1. Thomas Tsunetomi Noguchi is the former chief medical examiner-coroner for Los Angeles County.
15 Facts About Thomas Noguchi
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Popularly known as the "coroner to the stars", Noguchi determined the cause of death in many high-profile cases in Hollywood during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
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Thomas Noguchi performed autopsies on many celebrities, including John Belushi, Albert Dekker, William Holden, David Janssen, Janis Joplin, Robert F Kennedy, Harris Glen Milstead, Marilyn Monroe, Gia Scala, Inger Stevens, Sharon Tate, and Natalie Wood.
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Thomas Noguchi was born in Fukuoka Prefecture, raised in Yokosuka and graduated from Tokyo's Nippon Medical School in 1951 before interning at The University of Tokyo School of Medicine Hospital.
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Thomas Noguchi then served a second internship at Orange County General Hospital and a series of residencies at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and Barlow Sanatorium in Los Angeles.
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Thomas Noguchi began working in the office of the Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles in 1961, and came to public attention after performing the autopsy of Marilyn Monroe.
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Thomas Noguchi himself pointed out in his memoir, Coroner, that he never officially ruled that Sirhan fired the fatal shot.
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Shortly after signing his letter of resignation, Thomas Noguchi attempted to withdraw it, a move that was rejected by the Board of Supervisors.
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Thomas Noguchi's ruling of Wood's death as an accident has since been questioned.
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Franco claimed that he made those observations to Thomas Noguchi, who reacted strangely as if he was involved in a cover-up.
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In 2012, Thomas Noguchi came under renewed public criticism for his handling of Wood's autopsy and his original ruling in that case was later changed by a successor.
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Thomas Noguchi was later appointed Chief of Pathology at the University of Southern California and then as Administrative Pathologist for Anatomic Pathology services at LAC+USC Medical Center.
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Thomas Noguchi was appointed professor by both the University of Southern California and UCLA.
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Thomas Noguchi is a past president of the American National Association of Medical Examiners.
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From 2010 to 2022, Thomas Noguchi was the president of World Association for Medical Law, a medical body founded in 1967 to encourage the study of health law, legal medicine, and bioethics.