# Celebrity death that would make the biggest headline today **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 15, 2012, 8:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776 "2012-09-15T08:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/101 "2012-09-17T21:40:46Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > It’s a pretty safe bet that QEII’s funeral will be _quite_ the occasion. There’s not been a State funeral since Churchill died, although Diana’s was pretty close I guess. I don’t think Thatcher will (or should) get one. Didn’t the Queen Mother get a state funeral? I know they based Diana’s funeral off of the plans for her’s. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/102 "2012-09-17T21:44:57Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Didn’t the Queen Mother get a state funeral? I know they based Diana’s funeral off of the plans for her’s. Hmmm… I missed her death altogether, so maybe Michael Jordan can move a space ahead of the queen, media-frenzy-wise. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/103 "2012-09-17T21:59:36Z")
The Queen Mother is QEII’s mom. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/104 "2012-09-17T22:02:26Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > The Queen Mother is QEII’s mom. Yes, I know that, but I still missed her death entirely when it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/105 "2012-09-17T22:44:27Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > Didn’t the Queen Mother get a state funeral? I know they based Diana’s funeral off of the plans for her’s. No, it was a step down from that, which is why Diana’s could use the same plan. Still plenty spectacular though! The wiki article is a fairly interesting read: > **[State funerals in the United Kingdom](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_funerals_in_the_United_Kingdom)** > > In the United Kingdom, state funerals are usually reserved for monarchs. The most recent was the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on 19 September 2022. > A state funeral may also be held to honour a highly distinguished figure following the approval of the monarch and Parliament (of the expenditure of public funds). The last non-royal state funeral in the United Kingdom was that of Sir Winston Churchill on 30 January 1965. > Other funerals, including those of senior members of the British royal ... I like that Newton and Darwin both got one, and I suppose the military and political ones are mostly good bets too. I’m slightly ashamed to admit that I have never even heard of Edward Carson, who got one in 1935. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/106 "2012-09-17T23:17:27Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > That’d be a funny story: > > In other news, Los Angeles was destroyed by a nuclear explosion…" “Witnesses initially mistook it for a dry-season wildfire…” ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/107 "2012-09-17T23:30:41Z")
Many of the people listed in here will be recognized when they die, and rightfully so for the works they accomplished. But in order to get that media frenzy like Michael Jackson and Anna Nicole Smith there has to be a story. First, the person has to be famous for who they are, not just what they have done. The person needs to make regular apperances in main stream news sources, not just celebrity gossip magazines and talk shows. All too often it’s because of outrageous behavior, but there are exceptions. Second, the person has to be relevant. If a person hasn’t done anything noteworthy or newsworthy in a number of years then their death won’t spark much media interest. These first 2 reasons are why Neil Armstrong was covered, but didn’t generate a media frenzy. He was noteworthy for an action that happened more than 40 years ago and his personal life was so guarded that none of us really know who he was as a person. Third, there needs to be a story. If a young person dies the media can tell the story of a tragic life cut short. If drugs were involved then they can tell a cautionary tale. For the full media blitz you need to have a celebrity with a lot of drama. A promising start to a career with a lot of highlights followed by a series of tragic choices leading to dark times. If the dark times include repeated substance abuse, prison, eratic behavior, and public outrage then all the better - the media frenzy will focus on the trainwreck. If there is any possible redemptive action they can glean then all the better. Applying this formula, the most likely celebrity to get the media frenzy, in my opinion, is Lindsay Lohan. Time will tell, she’s almost 27 and is a prime candidate for that elite club. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/108 "2012-09-17T23:58:23Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney Plus two obvious also’s, with the obit themes I’d expect: Keith “he couldn’t cheat death after all” and Ringo “now there’s only one” ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/109 "2012-09-18T16:12:40Z")
Honey Boo Boo. No, actually, my vote (defining “celebrity” to exclude heads of state/government) is for Bob Dylan. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/110 "2012-09-18T16:58:06Z")
> [@cjepson](#): > > No, actually, my vote (defining “celebrity” to exclude heads of state/government) is for Bob Dylan. Seriously? :dubious: He’s the kind of hasn’t-been-relevant-in-decades celebrity who I’d expect to get a brief mention somewhere in the last 10 minutes of the news broadcast. I’d think Charlie Sheen would ignite a frenzy, particularly because there would be no shortage of people with scandalous stories to tell about him. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/111 "2012-09-20T13:30:26Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Steven Hawking. > > Steven Speilberg. > > and, > > Stephen King. > > Steve Jobs could’ve been on here. > > Any more big-time “Steves” out there? Hello!!! Steven Seagal!!!1 ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776/112 "2012-09-20T15:31:24Z")
My initial thought for celebrity dying (of natural causes) was Angeline Jolie. But I wonder if we had did this early July 1999 if many people would have thought John F Kennedy Jr. A lot was the randomness of his death but before that he was a Presidential child who couldn’t pass his law boards on his first two and who published a moderately successful but since defunct magazine. He got more attention than other Presidential children do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-that-would-make-the-biggest-headline-today/634776.md?page=5)