14 People Who Didn’t Become Super Famous Until After They Died

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Franz Kafka didn't people a batch portion helium was alive, and what helium did people — including his now-famous novella The Metamorphosis — was not wide known. Before his decease astatine property 40, helium asked his person Max Brod to pain his unpublished manuscripts, but Max Brod not lone couldn't bash it — helium had them published and helped crook his person into an influential literate figure.

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James Dean was truly conscionable opening to beryllium good known erstwhile helium was alive. Only 1 movie successful which helium played the pb was released earlier his decease astatine property 24 — East of Eden, which helium received a posthumous Oscar information for. Rebel Without a Cause was released conscionable under a month aft his death, launching his icon status. His past movie, Giant, was released the pursuing twelvemonth and earned him different posthumous Oscar nom. 

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Stieg Larsson was a writer who died astatine the property of 50, leaving down 3 manuscripts for his Millennium series, which had been accepted for work but had not yet been published. The archetypal book, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, was released successful Sweden 2005, a twelvemonth aft the author's death, and an English connection mentation came retired successful 2008 — turning him into 1 of the bestselling novelists successful the world.

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Jeff Buckley and his euphony had a cult pursuing successful life, but it was aft his decease astatine property 30 that his fame and power genuinely skyrocketed. He's present possibly astir known for his "Hallelujah" cover, which was released arsenic a azygous successful 2007, 10 years aft his death. 

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Only 10 of the thousands of poems Emily Dickinson wrote were published earlier her death; aft it, her sister Lavinia played a cardinal portion successful getting the remainder published. The archetypal measurement was released successful 1890, 4 years aft Emily had died — but adjacent then, it wasn't until 1955 that a implicit postulation of Emily's enactment was published by student Thomas H Johnson. 

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H. P. Lovecraft played a immense portion successful shaping the modern horror genre, but during his lifetime, his enactment was published successful pulp magazines that didn't scope a wide audience. After his decease astatine property 46 successful 1937, his friends August Derleth and Donald Wandrei created their ain publishing location to merchandise hardcover editions of his works, but it was the popularity of paperbacks successful the 1970s that allowed H.P. Lovecraft's stories to yet summation a batch of attention.

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Vincent van Gogh was a prolific artist, creating thousands of works, but helium lone sold 1 coating earlier his decease astatine property 37. It was his widowed sister-in-law, Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, that made it her ngo to person Vincent's enactment — and himself arsenic an creator — wide known and appreciated successful the years aft his death.

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Otis Redding's philharmonic bequest persists contempt the information that helium was conscionable 26 erstwhile helium died successful 1967. He did execute occurrence portion helium was alive, but his astir well-known opus — and the 1 that cemented his fame — "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay)" didn't travel retired until aft his decease — making it the archetypal opus to deed fig 1 connected the Billboard Hot 100, posthumously. 

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John Kennedy Toole died successful 1969, aged 31. His celebrated work, A Confederacy of Dunces, was rejected successful his beingness and wasn't published until 1980, aft his parent enlisted the assistance of novelist Walker Percy. The pursuing year, the caller won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. 

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Herman Melville did execute aboriginal occurrence arsenic a writer, but his astir celebrated work, Moby-Dick, was not fashionable erstwhile helium was alive, and by the clip helium died astatine property 72 successful 1891, his books were retired of people and helium was mostly forgotten. In the precocious 1910s and aboriginal 1920s, scholarly involvement successful Herman Melville emerged, and nationalist attraction on with it. 

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In his beingness and successful the contiguous years pursuing his decease successful 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach was known chiefly arsenic an organist and teacher, with his archetypal euphony mostly forgotten for astir 80 years until 1829, erstwhile Felix Mendelssohn, past 20, performed his mentation of Bach's "St Matthew Passion", starring to unprecedented popularity for Bach and his compositions. 

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Johannes Vermeer had immoderate fame and occurrence arsenic a creator portion helium was alive, but helium was mostly forgotten aft his decease successful 1675. It wasn't until astir 200 years later, erstwhile creation collector and scholar Théophile Thoré-Bürger got nerdily into Vermeer and started studying and penning astir him, that his renown was genuinely established.

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Ed Wood was a prolific manager and writer successful the '50s done to the '70s, but his enactment was mostly derided and ignored erstwhile helium was alive. He became overmuch much famous after his death successful 1978, particularly erstwhile helium was named the worst manager of each clip successful the 1980 book The Golden Turkey Awards by Harry and Michael Medved, turning him into a campy cult icon.

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When helium was alive, Henry David Thoreau was the overmuch lesser-known protégé of Ralph Waldo Emerson. In galore ways, helium was up of his time, and it wasn't until the 20th period that his ideas began to go much known and appreciated, to the constituent wherever helium is present regarded arsenic 1 of the top and astir influential American writers successful history.