Celebrity Death: What celebrity death either hit you the hardest or made you sad?

Jumptheshark

Rebooting myself
Oct 12, 2003
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If the mods think this is not worthy of a discussion sorry.

Celebs have been falling hard since december 2015----I am 45 so the guys falling are either the ones I watched on movies or listen to.

The saddest one for me is Debbie Reynolds--24 hours after Carrie died. I was raised by my grandparents so I was raised on musicals(even my ww2 vet grandfather liked musical and John Wayne movies) her death made me sad

And being a gneration Xer-- have so many people I grew up listening to pass away reminded me we are here only for so much time

the one that hit me the hardest was Leonard Cohen. Cohen was a friend of a friend and met him several times. I am a writer(I had two short stories published many many years ago) and a few times Cohen saw me he could tell I was frustrated and he was nice enough to read my stuff and he give me a few suggestions on how to have a start-middle-end. And like Cohen I am a Buddhist and he saw me get mad a few times and had to remind me of certain pillars and remind me "does it really matter"..I met Cohen a few times and it was always in with a group(like I said-- a friend of a friend) and it was his death that hit me hardest--he was a good guy


Here in London(UK) we are now getting the George Michael stories. Two of the charities I work at had dealt with Michael(this was kept on the low as per his request---I never met him and it wasnt until today I found out he donated)) and over the last few days things have come out about how Michael's not only gave money--but gave his time in homeless shelters, abused women shelters and helping people down and out. Many celebs(I will name the Kardashian in this bunch) jump up and down and wave their hands around when they do charity work.George Michael insured several homeless shelters stayed open during the winter time here in the UK. I talked to one of the directors who dealt with Michaels and she is very heart broke, The first time they met was at a gala and she(like everyone else) was fund raising and explained to Michaels what she was fund raising for. He asked for her business card and on the back, wrote a number on it and said--"if you get in a pinch" call this number for help. About 6 months later a major donor dropped out and she was scrambling for funding for a shelter and called a the number. When the person picked up, she explained what had happened and the person on line the asked how much did they need to ensure the shelter did not close. She said she was hoping to get X amount tonight. The person on the phone paused and read back charities bank account number and said the full amount has been transferred into the account. She told the person on the phone to thank George and she would not herass him again. The response was "honey, this is George and I knew you would only call if you needed it".

this is just my relations to the celebs who have died this year

not all celebs are ass holes
 
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Xelebes

Registered User
Jun 10, 2007
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Edmonton, Alberta
I can actually say that I have missed out on too many connections with the deaths. It is a battle between Debbie Reynolds and Leonard Cohen, although the connections are still very weak.

I guess I am just not at that age yet.
 

Eisen

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Sep 30, 2009
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Bud Spencer. Not only a childhood hero and a funny guy, but a genuinely nice person with both feet on the ground. I know he was stone old and his health wasn't the best, still, I was heartbroken.
 

Ozz

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Oct 25, 2009
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Does Gordie Howe count? If not, then Gene Wilder.

After that, like the guy above I didn't enjoy "connections" to/with many others, so the next level beneath those might be all the way down to Pat Harrington, Jr. (Schneider from One Day At A Time).
 

Eisen

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Sep 30, 2009
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Does Gordie Howe count? If not, then Gene Wilder.

After that, like the guy above I didn't enjoy "connections" to/with many others, so the next level beneath those might be all the way down to Pat Harrington, Jr. (Schneider from One Day At A Time).

Why wouldn't Howe count? You don't get much more popular than him.
 

Jumptheshark

Rebooting myself
Oct 12, 2003
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I can actually say that I have missed out on too many connections with the deaths. It is a battle between Debbie Reynolds and Leonard Cohen, although the connections are still very weak.

I guess I am just not at that age yet.

Like I said I am 45 and I have been to too many funerals for friends and family

it is an age thing--were you spend say 20 years watching or listening to someone and then they are gone--whether old or young

in the case of Carrie Fisher/Debbie Reynolds I saw the public fights between the two in the 80's and 90's and then the reconciliation ion the 2000's and the happiness they had in the last few years.
 

Eisen

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Sep 30, 2009
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Like I said I am 45 and I have been to too many funerals for friends and family

it is an age thing--were you spend say 20 years watching or listening to someone and then they are gone--whether old or young

43, same thing. Some guys were just there your entire life.
 

Behn Wilson

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Mar 14, 2002
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All time would have to be John Belushi. He was the most popular entertainer of that time, especially here in his home town Chicago.

Carrie Fisher's death ranks up there all time too, especially after seeing her live at comic Con this year.

Michael Clarke Duncan & Chris Farley too.
 

SJSharksfan39

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Oct 11, 2008
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Anton Yelchin

Being a Star Trek fan and being really excited for Star Trek Beyond, this was a guy who's star was on the rise. He was in Green Room (I'm not a horror fan so I didn't see it) but I heard him talk about the movie on a podcast that I listen to. Going into Beyond, knowing this was his last movie at such a young age was really sad and helped put a damper on the whole 50th anniversary thing.
 

Dr Pepper

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Dec 9, 2005
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I'm of the same mindset that, while it's been a horrific year for "known" names passing away, I can't say there have been too many that really hit me hard. Many that were surprising, for sure, but I was never really a fan of Prince's music, or Bowie's, or Cohen's, or Michael's. Howe and Ali were both largely retired by the time I was born, and I'm not a huge Star Wars fan so there was no Carrie Fisher shrine in my condo. I guess Howe's was the most painful, seeing as how I'm a big fan of the game and he was long-seen as a patriarch of sorts. Also Alan Rickman, since I was a fan of his career.

Anton Yelchin

Being a Star Trek fan and being really excited for Star Trek Beyond, this was a guy who's star was on the rise. He was in Green Room (I'm not a horror fan so I didn't see it) but I heard him talk about the movie on a podcast that I listen to. Going into Beyond, knowing this was his last movie at such a young age was really sad and helped put a damper on the whole 50th anniversary thing.

First saw him in Alpha Dog, then in Star Trek. Bizarre way to go. :help:
 

Nalens Oga

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Jan 5, 2010
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None I guess. Most of them were retired or in old age. I don't listen to Bowie but sucks about him because apparently he put out a new album which was good and he'd probably have put out another one so for his actual fans, that's a shame and same with Prince who wasn't retired.

The Robin Williams one is saddening since he was a guy with a lot of life and charisma on the screen and he wasn't old. His movie roles had declined but he would've probably been in at least a few more decent ones. Same with Yelchin since the guy was young.
 

Mikeaveli

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Sep 25, 2013
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I'm pretty young so not many celebrity deaths have really impacted me. The only one I got pretty depressed over this year was Phife Dawg, I went on a big Tribe binge for a few weeks after that.
 

BonMorrison

Registered User
Jun 17, 2011
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The death that bothered me the most was Christina Grimme because she was so young and because of the nature in which she was killed.

Same. I generally don't get attached to a lot of celebrities but I had followed her since her early YT days plus we're part of the same generation and it was just a gut punch.
 

Mimsy

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Mar 21, 2015
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Carrie Fisher, and not just because her death is recent. There were many shocking deaths this year (my own dad's sudden passing being the absolute effing worst among them -- still trying to come to terms with it...but that's a different subject).

I was a kid sitting in the theater in 1977 being mesmerized by the Star Wars experience. I held the core cast in hero status for years after. I adored Princess Leia (and Luke and Chewbacca). The original films had a profound influence on my childhood. None of this experience is revelatory to Star Wars fans, of course. I don't obsess over the movies anymore, but they've always been a part of my life. Fisher's Princess Leia has always just sort of been there.

I remember being somewhat flippant the day after John Lennon died, knowing my older brother was upset and using the opportunity to poke fun. At the time, I was mostly unfamiliar with The Beatles' music and had only sampled their early material for a bubblegum listening experience. Ultimately, Lennon's death pushed me to dig out my brother's Beatles albums. Once I put Rubber Soul on the turntable, my love affair with their music began.

I still feel cheated by Lennon's death and, like many, am left wondering what might have been. Had he not died, I might never have gone looking for those albums, so there was a small personal consolation in that his passing introduced me to The Beatles music.

Carrie Fisher's death has been sticking with me. It bothers me. It may be entirely because of Princess Leia, which can seem a bit shallow, but I don't care.
 

ProstheticConscience

Check dein Limit
Apr 30, 2010
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None of them have really hit me hard on a personal level, but I was most shocked about David Bowie. Part of me simply never twigged to the fact that he was human and therefore mortal like the rest of us.
 

Belamorte

Feed Your Head
Nov 14, 2003
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North American Scum
This year? Bowie. I know it sounds cliche but as a now 46-year-old I grew up on his music and saw him 5 times. I honestly did cry. As I got older I fell out of love of music (or at least anything new) over the years and there are times I just remember with friends and my sister driving around Vancouver listening to him doing crazy things in our late teens - early 20's. I never knew he was even sick when I heard it in the morning. I had thought that the entire Lazarus thing was another 'Tin Machine' (which I admit I did not like) and he was entering some new phase again.


All-time would be Andrew Wood (lead singer of Mother Love Bone). Again, spending my late teen to mid 20's on the West Coast (bouncing between Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle and area). He was someone I knew personally, along with all the member of the band and most of the other bands of the area/time. He was the nicest guy you could ever meet and it was devastating to myself and many others that were 'in that scene' when he OD'ed.


Bob Dylan will be the next when he goes though. That will be a giant loss.


Some will chime in and say they are just people and everyone dies, but some people have as much impact on your life as family or friends.


"He not being born is busy dying" -Bob Dylan - It's Alright Ma, (I'm Only Bleeding).
 

aufheben

#Norris4Fox
Jan 31, 2013
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Kurt Vonnegut, Joe Strummer.

Anton Yelchin

Being a Star Trek fan and being really excited for Star Trek Beyond, this was a guy who's star was on the rise. He was in Green Room (I'm not a horror fan so I didn't see it) but I heard him talk about the movie on a podcast that I listen to. Going into Beyond, knowing this was his last movie at such a young age was really sad and helped put a damper on the whole 50th anniversary thing.
Really good movie.
 

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