Celebrities Who Had Lung Cancer
North America has the highest incidence of lung cancer in the world. There are numerous cases reported each year and the mortality rates are quite high. Various celebrities have lived with this fatal disease for years before they lost the battle against it. Some have been a support for the common people fighting the same disease, by being open about their illness.
Find out who these stars are who suffered from lung cancer in early or late years of their lives.
Larry King
Larry King, known for various movies like ‘Enemy of the state’ and ‘Bee Movie’ was a chain smoker until he suffered a heart attack. The star revealed that his cancer was diagnosed by chance on his routine X-ray film. He advised people to get their routine Chest x-rays done regularly to avoid unpleasant surprises. King got his surgery done for the treatment of cancer in 2017.
Carl Wilson
Carl Wilson has made immense contributions to the music industry. ‘Wouldn’t it be nice’ and ‘Good vibrations’ are two of his most popular hits. He started smoking in his teenage and consequently developed Lung cancer. He is also reported to have brain cancer, which is quite rare. He went under treatment for the disease until his death in 1998. He fought against cancer for a year and continued receiving treatment till he died.
George Harrison
An actor, film producer and an excellent musician, George Harrison is also one of the victims of Lung cancer. The ‘Quiet Beatle’ was the most famous Beatle due to his witty nature and great fashion sense. The writer of ‘While my guitar gently weeps’ was a smoker for a long time and was diagnosed with lung cancer, after which he sought treatment. Harrison underwent radiation and surgery but lost the battle against the disease in 2001.
Peter Jennings
The anchorman of ABC News was also a writer and a producer. He was one of three hosts of the show at first. Later he became the sole anchor of the show where he hosted a 17 hours long show on the 9/11 incident. He was a chronic smoker and suffered from Lung cancer later in his life. Jennings was having his chemotherapy sessions when he died at the age of 67 years. e to advance
Andy Kaufman
Andy was a known comedian who started his career as early as at the age of 8. He gained more fame from his shows like ‘Saturday Night live, company’ and ‘Fridays’. Andy wasn’t a smoker yet got lung cancer for which he was seeking treatment. Kaufman died of the disease at a very young age of 35 years.
Paul Newman
Paul Newman had been a chain smoker who later quit smoking. However, a long-term exposure of his lungs to smoke caused him to suffer from lung cancer. The actor was on a project “Of Mice and Men’ but left it due to his deteriorating health. His close family friends knew about his health condition and reported that he fought for a year and half with the deadly disease. ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance kid’ was one of his films which earned 7 Oscar nominations. The actor died at the age of 83 years in 2008.
Dean Martin
Dean Martin, a singer, an actor and a comedian had been smoking for a long period of time. He was one of the most popular entertaining celebrities of his time. ‘The Dean Martin Show’ and the ‘The Dean Martin celebrity Roast’ were two of his most watched shows. The actor also known as the ‘The King of Cool’ was also a part of the Rat Pack. The star is known to die from a complication related to Lung Cancer. to advance
Steve McQueen
Steve was in military before starting off his career as an actor in Hollywood. He gave big hits such as ‘The great Escape’ and ‘The magnificent Seven’. The Academy award winner for the film,’ The Sand Pebbles’ had asbestosis due to which he developed Mesothelioma and died of heart attack after his cancer spread to different organs of his body.
Vincent Price
The actor who died of Lung Cancer was famous for his character in horror movies. Price worked in films, on television and on radio too. The star also has two stars named after him on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He also worked as a commissioner at ‘Indian Arts and crafts board’ and authored various recipe books. Apart from suffering from Parkinson’s diseases, Price had emphysema due to his long-term habit of smoking.
Donna Summer
Dona Summer gave some popular hits to the music industry, ‘Hot Stuff’, ‘Bad Girls’ and ‘Love to love you baby’ to name a few. She was a Grammy award winner five times. Her music belonged to various genres which made her a unique artist. The singer was not a smoker and the news of her death was a surprise for the followers. Her diagnosis was never revealed until her death at the age of 63.
Yul Brynner
Siam of ‘King and I’ was a an actor and a director, born in Russia. He was an Academy award winner and author of ‘Bring Forth the Children: A Journey to the Forgotten People of Europe and the Middle East’. Brynner was a chain smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer. He had recorded a public service message that was against smoking. The ad was broadcasted on screen after his death in 1985.
Nat King Cole
The singer of ‘The Christmas song’, ‘Mona Lisa’ and ‘Nature boy’ and famous jazz pianist, Nat King Cole was the first African American Television host. He had performed in variety of shows and produced numerous hit songs. One of the songs, ‘Unforgettable’ was revived by his daughter in later years. Cole was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with an end stage Lung cancer. He underwent lung removal surgery before he died at the age of 45.
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors is well known for his famous role in ‘The Rifleman’ of the ABC series. He was nominated for the Emmy Award for his role in the ‘Roots’ series. He is amongst the 13 baseball players who have played National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball. Connors smoked for about thirty years before quitting. He died due to the Lung cancer complication in 1992.
Joe DiMaggio
Joe DiMaggio was an American Baseball player, who played for ‘New York Yankees’ and is known for the record of 56 game hitting streaks, that still exists today. During his time, the team won nine World Series championships. He won the ‘Most Valuable Player Award’ thrice in his career. Joe became the spokesperson of the brand Mr. Coffee. He died due to complicated Pneumonia, that he developed due to lung cancer.
Walt Disney
Walt Disney was the founder of American Animation Industry, Walt Disney has earned 22 Oscars, two Golden Globe awards, and an Emmy Award. He was an animator, producer, and an entrepreneur. He also opened the first Disney themed Park, The Disneyland in California. The first famous cartoon he designed was the famous “Mickey Mouse’. Disney had a history of smoking cigarettes and pipes for years which resulted in him getting Lung Cancer. He went through lung removal surgery. He died due to a complication of Lung Cancer
Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington has a star on the Walk of Fame for his immense contribution in the music industry. He was a musician and a composer known for ‘Take the ‘A’ train’, ‘Satin doll’ etc. He also earned an honorary PhD degree from the Berklee College of Music. He also received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1966. Ellington died of Pneumonia that he got due to Lung Cancer in 1974.
Betty Grable
Betty was amongst the highest earning actresses of the Hollywood industry. She was a model, dancer, singer and an actress. she began her career by singing in a chorus at a church at the young age of 13. Grable was also famous for her photograph in bathing suit which got popular among the soldiers during world war II. The lady was a chain smoker and died of Lung cancer in the year 1973. advance
Moe Howard
The most famous of the Three Stooges, Moe Howard was popular for his witty humor and his Bowl Cut hair. He was a successful comedian and an actor who served the industry for over 40 years. Moe was a known smoker, who suffered from Lung Cancer. He died at the age of 77 in a hospital where he was admitted for the disease management.
Jesse Owens
The gold medalist in Olympics, Jesse was the first athlete to earn four gold medals in one Olympiad. He owns three world records and was the sixth greatest athlete of North America. Although an athlete, he smoked for a period of around 35 years. Owens died of lung cancer in the year 1979.
John Wayne
John Wayne was nicknamed as Duke and was an American actor and a filmmaker. He was nominated thrice for the Academy award and won one for his role in the movie ‘True Grit’ in the year 1969. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter. Apart from playing a various roles as an actor, Wayne also produced over 200 films. Wayne had lung cancer which was cured after the lung removal. However, he had stomach cancer and lost the battle against it in the year 1979.
Dana Reeve
Wife of Christopher Reeve, Dana was a singer, actress and an activist. She was also a co host of the show ‘Lifetime Live’ and an author of the book, ‘Care Packages: Letters to Christopher Reeve from Strangers and Other Friends.’ It was in 2005 when Reeve declared her diagnosis of lung Cancer despite of being a non-smoker. She underwent treatment for her cancer which was responding well. However, she died at the age of 44 years in the year 2006, almost after 1.5 years of Christopher Reeve’s death.
Rosemary Clooney
An American singer, jazz vocalist and an actress, Clooney is known for her hits like ‘Come on-a My House, Botcha Me and Mambo Italiano’. She was awarded ‘Society of Singers Lifetime Achievement Award’ in the year 1998. The lady suffered from mental illnesses like depression and drug addiction. Later in her life, she was diagnosed with Lung Cancer attributed to her habit of smoking, for which she sought treatment. Clooney died at the age of at the age of 74.
Beverly Sills
The American Operatic Soprano, Beverly Sills, was known for her strong Opera performances. She had worked for the prevention and treatment of children born with birth defects. Sills survived an Ovarian cancer after its removal in 1974, after which she was admitted in a critical health condition at the hospital for her Lung cancer. The star died at the age of 78 years
Don Knotts
Don Knotts was an actor and a comedian who won Emmy award five times for his role in ‘The Andy Griffith Show’ and as Ralph Furley of the Three’s Company, Knotts was diagnosed with lung cancer and died due to its complications of pneumonia at the age of 81 years in Los Angeles, California.
Tammy Faye Messner
Tammy was an American singer, anchor and author, known for The PTL Club- a show founded by Tammy and her husband Jim. They also hosted a puppet show that they had started together. She was diagnosed with colon cancer which got remitted. In 2004 she revealed her recently diagnosed Lung cancer and underwent treatment. She told the media that she had been experiencing symptoms of the disease for a while. The star got treated for it before getting it back at the terminal stage. She lost the battle of her life at the age of 65.
Desi Arnaz
He was an American musician, actor, producer and a comedian. Famous for his role as Ricky Ricardo in ‘I Love Lucy’, Desi also lead his Latin music band called ‘Desi Arnaz Orchestra’. Arnaz was a heavy smoker and was diagnosed with lung cancer and died a few months later in 1986.
Kathryn Joosten
Joosten was an American actress, famous for her roles of Dolores Landingham of ‘The West Wing’ and Karen McCluskey of ‘Desperate Housewives’. She worked as a psychiatrist nurse at first and then as a street performer at Disney World, before entering Hollywood. Joosten was a heavy smoker until 2001 when she quit after being diagnosed with Lung Cancer. She went public with her diagnosis and helped people quit smoking by sharing tips. She died of the disease in 2002 at the age of 72.