she supported him through rehabilitation, and his grief over his disability soon transformed into a renewed sense of purpose. They turned to humanitarianism, which they continued until Christopher’s death in 2004, and Dana’s own death from lung cancer only two years later.

Which of these celebrity love stories had you heard before? Tell us in the comments.