memento mori
Last words of Pope Alexander VI (b. 1451, d. 1503) born Rodrigo Borgia / John Doman as Rodrigo Borgia in Borgia (2011–2014)
Last words of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France (b. 1755, d. 1793), said after accidentally stepping on the foot of her executioner / Ute Lemper as Marie Antoinette in L’Autrichenne (1989)
Last words of Humphrey Bogart, American film star (b. 1899, d. 1957)
Last words of James Brown, American singer (b. 1933, d. 2006)
Alleged last words of Gaius Julius Caesar, Consul of Rome (b. 100 BC, d. 44 BC), believed to have been spoken to Marcus Junius Brutus, one of his assassins / Ciarán Hinds as Julius Caesar in Rome (2005–2007)
Last words of Anton Chekhov, Russian playwright (b. 1860, d. 1904)
Last words of Thomas Edison, American inventor and businessman (b. 1847, d. 1931)
Last word of T. S. Eliot, American poet (b. 1888, d. 1965); his wife’s name was Valerie.
Last words of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary (b. 1863, d. 1914); he and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914 by Gavrilo Princip, triggering the First World War. He repeated the phrase ‘it is nothing’ six times, before falling silent.
The alleged last words of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, Argentine revolutionary and politician (b. 1928, d. 1967)
Last words of Wallace Hartley, English violinist and bandleader (b. 1878, d. 1912); along with his band, Hartley famously chose to play music as the Titanic sunk in an effort to keep the passengers calm / Jonathan Evans-Jones as Wallace Hartley in Titanic (1997)
Last words of Joan of Arc, French military leader and Catholic Saint (b. 1412, d. 1431) / Jean Seberg as Joan of Arc in Saint Joan (1956)
Last words of Jack Kerouac, American writer (b. 1922, d. 1969)
Last words of Martin Luther King Jr., American minister and civil rights activist (b. 1929, d. 1968)
Last words of Philip Larkin, English poet (b. 1922, d. 1985)
Believed to be the last words of Heath Ledger, Australian actor (b. 1979, d. 2008), said during a phonecall to his sister Katie who told him it was a bad idea to mix sleeping pills with other prescriptions; Ledger died that same night after doing so.
Last words of Louis XIV, King of France (b. 1638, d. 1715) / Alan Rickman as Louis XIV in A Little Chaos (2014)
Last words of Brittany Murphy, American actress (b. 1977, d. 2009)
Last words of Vladimir Nabokov, Russian writer and lepidopterist (b. 1899, d. 1977)
Last words of Lawrence Oates, English officer and explorer (b. 1880, d. 1912); a member of the Terra Nova Antarctic Expedition, an injured Oates realised he was lowering the chances of his fellows survival, and chose to sacrifice himself so they did not have to continue caring for him. It was his 32nd birthday when he walked into a blizzard, and he was never seen again.
Last words of Anna Pavolva, Russian prima ballerina (b. 1881, d. 1931)
Last words of Pablo Picasso, Spanish artist (b. 1881, d. 1973)
Last words of Jannetje Johanna ‘Hannie’ Schaft, Dutch resistance fighter (b. 1920, d. 1945); after being shot non-fatally at close-range by one of her executioners, she taunted him with the above words.
Last words of Lucy Stone, American orator, suffragist and abolitionist (b. 1818, d. 1893)
Last words of Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer and noble (b. 1828, d. 1910)
Last words of J. M. W. Turner, English painter (b. 1775, d. 1851) / Timothy Spall as J. M. W. Turner in Mr Turner (2014)
Last words of Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter (b. 1853, d. 1890); van Gogh died in the arms of his brother, Theo, as he wished to / Daniel Baker as Vincent van Gogh for Douglas Copeland’s I Am Vincent
Last words of Voltaire, French philosopher and writer (b. 1694, d. 1778) born François-Marie Arouet; the above was Voltaire’s response to a priest asking him to renounce Satan on his deathbed / Dustin Demri-Burns as Voltaire in The Great (2020–)
Last words of John Wayne, American actor (b. 1907, d. 1979) born Marion Robert Morrison
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