Голливудтың басты дәрігері: Томас Ногучи өмірі мен қызметі

American coroner (born 1927)

Thomas Tsunetomi Noguchi (野口 恒富) is the former Chief Medical Examiner Coroner for the County of Los Angeles. 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 Marilyn Monroe, Albert Dekker, Robert F. Kennedy, Sharon Tate, Inger Stevens, Janis Joplin, Gia Scala, David Janssen, Divine, William Holden, Natalie Wood, and John Belushi.

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. Shortly thereafter he emigrated 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, and Barlow Sanatorium in Los Angeles.

Noguchi began working in the office of the Chief Medical Examiner Coroner for the County of Los Angeles (CME) in 1961, and came to public attention after performing the autopsy of Marilyn Monroe. 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. 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.

Shortly after signing his letter of resignation, Noguchi attempted to withdraw it, a move that was rejected by the Board of Supervisors. Noguchi's wife subsequently charged that the county had forced him out as a practice of racial discrimination. His autopsy 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 which were substantial and fitting for someone who gets 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. Noguchi came under public criticism for his handling of Wood's autopsy in 2016 and his ruling in that case was later changed by a successor.

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. 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.

Coroner, 1983. A best selling memoir written with Joseph DiMona. (Published in the UK as Coroner to the Stars)
Coroner at Large 1985. A book about historical coroners and famous deaths. (NYT review.) Unnatural Causes, 1988. A detective novel written with Arthur Lyons. Physical Evidence, 1990. A detective novel written with Arthur Lyons.

He has appeared in the documentary The Killing of America (1982). He appeared as himself in the film Faces of Death (1980). 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 Noguchi takes the viewer through a complete autopsy. He is said to have been the inspiration for the TV series Quincy, M. E. (1976–1983), which starred Jack Klugman. The Off Broadway show, Dead Outlaw, features a musicalized Noguchi, spotlighting his work on the Elmer McCurdy autopsy.