Recently in Dead Celebrities Category
Literary giant JD Salinger has passed away from natural causes at his rural New Hampshire home. The reclusive author, who penned the iconic Catcher in the Rye, was 91.
For more information, click here.
After Saturday Night Live's recent parody of Brittany Murphy on "Weekend Update" had us asking where the once white-hot actress had disappeared to, sad news emerges from the land of TMZ. Murphy has reportedly died of full cardiac arrest at the young age of 32, thus adding yet another surprising celebrity death to the already enormous RIP list of 2009. Shocking developments indeed.
Daily News: Actress Brittany Murphy dies at 32 of heart attack: report
It's been a tough summer for celebrity deaths. Sadly, we must add Patrick Swayze to the list. The actor died at the age of 57 after a much publicized battle with cancer.
Now Ghost will be SUPER sad.
More information here.
Well, nothing snarky can be said about this. Watching Michael Jackson's daughter, Paris, sob her grief away was sort of like the most heartbreaking thing of all time. Sadness.
Forget the tribute song by The Game and Chris Brown. Don't bother with the one hour specials cluttering up the TV landscape. Ignore the flowers on Hollywood Boulevard. The best ode to Michael Jackson so far is a nifty website called Eternal Moonwalk which has compiled user-submitted moonwalks into one random, never-ending sequence that both honors The Gloved One's memory and celebrates his worldwide reach. At the very least, it's a super cool concept. Check it out.
Yesterday, I tried to visit Michael Jackson's star but found it unfortunately covered up by Bruno premiere scaffolding. Today, I decided to give it another go. My gym is conveniently located half a block away from it on the Walk of Fame; so I made a little detour to see what I imagined would be a sizable shrine to the King of Pop. Some photos after the jump...
With the new of Michael Jackson's untimely passing today, IndianJones and I decided to trek on down to the King of Pop's star on the nearby Walk of Fame. Sounded like an easy enough endeavor, and thanks to Jash, we knew exactly where the star was located. But things are never as simple as they seem...
First Ed McMahon. Then Farrah Fawcett. Now MICHAEL JACKSON. Talk about a trio.
But yes, very sad news. Not only did Farrah Fawcett pass away this morning, now it seems it's official that Michael Jackson — the controversial King of Pop — has shockingly died this afternoon at the UCLA Medical Center after suffering a massive cardiac episode. Sad news all around.
(Also, the cynic in me can't help thinking that this sucks for Farrah Fawcett. Don't forget to grieve for her too, people!)
It's been a tough yaer for the Golden Girls. First we lost Estelle Getty last July, and now today, the other half of the Petrillo clan, Dorothy Zbornack, has passed away as well. Yes, TV legend Bea Arthur died today at 86 after a battle with cancer. Sadness all around. Hopefully she'll be able to hang out with "Ma" on the big lanai in the sky.
Very sad news out of NYC today. Natasha Richardson has died after her skiing accident earlier this week. It's all very tragic and scary, and my thoughts are with her family. She was 45.
• Natasha Richardson Dies [ AP]
AP: Bedlam breaks out at NYC 'Top Model' auditions
Reuters: Actor Ron Silver, 62, dies of cancer
D-Listed: If Only She'd Just Float The Fuck Away
Socialite Life: Hugh Jackman's Crotch Grabbed On Japanese TV
LAist: Woman Behind the Wheel in U-Haul Police Chase Gets 6 Months
Reality Blurred: Jade Goody “hours†from death and is “terrified of falling asleepâ€
Gawker: 'Obama Fingers' Invented By Sensitive Germans
Hollywood became a little less cool today as acclaimed acting legend Paul Newman passed away at 83 after a long battle with cancer. Oddly enough, last night at the supermarket, I contemplated purchasing a Newman's Own Peanut Butter Cup, but then opted against it for fear that it wouldn't live up to my expectations. Still, I noted Paul Newman on the packaging and kind of laughed. Little did I realize that the poor guy was on death's door. Alas.
Okay, this eulogy is idiotic. The point is that he died, and it's sad. For more information, click here.
RIP LeRoi
I've been a pretty big slacker lately with the celebrity obits on this site, but when it came to the passing of Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore, I just had to write something. As many of my friends know, I'm an unabashed DMB fan — the owner of several bootlegs, t-shirts, and the occasional poster. Their music has pretty much served as a soundtrack for my life since high school, and while there are many who deride the band (a.k.a. most of my friends), I still am fiercely loyal. Tonight (or rather, last night) I went to my twentieth concert, and I'm not gonna lie — I was actually not looking forward to it. I thought the concert was supposed to be on Wednesday; so when my friend called and said "You still on for tonight?" I had to suddenly rearrange all my plans and writing schedule in order to trek down to the Staples Center in downtown. Point is, I wasn't in a concert mindset. But boy am I glad that I went.
Picture it: NBC, 1985.
It's a sad day indeed for '80s sitcom fans. Estelle Getty, best known as Sophia Petrillo on The Golden Girls (or simply as "MA!"), has died at the age of 84. According to her family, she suffered "advanced dementia." While reports of her illness had surfaced over the past few years, her passing is sad nonetheless.
More information here.
Talk about coming out of left field. Tim Russert, longtime anchor of Meet The Press has died at the age of 58 from an apparent heart attack. If this was MSNBC's morbid attempt to divert attention away from its new rep as being a sexist paradise, that's really f'd up, yo.
NBC's Tim Russert dead at 58 [MSNBC.com]
It's been a while since I've posted about dead celebrities. This is mostly due to laziness, but a small part of me also didn't like seeing the "death" and "sad" tags having such prominent places in my tag cloud. (IndianJones, meanwhile, is eager to have his name ascend beyond the lower tier, but that's another story). Anyway, the breaking news is that Academy Award winning director Sydney Pollack has died at the age of 73 from cancer.
Pollack directed such classics as Tootsie and Out Of Africa, but beyond that, he was also a gifted actor, clocking in face time in Michael Clayton, Eyes Wide Shut, and Husbands and Wives, among others. The latter movie I just saw for the first time about four days ago; so as you can imagine, there's been a lot of Sydney Pollack on the brain.
For more information, click here.
Okay, I'll be honest. I didn't even know who Richard Widmark was until today, but I checked out his IMDb, and when I saw that he'd starred in a TV movie called Cold Sassy Tree, I just had to pay my respects. Further investigation shows that Cold Sassy Tree also starred the likes of Faye Dunaway and Neil Patrick Harris. SASSY INDEED!
For more information on the passing of Richard Widmark, click here.
Anthony Minghella, Oscar-winning director of the tear-jerker epics The English Patient and Cold Mountain — among others — died today from a massive surgery-related hemorrhage. He was only 54. No word on yet on funeral arrangements, but I'm sure they'll be SWEEPING (and possibly involving Juliet Binoche). For more information on this sad turn of events, click here.
Renfro? Really? Him?
Has Brad Renfro received an upgrade in the legacy department? The troubled actor, who never quite lived up to his perpetual "rising star" status, has suddenly been thrust into the upper echelon Died-Young category, joining the likes of River Phoenix, Tupac, and Janis Joplin, and it all seems to be thanks to Heath Ledger. You see, with the tragic news of the actor's passing, media outlets have been compiling lists of major, iconic stars who have died before thirty, and while Ledger certainly deserves a spot on that list, Renfro's inclusion seems dubious. Clearly, he benefited from editors' guilt. After all, how could they not include him when he died just days ago? Still, I'm not sure that his death, while sad, rocked the world the way, say, Jim Morrison's did. So enjoy the upgrade now, Ghost of Renfro, because it won't be long before the editors slowly weed you off the list (cough, Jonathan Brandis, cough).
Am I a bastard?
• Gone Before 30: Stars Who Died Young [ABC News]
We were all deeply shocked and saddened by Heath Ledger's untimely death yesterday, and while those in New York City have manifested their grief by erecting a candlelit shrine for the actor, I've paid tribute the only way I know how: with yogurt. Yes, in honor of Heath, I ordered my frozen yogurt tonight with a topping of Heath Bar Crunch. It's a small gesture, but heartfelt nonetheless.
This one is really sad. Well, they're all sad, but this death seems particularly tragic. Heath Ledger, 28, was found dead in "a possible drug-related death" today in Manhattan. This makes him the second actor in the past week to die young (after Brad Renfro). I feel bad for his kid.
• Heath Ledger Found Dead in NYC [AP via Yahoo News]
According to TMZ.com, former child star Brad Renfro was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment today. He was 25.
OH WELL. (Said sadly, not sarcastically)
"Bloody good time that Everest was!"
Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to summit Mt. Everest, died today at the age of 88. I must admit that I feel partially responsible. You see, earlier this morning, I happened to randomly look at a Wikipedia page on famous explorers, and when I read that Sir Edmund Hillary was still alive, I thought to myself, "Really? He's still kicking around? Him?" I think at that point God must have been like, "Shit, you're right." DEAD.
Sorry!
Hey, the good news is that he lived a long and exciting life, but if you ask me, after you climb Mt. Everest, everything else is just DOWNHILL FROM THERE! (Rimshot!!!)
Click for full size
Sooooo Pakistan is on the verge of total chaos in the wake of Benazir Bhutto's tragic assassination, but fear not! According to CNN, it's time for parties! Yes, in an unfortunately juxtaposed bit of luck, the webmaster at CNN.com placed the headline "Time for Resolutions, Parties" smack in the middle of their Bhutto coverage, creating a somewhat discordant tone on their page. As important as it is for us to know about New Year's Live With Anderson Cooper, something tells me a more effective location for this promo would be, you know, NOT under the photo of a dead woman.
"I'm gentle."
Dan Fogelberg, singer of one of my favorite soft-rock weepies, "Same Old Lang Syne," has died at 56 from cancer. Great. ANOTHER reason to cry at his music. More info here.
And for those of you unfamiliar with Fogelberg's brand of so-sad-you-want-to-curl-up-in-a-ball-and-sob music, here's a strange little YouTube tribute to his album artwork (not to mention his many, many beards) set to the tune of his aforementioned holiday classic. [YouTube]
