Thomas Noguchi

Thomas Noguchi, born in 1926 in Japan, was a Californian coroner who has determined the cause of death in many high profile cases.

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Noguchi graduated from Tokyo's Nippon Medical School in 1951 before interning at Tokyo University Hospital. Shortly thereafter he immigrated to the United States. He then served a second internship at Orange County General Hospital and a series of residencies at Loma Linda University School of Medicine, Barlow Sanatorium in Los Angeles. He was appointed a deputy coroner for Los Angeles County in 1961. In 1967 he became Chief Medical Examiner for the county. Noguchi came to public attention for a series of autopsies he either performed or supervised on a range of celebrities including Marilyn Monroe, Robert F. Kennedy, John Belushi, Natalie Wood, and Sharon Tate. He is best known for his high profile and was often accused of speaking too freely to the media. In 1982 he stepped down as Chief Coroner, but was appointed Chief of Pathology at the University of Southern California and then as Administrative Pathologist for Anatomic Pathology serices at the USC Medical Center. Noguchi has been appointed as a Professor by both the University of Southern California and the University of California in Los Angeles. He finally retired in 1999.

Related Topics:
Tokyo - Nippon Medical School - Los Angeles County - 1961 - 1967 - Marilyn Monroe - Robert F. Kennedy - John Belushi - Natalie Wood - Sharon Tate - University of Southern California - University of California in Los Angeles - 1999

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In 1983 Noguchi wrote a best selling memoir entitled Coroner. He also wrote Coroner at Large about historical coroners of note and two detective novels. He appeared in the 1978 film Faces of Death as himself.

Related Topics:
1983 - Faces of Death

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In 2000 Noguchi appeared in Michael Kriegsman's autopsy-related documentaries, "Autopsy: Through the Eyes of Death's Detectives"; and "Autopsy: Voices of Death", wherein Dr. Noguchi takes the viewer through a complete autopsy.

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