Celebrities

Many celebrities and public figures have been affected by sepsis. Some survived their bout with the disease, but others died. Sepsis is an equal opportunity illness – it can affect anyone of any social status, age, ethnicity, or beliefs.

All too often, however, the media that report celebrities illnesses or deaths from sepsis fail to say the word. They often say that the person has died of complications of pneumonia, surgery, or cancer, for example. If someone has died of an infection, such as pneumonia or the flu, or an infection from surgery, he or she has died from sepsis. If someone develops an infection serious enough that they must be treated in the hospital with IV fluids and antibiotics, chances are that they have sepsis.

Here is a list of celebrities who Sepsis Alliance knows have had sepsis or believes they did due to the news reports:

Cancer

• Paul Allen, Co-Founder of Microsoft – died
• Ron Piche, former Montreal Expo pitcher – died of “cancer and blood poisoning” in 2011 (baseball)
• Ray Price (Country star Ray Price back in hospital with sepsis) – died
• Lura Lynn Ryan, Illinois former first lady – survived first bout with sepsis, later died of “complications from cancer”
• Cory Wells, musician – died
• John Wetton, musician – died

Cellulitis

• Jon Huntsman, philanthropist – died
• Rusty Staub, baseball player – died

COVID-19

• Nick Cordero, actor – died
• Larry King, TV personality – died
• Cloris Leahman, actor – died of stroke, but coroner said COVID-19 was “significant condition”
• Pranab Mukherjee, former president of India – died

Diabetes

• Paul Jackson, bassist with Herbie Hancock – died

E coli

• Hugh Hefner – died
• Lily Rose Depp, daughter of Johnny Depp

HIV

• Fred Hersch, Jazz pianist and composer

Infected wound

• Casey Kasem, radio personality, voice over actor – died
• Christopher Reeve, actor – died of anaphylactic shock
• E-Dubble (Evan Sewell Wallace), rapper – died
• Mother Theresa, infected pacemaker line, survived but years later of other causes
• Chris Young, singer
• Calvin Coolidge jr., President Calvin Coolidge’s youngest son, infected blister – died

Influenza

• Quintana Roo Dunne, daughter of author Joan Didion – died
• Ken Flach, professional tennis player – died
• Mary Louise Parker, actor

Intestinal infection or perforated bowel

• Socrates, Brazilian soccer player (captain) – died
• Patty Duke, actor – died

Maternal sepsis

• Lily Allen, British singer
• Kathryn Fiore, UK actress

Meningitis

• Amy Purdy, actress and athlete

Other

• J. Charles Jones, civil rights activist – died
• Eli Leon, psychologist, scholar – died
• Kyle Lowry, basketball player
• John McCutcheon, singer (lung infection)
• Eddie Money, musician (Barrett’s esophagus)
• Heather O’Rourke, actress – died
• Ignaz Semmelweis, physician who pioneered infection control to reduce postpartum sepsis deaths
• Jessye Norman, opera singer – died (following a spinal cord injury)
• Mel Tillis, singer – died
• Marcus “Kutfather” Tufono, DJ – died

Pneumonia

• Marty Allen, comedian – died (reported as pneumonia)
• Christian Brando – died
• Chuck Brown, singer – died
• Fast Eddie Clarke, musician – died
• Jeff Conaway, actor – died
• James Cotton, musician – died
• Nicole DeHuff, actor – died
• R Lee Ermey, actor – died
• Ken Flach, professional tennis player – died
• Robin Gibb, singer – Recovered from sepsis from pneumonia but died later of cardiac complications.
• Whoopie Goldberg, TV personality
• Corey Haim, actor – died
• Angelica Hale, singer
• Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets – died
• Trish Keenan, singer -died
• Brittany Murphy, actor – died
• Bernie Mac, actor – died
• George Michael, singer
• Prince Ranier of Monaco, “chest infection” – died
• Leslie Nielson, actor – died
• William L. O’Neill, historian and author – died
• Kim Porter, actress, model – died
• Wayne Rogers, actor – died (reported as “complications of pneumonia”)
• Lawrence Welk, musician – died

Toxic Shock Syndrome

• Audrey Leishman, wife of pro golfer Marc Leishman
• Alex Smith, professional football player

Unknown

• Muhammad Ali, boxer – died
• DuShon Monique Brown, actress – died
• Christopher Cazanove, actor – died
• Steve Curry, actor – died
• Brian Dennehy, actor – died
• Robert L. Drew, Filmmaker and journalist – died
• George Genovese, baseball scout – died
• George Gordon Byron (Lord Byron) – died
• Elizabeth Irving, mother to athlete Kyrie Irving – died
• Kenny Jönsson, NHL player
• Paul Kantner, singer
• Larry King, talk show host
• Jonathan Koch, film producer
• Steve Mackay, musician (the Stooges) – died
• Rita McNeil, Canadian singer, possible: “from complications of surgery after a recurrent infection” – died
• Steven Rumbelow, writer and director – died
• Charles L. Schulze, economist – died
• David Sherwin, screenwriter – died
• Anne Love Smith, mother of actress Julianne Moore – died
• Anna Nicole Smith, model – died
• Dan Snyder, National Hockey League player – died
• Yolanda Sonnabend, theater designer and painter – died
• Deborah Donnelly Wahlberg, sister of actor Mark Wahlberg – died
• Dean Winters, actor (bacterial infection)
• lke Wyludda, German Olympian
• Jay Youngblood (Steven Nicky Romero), professional wrestler -died

UTI

• Mariana Bridi Costa, Brazilian model – died
• Etta James, singer – died
• Pope John-Paul II – died
• Tanya Roberts, actress – died

If you know of any celebrities that you feel should be added to this list, please send the information to info@sepsis.org. Thank you.

Updated January 14, 2021.