BEETHOVEN TO BOGART: FAMOUS LAST WORDS

When Joe DiMaggio died of lung cancer in 1999, the baseball player's last words were: "I finally get to see Marilyn." Monroe, of course. What famous people say as they know they are dying is a source of wonder whether they are recalling the life they led or looking ahead to what might be. Dictionary.com has assembled a list of celebrities' supposed last words.

Ludwig von Beethoven

There are multiple accounts of the deaf composer's last words, three to be exact: 1. "I will hear in heaven." 2. "Plaudite, amici, comedia finita est." ("Applaud, friends, the comedy is finished.") 3. "Pity, pity, too late," he said when someone brought him a dozen bottles of wine as he was dying.

Buddy Rich

In 1987 as he was going into surgery (during which he would die), the American jazz drummer was asked by a nurse inquiring about medication, "Is there anything you can't take?" He replied, "Yeah, country music."

Terry Kath

The guitarist for the band Chicago died of a self-inflicted, but accidental, gunshot wound to the head in January 1978. "Don't worry. It's not loaded," Kath said. But there was one bullet in it.

Steve Jobs

On his deathbed, the Apple co-founded said, "Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, wow."

Michael Landon

The actor ("Bonanza," "Little House on the Prairie," "Highway to Heaven") died in 1991 of pancreatic cancer. With his family gathered around his deathbed, he said to them, "You're right. It's time. I love you all."

John Lennon

When the Beatle was shot by Mark David Chapman in December 1980 outside the singer's New York City apartment building, he simply said, "I'm shot."

Princess Diana

When the Princess of Wales was in a fatal car crash in August 1997, she was said to have asked, "My God. What's happened?"

Groucho Marx

The famous comedian supposedly quipped, "This is no way to live!"

Humphrey Bogart

Like Beethoven, there are multiple reports of the legendary actor's last words: 1. As his wife Lauren Bacall left their home to pick up their children, he said, "Goodbye, kid. Hurry back." 2. On the night before he died, he said, "I should never have switched from Scotch to martinis."

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