Kate Spade

Chris Cornell

Christopher John Cornell - who was born on July 20th, 1964, in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. - was an American singer and musician, best-known as the singer, songwriter, and rhythm guitarist, of the bands Soundgarden and Audioslave.  

Kelly Catlin

Kelly Catlin - who was born on November 3rd, 1995, in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S.A. - was an American professional racing cyclist.  She was one of triplets born to Mark Catlin, a medical pathologist, and his wife Carolyn; her siblings were a brother, Colin, and a sister, Christine.  As children, the triplets had a strict upbringing, with their parents forbidding them watching television, and only allowing them to watch movies whilst running on a treadmill.  When they were eight, they would only receive their $20-a-month allowance if they exercised for thirty minutes a day, five times a week.  At high school, Catlin was a socially-awkward but driven athlete and student.  She earned a perfect score on her S.A.T. and was a first-chair violinist in her school orchestra, as well as being a competitive badminton player, and excelling at skiing, fencing, and shooting.  During her teens, Catlin became more withdrawn, preferring to study and train alone, rather than socialise with her peers.  Whilst still in 11th Grade, she began taking classes at the University of Minnesota, eventually earning two degrees there in mathematics and Chinese.  At seventeen, she took up cycling, and very quickly excelled at the sport.  She joined the Rally UHC Cycling team, winning Gold in the Team Pursuit at the 2016 UCI Track World Championship, and then finished second in the Team Pursuit at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics that same year.  In both 2017 and 2018, Catlin took first place in the Team Pursuit and third in the Individual Pursuit at the UCI World Championship.  In the Autumn of 2018, she matriculated at Stanford University, studying for a graduate degree in computational and mathematical engineering.  However, in October of that year, Catlin crashed and broke her arm, with another crash leading to a concussion.  She subsequently complained of headaches, dizziness, nausea, and light-sensitivity.  On January 31st, 2019, Catlin locked herself into her room with two helium canisters and attempted to commit suicide by inhaling the gas.  She passed out, but awoke several hours later, after which she was rushed to Stanford Hospital, where she was held for seven days.  After being released to her Stanford apartment, Catlin seemed to develop renewed optimism, and attended mandatory therapy classes.  She explored options for further psychological treatment, although these were not followed through.  Catlin's concussion symptoms, and hypoxic brain damage from her suicide attempt, began to make it difficult for her to train, which led to her being ruled out from competing in the UCI Track World Championship due to be held in Poland in late February.  She was devastated, and contemplated ending her cycling career.  On the morning of March 9th, 2019, Catlin's mother called Stanford police, concerned that her daughter had not responded to phone calls and texts for a couple of days.  On the police's arrival at the university, Catlin's lifeless body was found in her apartment.  She had committed suicide by helium asphyxiation the previous evening.  Kelly Catlin was just 23 years old.

Anthony Bourdain

Anthony Michael Bourdain - who was born on June 25th, 1956, in Manhatten, New York City, U.S.A. - was an American celebrity chef, author, and documentarian.  The older of two boys born to Gladys and Pierre Bourdain, he described his childhood as being happy and loving.  Whilst on a family holiday in France in his youth, Bourdain tasted his first oyster on a fisherman's boat, which he credits as stimulating his love of food.  After graduating from high school in 1973, Bourdain enrolled at Vassar College in New York, but dropped out after two years.  His interest in cooking was kindled whilst he worked at several seafood restaurants in Massachusetts during his college years, and he subsequently trained at The Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 1978.  From there, he went on to run several restaurant kitchens in New York City.  Whilst at high school, Bourdain began dating an older girl, Nancy Putkoski, whom he described as "a bad girl" and "part of a druggy crowd"; the pair married in 1985.  Bourdain himself became a regular user of many recreational drugs, from cannabis to heroin.  His first book, a culinary mystery called Bone in the Throat, was published in 1995, but sold poorly, as did the follow-up, Gone Bamboo.  However, subsequent books, all about food as well as his travels around the world, were much more successful.  His 2001 book, A Cook's Tour - written to tie-in with his first television series of the same name - became a bestseller.  Bourdain thereafter hosted many food-themed television programmes, working for the Travel Channel from 2005 to 2013, and for CNN from 2013 to 2018.  He was known for his put-downs of other celebrity chefs, but was quick to praise those he admired.  Smithsonian Magazine described Bourdain as "the original rock star" of the culinary world, and he became known as a "bad boy" of cooking for his frequent use of expletives and sexual references on his No Reservations television show.  After twenty years of marriage, Bourdain divorced from his first wife in 2005, marrying Ottavia Busia in 2007.  Busia bore Bourdain his only child - a daughter named Ariane - that same year.  Previously a heavy smoker, Bourdain gave up cigarettes in 2007 for the benefit of his daughter's health, but started smoking again towards the end of his life.  Although Busia sometimes travelled with Bourdain, and even appeared in a few of his T.V. shows, the strain of Bourdain being away filming 250 days a year put a strain on the relationship, resulting in the couple separating in 2016, after which Bourdain entered into a relationship with Italian actress, Asia Argento.  In 1998, Bourdain became executive chef at Brasserie Les Halles restaurant in Manhatten, but the business went bankrupt in 2017.  In early June of 2018, Bourdain was in Strasbourg, France, filming an episode of his Parts Unknown programme.  On June 8th, his friend Eric Ripert became concerned that Bourdain had missed breakfast and dinner.  Ripert subsequently found Bourdain hanging in his room at the Le Chambard hotel in Kayersberg, near the city of Colmar, from an apparent suicide.  An inquest heard that Bourdain's body contained no traces of narcotics, and his suicide appeared to be an impulsive act.  Anthony Bourdain was 61 years old.

Margot Kidder

Margaret Ruth Kidder - who was born on October 17th, 1948, in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada - was a Canadian-American actress and activist.  One of five children, she moved frequently throughout Canada due to her father's occupation as an explosives expert and engineer.  At age twelve, her mother took Kidder to New York to see the musical Bye Bye Birdie, which stimulated her interest in theatre and film.  At fourteen, Kidder attempted suicide by swallowing a bottle of codeine capsules after her boyfriend broke up with her.  About this time, she took up acting, graduating from high school in Toronto in 1966, the same year in which she had an illegal abortion after finding herself pregnant.  Kidder then relocated to Vancouver to study at the University of British Columbia, but dropped out after one year, returning to Toronto to work as a model.  Kidder made her film debut in the 1968 Canadian film The Best Damn Fiddler from Calabogie to Kaladar.  Her 1969 appearance in the drama series Corwin earned her a Canadian Film Award for "outstanding new talent".  In the 1970s, Kidder began a relationship with the film director Brian De Palma, and he cast her in the lead role in his acclaimed 1973 film, Sisters.  Kidder won two Canadian Film Awards for Best Actress in 1974, and that same year made her directorial debut with the 50-minute film, Again.  In 1975, she was hired to direct a documentary short film about the making of the film The Missouri Breaks, but was fired from the project.  After becoming romantically involved with the novelist and director Thomas McGuane, Kidder gave birth to their daughter, Maggie, in October, 1975.  The couple married on August 2nd, 1976, but divorced on July 21st, 1977.  In 1978, Kidder was cast in her most-iconic role as Lois Lane in the box-office smash, Superman, winning a Saturn Award for Best Actress in the process.  The Amityville Horror in 1979 further cemented Kidder as one of Hollywood's leading ladies.  She married the actor John Heard that year, but they separated after only six days of marriage, and divorced in 1980.  The 1980s saw Kidder star in three sequels to the original Superman film.  Early in the decade, she was romantically linked to the comedian Eddie Murphy and the Canadian prime minister Pierre Trudeau, although neither relationship lasted long.  In 1984, she produced and starred in the Canadian T.V. film, Louisiana, having already married the film's director Phillipe de Broca in France in 1983.  Once again, this marriage - Kidder's third and final - was shortlived, ending in divorce in 1984.  Kidder received a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in 1988, although she rejected the recommended lithium treatment.  1990 saw her seriously injured in a car accident on the set of a T.V. series she was making, rendering her partially paralysed for a while, and unable to work for two years.  The lawsuit she launched, from which she received no settlement, left her in subsequent financial difficulties.  Whilst working on her autobiography on her laptop computer in April, 1996, a virus wiped out all her hard work, and she travelled to California hoping a company there would be able to retrieve the lost work.  They were unsuccessful, and Kidder then entered a manic state, disappearing for four days.  She was found in a distressed state, having lost caps on her teeth after an attempted rape, and was placed in psychiatric care.  However, Kidder continued to act regularly up until 2017, as well as lending her support to environmental and anti-nuclear causes.  She became an American citizen in 2005, and spent her later years living alone with her dogs in a log cabin.  On May 13th, 2018, Kidder was visited by her friend, Joan Kesich, who found her unresponsive at her home in Livingston, Montana.  Kidder's agent initially stated that, "she passed away peacefully in her sleep", but an inquest later revealed her death was a suicide as "a result of a self-inflicted drug and alcohol overdose".  Kidder was cremated, and her ashes scattered at her favourite locations in Canada, as well as in the wilds of Montana, amongst the bears and wolves she so loved.  Margot Kidder was 69 years old.

Angela Scoular

Angela Margaret Scoular - who was born on November 8th, 1945, in London, England - was an English actress and "Bond Girl".  Her father was an engineer, and she was the niece of the Australian-born actress, Margaret Johnston, who encouraged her to take up acting.  After attending St. George's School in Harpenden, and Queen's College in Harley Street, London, Scoular studied at RADA.  Her first acting role was on the television series No Hiding Place in 1963.  A few more T.V. roles culminated in her landing the part of "Buttercup" in the 1967 James Bond film, Casino Royale.  That same year, Scoular played the lead role of "Cathy" in a BBC adaption of Wuthering Heights.  In 1969, she once again became a "Bond Girl", when she played "Ruby" in On Her Majesty's Secret Service.  Numerous more parts followed, including a stint in Coronation Street in 1972.  Scoular met the actor Leslie Phillips in 1976 when they appeared in a play together, moving in together the following year.  At the time, Phillips, who was 21 years her senior, was still married to his first wife, who had been crippled by a stroke, whilst Scoular was pregnant with another actor's child.  They raised her son, Daniel, together, and Scoular became stepmother to Phillips's four children.  After Phillips's first wife died in a house fire in 1981, he married Scoular in 1982.  In later years, Scoular had prominent parts in the BBC series You Rang, M'Lord? from 1988 to 1993, and As Time Goes By in 1996.  By this time, she was drinking heavily, and had been suffering from anorexia nervosa and mood swings.  In 1992, she attempted to commit suicide by slashing her wrists.  She was found by her husband, who said that he had saved her from being sectioned in a psychiatric hospital years earlier.  Scoular was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in 2008; despite being declared cancer-free after treatment, she was haunted by thoughts of it returning.  In early 2011, she was arrested for drink-driving after crashing her car in Wales.  On April 11th, 2011, at her home in Maida Vale, Scoular, suffering from severe depression, ingested drain cleaner, which contained 91% sulphuric acid, also pouring it over her body, causing non-survivable 40% burns to her throat, body, and dietary tract.  She was pronounced dead at a Central London hospital at 5.28 p.m. that day.  A coroner's inquest concluded that Scoular killed herself "while the balance of her mind was disturbed", curiously adding that the death was not a suicide.  The cause of death was listed as "ingestion of a corrosive substance and multiple fractures".  At the time of her death, Scoular was on medication for bipolar disorder, had anxiety about debts, and was drinking between 150 and 210 units of alcohol a week.  Angela Scoular was 65 years old.

Dale Roberts

Dale Roberts - who was born on October 22nd, 1986, in Horden, County Durham, England - was an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper for several teams between 2005 and 2010.  The son of George and Isabelle, he attended Easington Comprehensive School, and played for Cleveland Juniors F.C., later joining both Sunderland and Middlesbrough football academies.  As a scholar at Middlesbrough, he was part of their F.A. Youth Cup-winning squad in 2004 as a backup to David Knight.  In 2005, Roberts signed as a professional for Nottingham Forest, but failed to make any first-team appearances for Forest in his four years at the club, although he played many times whilst on loan to Eastwood Town, Alfreton Town, and Rushden and Diamonds, winning Rushden's player of the season award in 2008-'09.  He signed permanently for Rushden on January 2nd, 2009, and played 61 times for the club over the next season and a half.  Roberts's good form won him six caps for the England C team in 2009 and '10.  He was voted C team player of the season in 2009-'10.  His final game for the C team, and last in all senior football, was against Wales on September 14th, 2010.  In 2004, Roberts began a relationship with Lindsey Cowan, who had been at school with him.  However, they briefly split up in May of 2010 when Cowan had an affair with Paul Terry, the older brother of former England captain John Terry.  The press got hold of this story, causing Roberts considerable distress.  In September of 2010, Roberts injured his leg whilst playing for England C.  These incidents led to Roberts becoming depressed, and he began to suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, becoming reluctant to go out in case he was recognised after his appearances in the press.  He lost motivation, and started missing training sessions, causing consternation to his manager and agent, Justin Edinburgh and Cyrille Regis, respectively.  On November 19th, 2010, Roberts visited Rushden's club doctor, who prescribed him anti-depressants, which only enhanced his lethargy.  Apparently, he also asked for counselling, but received none.  Roberts was told by his manager that he would be starting his first game for Rushden and Diamonds for some time against his former club Eastwood Town in an F.A. Trophy match on December 14th, 2010.  The previous evening, his girlfriend returned home to find a note scribbled on the whiteboard in their kitchen: "I love Lindsey Elizabeth Cowan very very much. She is the love of my life."  The next morning, he sent Cowan a text message, saying he was scared about the upcoming game.  After Roberts failed to turn up for the match that day, police went round to his house in Higham Ferrers, Northamptonshire, where they discovered his lifeless body.  He had committed suicide by hanging.  Dale Roberts was just 24 years old.

Lil' Chris

Christopher James Hardman - who was born on August 26th, 1990, in Lowestoft, Suffolk, England - was a British singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality.  One of three children born to slaughterman Ian Hardman and his wife Karen, he was the shortest boy in his year at Kirkley High School in Lowestoft at the age of fifteen, and thereby gained the nickname "Lil' Chris".  Hardman came to prominence in 2006, when he appeared in Channel 4's series Rock School, where musician Gene Simmons of the group Kiss attempted to form a rock band from the pupils at Chris's school.  Chris - who could sing, play drums and guitar, and write songs - was eventually chosen as lead singer.  In the final episode of the show, the band - named Hoax UK - opened for Judas Priest at a concert in California.  Chris subsequently signed a contract with RCA Records, with his debut single Checkin' It Out reaching number three in the U.K. charts in September, 2006.  During the next two years, he released two albums, and appeared frequently on T.V. , hosting his own show, Everybody Loves Lil' Chris, on Channel 4 in 2008.  He also performed as a D.J. in various clubs around the U.K., before landing a leading role in Loserville: The Musical at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, with the show transferring to the Garrick Theatre in London's West End in 2012 and early 2013.  After Loserville closed, Hardman briefly worked as a door-to-door salesman for Anglia Home Improvements in Lowestoft.  He released a Christmas single, Christmas Number One (#FeedEmYellowSnow), in 2013, but the song failed to chart.  Chris released his own clothing line, MAML, in 2014, featuring clothes of his own design, but they were only on sale for a few months: online, and in one shop in Lowestoft.  He continued to write new material with music producer Guy Barnes, which he hoped would be released in the Summer of 2014, but by this time he had no management or record deal or distribution in place.  Hardman, by this time, was regularly posting on his Twitter account about his struggles with depression.  On March 23rd, 2015, Chris's flatmate, A. J. Sutton, returned home to their flat in Union Road, Lowestoft, at 11.48 a.m. to find that Chris had hanged himself.  Paramedics were called, but were unable to revive him.  Chris Hardman - "Lil' Chris" - was just 24 years old.

Carl Sargeant

Carl Sargeant - who was born in 1968 in St. Asaph, Flintshire, North Wales - was a Welsh politician, who was the Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children in the Welsh Government.  Before becoming an Assembly Member, Sargeant worked as a process operator at a chemical manufacturing plant, as well as being a quality and environmental auditor, and training as an industrial firefighter.  He was married, to Bernie, had a son and a daughter, and was school governor.  Beginning his political career as a member of Connah's Quay Town Council, he was elected A.M. for Alyn and Deeside in 2003.  In 2007, he was appointed Chief Whip of the Labour Group and a Deputy Welsh Minister for Assembly Business, and in 2009 was made Minister for Social Justice and Local Government in the Welsh cabinet.  In 2014, the then-First Minister, Carwyn Jones, received an anonymous letter from someone, alleging that Sargeant was "not fit to be around women"; Joned warned Sargeant about his conduct, and told him to moderate his drinking.  In May of 2016, Jones was told by a party colleague that a woman had made complaints about Sargeant, although she did not want to pursue the matter.  Following the 2016 National Assembly election, Sargeant was appointed Cabinet Secretary for Communities and Children.  In October, 2017, Carwyn Jones was told of rumours of inappropriate behaviour by Sargeant towards two women, involving "unwanted attention, inappropriate touching or groping".  Jones neglected to ask Sargeant for his side of the story, and sacked him from his position on November 3rd.  Devastated by the turn of events, Carl Sargeant was found dead, hanged, at his family home in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, on November 7th, 2017.  An inquest revealed the existence of text messages between two Labour councillors suggesting that Sargeant had done something that could have resulted in a prison sentence.  It was also revealed that another anonymous letter had been written after Sargeant was supposedly seen with a woman in a pub garden, and there was also talk of an incident at a wedding reception, although the coroner described these claims as "rumour, multiple hearsay, and speculation".  In 2019, Carwyn Jones told The Guardian that a total of nine women had made allegations of misconduct against them by Sargeant, although Sargeant's wife and family believe him to be innocent of all allegations, and suggested that there have been attempts to slur him after his death.  Carl Sargeant was 49 years old.

Tom Allin

Thomas William Allin - who was born on November 27th, 1987, in Bideford, Devon, England - was an English cricketer who played for Warwickshire County Cricket Club.  The younger brother of Matthew Allin (who played two matches for Devon), and the son of Tony (who played cricket for Glamorgan in the 1970s) and Beverley Allin, Tom began playing for Bideford and North Devon Cricket Clubs, before signing for Warwickshire in 2008.  A right-arm fast-medium bowler, who also batted right-handed, he made his debut for Warwickshire on August 17th, 2011, in the Clydesdale Bank 40 against Surrey, where he scored 2 not out, and bowled two overs without taking a wicket.  He played his only first-class game against Middlesex, starting on May 8th, 2013, but he failed to score a run, and bowled 17 overs without taking a wicket.  These were Allin's only two first-team games for Warwickshire, and he was released prior to the 2014 season, but continued playing Minor Counties cricket for Devon, with his last appearance being against Shropshire in August of 2015.  He became involved in coaching Primary School sport in Barnstaple and Bideford, and was head of cricket at Shebbear College, as well as a coach at Bideford College.  In the winter, Allin played soccer for Northam Lions.  In early October of 2015, his brother was taken into hospital with a serious illness which caused Tom a lot of worry.  Later that same month, Tom was involved in a high-speed traffic collision near Clovelly, in which he suffered severe leg injuries.  He recovered well physically, but in early December he told a nurse that his mood was "up and down", and he was advised to seek support from anxiety and depression services, but he declined.  On January 4th, 2016, Allin was dropped off by a friend at around 7.30-8.00 p.m.; the friend found it "a bit unusual" that he said "bye" and gave her a "long hug" before departing.  Around 9 p.m. the same evening, Allin's body was seen by a motorist at the base of the A39 River Torridge Bridge in Bideford, Devon.  Resuscitation was attempted by passers-by, and then by emergency services, but to no avail.  Three suicide notes were found by police when his home was searched after his death.  All Hallows' Church in Woolsery, Devon, was packed for Allin's funeral service, with former England cricketers, Ian Bell, Jonathan Trott, and Ashley Giles, among the mourners.  Tom Allin was just 28 years old.

Dickon Young

Dickon Young - who was born in January of 1963 - was an English stage manager, rigger, and carpenter, who worked for the Royal Shakespeare Company.  He was the first of two sons born to the actress Kate O'Mara, and was raised for a time by her first husband, the actor Jeremy Young, and took on Young's surname.  It only emerged after Dickon's death that his biological father was another actor, Ian Cullen, who had nothing to do with either Dickon or his mother after his birth.  As a child, Young was frequently taken around the country by his actress mother, and he was reported as resenting the more stable family life which seemed to be being lived by his biological father with his wife and three children.  Dickon had a brother, Patrick, who was born two years after he was, but at this time his mother was struggling to make ends meet, and so gave the boy up for adoption.  At the age of 21, Young met the actress Jenny Agutter - then ten years his senior - whilst working as a stage manager at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and they moved into her flat together in Pimlico, London.  He also worked as a rigger and carpenter at the R.S.C., before he moved to Los Angeles in the U.S. with Agutter, where he started a set-building company; he and Agutter separated in 1986.  Returning to England, he moved in with a girlfriend in Somerset and formed a company that built treehouses.  There were increasing signs that he was unwell, as he became a heavy drinker and cannabis user, at first becoming depressed and withdrawn, and then showing signs of manic depression; he was medicated for mental-health problems in the early 2000s.  His violent behaviour led to him splitting from his girlfriend, and he frequently thereafter returned to his mother's home, eventually moving in with her.  In 2010, Young was hit by a car whilst walking his dog (the dog died), resulting in multiple fractures, the subsequent brain damage he suffered affecting his balance and leaving him unable to work, and he began to drink more heavily.  In September of 2012, Young's mother was diagnosed with pneumonia, with which he struggled to cope.  That October, police were called to his mother's house after heated arguments between the pair, and he was also arrested for causing a breach of the peace whilst drunk at his flat in Stratford in November.  On December 31st, 2012, a neighbour smelt an "unpleasant odour" coming from Kate O'Mara's garage in Long Marston, Warwickshire, and opened the door to find Dickon Young's body hanging from the roof.  It is thought he may have been dead for nearly three weeks, as he had not contacted his mother since December 8th.  At the inquest into his death, his aunt Belinda Cochrane, also an actress, said: "He was a very troubled soul for a very long time.  He had a lot of talent that was wasted.  He was a lovely person."  Dickon Young was 49 years old.

Zoe Tynan

Zoe Tynan - who was born on May 20th, 1998, in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, England - was an English footballer.  As a schoolgirl, Tynan excelled at rounders and cross-country running, as well as football.  Later concentrating on soccer, she was selected to represent England at under-15, under-17, and under-19 levels.  As a Youth player, she represented Liverpool Feds, Everton, and Manchester City, before signing for Manchester City's academy in 2015.  She was given her first-team debut when she played all 90 minutes of an F.A. Women's Cup quarter-final against Sporting Club Albion on April 3rd, 2016.  Though she wouldn't play any further games for Manchester City, her performance drew the attention of Fylde Ladies of the F.A. Women's Premier League.  Signing for Fylde, she played two games for them in 2016.  On August 30th, 2016, Tynan spoke to her sister, Beth, at the family home - saying she loved her, and that "everything would be okay" - before leaving at about 3.40 p.m.  At 4.09 p.m., she sent a text message to a friend, suggesting she was intending to end her own life.  C.C.T.V. cameras captured her "calmly" climbing down onto the railway tracks at West Allerton station at about 4.15 p.m., whereupon she was soon struck by a train travelling from Birmingham New Street to Liverpool Lime Street.  Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene, and coroner Anita Bhardwaj later recorded a verdict of suicide.  Tynan had achieved good 'A'-level results, and hoped to become a professional footballer.  She was just 18 years old.  After her death, the Zoe Tynan's Spirit of Running award was set up in Liverpool to recognise similar children who lead others by example and encouragement; whilst her first football team, Liverpool Feds - whom she had joined as a six-year-old - created the Zoe Tynan Tournament for under-10 and under-12 7-a-side teams.  This tournament has been held each year since 2017 in her honour, played on May 20th to coincide with the date of her birth.

Sophie Gradon

Sophie Hannah Gradon - who was born on October 25th, 1985, in Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, north-west England - was an English model and marketing manager.  After graduating with a degree in Media, Culture, and Society from Northumbria University, Gradon won the Miss Newcastle title in 2008, and became Miss Great Britain in 2009.  Working as a marketing manager, she was a promoter of the NE1 campaign in Newcastle city centre, raising money for charities and soliciting financial support for the Great North Run.  In 2012, Gradon appeared on Sky Sports in support of "The Great North Fitness Revolution" campaign.  She was a contestant on Love Island in 2016, developing relationships with both a male and a female, and subsequently being referred to as "openly bisexual".  In 2008, she had dated Wayne Lineker (the brother of former footballer, Gary), and in 2013 had had a relationship with England rugby player, Danny Cipriani.  In an interview with Radio Aire in March, 2018, Gradon claimed she had been the victim of cyberbullying and internet trolls.  On June 20th, 2018, Gradon was found hanged at her home in Ponteland, Northumberland, England, by her boyfriend and his brother.  An inquest concluded she had taken her own life by hanging, after ingesting alcohol and cocaine; toxicology tests showed she had a blood alcohol level of 201mg per 100ml - about three times the legal driving limit.  Police said she had previously experienced mental-health issues - such as low self-esteem and anxiety (for which she was taking medication at the time of her death) - and had recently expressed suicidal thoughts.  About twenty days after Gradon's death, her boyfriend -  25-year-old Aaron Armstrong - also killed himself after ingesting cocaine and alcohol.  Sophie Gradon was 32 years old.

Mike Thalassitis

Michael Thalassitis - who was born on January 19th, 1993, in Edmonton, London, England - was an English footballer and television personality.  Starting his career with Stevenage in Division Two of the Football League, Thalassitis, a striker, subsequently played for several non-league teams. In all, between 2011 and 2017, he played 151 games, scoring 36 goals, for various teams.  Of Greek-Cypriot descent, Thalassitis also played  three games for the Cypress under-19 side, and four for their under-21s. He was called up for Cyprus's senior team in May, 2014, but was unable to travel to the game against Japan, as he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the final game of the league season whilst on loan from Stevenage at Ebbsfleet United.  On May 29th, 2017, Thalassitis was announced as part of the cast for the third series of the reality television show, Love Island.  He and fellow contestant Jessica Shears, along with their respective partners Olivia Attwood and Dom Lever, emerged among the three couples with the fewest public votes for Favourite Couple.  In 2018, he joined the fourth series of Celebs Go Dating.  On March 15th, 2019, Mike Thalassitis hanged himself in a park in Edmonton, north London, England.  He was 26 years old.

Boon Gould

Rowland Charles Gould - usually known as Boon Gould - was an English musician and songwriter.  Born on March 4th, 1955, in Shanklin, Isle of Wight, England, he was a guitarist and occasional saxophone player with the pop band, Level 42; his brother, Phil Gould, was the drummer in the band.  Boon Gould played on Level 42's first seven studio albums, before leaving the band, along with his brother, in 1987.  Gould had had a period of sustained illness, resulting in nervous exhaustion and suffering from panic attacks whilst on stage.  After leaving Level 42, Gould recorded two solo albums under the name Zen Gangsters.  In October, 2012, he performed in public with Level 42 for the first time in 25 years, at a one-off show in Bristol, U.K.  In 2018, Gould was asked to perform jury service, which caused him to become very agitated and damage the family home, before disappearing, sparking a police search.  On April 30th, 2019, Boon Gould's body was found hanged at a friend's house in Uffculme, Devon, England.  An inquest found a small amount of alcohol was in his body at death, although he had been drinking quite heavily for many years.  He had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and had suffered from depression for much of his life.  Boon Gould was 64 years old, and left behind a wife, Moira.

Alexander McQueen

Lee Alexander McQueen, C.B.E., was a British fashion designer and couturier.  Born in Lewisham, London, England, on March 17th, 1969, McQueen was chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001, and founded his own fashion label in 1992.  He was four-times British Designer of the Year, and the CFDA's International Designer of the Year in 2003. McQueen's early collections earned him a reputation as the "enfant terrible" and "hooligan" of English fashion.  He became notorious for creating the "bumster" low-rise jeans. A homosexual, McQueen had an unofficial marriage ceremony with his partner George Forsyth on a yacht in Ibiza in 2000, although the pair split up a year later; he also discovered he was HIV positive.
On the afternoon of February 11th, 2010, McQueen's housekeeper found his body at his home in Green Street, Mayfair, London.  At the age of 40, he had hanged himself. A friend claimed McQueen was doing a lot of drugs and was very unhappy at the time of his death, and his psychiatrist said he had suffered from anxiety and depression for at least three years prior to his death, and had twice taken drug overdoses, as well as missing several psychiatrist's appointments.  Blood samples taken after his death showed significant levels of cocaine, sleeping pills, and tranquillizers.  

Robin Williams

Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian.  Born in Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A., on July 21st, 1951, Williams rose to fame in the 1970s in the sitcom Mork and Mindy.  He subsequently had a very successful career as a stand-up comedian and a film actor, including being nominated for four Academy Awards, winning the award for Best Supporting Actor in the 1997 film, Good Will Hunting.  In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Williams was addicted to cocaine, and later identified as an alcoholic.  In 2009, he had heart problems, having surgery to rectify the defects.
On August 11th, 2014, Williams committed suicide by hanging at his home in Paradise Cay, California, U.S.A., at the age of 63.  After Williams's death, his publicist, Mara Buxbaum, stated that Williams had been suffering from severe depression before his death; and his third wife, Susan Schneider, stated that he had been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease shortly before he died.  An autopsy revealed he had diffuse Lewy body dementia, which may have contributed to the sudden appearance of anxiety, insomnia, memory loss, paranoia, and delusions, which became apparent in the year before his death.

Peter Roebuck

Peter Michael Roebuck was an English cricketer, who was born in Oddington, Oxfordshire, England, on March 6th, 1956.  One of six children, his younger brother Paul played 22 first-class matches for Cambridge University, Gloucestershire, and Glamorgan.  Peter played, mostly-notably, for Somerset County Cricket Club between 1974 and 1991, a team he also captained.  Mainly used as an opening batsman, Roebuck played a total of 335 first-class matches for Somerset, scoring 17,558 runs at an average of 37.27 with 33 centuries and a highest score of 221 not out.  He also took 72 wickets at an average of 49.16 with his spin bowling.  In 298 one-day games, he scored 7,244 runs at 29.81, and took 51 wickets at 25,09.  Captaining Somerset for two seasons between 1986 and 1988, Roebuck became a controversial figure when he was instrumental in terminating the contracts of the county's two overseas stars, Joel Garner and Viv Richards.  The ensuing rumpus resulted in star all-rounder Ian Botham leaving the club for Worcestershire.  In 1988, Roebuck was one of the Wisden Cricketers of the Year.  Whilst working as a commentator in South Africa in 1999, Roebuck met three young black cricketers, offering to coach them whilst they lived at his home in England.  He warned them beforehand that he would use corporal punishment if they broke his "house rules".  He caned all three 19-year-old men at different times on their clothed buttocks for misbehaviour, and in 2001 was given a suspended jail sentence for common assault.  After a ten-year spell playing Minor Counties cricket for Devon between 1992 and 2002, Roebuck moved to Australia, where he became a respected cricket writer and broadcaster.  He became an Australian citizen, and also owned a house in South Africa.  On November 12th, 2011, Roebuck was visiting South Africa to report on a cricket match, when police arrived at his hotel, desiring to speak to him about an alleged sexual assault on a 26-year-old Zimbabwean man.  Roebuck then returned to his hotel room, where he jumped from his sixth-floor balcony.  He subsequently died from severe head injuries.  He was 55 years old.

Gary Speed

Gary Andrew Speed was a Welsh footballer and football manager.  Born on September 8th, 1969, in Mancot, Flintshire, Wales, Speed made 677 league appearances in a 22-year playing career, which finished in 2010.  He also played 85 times for the Welsh national soccer side (making him Wales's second-most-capped player), captaining them on 44 occasions.  His successful career encompassed spells at Leeds United, Everton, Newcastle United, Bolton Wanderers, and Sheffield United.  After retirement as a player, Speed managed Sheffield United and then the Wales national team.  In 2010, he was awarded an M.B.E. for his services to football.  Speed's first competitive game as Wales manager was a 0-2 home defeat to local rivals, England, resulting in Wales slumping to an all-time-low F.I.F.A. world ranking of 117th.  However, several good results followed, lifting Wales's ranking to 45th, and being awarded 'Best Movers' at the end of 2011, after amassing more ranking points than any other nation in 2011.  Speed's last game as Wales manager was a 4-1 home win against Norway in a friendly on November 12th that year.  On November 26th, 2011, Speed appeared as a pundit on the BBC programme, Football Focus, before driving back to his home in Huntington, Cheshire, England. The following morning, November 27th, just before 7 a.m., his wife found his dead body hanging from the roof of the family garage.  An inquest into his death heard that the strain of football management had put strain on Speed's marriage to Louise, and they had argued on the night prior to his death.  His mother, Carol, described Gary as a "glass-half-empty person", and his wife said he was a "somewhat closed character".  Four days before dying, Speed had texted his wife suggesting the possibility of suicide, although he then rejected this out of concern for his family.  As a boy, Speed had been coached by serial sex offender Barry Bennell, although Speed had denied ever being abused; however, one of Bennell's victims claimed he had seen Speed being assaulted, but the inquest was unable to prove this.  Speed's funeral was held on December 11th, 2011, in the village of Hawarden, Flintshire, and was attended by 250 people.  He was later cremated at Pentre Bychan Crematorium, Wrexham.  A memorial match was held in his honour at the Cardiff City Stadium on February 29th, 2012, in which Costa Rica beat Wales 2-0.  Gary Speed was 42 years old. 

Woolly Wolstenholme

Stuart John "Woolly" Wolstenholme was a musician, singer, and songwriter.   Born on April 15th, 1947, in Chadderton, Lancashire, England, he was best-known as a member of the English rock band, Barclay James Harvest, which he formed with three others in 1967.  Some of Woolly's early compositions - "The Sun Will Never Shine", "Happy Old World", and "Ball And Chain" - had an introverted and melancholy feel.  Barclay James Harvest were popular on the college circuit, but their records sold relatively poorly, and they were dropped by EMI in 1973, although quickly signed up by Polydor.  In 1979, dissatisfied with the band's musical direction, Wolstenholme left Barclay James Harvest to make one album of his own, Maestoso, before leaving the music business entirely.  In the 1980s, after Woolly's departure, Barclay James Harvest's popularity peaked, particularly in Germany, where they played to 175,000 people at Berlin's Reichstag building.  Wolstenholme subsequently ran an organic farm with his wife, Jill, for several years - first in Lancashire, and then in west Wales.  Bumping into his former B.J.H. bandmate John Lees in 1998, the two formed John Lees' Barclay James Harvest, which made several albums and toured extensively over the next few years.  This was one of Woolly's most-creative periods, as he also formed his own band, Maestoso, recording and occasionally playing live with them, in addition to B.J.H. duties.  Often a livewire on stage, Wolstenholme also had dark periods, being hospitalised for a period with depression in 2003, and was diagnosed with manic-depression or bipolar disorder.  In November of 2010, several Barclay James Harvest concerts were cancelled, as Woolly was suffering from a recurrence of his depressive illness.  He was expected to recover, but he sadly committed suicide on December 13th, 2010.  Stuart Wolstenholme was 63 years old.  He was divorced from his wife, Jill, but was survived by his partner, Sue, and his mother and sister.