page_title: List of premature obituaries
section_title: W
hierarchical_section_title: List of premature obituaries / W
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Betty White bei der Time 100 Gala im Jahr 2010 English: Betty White at the Time 100 gala in 2010
context_page_description: A premature obituary is an obituary of someone who was still alive at the time of publication. Examples include that of inventor, businessman, and chemist Alfred Nobel, whose premature obituary condemning him as a "merchant of death" may have prompted him to create the Nobel Prize; black nationalist Marcus Garvey, whose actual death may have been precipitated by reading his own obituary; and actor Abe Vigoda, who was the subject of so many premature obituaries that a website was created to state whether he was alive or dead.
  People who were presumed to be dead, and joke death reports that were widely believed, are also included.
context_section_description: Matthew Wall: On October 2, 1571, a pallbearer dropped his coffin on the way to the funeral, waking him up. His 'resurrection' is still celebrated each year in Braughing, Hertfordshire.
  Elsie Waring: in 1963, this 35-year-old was certified dead by three doctors at Willesden General Hospital, London. Several hours later she gasped and started breathing while being lifted into her coffin.
  William James Wanless, a Canadian medical doctor who worked as a missionary in India, was reported dead there in 1922. Wanless actually continued to serve in India until his retirement in 1928, and he died at home in California in 1933.
  Kate Webb: in 1971 the journalist was part of a group captured in the Cambodian jungle by North Vietnamese troops. Official reports claimed that a body that had been found and cremated was hers, and a box of bones said to be hers was delivered to Reuters. The New York Times published an obituary. She emerged from captivity over three weeks later, having endured forced marches, interrogations, and two strains of malaria. Webb died in 2007.
  Harry Delyne Weed, the inventor of Weed non-skid tire chains, was reported dead in numerous publications (including Time magazine and the New York Herald Tribune) in 1927 after a reporter for the Jackson, Michigan Citizen Patriot wrote that the recently deceased Mrs. Alice Weed from Jackson had been the inventor's widow. It later emerged that Alice Weed was no relation, and that both the inventor and his wife were alive and well.
  Kanye West: was the subject of an Internet hoax news report on October 20, 2009, claiming that he had been killed in a car crash. The rumor quickly spread via social networking websites such as Twitter, prompting West's then-girlfriend Amber Rose to respond "This 'RIP Kanye West' topic is not funny and it's NOT TRUE!"
  Darene Springs Weston: In December 2015, this 43-year-old woman from Chester, South Carolina used forged documents in an attempt to declare herself dead so that she could avoid going to jail on drunk driving charges. After an investigation, she was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice.
  Alan Whicker (journalist), while reporting on the Korean War. He was flying with an aerial spotter in a Piper Aztec plane behind enemy lines, as part of a story. Although his plane landed safely, a similar craft was shot down on the same day, and was assumed to be Whicker's plane. The resulting newspaper obituary commented on his lack of achievement (Whicker then being far less well-known than he is now). He died on July 12, 2013.
  Betty White (actress and comedian): On September 3, 2014, a story from the Empire News Network (which typically publishes outright hoaxes) reported that White, at 92, "dyed comfortably in her Los Angeles home"; the article went on to describe White's longtime use of hair dye. The headline was deliberately written as a pun to appear as if it were an obituary, which confused many and led her agent to clarify that she is still alive. White, at the time, was filming episodes for the TV series Hot in Cleveland, on which she was a regular cast member.
  Peter Whittingham: English footballer, most known for his decade at Cardiff City, was mistakenly reported dead by veteran journalist Terry Phillips on the "Dai Sport" website on March 17, 2020. Whittingham was in fact alive at the time, and hospitalised with head injuries after a fall. He really did die two days later. 
  Slim Whitman: the country singer was reported dead in January 2008 by a radio DJ and by the Nashville Tennessean's website, apparently sparked by rumours he had died. "It seems like every 10 years something weird happens like that", he said. Whitman died in June 2013.
  Paul Wight, better known by his professional wrestling ring name The Big Show, was reported killed by WWE on June 16, 2017, by satire news site The Onion stating that Wight was killed after a seven-year-old boy wandered into a steel cage during a live event in Indianapolis. The article, meant to lampoon the real-life killing of Harambe and clearly a satire and not a premature obituary, receiv
caption: American actress Betty White has been the subject of a premature obituary on two occasions
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