Often there are two celebrity deaths occurring on the same day. When this happens, it’s not unusual for one death to totally overshadow the other. The first that comes to mind is Michael Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009. Farrah Fawcett also died on that day, but her death was a virtual footnote, compared to Jackson’s.
Any others?
C.S. Lewis died November 22, 1963
JFK vs Aldous Huxley. I think.
ETA: Yep.
Sammy Davis, Jr. and Jim Henson both died on May 16, 1990. Jim Henson’s name seems to get mentioned more often than Sammy Davis’ these days, particularly with the premiere of the new Muppet show.
Johnny Cash’s death was somewhat overshadowed by John Ritter, who had unexpectedly died the previous day.
John Adams died five hours after Thomas Jefferson on July 4th, 1826; all the papers led with Jefferson’s death.
Just kidding about that last bit, but the rest is true – ironically, Adams’ last words were “Thomas Jefferson survives”, which turned out to be incorrect.
Ray Charles (d. 6/10/2004) vs. Ronald Reagan (d. 6/5/2004)
Mother Teresa died the same week as Diana, Princess of Wales.
Orville Wright died the same day that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.
While Wright seems like a figure from an earlier era than Gandhi, Gandhi was actually two years older than Wright.
Louis-Ferdinand Celine died the same day as Ernest Hemingway
Groucho Marx’s death was overshadowed by Elvis Presley’s death three days earlier.
Punk rocker Darby Crash of The Germs purposely overdosed, but did it the day before **John Lennon **was murdered. Crash’s suicide has been portrayed as a bid for enduring fame after the band went nowhere, which was overshadowed by Lennon’s death.
Yeah weird day it was, Michael Jackson, Farah Fawcett, Ed McMahon and Billy Mays from that “call now and get this for $19.99” commercials.
Each one overshadowing the next one. Mays died a day later.
The death of Roger Bowen, who played Henry Blake in MAS*H, was overshadowed by the death the day before of Maclean Stevenson, who played Henry Blake on MAS*H.
Robert Mitchum died on July 1, 1997. July 2, 1997: Jimmy Stewart died.
Ironically, Stewart’s last words were “Robert Mitchum survives,” which turned out to be incorrect.
Stewart was always the bigger star, but Mitchum’s death probably would’ve gotten more attention.
How did I not know that Ed McMahon was dead or that Gandhi was assassinated? I thought I was slightly more in touch than I am, apparently.
And the fact that Stevenson was way more famous.
Existential philosopher, world renown psychotherapist and holocaust survivor Victor Frankl died the same week that Princess Diana and Mother Theresa died.
Lauren Bacall died the day after Robin Williams commit suicide.
Groucho Marx died three days after Elvis Presley. Danny Gatton died about 6 months after Kurt Cobain.
Not what most of the posters here are thinking of by"celebrities", but the day before race driver Ayrton Senna was killed, another driver, virtually unknown Roland Ratzenburger was killed testing or qualifying for the race in which Senna was killed.
Formula One has had an excellent safety record over the last twenty years or more. Two driver deaths on the same weekend is just about unknown in modern racing history, and yet there will always be some who point out the two deaths at the same track within 24 hours as proof of how scandalously bad racing’s safety record is.
Okay; soapbox available for anyone who wants it.
Joseph Stalin and Sergei Prokofiev both died on 5th March, 1953. Prokofiev didn’t get the headlines in Pravda that he deserved.