The sudden death of pop singer Michael Jackson has left his worldwide fans reeling from his loss, and his family and friends demanding to have their questions answered.

How could the King of Pop die, when he was only weeks away from playing 50 shows in London -- the concerts that some believed could pull him out of the financial problems he had become mired in over the years, and put him back in the public eye as a performer.

There are questions about Jackson's drug use, his overall health and the way that the police have handled the investigation into his death.

And speculation about his death has also increased with the recent release of a video showing the 50-year-old singing "They Don't Care About Us," while practicing for the London concerts, only two days before he died.

To some, the video appears to show the man behind Thriller as being fit and ready to take the stage once again. Others say Jackson appears frail and past his prime, and possibly in ill health.

As civil rights leader Jesse Jackson put it only days after the singer's death: "We should know what happened. Was he injected and with what? All reasonable doubt should be addressed."

But Jackson's unexpected death was not the first to occur in Los Angeles County, the 88-city region where stars often spend their final days -- whether in the prime of their life, or well past the point when they were at the top of their game.

For decades, such strange and tragic stories of celebrity death in L.A. have captivated the public and made tabloids, newspapers, TV shows and magazines ravenous for their details.

Coroner to the stars

Just look at the career of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the so-called "coroner to the stars," who practiced forensic medicine throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and was one of the first on the scene when many of the most famous Hollywood actors, singers and celebrities were found dead in L.A.

He was involved in investigating the heroin overdose of singer Janis Joplin, the "probable suicide" of Marilyn Monroe; the assassination of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, the murder of Sharon Tate; the overdose by Animal House star John Belushi; and the drowning of Natalie Wood, among other high-profile cases.

In 1983, Noguchi wrote about them all in "Coroner," his tell-all book that went on to spawn a sequel three years later, with more of "America's most controversial" deaths - all of which happened in L.A.

Since then, there have been countless other celebrities who have died under suspicious, controversial or murky circumstances also in Los Angeles County.

A short list of some of the more notable cases includes:

The accidental death of Beach Boy drummer Dennis Wilson, who drowned after diving -- while drunk -- off a pier in Marina del Rey, Calif. The 39-year-old died three days after Christmas in 1983.

The death of soul singer Marvin Gaye, who was fatally shot by his father on April Fool's Day in 1984. The two men got into an argument at his Los Angeles home the day before the singer's 45th birthday.

The accidental -- and fatal -- drug overdose of River Phoenix, the up-and-coming Hollywood actor, who died outside an L.A. club on Halloween night in 1993. He was 23.

An accidental overdose killed Hollywood producer Don Simpson at his Bel-Air home in January 1996. The 52-year-old man who produced Top Gun, Beverley Hills and Flashdance, had spent many years on the L.A. party circuit.

The day in May 1998, when Ontario-born comedian Phil Hartman was shot dead while in his Encino, Calif., home. His wife killed him, then pulled the trigger on herself. Hartman was 49.

With files from The Associated Press