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The news media is often blamed when death rumors get started, and that's often the case. But often, these rumors take on an unstoppable life of their own.

"People magazine mentioned in passing that Abe Vigoda was dead, and 25 years later, he's 85 and still laughing about it," says Laurie Mann, who runs the Internet's Dead People Server, which includes a database of celebrities who've been erroneously reported dead.

Mann's list includes such luminaries as James Earl Jones. When a Pittsburgh sports announcer heard that James Earl Ray had died, he immediately confused him with the man best known as the voice of Darth Vader. Nevertheless, Jones is 75, and the force is still strong with him.

Such mistakes are not uncommon. Tom Bosley, the TV actor known to many as Mr. Cunningham on "Happy Days" has been confused with David Doyle, who played Bosley on "Charlie's Angels." Bosley is a robust 78, but the man who played "Bosley" died in 1997.

Perhaps the most famous media gaffe came in 1998, when several news organizations reported briefly that Bob Hope was dead. Before it could be corrected, the erroneous report reached Congress, and Rep. Bob Stump of Arizona made the announcement on the House floor, with the proceedings broadcast across the country via CSPAN.

Hope, who was 95 at the time, was eating breakfast when he heard the news and had a good laugh about it. He would live to celebrate his 100th birthday before passing away.

"The media is very focused on celebrities. They typically begin preparing obits before a star passes away, and these advanced obits sometimes reach the public before they are intended to be released," Mann says.

"But in these days of blogging, it's very easy for a baseless rumor to run wild. In the old days, people would start speculating that a celebrity was dead simply because they'd been involved in controversy or weren't looking well. Now, with the Internet, you can tell 20,000 people or more in a single flash. Whitney Houston has been reported dead many times."