Top 5 Celebrities Who Read Their Own Obituary

5. Earnest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway and his wife Mary Welsh Hemingway were in a plane crash in 1954 prompting newspaper to declare them dead. Much to the chagrin of the news services, the Nobel Prize-winning author of “Old Man and the Sea” was seriously injured but remained alive until 1961, seven years after the debilitating accident.
4. Ronald Reagan/Queen Elizabeth

These two prominent world leaders were victims of the 2003 CNN.com premature obit section. The Queen Mother Elizabeth was also declared dead after a routine drill witnessed by a rookie at Sky News. When the
rookie called his mother in Australia, the word got out and they weren’t able to verify before running the story. As for Reagan, it is rather surprising that he was not declared dead after the failed assassination attempt on his life in the early 80s. Reagan is known as one of the most popular American presidents of the latter half of the 20th Century.
3. Mark Twain

Called the father of American Literature, Samuel Langhorne Clemens, or Mark Twain, as he is better known was reported as dead in 1897, some 13 years before he died. Reading his obit he gave the famous quote – “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.” It seems in life and death he could still captivate audiences with his words.
2. Bob Hope

The charismatic vaudevillian Bob Hope died just a few years ago, but is the second dead celebrity on our list to have read his obit not once, but twice. Both times his death was reported on a website before it was yanked. Hope is a prime example of the journalistic practice of writing obits for famous people; he had been on the Celebrity Dead Pool for years before his actual death.
1. Paul McCartney
 
One of the two still-kicking Beatles, Sir Paul McCartney was declared dead by a caller to Detroit DJ Russ Gibb in 1966. In a separate case, a New York DJ discussed his death a few days later. Both instances prompted many references to his death in future Beatles songs.
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