DATE: Tuesday, October 14, 1997             TAG: 9710140413

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   73 lines

CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE DIED IN CRASHES

CELEBRITIES WHO HAVE DIED IN CRASHES

Some prominent entertainers killed in plane crashes:

Aug. 15, 1935: Will Rogers, cowboy humorist and star of

vaudeville and film, dies in plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska,

along with aviator Wiley Post.

Jan. 16, 1942: Carole Lombard, actress in such comedies as

``Nothing Sacred,'' is killed in plane crash near Las Vegas while on

a tour to sell war bonds. She was 33.

Dec. 15, 1944: A plane carrying Glenn Miller, trombonist and

leader of a hugely popular dance band, known for such hits as

``Moonlight Serenade'' and ``In the Mood,'' disappears on flight

from England to Paris while Miller was serving in the Army

entertaining troops. He was 40.

Feb. 3, 1959: A plane carrying singers Buddy Holly, J.P. ``The

Big Bopper'' Richardson and Ritchie Valens crashes near Mason City,

Iowa, en route to a show in Fargo, N.D. Holly, the pioneering rocker

whose hits included ``Peggy Sue,'' was 22. Richardson, whose big hit

was ``Chantilly Lace,'' was 29. Valens, famous for such songs as

``La Bamba'' and ``Donna,'' was 18.

March 5, 1963: Patsy Cline, whose country hits included ``Crazy''

and ``She's Got You,'' dies in a plane crash near Camden, Tenn., at

age 31. Also killed were Grand Ole Opry stars Cowboy Copas and

Hawkshaw Hawkins and the pilot.

Dec. 10, 1967: Soul singer Otis Redding dies in a plane crash in

Wisconsin along with members of his band, the Bar-Kays. He was 26.

His greatest hit, the somber ballad ``Sittin' on the Dock of the

Bay,'' is released after his death.

May 30, 1971: Audie Murphy, World War II hero who became a film

actor in late '40s, mostly in Westerns and war movies, is killed

along with five others in a small plane crash in Carroll County, Va.

He was 46.

Sept. 20, 1973: Jim Croce dies in an air crash near Natchitoches,

La., at age 30. He had put together a string of rock hits, such as

the poignant ``Time in a Bottle'' and the witty ``Bad, Bad Leroy

Brown.''

Oct. 21, 1977: Lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Stevie

Gaines of the Lynyrd Skynyrd band, which carved a niche in the rock

world with its image as hard-drinking, hell-raising Southerners, are

killed in a plane crash in McComb, Miss.

March 19, 1982: Randy Rhoads, 25, lead guitarist for heavy metal

star Ozzy Osbourne, is killed when the plane in which he was flying

buzzes Osbourne's tour bus and crashes into a house in Leesburg,

Fla.

Dec. 31, 1985: Rick Nelson is among seven people who die in a New

Year's Eve plane crash near DeKalb, Texas. Nelson, 45, was first a

TV star, the son of Ozzie and Harriet Nelson; he achieved musical

stardom in the late 1950s and early '60s with ``I'm Walkin,''' and

``Travelin' Man.''

March 21, 1987: Entertainer Dean Martin's son Dino Martin, who as

member of '60s pop group Dino, Desi and Billy had a hit called ``I'm

a Fool,'' is killed in the crash of an Air National Guard jet in

California's San Bernardino Mountains. He was 35.

Aug. 27, 1990: Blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, 35, is killed

when a helicopter crashes into a hill in East Troy, Wis., after

departing from a concert. Vaughan, a Grammy winner, had a platinum

album with his band, Double Trouble, in ``Couldn't Stand the

Weather,'' released in 1984.

March 16, 1991: Seven members of singer Reba McEntire's band are

killed in a crash near San Diego.

Oct. 12, 1997: John Denver, one of the biggest recording stars of

the 1970s with hits like ``Take Me Home, Country Roads'' and

``Annie's Song,'' dies in a crash of his experimental plane off the

California coast.

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