Robert Culp - Death

Death

Culp took frequent walks in the Runyon Canyon, a park close to his apartment in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles. On the morning of March 24, 2010, he left the apartment to go for a walk. Later, a jogger found him lying unconscious on the sidewalk close to the lower entrance of the canyon. Police officers and paramedics were summoned quickly, but they were unable to revive him. Culp was taken to Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, but all efforts at resuscitation were unsuccessful, and he was pronounced dead at about 11:00 a.m. Although the first reports from the police suggested that Culp died from striking his head on the ground when he fell, it was later found that he had collapsed and died because of a heart attack. Culp's only injury from his fall was a minor cut on his head.

On April 10, 2010, a memorial service for Culp was held at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles, with his family, friends, and some of his fans attending. At the time of his death, Culp had just completed the filming of a supporting role in the motion picture, The Assignment. Culp was also working on several screenplays at the time of his death. One of these screenplays, an adaptation of the story of Terry and the Pirates, had already been accepted for filming, and it was scheduled for the start of production in Hong Kong later in 2012, with Culp being the film director.

Terry and the Pirates had been Culp's favorite comic strip as a boy, and it was his longtime wish to make a film based on it. Culp's remains were buried in the Sunset View Cemetery in El Cerrito, California, located not far from his hometown of Oakland.