Actors' Chilling Final Instagram Posts Before Their Deaths
There's something undeniably rewarding about finding out a beloved actor is active on social media — particularly when it's Instagram. Who doesn't love seeing some behind-the-scenes glimpses into the life and times of A-listers? And, let's face it: When they devote some serious time to posting selfies with their adorable pets, it's even better. When we lose those celebrities, though, a post that we may have previously glanced at, liked, and commented on can take on a whole new meaning.
And this is actually a good time to talk about grief, because pretty much everyone has felt the heartbreak that comes when learning about the death of a favorite movie or television star. It can feel weird, because we don't actually know them on a personal level ... but according to what the American Counseling Association's David Kaplan told HuffPost, it's perfectly normal. "We grow up with these people. We see their movies ... and we really get to know them. In a sense, they become a member of our family — especially the ones we really like — so when they die, it's like an extended member of our family dies."
That's something to keep in mind while scrolling through some of the most heartbreaking Instagram posts that became these actors' final farewells. Some of them are hard to read, but it's perfectly normal to feel that sense of loss.
This article contains discussions of suicide and addiction.
Robin Williams
It's safe to say that when Robin Williams died by suicide in 2014, it hit hard for a lot of people. It didn't matter if they grew up watching "Mork and Mindy," if "Dead Poets Society" was their go-to tearjerker of a coming-of-age film, or if "Aladdin" was a family favorite, few celebrity deaths have been as shocking as his. Followers of his Instagram might not have suspected anything amiss behind the scenes, and although Williams' final 12 months were full of hardship and challenges, his final Instagram post was a beautiful birthday wish to his beloved daughter.
Alongside a throwback photo of the two of them, Williams wrote, "Happy Birthday to Ms. Zelda Rae Williams! Quarter of a century old today but always my baby girl. Happy Birthday @zeldawilliams Love you!" That was on August 4, and he died on August 11.
Along with shock came speculation, and in the following years, one of the people who knew him best spoke out about what happened, in hopes of raising awareness about a disease that he had only been diagnosed with posthumously: Lewy body dementia. In an interview with The Guardian, his wife, Susan Schneider Williams, confirmed that the diagnosis had shone a light on what had happened in his final months. They also quoted an old interview in which Williams was asked about his greatest fear. "I guess I fear my consciousness becoming, not just dull, but a rock. I couldn't spark." And that was precisely what he had been faced with.
Nichelle Nichols
Would "Star Trek" have been the same without Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Uhura? Absolutely not, and there's a lot that would be different had she not stepped onto the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. In addition to paving the way for Black actresses to have leading roles, there was also some very real-world space work on her resume: Nichols teamed up with NASA in an effort to attract more women and minorities to the space program. (It worked.)
Nichols passed away on July 30, 2022, and her son announced her death on Instagram the following day. The news put her previous post — now her last official post on Instagram — into a chilling light. Nichols posted a photo of herself in her costume for "Star Trek: Renegades," giving the famous Vulcan salute. ("Live Long and Prosper!) The caption included simply read: "THIS IS IT ll MY FINAL PERFORMANCE ll RENEGADES OMINARA ll."
It was a wrap, the end of an absolute era in science fiction history ... that almost didn't happen. Her obituary in The New York Times shares a wild story about how she had actually resigned from "Star Trek" when the first season wrapped. Who talked her out of it? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who she recalled telling her, "For the first time, we will be seen on television the way we should be seen every day." And so, she stayed until her final days.
Paul Walker
When news broke that Paul Walker had been killed in a high-speed car accident, it was a weird convergence of news. Also in the headlines was the latest installation of his ridiculously successful "Fast and Furious" franchise, and that's also where his final Instagram post comes in. The same day as his death, Walker posted a single black and white photo with the caption, "The boys are back. Will you be ready? – #TeamPW #FastFridays #Fast7 #FF7"
Seeing Walker's name mentioned in connection to the high-speed collision was enough to make everyone stop and consider exactly what it was that they were hearing, but the photos that were released of the Porsche Carrera GT that Walker was riding in when he died left little up to the imagination. (His longtime friend, Roger Rodas, was driving, and was also killed.) Details were nothing short of horrific: Dental records were used to positively identify the bodies, drugs and alcohol were determined not to be a factor, and when the crash happened, they were traveling at somewhere around 100 mph.
The movie was finished with the help of Walker's brothers, and it ended on a strangely high note. Why? Universal Pictures' president of music Mike Knobloch explained to The Hollywood Reporter, "This was a moment that was so important to get right — ... We knew we didn't want people leaving the theater sad."
Nicki Aycox
Nicki Aycox was a cult classic favorite, with a slew of credits that included "The X-Files," "Supernatural," "Dark Angel," "The Twilight Zone," and "Longmire." When she died on November 16, 2022, the 47-year-old actress's death may have come as a surprise for those who hadn't been following her on Instagram. For those who had, they had seen her heartbreaking final post. Dated March 25, 2022, the video is a clip of Aycox singing Whitesnake's "Here I Go Again On My Own," and laughing as she tries to remember the lyrics. In her caption, she explains her difficulty:
"#alwayskeepfighting STOP! DO NOT attempt to sing 80s music after taking high doses of chemo. [skull emoji] will cause memory loss. Literally got not 1 lyric correct [laughing cat emoji] #cancersucks #chemosucks #aml #cityofhope #highdosechemo #luekemia #chemosideeffects #chemofunny #chemowarrior #cancerwarrior"
Scroll back through her Instagram, and fans will see a very candid look at her leukemia diagnosis in March 2021, which came after she was hospitalized with what she thought were severe COVID-19 symptoms. Among those who paid tribute to her was Eric Kripke of "Supernatural," who shared on X (formerly known as Twitter) that "She was a light & delivered lines like honey & venom."
Michael K. Williams
Michael K. Williams was incredibly candid about his experiences with drugs and addiction, sitting down for a 2012 interview with NJ.com. In it, he talked about how he was in the middle of filming "The Wire" when he found himself growing more and more desperate to find and misuse his drugs of choice — usually cocaine. He shared, "I was playing with fire. It was just a matter of time before ... I ended up dead. When I look back on it now, I don't know how I didn't end up in a body bag. ... I finally said, 'I can't do this no more.' I didn't want to end up dead."
After Williams was found dead on September 6, 2021, the official cause of death was later released as an accidental overdose of four substances: fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. His death came just days after he posted a video clip to his Instagram, and in hindsight, it's eerie stuff. The clip is a repost of a TikTok clip showing Tracy Morgan, and he starts out by saying, "Don't cry for me. Okay, I had a misfortunate accident. Don't cry for me. Cry for others, man. My grandmother told me that when you think you're doing bad, there's somebody out there worse."
Morgan went on to discuss the meaning of happiness, and said that it was really, really simple: "True happiness is having something to look forward to," he said. In 2023, the dealer who sold Williams the fentanyl-laced heroin was sentenced to 10 years in jail.
Cameron Boyce
On July 6, 2019, the name of Disney Channel fan favorite Cameron Boyce was added to a list of names that no parent wants to see their child on: famous child stars who have passed away. It was initially reported that the 20-year-old actor's cause of death had been the result of a previously diagnosed medical condition, and in the following years, his parents have become active in raising awareness of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy patients, or SUDEP.
Boyce's last Instagram post is dated the day before his death, and is a simple, black-and-white profile photo tagged with the handle of a media company that he'd previously done an interview with. Years after his death, it's still regularly updated with fan tributes and thoughts.
Meanwhile, his parents have founded the Cameron Boyce Foundation, with the goal of giving parents the tools and information they need to prevent a similar tragedy from destroying their own families. Libby Boyce explained to People, "Even as hard as it is, and just every day, like, 'Why did this kid die?' — I know that people are safe because of him. And no, it doesn't make it better. It doesn't heal me. But it does make me feel as though at least something good came out of it."
Treat Williams
It's an awful, terrifying fact of life that death just doesn't care, and can come knocking at any time — no matter who you are. When Treat Williams was killed in a motorcycle accident on June 12, 2023, it was a death that quite literally came out of nowhere. Williams was hit by a car, airlifted to a New York state hospital, and died from his injuries. The shocking accident came just hours after he posted a series of photos and videos to his Instagram, showing his Vermont farm in complete summertime glory. With one video simply captioned, "Hay day," there's another photo — taken from a tractor — where he wrote, "There is no better smell than new mown hay."
When his family took over his account after his passing, they explained that they were going to keep doing what he had loved to do the most: keep the farm going, and keep sharing in his place. It was a fitting tribute, as Williams often posted and spoke about what had become his special place.
In 2021, the Connecticut-born Williams told Vermont Magazine, "Every day I wake up so grateful to see the view that I see out of my window and to be living up here. I think very few people are lucky as I am to say, 'I love where I live.' I don't have any fantasies of being somewhere else. I have everything I want and need in Vermont. I've been all over the world, and I've never seen a place as beautiful as Vermont."
Naya Rivera
When "Glee" actress Naya Rivera took her then-4-year-old son boating on a California lake, it should have been a lovely afternoon in July. Instead, Josey Hollis Dorsey was discovered — alone — in the boat, and Rivera's body was only recovered after a five-day search. It was later determined that she had drowned on July 8, 2020, in a tragic accident found to be the result of a combination of circumstances. Official reports suggested that the combination of effects from a sinus infection and chronic vertigo played a part in her death, and a wrongful death lawsuit settled in 2022 also blamed a lack of safety equipment in the rented boat.
The previous day — July 7 — Rivera posted what would be her final photo to Instagram. It was a candid shot of her hugging her son, captioned, "just the two of us." Even more eerie is a smiling selfie posted on July 2, alongside which Rivera wrote, "no matter the year, circumstance, or strifes everyday you're alive is a blessing. make the most of today and every day you are given. tomorrow is not promised."
Matthew Perry
Few shows have had the immediate and enduring popularity of "Friends," so when Matthew Perry died on October 28, 2023, it's safe to say that it was a death that shocked an entire generation. While it may have been easy to assume that he was living a life that most could only dream of, Perry's struggles with mental health and addiction were revealed not only in lurid headlines, but in his own biography, "Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing." It was shockingly candid, and it was later confirmed that his drowning death had come as a result of a combination of factors, including ketamine use, coronary artery disease, and opioid use.
Perry had drowned in a hot tub, which made his final Instagram post even more eerie. Just five days before he died, he posted a photo of himself relaxing in a massive hot tub, captioning the snap, "Oh, so warm water swirling around makes you feel good? I'm Mattman."
The post provided an uncomfortably up close and personal glimpse into his final moments, and when the news broke, it understandably took a few days for his "Friends" castmates to issue a statement. When they did, it was just as heartbreaking as anyone might imagine and read (in part, via The New York Times): "We were more than just cast mates. We are a family." Show creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane also released a statement, along with producer Kevin Bright: "This truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken."
Christian Oliver
There's something that happens when December rolls to an end and the world starts looking ahead to the new year. People start making plans and promises, and offering wishes for a bright new year, and on January 1, 2024, that was at the heart of Christian Oliver's Instagram post. The actor shared a photo of a beach, palm trees, and a boat floating in peaceful tropical waters, adding the caption, "Greetings from somewhere in paradise! To community and love ... 2024 her[e] we come!" At a glance, it's a scene and a sentiment that's anything anyone could possibly want out of life, but it would be his last Instagram post.
Oliver was killed in a plane crash on January 4, along with his 10-year-old daughter, Annik, and 12-year-old daughter, Madita. The final update to his Instagram was posted on January 16, sharing more details about what had happened. According to the post, the three had been going out on one last fishing trip before the end of their vacation, and had chartered a small plane via a pilot he met at a local dive shop.
Tyler Sanders
Tyler Sanders was just 18 years old when he posted what would be his final photos uploaded to Instagram. The actor — who already had a slew of acting credits to his name, and an Emmy nomination for his role on "Just Add Magic: Mystery City" — posted a few photos from a deck overlooking the Colorado Mountains. Dressed in a suit that almost matched the blue sky above, he captioned the post simply, "Styling." That was on June 12, 2022, and he died four days later.
It wasn't until December that the Los Angeles medical examiner released the official findings, confirming that Sanders had been another casualty of the fentanyl crisis sweeping across the U.S. Fentanyl-laced drugs have been found to be incredibly deadly, and since Sanders' death, his parents have spoken out about the dangers — and the necessity of awareness. David and Ginger Sanders have been candid about their son's struggles with depression and his drug use, saying (via Deadline), "Tyler fell into drug use, not as a way to have fun socially, but rather as an attempt to overcome his profound mental health struggle."
They went on to stress that it could happen to anyone, anywhere. They were a close-knit family, they explained, they had a support structure in place, they were open about his struggles, and still found themselves mourning the loss of their son. They added, "It is our sincere prayer that our story might save others."
Kelly Preston
Kelly Preston's death on July 12, 2020, seemed to come out of nowhere. It wasn't until her husband, John Travolta, posted to Instagram that it became widely known that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer two years before her death, and Travolta gave his thanks not only to her doctors, but those close friends and family members who had been there for her through the years. Few details were given, as Travolta requested privacy and understanding for their family.
And it was family that was first and foremost in Preston's final Instagram post as well. On June 22, 2020, she had shared two photos alongside a caption that wished, "Happy Father's Day to the best one I know, we love you," with one photo showing a family shot, and the other a black and white picture of Travolta and their late son, Jett.
Jett died after suffering a seizure at 16 years old, and his death was just one part of Travolta's tragic life story. Preston's death following her breast cancer diagnosis was the third such loss for Travolta: His former girlfriend, Diane Hyland, died in 1977 after being diagnosed with breast cancer, and the following year, his mother also died following a cancer diagnosis.
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