Excerpts from Bellany's recent book,
"Wiki-People Who Died At Age 32"

Since 2006, Bellany has scoured Wikipedia for people who died at his exact age. When he was 32, he found 117 figures - some obscure and others notable, who had died at that tender age. In addition to writing up a short biography for each 'character', Bellany created original black and white portraits using illustrations he uncovered on image searches.

"Being the same age as each person I researched (when they died), I naturally felt a strong personal connection to their stories. I compared our accomplishments, social situations, and the eras in which we lived. It was a new way of looking at both history and myself. Now that I have moved on to age 33, I find myself contemplating the strange fact that I have lived longer than Bruce Lee, King Richard III and Alexander the Great. It definitely motivates me to work harder and make a difference."

↓more

・Bruce Lee

・Buzz Sawyer

・Davey Allison

・Dick Turpin

・Eadred of England

・Elizabeth Siddal

・Galeazzo Maria Sforza

・Glen Kidston

・Hernan Gaviria

・Jedediah 'Strong' Smith

・Joseph I

・Keith Godchaux

・Lya De Putti

・Mike Lockwood

・Ota Benga

・Ottavio Bottecchia

・Proof

・Regnier De Graaf

・Steve Chiasson

・Thomas Ashe

・Vladimir of Novgorod

・William Cartwright

・Wyndham Hallswelle

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Wiki-People Who Died At Age 32

Lya De Putti (1899-1931)
Hungarian actress Lya De Putti wore black and looked men in the eyes. After marrying at 14 and having a daughter at 15, De Putti found herself divorced by the age of 18. Following years of performing vaudeville and ballet in Hungary and Germany, she finally made her silent film debut in 1918, just as World War I was ending.

Known almost exclusively for playing seductive 'vamp' characters, De Putti was filmed by legendary directors such as F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang in Berlin. Her success in Germany gave her Hollywood ambitions. Unfortunately, her hopes of making it big in the U.S. never materialized - she left California for New York in 1929 with plans to resurrect her career on Broadway. These plans were short-lived.

Hospitalized when she got a chicken-bone lodged in her throat, De Putti's condition worsened when she resisted treatment and tried to evade nurses during a classic hospital chase. The ensuing infection spread, giving her pleurisy as well as pneumonia in both lungs. She died in New York at the age of 32. Silli Putti.