I was reading an article about the latest chapter in the Darryl Strawberry saga. Of course, he’s the (in?)famous baseball player that had loads of talent, but ran into problems with drugs and is currently battling cancer.
This got me thinking about other cases of wasted talent. A couple that came to mind right away were names like Len Bias (whom I never actually saw play, but considering how high he was picked and that he never played a second in the NBA I think he counts), Dwight Gooden (he may have salvaged his career a bit by throwing that no hitter), and Alexandre Daigle (a former #1 overall pick in the NHL that never really felt like using all his talent).
Those are all sports players so you might not all be able to relate to them, so I started thinking about other people, like Vincent Van Gogh. Could that be considered a waste? He wasn’t appreciated during his life, but now it’s apparent that he was a very talented individual (although I suppose that’s all relative). You can count a bunch of musicians like Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, etc. Maybe even Lennon, but that wasn’t a case of wasted talent by his own hand so we’ll not count those or we’d have to add a whole slew of people.
Then there’s that guy that Cecil wrote about who had the highest IQ ever recorded and never did much should be considered.
So out of those people, and anyone else you might think of, who was the greatest waste of potential/talent to their respective fields?
Alan Turing comes instantly to mind, just because I had an insane dream about him last night. He made major breakthroughs in computing and logic, and ended his own life (after it had been made unbearable by those around him). I’ve no doubt he would have continued to make huge progress in his field if he hadn’t done this.
I don’t know if James Woods counts - hugely intelligent, aced his SATs… and went on to be an actor. I just wonder what he could have achieved if he’d done - well, just about anything else. But, he’s certainly succeeded as an actor.
Elvis comes to mind. He started out a great revolutionary talent. Then, because he turned complete control of his career to a corrupt and inept third rate carney hustler, and because the King himself was too stupid and lazy to take charge of his life, the last sixteen years or so of his career became a sad joke with a few good moments thrown in.
Also, Richard Manuel of The Band. Manuel was one of the finest singers in the history of rock, and wrote or co-wrote a handful of wonderful songs. Sadly, his battles with depression and the bottle overwhelmed him, destroying his talent and finally his life when he committed suicide.
Nick Drake comes to mind, although his recorded output is very strong. His own mental illness prevented him from having the stature he deserved as an artist.
Speaking of mental illness…there’s always Brian Wilson. He was running neck and neck with the Beatles, at least in terms of sonic creativity until his own mental illness and insecurity forced him into seclusion.
Moving on to film, I’m tempted to say Quentin Tarantino. He got off to wonderful start as a film-maker but because of reasons no-one can comprehend, decided he would rather be a bad actor in forgottable films. He still has time to turn things around.
I’m glad Dignan mentioned Len Bias. I used to love ACC basketball; however, his death killed the magic for me. I have paid next to no attention to college basketball since that day.
I still find it difficult to listen to Nirvana albums.
River Phoenix-- my God, what he could have done.
I find it tragic whenever people with extraordinary talents cannot or will not reach their potential.
But even more, I hate it when people die for stupid reasons. What a sick, sad, stupid waste.
With apologies for my overly emotional response to a damn good topic.