“Celebrities whose death you have (or will) sincerely mourn because they have had a genuine impact on your life, or perhaps even on who you are as a person.”
I am prompted to this question because I found my own answer last night, when I watched the 2008 Mark Twain Prize being given to George Carlin, who at the time had already died. He died a week after learning he would receive it.
I first saw George live when I was 12 years old, in 1970, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. I already owned all his albums. He was the reason I wanted to be a comic, so his influence there is obvious.
But even more than that, George Carlin rarely said a single thing that I did not completely agree with, right down to the details. I don’t know whether he helped form my thinking when I was a kid, or just echoed it, but either way he affirmed me.
He was the purest, greatest standup who ever lived. He was a free thinker and a brilliant wordsmith. He was enormously influential on me, my life, and who I am today.
And last night, watching the show, I was crying my heart out and I realized that it was because I genuinely mourn his passing, because even though I never knew him personally, he meant something to me in the same way that people I actually know mean something to me. He had more impact on me than many people I actually know have had. I mourn him honestly.
I loved Alice in Chains as a teenager, and I always hoped they’d come back when I was an adult. And then I found out Layne Staley died. I cried. So much potential, with such a sad ending. Turns out he died on my birthday, but they didn’t find his body until a couple of weeks later. Sad.
I mourn Mr. Rogers and Jim Henson still because I feel really bad that my niece and other kids won’t grow up with the same childhood influences I had.
I mourned Kurt Cobain as a teen, but as an adult have felt pretty “we should have seen that coming.” But, when Eddie Vedder dies - if he dies of old age - I will be devastated because I’ll feel as if my time will come soon.
Phil Hartman. I enjoyed News Radio at the time as well as his work on The Simpsons. (Plus unlike celebrities like Paul Newman or Katherine Hepburn, it wasn’t due to to old age. Phil Hartman was murdered while relatively young and productive.)
Whenever this subject comes up I immediately think of Marilyn Monroe. The public at that time was mostly unaware of all of her problems. She was ***not ***thought of as a “dumb blonde,” but as the epitome of sexuality that was innocent and vulnerable and totally devoid of cynicism. And she was never more beautiful than she was in her last picture, which was never completed.
And then to hear that she took her own live, everyone experienced an intense shock and disbelief, more than any other celebrity since then . . . even more than the assassinations that were to follow.
John Ritter’s death hit me hard. I used to come home to a pretty lonely house but I could turn on Three’s Company and goof off a bit before anyone else came home. When he died I realized that as silly as it sounds I had thought of him as a friend during a pretty sad part of my life. I still get choked up just thinking about him.
If Prince died, I would cry for days. I love him like he was a member of my own family. Does that sound weird? I don’t care- if loving Prince is wrong, I don’t want to be right. We’ve had a thing now for going on 30 years, for god’s sake!
I mourned for George Harrison for about two years. I remember watching the Concert for George dvd about a year after he died and crying like he’d died the day before. I probably would have lost my mind if John died in my lifetime, and I know I’m going to be an inconsolable, wailing wreck when Paul finally goes.
When Leonard Cohen dies, it will hit me like a tonne of bricks. I’m spent my whole life listening to him, reading his poetry and novels. It will feel like losing a grandfather, or something.
Stoid I am with you on George Carlin. His comedy, especially the 7 words you cannot say on Television, shaped…defined my teenage years and I did not even own his album. ( It was at my cousins house.)
Erma Bombeck was a driving influence in my young life as well and hearing of her passing was like getting punched in the ribs. Her daily observations on the mundane part of mothering shaped who I was considerably.
When MASH ended, I was a wreck. The comic timing was something I lived for as a teen.
Phil Hartman’s death and John Candy’s passing were a great loss. Belushi and Farley…sheesh…you Brilliant assholes!
Notice a comedy trend. I just did.
There is great sadness in my own life, but comedy is the light for me.
When the Monty Python Gang and Eddie Izzard pass, I will be inconsolable.
I asked myself this question several years ago – which celebrity’s future death would not only hit me the hardest, but linger for a long time?
The only person I could think of was Ronnie James Dio.
A lot, and I mean a lot of people in the UK miss John Peel badly.
Wiki link included for folk who don’t know who he was. I think a minute’s silence at a Liverpool game was suggested, though many people noted that a minute’s NOISE would be much more appropriate.
Douglas Adams also copped out too early, but he wasn’t a fixture in people lives like Peel was.
When any of the members of Rush go, I will be in tears. It felt like a punch to the gut when I heard about Neil Peart’s daughter, and then wife.
Douglas Adams - At the time his death did not hit me that hard, but then a few years later I read “The Salmon of Doubt” and was struck by how young he really was and how much he had left to do. Whenever I see something that is influenced by his work, it is tinged with a bit of sadness.
