13 Famous Bollywood Actors Who Died So Young

The death of an actor leaves a void in the lives of their fans. The unparalleled and unmatched performances of the actors remain etched in their hearts forever. Unfortunately, there are so many of these talented actors who left for their heavenly abode at a very young age and we are here to bring to you the names of those who left too soon!

Innumerable popular young actors like Jiah Khan, Inder Kumar, Vivek Shauq, Rasika Joshi, Sidharth Shukla, Pratyusha Banerjee, Taruni Sachdev, were at the peak of their popularity but left the world in shock after their untimely demise.

Here we are listing the top 13 Bollywood actors who died young who are also considered to be one of the greatest actors of all time!

1- Guru Dutt

9 July 1925 born legendary film personality Guru Dutt lived for just 39 years and worked in 16 films as an actor, also worked in films as director-producer and also choreographed in some of them.

Guru Dutt’s death is still a mystery, some sources say that it was a suicide which was his third attempt and some sources reported that he took alcohol and sleeping pills after which he died due to overdose. Baazi (1951), Jaal (1952) to Pyaasa (1957) and Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959) all are his classical films.

2- Meena Kumari

Mahjabeen Bano well known by her stage name Meena Kumari referred to as The Tragedy Queen and also called female Guru Dutt of Indian Cinema. She was born on 1 August 1933 and started her acting career at an early age.

On 31 March 1972, at the age of 38 the method actress, poetess, singer, costume designer Meena Kumari left the world due to liver cirrhosis and it happened after a week of her critically acclaimed movie Pakeezah (1972).

3- Divya Bharti

In a short time period of 3 years, Divya Bharti became the most popular face of the ’90s. She started her acting career at 16 and worked in more than 20 films including Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi that received both critical and commercial success.

Born on 25 February 1974, this actress died on 5 April 1993 due to head injuries after falling from her balcony. She was merely 19 and her death is still a mystery to all. Her Bollywood debut Vishwatma (1992) and Deewana (1992) earned her much fame, despite a short career she is considered one of the most popular actresses in Indian cinema.

4- Sanjeev Kumar

Harihar Jethalal Jariwala, best known by his stage name Sanjeev Kumar was born on 9 Jul 1938. He is regarded as one of the most versatile actors of all time who won the National Film Award twice, for best actor for Dastak (1971) and Koshish (1973).

On 6 November 1985, Sanjeev Kumar left the world due to a Heart attack. The actor is well-noted for Shikar (1969), Sholay (1976), Aandhi (1976), Arjun Pandit (1977), Angoor (1982).

5- Vinod Mehra

13 February 1945 born Vinod Mehra started his acting career early at the age of 13 but played a lead role in Ek Thi Rita (1971) after which he worked continuously and played lead and supporting roles in more than 50 films until his death on 30 October 1990.

Vinod directed and produced the film Gurudev (1993) which was released 3 years after his demise due to a heart attack. Nagin (1976), Ghar (1978), Anurodh (1977), Amar Deep (1979), Jaani Dushman (1979), Bemisal (1982) are his well-noted films.

6- Smita Patil

13 December 1986 born Smita Patil lived for 31 years. She had a short career of 12 years in the industry but is still remembered for her notable work. At the young age of 30, she received the country’s fourth-highest civilian honor Padma Shri, just a year before her death on 13 December 1986.

Smita Patil worked in Marathi, Telugu, Punjabi, and Hindi Film industries. Her best films are Bhumika (1977), Chakra (1980) earned her Nation Film Award for best actress. Bazaar (1983), Arth (1984), Mandi (1984), Mirch Masala (1985), and Ghulami (1985).

7- Madhubala

Mumtaz Jehan Begum Dehlavi is highly popular as Madhubala and is regarded as one of the most beautiful and fine actresses of all time. She was born on 14 February 1933 and started her acting career at the early age of 9.

In 22 years, including child roles, she worked in around 75 films. Mughal-e-Azam (1960) along with The Tragedy King Dilip Kumar is an evergreen film of Indian cinema. Mahal (1949), Amar (1954), Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958) are also well-noted films. She breathed her last at the young age of 36, after suffering from a ventricular septal defect, where she had a hole in her heart.

8- Amjad Khan

Amjad Khan was born on 12 November 1940, his Gabbar character from Sholay (1975) earned him so fame, even still movie lovers consider him the best villain of all time. At the age of 11, Amjad started his acting career and played child artiste in a few films.

More than 10 films were released after his death on 27 April 1992 due to a heart attack. His notable work is Sholay (1975), Shatranj Ke Khiladi (1977), Muqaddar Ka Sikandar (1978). He died at the age of 51.

9- Geeta Bali

Harikirtan Kaur a very well-known Indian actress Geeta Bali was born on 30 November 1930. In 10 years of her short career, she did around 70 films and left a mark behind.

On 21 January 1965, Geeta Bali died due to smallpox during shooting a film in Punjab, at the age of 34. Her notable works include Sohag Raat (1948), Bawre Nain (1950), Baazi (1951), Mr. India (1961).

10- Soundarya

18 July 1976 born K.S. Sowmya Satyanarayana or Soundarya Raghu is very well known by her stage name Soundrya who gained fame in the Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and Hindi Film Industries.

On 17 April 2004, at the age of 27, the actress left the world. Megastar Amitabh Bachchan’s superhit Sooryavansham (1999) actress who played Radha Singh along with him died due to an accident in an aircraft crash.

11- Sushant Singh Rajput

The famous Bollywood actor who started his career from the TV serial ‘Pavitra Rishta’, and landed up in Bollywood with Kai Po Che (2013), Sushant Singh Rajput was born on 21 January 1986.

Sushant was at the peak of his career when he committed suicide on 14 Jun 2020, when he was found hanging in his room. Some of his notable works include Shudh Desi Romance’ (2013), PK (2014), Raabta (2017), Sonchiriya (2019), and his last movie Dil Bechara (2020).

12- Sridevi

The legendary actress, Shree Amma Yanger Ayyapan, referred by her stage name Sridevi was born on 13 Aug 1963 and was the queen of Bollywood in her times. Sridevi started her career at a very young age as a child artist in a Tamil film Kandhan Karunai (1967), when she was only four.

The actress left for her heavenly abode in the year 2018 at the age of 54, when she died due to accidental drowning in her hotel room.

Some of her well-known works include Julie (1975), Himmatwala (1983), Karma (1986), Mr. India (1987), English Vinglish (2017), and Mom (2017). She was even honored with National Film Awards for the last two films posthumously.

13- Irrfan Khan

If we talk about pure talent, Irrfan Khan is one name we can’t miss! This iconic actor lost his life due to a chronic disease neuroendocrine tumor in the year 2020 at the age of 53.

Irrfan is known for his magnificent three-decade-long career where he had his debut with the movie Salaam Bombay (1988). He then had a long list of notable works like Haasil (2003), Maqbool (2004), The Namesake (2006), Life In A Metro (2007), The Lunchbox (2013), Haider (2014) Piku (2015).

He even acted in famous Hollywood movies where he had a supporting role in films like The Amazing Spiderman (2012), Life of Pi (2012), Jurassic World (2015), Inferno (2016). He achieved much praise for his performance in Slumdog Millionaire (2008).

Irrfan was not only a great actor but was also a recipient of a National Award, one Asian Film Award, and six Filmfare Awards. In 2011, he was even honored with the Padma Shri and was awarded the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in the year 2021, posthumously.