# Celebrity deaths since 2002 that upset you most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284 "2012-11-27T17:39:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/1 "2012-11-27T17:39:37Z")
[Eve had this thread almost exactly 10 years ago.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=144801) What celebrity deaths in the last decade have upset you the most? For me? [Colin Mcrae](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-14803595) - Partly because he caused the accident and also because his son died with him in the crash. ☹ Heath Ledger - Just a huge shock and his performance as Joker elevated his recent death to huge levels. [Andy Hallett](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASYfvW6F1ds&feature=player_detailpage#t=12s) - An infection to the heart because of a dental procedure. So tragic. [Richard Biggs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyD4L8yNtsA&feature=player_detailpage#t=19s)- Stephen Franklin from Babylon 5 and his death was sudden and uncaused by himself. He died very close to the time the actor who portrayed his father on the show died, actually. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![diggerwam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/919ad9/32.png) [@diggerwam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggerwam)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/2 "2012-11-27T17:59:07Z")
Johnny cash. Amy winehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/3 "2012-11-27T18:03:12Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > Johnny cash. Amy winehouse. Why, you don’t mind sharing? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/4 "2012-11-27T18:05:33Z")
Is “None” an option? I only get upset when people I know die. I don’t know any celebrities. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/5 "2012-11-27T18:12:41Z")
I felt sad when Brittany Murphy died, not because I really liked her or her body of work, but because it just seemed so sad and alone, and I’d had an acquaintance who had recently died under similarly lonely circumstances. And it wasn’t a sadness like I was going to miss her, but a sadness for whatever fear she might have felt, and because she was so young. ---
**Author:** ![spifflog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@spifflog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spifflog)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/6 "2012-11-27T18:21:10Z")
Concur with **Tapioca Dextrin.** I don’t know any of these people. Why whould they upset me? People that I don’t know die every minute of the day. I just can’t be in mourning for the rest of my life. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/7 "2012-11-27T18:27:12Z")
> [@spifflog](#): > > Concur with **Tapioca Dextrin.** > > I don’t know any of these people. Why whould they upset me? People that I don’t know die every minute of the day. I just can’t be in mourning for the rest of my life. Some people are more sensitive than others. I’ve been known to cry at a sad movie or when I hear some songs. I don’t think feeling some sadness when hearing about the death of someone you don’t know is any different than that, and there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s empathy. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/8 "2012-11-27T18:29:36Z")
Eric Woolfson (the other half of the Alan Parsons Project) Steve Jobs ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/9 "2012-11-27T18:33:22Z")
George Carlin. I miss that guy. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/10 "2012-11-27T18:35:01Z")
None to a large degree, but to some degree: Christopher Hitchens Ted Kennedy ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/11 "2012-11-27T19:01:18Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Is “None” an option? I only get upset when people I know die. I don’t know any celebrities. Yes, but usually that answer is given by not replying at all in a thread about celebrity deaths that upset you. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/12 "2012-11-27T19:26:28Z")
I would say none because nothing is coming to me right now but some posts might jog my memory. I do feel some degree of sadness depending on the circumstances. The last one I remember being upset\* about is Stevie Ray Vaughn but that was long before 2002. \*I don’t know if it was the OP’s intention but I take “upset” to be a much stronger reaction than saddened. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/13 "2012-11-27T19:51:55Z")
Billy Mays he was at the height of his career and popualirty and had that cool reality show and evertyhing was going great for him then those reports came out after his death trying to slander his good image too ): ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/14 "2012-11-27T20:00:57Z")
Michael Jackson. I grew up loving all things MJ and, as I grew older, I came to admire his world view. . . even if it was naive. I’m not saying the guy had the most practical approach to life, but there’s something admirable about his message. I can already hear the next question: well, what do you think his message was? I think that above all else, he wanted to put more love, beauty, and kindness into the world. Now again, I’m not going to defend his every action-- alleged or otherwise-- but I think that in a very real sense, his message resonates with me for whatever reason. Heck, I even got “love” tattooed on me in his handwriting, just because it’s so meaningful to me. ---
**Author:** ![jools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b3f665/32.png) [@jools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jools)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/15 "2012-11-27T20:07:59Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > George Carlin. I miss that guy. That… No more new humor from him, that saddened me! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/16 "2012-11-27T20:16:20Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > None to a large degree, but to some degree: > > Christopher Hitchens I read his last, short book on his illness over the weekend and remembered how much I admired the guy even when I did not agree with him. He was one of the world’s truly unafraid people. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/17 "2012-11-27T20:17:19Z")
Whether you know the person or not, it can still be sad to lose someone if you’re a fan of their work because even if you’re not losing a person you know - you’re still losing something. I’m a huge Amy Winehouse fan, and her death did not surprise me given her history and troubles, but it did sadden me a great deal because we lost the opportunity to hear more from her. Others that bummed me out: Mitch Hedberg Jack Lemmon Michael Jackson Greg Giraldo Patrice O’Neal George Carlin Heath Ledger Andrew Koenig David Mills (did a lot of work w/ David Simon) Tim Russert Whitney Houston Jay Bennett (former member of Wilco) I could probably list a hundred more if I thought about it long enough. ---
**Author:** ![Starving\_Artist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/18 "2012-11-27T20:29:34Z")
Steve Jobs was the biggie for me. I’ve admired that guy tremendously for decades. I felt a profound sense of sadness and loss when he died. Still do to a considerable degree. On a more practical level, there’s no telling what we’re going to miss out on in our lives because that guy died. As Robert Iger, the CEO of Disney said upon Jobs’ passing: “Despite all he accomplished, it felt like he was just getting started.” Then comes Christopher Hitchens and Heath Ledger. Both deaths made me sad and angry. Michael Jackson’s death came more as a shock than anything else. Can’t really say I was affected emotionally because he’d become such a nutcase and had taken advantage of so many people by the time he died that I was pretty much out of patience with him. Still, it’s sad what became of him; he truly was a genius. And of course it was terrible for his children. A financial windfall for all his family though. Loved Carlin in the early seventies. Could recite his album routines from memory and was occasionally asked to perform them at parties. Was out of patience with him by the time he died, too. Since someone already brought up Stevie Ray Vaughn I’ll mention him too, even though he died in 1990. And while we’re in that vein I’ll mention Robert Palmer too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FordTaurusSHO94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f07891/32.png) [@FordTaurusSHO94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordTaurusSHO94)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/19 "2012-11-27T20:50:18Z")
Randy Savage ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/20 "2012-11-27T20:54:36Z")
Mr. Rogers. ☹ I posted in a recent thread (the one about Kevin Clash) that reading certain articles or watching certain videos about him can still make me cry. He was by all accounts I’ve seen a genuinely good human being who cared deeply about children, and adults too. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284.md?page=2)