Drowned Trivia Quiz

Answer: Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was best known for playing Theo Huxtable on "The Cosby Show". On July 20, 2025, Warner was on vacation in Costa Rica with his family when he was caught in a strong current. He was part of a group that was learning to surf when the party went out into the ocean where the current turned strong and Warner was washed out with other people who managed to get to safety.

After Warner's death, attention was focused on the lack of lifeguards in the area as they had been relocated to another beach that had also been experiencing fast and rough tides.

Answer: Naya Rivera

Naya Rivera died on July 8, 2020, at the age of 33. Rivera and her son were swimming in Lake Piru in California when she drowned while saving him. Rivera was known to be a strong swimmer, however, her son was found alone on a boat and told police his mother helped him onto the boat but struggled to get back up and went under the water and never came up.

Her body was missing for five days until it was found on July 13. The coroner determined she drowned when she was caught in a rip tide and used her last bit of strength to help her son to safety.

Answer: Ketamine

Matthew Perry was best known for his role as Chandler on "Friends". He died on October 28, 2023, after he drowned in his Jacuzzi. His death was determined to be from a combination of factors, including drowning and coronary disease, the latter of which was exacerbated by the high levels of ketamine in his body which caused overstimulation of the heart and other organs. Perry was reported to have been taking ketamine to manage his anxiety.

Answer: The Beverly Hilton

Whitney Houston drowned in her suite's bathtub on February 11, 2012. Her death was ruled an accident with drugs and heart disease being factors. She died at the Beverly Hilton, one of Beverly Hills' most famous hotels and the site of many historic events. One of these was Richard Nixon's "Last Press Conference" in 1962 when he declared the press "wouldn't have Richard Nixon to kick around anymore".

It is also where U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Edwards was caught having an affair with Rielle Hunter in 2008.

Answer: He drowned on the fifth anniversary of his previous heroic act.

Jerry Anderson was professional football player who played for the Cincinnati Bengals and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He drowned on May 27, 1989, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where he was on a fishing trip. Anderson rescued two boys from drowning, but was unable to stay afloat and drowned in the Stones River.

His body was recovered by rescue workers. Exactly five years prior on May 27, 1984, Anderson rescued two people from a motor vehicle when they were trapped in a flood, although he was unable to save the third person in the vehicle, something that was said to have bothered him the rest of his life.

Answer: Santa Catalina Island

Natalie Wood drowned when she mysteriously left the "Splendour", a yacht owned by her ex-husband actor Robert Wagner. Wood, Wagner, actor Christopher Walken, and a few other people were sailing around Santa Catalina Island when Wood disappeared. Her body was found about a mile away from the boat.

Her death remains unsolved, and Wagner was named as a person of interest because he allegedly had a heated argument with Wood before she disappeared, although the exact circumstances are disputed. Wood had been drinking and taking motion sickness pills, which led to speculation that she accidentally fell off the boat. Wood's sister, Lana Wood, was skeptical of this since her sister could not swim and was afraid of water and drowning.

Answer: Virginia Woolf

Virginia Woolf suffered from frequent bouts of depression. By the dawn of World War II, Woolf's depression worsened. She was pessimistic about the war and lost two of her homes during the London Blitz. She had also suffered from ill physical health and was upset when her husband, Leonard Woolf, joined the Home Guard.

She committed suicide on March 28, 1941, by walking into the River Ouse with a rock in her pocket to weigh her down. Before she died, she left her husband a note explaining that her depression was worse than ever before and she did not believe she could get it over like she had in the past.

She also wrote that she loved Leonard and he had made her happy, but she also felt a burden to him and did not want to hold him back any longer.

Answer: The cause was never determined

Musician Glenn Miller was serving during World War II when he disappeared over the English Channel on December 15, 1944. It is widely assumed Miller, who was traveling to France on an unauthorized aircraft, drowned when his plane crashed into the English Channel. Witnesses allegedly saw the plane go down but were unable to assist; it was not known Miller was on the plane until three days later. What caused the plane to disappear is unknown and was never determined.

At the time, the severe weather was blamed, but without recovering the plane or the remains of those onboard no solution could be reached. Rumors ran rampant that the plane was brought down by friendly fire which went unreported to hide the circumstances of Miller's death. Other conspiracies included that Miller was never on the plane and he was killed by Nazis, and that Miller had actually died in a Parisian brothel.

The plane story was concocted to spare his wife and preserve his reputation.

Answer: Madeline Astor

John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeline were aboard the Titanic went it sunk on its maiden voyage. Mrs. Astor was five months pregnant at the time. Mrs. Astor escaped the sinking by making it onto lifeboat #4. Her husband was denied entry onto the lifeboat because it was women and children first. He was unable to escape the sinking and drowned when the ship went down. His body was recovered a few days later.

Benjamin Guggenheim was a socialite and businessman who perished on the Titanic. Numerous witnesses stated that Guggenheim helped many passengers, mostly women and children, get on lifeboats and deliberately stayed on board to help others. His body was never recovered.

Ida Straus was another Titanic victim who died alongside her husband Isidor. Their story is one of the more famous ones. Ida was offered a spot on a lifeboat, but refused to take it since her husband refused his spot. Ida said she would either be rescued with him or die with him. She gave her spot on the lifeboat and her fur coat to her maid, Ellen Bird. Bird, who survived, would later recall the love the Ida and Isidor had as they waited to die aboard the ship. Ida's body was never recovered, but Isidore's was. Witnesses reported that the Strauses were knocked off the ship by a wave before it sunk.

Answer: Percy Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley drowned when he was traveling about the "Don Juan" off the coast of Italy. The "Don Juan" was Shelley's boat, and was custom-made for him. Although the Don Juan was said to have physical defects, the ultimate cause of Shelley's drowning and the sinking of the "Don Juan" was the inexperienced crew who did not know how to handle the ship when it hit a storm.

Shelley's body was discovered ten days later and his remains were cremated on the beach shortly afterwards.