7 celebrities who took their last breath in Nevada
From Tupac Shakur to Robbie Knievel, here are seven celebrities who died in Nevada.
Death is an inevitable part of life, celebrity or not. Celebrities, however, often have a legacy that lives on.
Nevada isn’t necessarily their final resting place but it is the state where some celebrities have taken their last breath.
From musicians to magicians, actors to stuntmen, here are 7 celebrities who died in the Silver State.
1. Tupac Shakur
Despite his assassination in Las Vegas in 1996 at the age of 25, influential and controversial rapper Tupac Shakur has sold more than 75 million records worldwide. Two of his albums, “All Eyez on Me” and his “Greatest Hits” collection are certified Diamond, making them among the top-selling albums ever. In addition to his musical success, Shakur found acclaim as an actor in films like “Poetic Justice,” “Above the Rim,” and “Gang Related.”
On September 7, 1996, Shakur was in town with Death Row Records co-founder Suge Knight for the Bruce Seldon vs. Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand. He was fatally shot four times while stopped at a traffic light just off the Las Vegas Strip by an occupant of a white, four-door Cadillac. He died at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada on September 13.
The case had gone cold until 2023 when the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrested former gangster Duane “Keefe D” Davis as a suspect in the murder. Davis has since pled not guilty and will go to trial in November.
2. Pat Morita
Asian-American actor and comedian Noriyuki “Pat” Morita was best known for his recurring role as diner owner Matsuo “Arnold” Takahashi on “Happy Days” and for catching flies with chopsticks as martial arts mentor Mr. Miyagi in “The Karate Kid.” In 1985, he was nominated for an Oscar for the latter role, and in 1994, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Despite many years of entertaining audiences on screen, Morita’s early life was grave. The son of Japanese immigrants, he was sick in the hospital with spinal tuberculosis for many years. After recovering at age 11 during World War II, he was sent straight to a Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona.
Morita got into comedy at age 30 and never looked back. Unfortunately, he battled alcoholism and died of kidney failure on November 24, 2005, at his Las Vegas home. He was 73.
3. John Entwistle
Bass guitarist for the rock band The Who, John Alec Entwistle (nicknames The Ox and Thunderfingers) was an English musician and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee with a music career spanning four decades. Despite his passing in 2002, he is still regarded as one of the world’s most influential rock-and-roll bass guitarists ranking at number three on a “Rolling Stone” list of the “50 Greatest Bassists of All Time” in 2020.
Entwistle died of a cocaine-induced heart attack on June 27, 2002, in his room at the former Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, located off the Las Vegas Strip. It was the day before the first scheduled show for the Who’s 2002 U.S. Tour. Band members Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend decided the show must go on and continued the tour. Entwistle was 57.
4. Ted Binion
As the son of Las Vegas casino magnate Benny Binion, Lonnie Theodore Binion was born into the casino business. His father owned Binion’s Horseshoe and he owned two properties himself. Though his death on Sept. 17, 1998, was originally ruled a suicide, foul play was later suspected.
Binion was no newbie to criminal activity. He was involved with organized crime figures and was once the target of a kidnapping plot. After he was found dead in his Las Vegas home, silver went missing from his hidden multi-million dollar coin and silver bar collection, the Binion Hoard. His girlfriend, Sandra Murphy, and her male companion Rick Tabish were suspects in the theft as well as Binion’s death.
The two were convicted of burglary, grand larceny, and murder but were later acquitted of the murder charges. Binion was 55.
5 & 6. Sigfried Fishenbacher and Roy Horn
German-born Siegfried Fischbacher and Roy Horn comprised the world-renowned magic duo Sigfried & Roy. Fishenbacher began performing magic professionally in an Italian hotel in 1956. He later met his destined magic partner, Roy Horn, on a cruise ship, where Horn – a lover of exotic animals – was a waiter.
Sigfried and Roy began performing together soon after meeting and went on to perform in Las Vegas in 1967. Their headlining show at the Mirage Casino Resort debuted in 1990. The highest-paid magicians of their time and one-time lovers, their magic spectacular included flashy dancers, white lions, and white tigers. The show was a huge success until it closed after one of the tigers critically injured Horn during a performance in 2003.
Horn died at Mountain View Hospital in Las Vegas on May 8, 2020, due to complications from COVID-19. He was 75. Fischbacher died of terminal pancreatic cancer in his North Las Vegas home on January 11, 2021. He was 81.
7. Robbie Knievel
Son of stuntman Evel Knievel, Robbie Knievel was an actor and stunt performer who went by the stage name Kaptain Robbie Knievel.
During his career, he completed 340 jumps and set 20 world records. He replicated many of his father’s jumps using a Honda CR500 motocross bike rather than a Harley-Davidson XR-750 motorcycle. Many jumps were televised, including one replicating his father’s 1967 Caesars Palace crash and a Grand Canyon jump.
Sadly, he passes away from pancreatic cancer in Reno at age 60.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
