Famous People Who Died at 36

As I celebrate another year on this planet, I constantly find myself in some sort of mental competition with those I have outlived. Not by year, but by age. Now, as a 37-year-old, I look back at those who passed away at age 36...and who I have beaten in the game of life (no disrespect intended).

1. Marilyn Monroe - In August of 1962, this icon passed away from a drug overdose. Maybe because of the fact that we never got to see her age, this might be the reason people still see her a sexual icon. The image of her standing on the grate with her white dress being blown upward is perhaps one of the most famous in Hollywood history. Her death also sparked the interest of conspiracy lovers everywhere.

2. Bob Marley - The most famous reggae artist of all-time, Bob Marley died at age 36 in 1991. A victim of a form of skin cancer, Marley also still lives on to this day through his music and the pictures that adorn every other dorm room in America.

3. Doc Holliday - The legendary gunfighter could never be taken down, even when he participated in the Battle at OK Corral. A drinker, a gambler, a dentist, and an overall risk-taker, it was tuberculosis that ended up taking Holliday down in 1887.

4. Princess Diana - The most famous of the modern era British royalty, Princess Diana is perhaps the most famous victim of the paparazzi gone bad. After one of the most famous divorces in history, Diana went on to work for the benefit of many different charities. She could have done more good if she hadn't died in a car accident in 1997, which has also sparked many conspiracy theories.

5. Maximilien Robespierre - Beheaded at age 36 in 1794, Robespierre's role in France in the 18th century eventually led to the French Republic. He was against slavery, for controls in the price of food so the poor could afford to eat, and for a democratic republic. Against the death penalty, he still had a major role in what would end up leading to the beheading of Louis XVI.

 6. General George Armstrong Custer - Forever known for his blunder at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, Custer rose quickly through the ranks despite graduating last his class at West Point. He fought at Gettysburg and fought off a Confederate flank, and he was there General Lee's surrender to General Grant.