"The rumor of my death is greatly exaggerated," author Mark Twain is said to have said after falling ill in London on a trip in 1897. He did so to silence the gossip that he had died of the disease.
On Sunday, it was reported that Tanya Roberts, known among other things from the Bond film Living Target from 1985, had died at a hospital in Los Angeles.
But a day later, the death was denied.
Although Roberts is in hospital, she is alive.
False rumors about famous people's sortie from earthly life are common.
Through Facebook groups and Twitter posts, information about deaths that have never taken place has been spread.
Rumors are not always malicious jokes.
Digital whispering often arises from pure misconceptions.
For example, a French radio channel happened to publish hundreds of obituaries of celebrities last autumn.
Among the dead were, according to The Guardian, Queen Elizabeth, Clint Eastwood and Yoko Ono.
See the clip above for examples of more famous people who have been declared dead by mistake.