10 Celebrities’ Last Words That Left the World Speechless

As esophageal cancer took its toll in January 1957, the Casablanca legend kept his trademark wit until the very end. Before slipping into a coma at his Holmby Hills home beside wife Lauren Bacall, Bogart reportedly murmured, "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis."

Four days before his death in February 2015 at age 83, the beloved Mr. Spock actor shared his final public reflection with the world: "A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved, except in memory. LLAP"—signing off with his signature "Live Long and Prosper."

At just 36 years old, reggae pioneer Bob Marley spent his final hours at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami in May 1981. Turning to his teenage son Ziggy Marley, the global music icon left behind a four-word truth that outlived fortunes: "Money can't buy life."

In the final hours before her death at age 48 on February 11, 2012, the six-time Grammy winner seemed to feel an eerie premonition. After singing "Jesus Loves Me" the night before, Houston told those closest to her in Beverly Hills, "I'm gonna go see Jesus—want to see Jesus."

After dominating 20th-century music and cinema for over five decades, Frank Sinatra suffered a severe heart attack on May 14, 1998, at age 82. At Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, as his wife Barbara held his hand and encouraged him to fight, he whispered, "I'm losing."

In her moving New York Times eulogy, novelist Mona Simpson revealed the final words of her brother, Apple visionary Steve Jobs, on October 5, 2011. Looking lovingly at his sister Patty, his children, and his wife Laurene before gazing past their shoulders, he whispered, "Oh wow. Oh wow. Oh wow."

Unable to sleep in the early morning hours of August 16, 1977, at Graceland, 42-year-old Elvis Presley told fiancée Ginger Alden he was going to the bathroom to read. When she warned him, "Don't fall asleep in there," the King offered his final reassuring words: "OK, I won't."

On the evening of August 4, 1962, 36-year-old Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe spoke on the telephone with actor Peter Lawford. Sounding groggy, she ended the call with: "Say goodbye to Pat, say goodbye to the President, and say goodbye to yourself, because you're a nice guy."

Silently battling devastating Lewy body dementia, Oscar-winning actor and comedian Robin Williams appeared unusually calm on the night of August 10, 2014. As recounted by his wife, Susan Schneider Williams, his final words to her before retiring were a tender, repeated: "Goodnight, my love. Goodnight, my love."

When French firefighter Sergeant Xavier Gourmelon reached the wrecked Mercedes inside Paris's Pont de l'Alma tunnel on August 31, 1997, he didn't immediately realize he was treating the Princess of Wales. Regaining consciousness briefly, 36-year-old Diana looked at him and asked, "My God, what's happened?"