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extra=born January 4, 1927 is the former chief medical examiner-coroner for Los Angeles County. 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. He 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.
In 1967, he was appointed Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner for the County of Los Angeles (CME) in a 3–2 vote of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, over the opposition of the Los Angeles County Medical Association and leadership of the UCLA and USC schools of medicine. As new CME, he succeeded his mentor Theodore Curphey and supervised autopsies on a range of celebrities and public figures that included John Belushi, Albert Dekker, William Holden, David Janssen, Janis Joplin, Gia Scala, Inger Stevens, Sharon Tate, and Natalie Wood.
Shortly after the Kennedy shooting, Noguchi came under scrutiny and resigned under pressure as Chief Medical Examiner after Deputy Los Angeles County Counsel Martin Weekes testified that he had seen a smiling Noguchi dancing in his office and that Noguchi had announced to associates "I am going to be famous. I hope he dies". A secretary in the coroner's office also testified she had heard Noguchi say he wanted to perform a vivisection on Lin Hollinger, the county's chief administrative officer with whom he had argued over budget matters. (2025). 9781510729605, Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 9781510729605
After a petition drive organized by Los Angeles' Japanese American community, Noguchi was restored to the office of CME.
In his second term, Noguchi was accused of speaking too freely to the media, particularly following the November 1981 deaths of William Holden and Natalie Wood, which, along with his moonlighting and alleged mismanagement – a series of articles in the Los Angeles Times alleged that Noguchi's attention to celebrity deaths was causing problems in the more mundane aspects of the CME office – led to his demotion from coroner to physician specialist in 1982. (2025). 9781851095643, ABC CLIO. ISBN 9781851095643 His ruling of Wood's death as an accident has since been questioned. Dr. Michael Franco, a former intern of Noguchi at the time of Wood's death, stated that he saw bruises on Wood's body which were substantial and consistent with someone who was thrown out of a boat. Franco claimed that he made those observations to Noguchi, who reacted strangely as if he was involved in a cover-up. In 2012, 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.
Noguchi was appointed professor by both the University of Southern California and UCLA. He is a past president of the American National Association of Medical Examiners. In 1999 he was honored by the Emperor of Japan who awarded him the Order of the Sacred Treasure for his "outstanding contributions to Japan in the area of forensic science". Duquesne/Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law – bio He retired the same year.
From 2010 to 2022, Noguchi was the president of World Association for Medical Law (WAML), a medical body founded in 1967 to encourage the study of health law, legal medicine, and bioethics.
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