Steve Irwin(Febuary 22 1962 - September 4 2006)

While filming for his upcoming tv special Ocean's Deadliest, the 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin, was most unconventionally felled by a stingray. He was doing some shallow water segments when he swam just a little too close over the stingray. The ray's signature barbed tail speared the fearless Irwin in the chest, piercing his heart. While stingray barbs are coated in venom, it is hardly enough to kill a man outright. Irwin died of massive cardiac trauma due to the 20-inch spike impaling him in the heart. He is only the second person to die of an Australian stingray attack following the first reported case in Melbourne, 1945.

He had an uncanny way with animals of all sorts and was heralded worldwide for his quirky, but humane treatment of dangerous creatures (most notably the salt-water crocodiles of Australia). His celebrity status fell briefly after his first feature film tanked, and fell further when he put on a public display of feeding a crocodile while cradling his one-month old child in the other arm.

Steve Irwin is survived by his wife and co-star Terri, and their two young children.