Whitney Houston
The Grammy-winning "I Will Always Love You" singer passed away from accidental drowning in February 2012 at the age of 48, six months before her final film, Sparkle, hit theaters in August.
Heath Ledger
Ledger, 28, passed away from an accidental drug overdose in January 2008, six months before The Dark Knight—which would win him an Oscar—debuted. He was also working on The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which premiered more than a year after his death.
Marilyn Monroe
The most infamous blonde bombshell in history, Monroe was found dead at the age of 36 in August 1962, spurring countless conspiracy theories. Footage from her last, unfinished film Something's Got to Give was later released via documentary.
Aaliyah
The singer-turned-actress was only 22 when she was killed in a plane crash leaving the Bahamas in August 2001. Queen of the Damned, her sophomore film, was released six months later.
Jill Clayburgh
The Oscar-nominated actress, who played Kristen Wiig's Bridesmaids mom, passed away from leukemia in November 2010, seven months before the film hit theaters.
River Phoenix
Joaquin's brother famously died at the age of 23 from a heroin and cocaine overdose at Hollywood hotspot The Viper Room in October 1993. He had already completed on of his last films, Silent Tongue, which premiered in February 1994.
Anna Nicole Smith
The reality star and TrimSpa saleswoman died in February 2007 of an accidental drug overdose at the age of 39. Her final film, the B-movie comedy Illegal Aliens, was delayed and released in May 2007.
Tupac Shakur
Better known as his rapper alter-ego 2pac, Shakur, 25, died of internal bleeding in September 1996 after a still-controversial shooting. His crime drama Gridlock'd was released in January the following year.
Bernie Mac
The comic had three posthumous films come out after he died of complications from pneumonia in 2008—Soul Men, Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Old Dogs, which costarred John Travolta and Robin Williams.
Bruce Lee
The legendary martial arts star's controversial death at the age of 32 in July 1973 was ruled a "death by misadventure." Just six days after his death, one of his final completed films, Enter the Dragon, was released.
Chris Farley
The Tommy Boy funnyman passed away in December 1997 from a drug overdose and other health-related issues at the age of 33. His final films, Almost Heroes and Dirty Work, were released in May 1998 and June 1998, respectively.
Brandon Lee
Bruce Lee's celebuspawn tragically died at just 28 years old while filming his last movie, The Crow, in March 1993. The accidental shooting happened during a scene in which Lee's costar was supposed to fire blank bullets at Lee. Instead, a fragment of a real bullet that was lodged in the gun fired out, killing Lee.
Natalie Wood
The West Side Story actress was found dead in the ocean in November 1981 after a night of celebrating on a boat trip to Catalina Island. She hadn't yet completed all her scenes in the film Brainstorm and had to have look-alikes complete her work. The movie was released two years later in the fall of 1983.
Jean Harlow
One of MGM's brightest stars, the blonde bombshell died at the age of 26 resulting from renal failure in June 1937. Saratoga—a sixth collaboration between Harlow and Clark Gable—was released in July.
John Candy
The funnyman died in his sleep after suffering a heart attack in March 1994 at 43 years old. His final film, Canadian Bacon, was released in September 1995.
Clark Gable
The legendary Gone With the Wind star died in November 1960 after suffering a heart attack at 59. He had recently finished filming The Misfits alongside Marilyn Monroe. The film came out the following year.
Phil Hartman
Following heated domestic discord in May 1998, the 49-year-old SNL veteran was shot and killed by his wife. Small Soldiers (in which he played Kirsten Dunst's father) was released in July.
James Dean
One of the actor's seminal films—Rebel Without a Cause—was actually released less than a month after Dean, only 24 at the time, was killed when he crashed his Porsche (called the "Little Bastard") in September 1955.