Bob Mackie's Cause of Death Revealed as Blunt Head Trauma After a Fall

On October 10, 2026, Us Weekly obtained Bob Mackie's death certificate, which was then widely reported by TMZ, Deadline, E! News and Just Jared. The legendary Hollywood costume designer, 87, died on September 14 in a Palm Springs hospital. His immediate cause of death is listed as a subarachnoid haemorrhage caused by blunt head trauma, after a fall three days earlier on September 11 at the home of his longtime design director Joseph McFate. Mackie had also been suffering from pneumonia both before and after the fall, which the initial announcement had cited as his cause of death. Mackie's career spanned seven decades: he dressed Cher through her signature looks on 'The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour' and the Oscars, created some of the most iconic gowns worn by Carol Burnett, Diana Ross and Elton John, and won nine Emmy Awards and a Tony. Tributes continued to pour in from pop culture figures around the world as the new details emerged. His family said memorials would be arranged in Los Angeles and reiterated the designer's wish that donations be made to AIDS research in his husband Ray Aghayan's memory.