Ten celebrities who died in Spain

SPAIN has long been a destination for those looking to spend their twilight years in the sun.

And, for decades, it has been the escape of choice for the wealthy actors, sportsmen, and entrepreneurs. 

So no one should have been surprised when it was announced that Dennis Waterman passed away in Spain at the weekend.

It is a well worn route to heaven, as the Olive Press discovered…

Freddie Starr

The stand up comedian and actor was a household name on British TV having been lead singer of Midniters in the early 1960s before appearing on Opportunity Knocks and at the Royal Variety Performance.

He was found dead at his home in Mijas in May 2019, aged 76. 

Cilla Black 

Star of Blind Date and Surprise Surprise, the singer and gameshow supremo was championed by The Beatles, who were friends of hers growing up.

Retiring to Estepona on Spain’s Costa del Sol, she died after a fall in her house at the age of 72 in August 2015.

Sir James Goldsmith

Just as famous for his personal life than his business dealings, Goldsmith’s antics and extramarital affairs filled many column inches of the British tabloid press.

The business tycoon died at a farmhouse he owned in Benahavis in July 1997 at the age of 64, with speculation his family hastily flew him to Spain to avoid paying a larger death tax.

Roy Kinnear

One of the most famous character actors of the 60s, Roy Kinnear appeared in The Three Musketeers and in the original Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. 

On 19 September 1988, Kinnear, 54, fell from a horse whilst filming a remake of The Return of the Musketeers in Toledo, sustaining a broken pelvis and internal bleeding before dying the next day from a heart attack in a Madrid hospital.

Rick Parfitt

Rick Parfitt, rhythm guitarist of Status Quo for almost 50 years, helped the band register a record 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock band. 

Parfitt had a triple heart bypass in 1997, and was ordered to change his drug and alcohol fuelled lifestyle.

Managing to clean up, Parfitt died in a Marbella hospital in December 2016 from sepsis.

Willie Thorne

Famed for his break-building, the former snooker pro turned BBC commentator died in June 2020 after his life support was withdrawn following a battle with leukemia aged 66 in Torrevieja Hospital on Spain’s Costa Blanca.

Bing Crosby

One of the most popular music artists of the 20th century, Bing Crosby made over 70 feature films and recorded more than 1,600 songs in his lifetime. 

Crosby collapsed and died instantly from a massive heart attack just after playing 18 holes of golf with Spanish golf champ Manuel Piñero at La Moraleja Golf Course in Madrid in October, 1977.

John McAfee 

The controversial American virus-software tycoon was found dead in his cell in at the Brians 2 Penitentiary Center near Barcelona only hours after the Spanish National Court ordered the 75-year-old’s extradition to the United States in June 2021. 

Denholm Elliott

The English actor was well known for roles in Alfie, A Room with a View and the Indiana Jones films. He died of Aids-related tuberculosis in his Ibiza home in Santa Eularia des Riu in October 1992 aged 70.

Robert Maxwell

The disgraced media mogul and former British MP who was found to have misappropriated the Mirror Group pension fund had a mysterious death in the Canary Islands. In 1991, his body was discovered floating in the Atlantic Ocean, after he apparently fell overboard from his yacht, the Lady Ghislaine at the age of 68.

READ MORE:

• Legendary TV actor Dennis Waterman dies in Spain
• Spanish showbiz royalty Isabel Pantoja cleared by a Malaga court in latest trial
• Spain’s pop sensation Rosalia to kick off massive world tour in Andalucia