"Codeine ... bourbon." Those were the last coherent words uttered by the great actress and bon vivant Tallulah Bankhead shortly before her death, forty years ago today. This final request was an especially appropriate finale for a woman whose bacchanalian reputation often overshadowed her contributions to the stage and screen.
Unsurprisingly, many well-known people have shuffled off this mortal coil with a final sentiment appropriate to their legends.
There were the great wits like Oscar Wilde, whose alleged dying words were "Either that wallpaper goes, or I do" and John Barrymore, who exclaimed "Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him."
Emily Dickinson departed with the poetic "I must go in, the fog is rising."
"The earth is suffocating ... swear to make them cut me open, so that I won't be buried alive" was uttered by the sensitive and fragile composer Frederic Chopin after a long bout with tuberculosis.
Then there were those whose life was their work -- right up until the very end. The French grammarian Dominique Bouhours commented "I am about to -- or I am going to -- die; either expression is correct."
The flamboyant showman Florenz Ziegfeld left with "Curtain! Fast music! Light! Ready for the last finale! Great! The show looks good, the show looks good!"
On her deathbed, the renowned Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova, known worldwide for her performance of "The Dying Swan," first told those around her to "get my swan costume ready," then finally, "play that last measure softly."
Joan Crawford's fitting final words were in response to her maid who had begun praying aloud: "Damn it . . . Don't you dare ask God to help me."
"Does nobody understand?" was the apt question asked by James Joyce, the author of such cryptic novels as Ulysses and Finnegans Wake.
Not everyone, however, was prepared for their final moments. The Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa's dying words were "Don't let it end like this. Tell them I said something."
And then there was General John Sedgwick, Union Commander. who was killed in the Civil War at the Battle of Spotsylvania just after disparaging the rebel troops his men were facing: "They couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--"
"Famous last words," indeed...
Suggested Sites...
- Dying Words of Famous People - collection of celebrity quotes from Brain Candy.
- Tallulah Bankhead: A Passionate Life - features career profile, biography, photos, anecdotes, and links for the legendary actress.
- Bartlett's Familiar Quotations - the ultimate resource for famous quotes, passages, phrases, and proverbs traced to their sources.
- The Atlantic: What People Actually Say Before They Die - it's not just celebrities who get chatty.
- Cracked.com - a list of the 11 most badass last words ever uttered.
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