5 Out Of 40 Of These Celebrities Are Still Alive: Can You Name Them?

[DMark]

A researcher I know mentioned that it was harder to figure out if someone is still alive, than figure out if someone had died. Got me to thinking - can you spot the FIVE names below of living celebrities? All the others have died.
No fair Googling the answers!


Ricardo Montalban (actor)
Andrew Wyeth (painter)
John Updike (author)
Ron Silver (actor)
Natasha Richardson (actress)
Kirk Douglas (actor)
Jack Wrangler (porn star/cabaret singer)
Marilyn Chambers (Ivory Snow child model/later a porn star)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Bea Arthur (actress)
Dom DeLuise (actor)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
David Carradine (actor)
Ed McMahon (TV personality)
Farrah Fawcett (actress)
Little Richard (singer)
Eartha Kitt (singer/actress)
Paul Newman (actor)
Bernie Mac (comedian/actor)
George Carlin (comedian)
Bo Diddley (musician)
Harvey Korman (TV comedian)
Charlton Heston (actor)
Bobby Fischer (chess master)
Ernest Gallo (wine producer)
Julio Gallo (wine producer)
Johnny Hart (BC comic strip artist)
Kurt Vonnegut (author)
Don Ho (legendary Hawaiian singer)
Boris Yeltson (Russian president)
Liz Claiborne (fashion designer)
Joel Siegel (film critic)
Beverly Sills (opera singer)
Luciano Pavarotti (opera singer)
Marcel Marceau (mime)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)
Robert Goulet (singer)
Norman Mailer (author)
Evel Knievel (daredevil)
Ike Turner (singer, ex-hubby of Tina)


Please put your answers in spoiler boxes, so as not to influence others by seeing the same names listed over and over again. And try not to ruin other attempts by blurbing out "so and so died last month!". I will post the answers in a spoiler box tomorrow.
Good luck - it ain't easy to figure out who is still alive.

[Alessan]

Kirk Douglas
J.D. Salinger
Brigitte Bardot

These three I know for sure. I'm not familiar with everyone on the list, so maybe a couple of the people I've never heard of are still alive.

[Cisco]

I guessed and then googled and got 2 out of 5, then I checked on my alternate and got 3 out of 5. You're right, it's a lot easier to know if someone is dead. A lot of these people have died recently.

[Rilchiam]

I'm only sure about two of these.


J.D. Salinger (author)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
Little Richard (singer)
Ernest Gallo (wine producer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)

[Aspidistra]

my guesses:

Kirk Douglas (actor)
Paul Newman (actor)
Kurt Vonnegut (author)
Liz Claiborne (fashion designer)
Luciano Pavarotti (opera singer)

But some of those names I don't know who they are, so who knows they may be alive or dead...

[PeacePlease]

John Updike (author)
Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
Little Richard (singer)
Eartha Kitt (singer/actress)
Bo Diddley (musician)
Charlton Heston (actor)
Liz Claiborne (fashion designer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)

Red means alive. The others I'm not so sure about. This was MUCH harder than I thought without cheating...I didn't!!

[pseudotriton ruber ruber]

I'd have guessed

Kirk Douglas
Bardot
Salinger
Pavarotti
and Goulet, but I didn't hear about Joel Siegal dying, but maybe I did.

[cochrane]

Here goes:


Kirk Douglas
J.D. Salinger
Dionne Warwick
Little Richard
Luciano Pavarotti

[Marley23]

I ended up with these five:


Ron Silver (actor)
Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Little Richard (singer)
Joel Siegel (film critic)


Already checked up on my results because I was positive some of these people were alive, others were guesses. This is a fun test but I disagree with DMark's friend: it's not that hard to find if people are alive. Wikipedia alone will do it, and if Wikipedia is insufficient as a source on its own it's definitely a starting point.

[The Scrivener]

Here's my guess:


Kirk Douglas
JD Salinger
Dionne Warwick
Little Richard
Bo Diddley
Boris Yeltsyn

That's six, but I'm fairly sure about the first four, so I'm guessing and hoping the OP is wrong about either Bo or Boris.

On edit: I see I was wrong about my last two. Crap and double crap! Somebody still loves you, Boris Yeltsin... me!

[Biggirl]

Only 3 I'm almost sure are alive:

Dionne Warwick, Little Richard, Bo Diddly

Wrong on one.

[amarone]

I got them all right, but I do have a certain responsibility in this area.

Kirk Douglas
J. D. Salinger
Dionne Warwick
Brigitte Bardot
Little Richard


The fifth one took some thought; the other four have been nominated in this year's death pool.

[twickster]

Damn, this is tough! I'm reasonably confident about the first two; the others are all guesses.


J.D. Salinger (author)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
Liz Claiborne (fashion designer)
Ernest Gallo (wine producer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)


ETA: I'm feeling totally **smack** on Kirk Douglas

[Walkabout]

My guesses were:

Kirk Douglas
Dionne Warwick
Bo Diddley
Julio Gallo
Liz Claiborne


I wasn't very sure of any of them, really, so it's no surprise that I only got two right.

[gwendee]

I'm pretty sure I'd remember if I'd heard that

Kirk Douglas,
J.D. Salinger
and
Dionne Warwick

Had died. I'm not as sure about
Brigitte Bardot

When Andrew Wyeth died earlier this year I clearly remember hearing it and thinking "Really? I didn't know he was still alive!"

Ike Turner is responsible for the only points I've ever accumulated in the celebrity death pool and therefor not among my guesses.

I'm stumped...

[Liddle Lamsy Divey]

My guesses (not sure about the last one, though):


J. D. Salinger
Dionne Warwick
Kirk Douglas
Little Richard
Brigitte Bardot

[Enderw24]

Not looking at the other answers, I was able to immediately narrow down the list by half from the ones I knew had died.
After that, I tried narrowing it down by ones I thought I should have heard had died but didn't.

Then I guessed.


Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Little Richard (singer)
Norman Mailer (author)
And one of the Gallos has to be on there, but honestly...no clue which one.

[Dung Beetle]

I think these four are still with us: J.D. Salinger, Dionne Warwick, Little Richard, and Liz Claiborne. I can’t seem to decide on a fifth.

[pricciar]

J.D. Salinger
Dionne Warwick
Eartha Kitt
Robert Goulet
Joel Siegel


I just don't remember hearing these guys dying.

[Motorgirl]

My best guesses.

Dionne Warwick (singer)
Bo Diddley (musician)
Ike Turner (singer, ex-hubby of Tina)
Julio Gallo (wine producer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)


Off to check on them.

[Robot Arm]

Interesting thread.

There are lots of them that I know for sure are dead. There's only one that I checked up on recently enough to know he's alive. There are the ones that I haven't heard anything about in ages. And then there's the trickiest category of all; the ones I've heard something about, but can't remember if it was because they died or something else. For example:I heard an NPR interview with Marcel Marceau a few years ago. I can't remember if it was for something current he was doing, or if it was one of those Fresh Air "we're going to rerun an interview from the mid-90's because he just died" kind of things.

With that in mind, here's my best guess.

Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
Little Richard (singer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)

If Marcel Marceau is still alive and I got the other four right, I'm going to be quite disappointed.

[Bob Ducca]

I'm pretty sure I'm right that these five are alive:

Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
Little Richard (singer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)

[DMark]

Here Is The OP With The Answers!

Several of you did VERY well, but a few of you missed them by a mile. It really is hard to determine if someone is alive - unless they have been in the news lately.

So as to allow people to continue to guess and play the game, I will make the answer a little tricky to find. Let's just say that amarone's answers were 100% correct (as of today's date). Simply scroll back up to that post to see how well you did in this.

[cochrane]

I ended up with these five:


Ron Silver (actor)
Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Little Richard (singer)
Joel Siegel (film critic)


Already checked up on my results because I was positive some of these people were alive, others were guesses. This is a fun test but I disagree with DMark's friend: it's not that hard to find if people are alive. Wikipedia alone will do it, and if Wikipedia is insufficient as a source on its own it's definitely a starting point.

Here is a site I used to check my guesses after I posted them. I'm going to spoiler it so I don't influence those who are still playing. But if you want to check your results after, this is a very good site.

Dead or Alive Info (http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/)

[RickJay]

Marilyn Chambers was on an Ivory Soap box, but she was the mother holding the child. She was never a child model.

[Freudian Slit]

Little Richard, J.D. Salinger, Norman Mailer, and...I don't know. Guessing on Mailer.

[Shoeless]

I'm absolutely positive about three of these, about 90% sure on the fourth, and the last one is a complete WAG.


Positive about Kirk Douglas, JD Salinger, and Little Richard.
Pretty damn sure about Dionne Warwick.
Complete WAG on Brigit Bardot - couldn't decide between her, Pavarotti, or one of the Gallos.

[The Second Stone]

Kirk Douglas
J.D. Salinger
Dionne Warwick
Little Richard
Brigitte Bardot

And I thought Bo Diddley was still alive too.

[AppallingGael]

Alive: Kirk Douglas, Brigitte Bardot, J.D. Salinger. Pretty sure of those. Then I'll say Little Richard and Boris Yeltsin, though I considered Dionne Warwick.

[dropzone]

Wow! Goulet's an American Citizen and was REFUSED Canadian citizenship when he tried?

Note the clever, non-spoilerish, use of a contraction. I coulda swore he was alive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Goulet

[5 time champ]

Kirk Douglas (actor)
J.D. Salinger (author)
Dionne Warwick (singer)
Brigitte Bardot (actress)
Little Richard (singer)

[Ponch8]

Woohoo! I got them all right! (at least if amarone is right)