DAILY DIRT: Some celebrities started in prison, some ended up there

These are, without question, three of the strangest deaths I have ever come across … Welcome to today’s three thoughts that make up Vol. 634 of The Daily Dirt.

1. As bizarre as it may sound, the mid-1980s gave birth to something called the Darwin Awards. 

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improved our gene pool by removing themselves from it. I think you get the idea. Here were some of my favorite nominees through the years:

Gold medal: For some reason, a guy named Edward Archbold entered a cockroach-eating contest at a reptile store in Florida in 2012. The grand prize was a python. Go figure.

Well, our boy Edward gobbled up dozens of live cockroaches, but later collapsed and died. The cause of death was determined to be accidental choking due to “anthropod body parts.” 

No other illnesses were reported among the other 30-plus competitors, according to en.hoops.habit.com.

For the record, Edward had planned on selling the python to a friend, according to the owner of the Ben Siegel Reptile Store. 

Silver medal: In 1771, the King of Sweden, Adolf Frederick, ate himself to death. Literally.

The king gorged himself on a meal of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and champagne, topped off with 14 servings of his favorite pudding, made of Swedish sweet buns called semlas, served in a bowl of hot milk.

Unfortunately, the king, age 60, suffered such severe indigestion or food poisoning that he died. Swedes remember Adolf Fredrik as the king who “ate himself to death.” 

Bronze medal: Back in 2015 in northern England, a fellow named Stephen Whinfrey died a rather unusual death. He spotted a lone rabbit bouncing across his yard and was determined to catch it. The rabbit soon disappeared down a nearby rabbit hole in a woods near Whinfrey’s home. 

Trying to spot the floppy-eared bypasser, Whinfrey got his head stuck in the hole, suffocated and died. He was discovered the next day by a walker with just his legs and torso sticking out of the ground. An inquest found Whinfrey’s judgment may have been affected by alcohol. 

2. Here’s an update on some celebrities you have gave forgotten about who were sentenced to prison:

Joe Exotic: The guy who had many of us addicted to the infamous “Tiger King” series on Netflix is currently incarcerated in the Federal Medical Center in Forth Worth, Texas, where he is serving a 21-year sentence for two counts of a murder-for-hire scheme and for the buying and killing of tigers. For those who may never have known is real name, it is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage.

Jared Fogle: The disgraced ex-face of the Subway sandwich commercials became famous for losing 400 pounds by just eating two Subway sandwiches each day. But his fall from grace was swift after being convicted of receiving child pornography and engaging in sex with a minor. He’s currently serving a 15-year prison term.

R. Kelly: The one-time entertainer is an inmate of the Metropolitan Correction Center in Chicago after being sentenced to 31 years behind bars for sexually abusing a variety of young fans over the years.

3. Keeping with the prison theme, here’s a few more celebrities with skeletons in their closet.

Did you know the following actually served prison time prior to becoming famous? 

Robert Downey Jr.: Back in the 1990s he was a minor Hollywood name at best, partly because of a long history of drug addiction, which led to multiple run-ins with the law. He was arrested several times on drug-related charges, and in 1999 he was sentenced to three years in prison for violating probation. He served a year in a California prison, but after that cleaned up his act and became a bona fide Hollywood star.

Mark Wahlberg: He’s been one of the top action film stars for years, but prior to hitting the bigtime on film, Wahlberg spent 45 days in prison for assaulting two Vietnamese men, leaving one partially blind. He was initially charged with attempted murder. Earlier in his career, he was part of New Kids on the Block in the early 1990s and was known as Marky Mark.

Tim Allen: The guy we all loved on the “Home Improvement” and “Last Man Standing” TV shows, in addition to being the voice of Woody in the “Toy Story” movie(s), Allen was arrested in 1978 for drug trafficking after he was caught with over a pound of cocaine at a Michigan airport. He served two years, four months in prison.

James Brown: The Hall of Fame soul singer once spent 2 1/2 years in prison after threatening his wife with a handgun, plus assaults and battery.

Steve Thought O’ The Day — Admit it, you’re trying to imagine what it would be liked to have your head stuck in a rabbit hole.

Steve Eighinger writes daily for Muddy River News. He’s never danced to the Jailhouse Rock.