# 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:** 2
**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, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/21 "2012-11-27T20:59:41Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > 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: > Patrice O’Neal Again as I said I take upset to be much stronger than saddened. I fell sad whenever I hear about the death of someone I enjoy. But it rarely upsets me. But you did remind me of this. I’m a big fan of the Opie and Anthony show on XM. Patrice was on so often it felt like I lost a friend. So young and just about to hit it big. Just about the most consistently funny guy I knew. He would just be sitting in on the show and be able to be hilarious about any subject that came up. This weekend on the channel they are commemorating the 1 year anniversary with all his best appearances. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/22 "2012-11-27T21:04:59Z")
John Ritter. So totally unexpected. Clarence Clemmons. I met him once and he seemed like such a nice guy. ---
**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, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/23 "2012-11-27T21:30:57Z")
Oh, yeah, Mitch Hedburg. ☹ He is one of my favorite comedians. David Foster Wallace, I loved his essays. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/24 "2012-11-27T22:17:18Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > George Carlin. I miss that guy. This is what I came to post. I don’t know, most celebrity deaths it’s meh, or it’s sad (Pete Postelwaite! ☹ ) because I enjoyed their work and won’t get anymore. But George Carlin… I dunno. It was like losing a favorite uncle or something. I still find myself wondering what George would think of this or that, or wishing he was still around to give commentary on things. I miss the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/25 "2012-11-27T22:36:50Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > 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. Me too. I don’t look back on my childhood and remember Mister Rogers being a real big part of it. I have a couple of nice memories attached to his show, but I don’t remember making it a point to watch the show every day or anything. But I remember sitting at my desk at work in 2003 crying when I heard he had died. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/26 "2012-11-27T22:37:20Z")
Leslie Nielsen - Even though some of his latter works was less than great, \*Airplane!, The Naked Gun \*and _Forbidden Planet_ have all brought a lot of joy over the years. Neil Armstrong It misses the cut-off by a year, but I still want to walk into a bookshop and buy the latest by Douglas Adams ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/27 "2012-11-27T22:47:50Z")
A quick wiki check shows that [Joe Strummer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Strummer) just makes the cut. I was sold on the Clash within 15 seconds of hearing the beginning of London Calling. He just seemed too young to be passing on, and it seemed to come out of nowhere. I wasn’t really upset, just sad that he was gone. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/28 "2012-11-27T22:48:04Z")
Steve Gerber, comic book writer and creator of Howard the Duck–a big influence on me in my teen years. Johnny Carson–a favorite my mom turned me on to when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/29 "2012-11-27T22:50:28Z")
Richard Pryor. ---
**Author:** ![Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Brad\_the\_Impaler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brad_the_Impaler)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/30 "2012-11-27T22:56:53Z")
Dimebag Darryl, not only was Pantera one of my favorite bands, but the way he went, shot onstage at a club. Never saw it coming in a million years. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/31 "2012-11-28T01:21:08Z")
Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. I had watched him for years and felt like he had shared his life with his fans. He was fun to watch and passionate about animals. Heath Ledger. One of my favorite actors. He had so much talent and so much left to give. Just very, very sad. George Carlin. Once in a lifetime comediene. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/32 "2012-11-28T01:45:45Z")
John Entwistle, George Carlin, Mitch Hedburg, and Ronnie James Dio are the ones who pop into my head. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/33 "2012-11-28T02:28:30Z")
Mr. Rogers and Whitney Houston. Loved Mr. Rogers as a kid and Whitney Houston as a teen, both big parts of my younger years. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/34 "2012-11-28T02:38:06Z")
Anne Bancroft. The first movie that ever struck a powerful chord with me was **the Miracle Worker**. No one could steal a movie even in a five minute part the way she could (as in **Malice** ). I’m sad there will be no more Anne Bancroft performances, ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/35 "2012-11-28T02:58:41Z")
Steve Irwin, also. He was so alive and full of energy, and provided a great real-life role model for kids. I guess a part of me admired him like a little kid would… I assumed he was immortal. And it was such a stupid way to die. ---
**Author:** ![sco3tt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@sco3tt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sco3tt)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/36 "2012-11-28T03:32:55Z")
I’m another of those callous people who is never fazed by celebrity deaths. Their passing usually only makes me think of missed points in [the death pool](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=633271). For this reason I was shocked at my own reaction to Mitch Hedberg’s death. I felt really sad and pissed off when I heard the news on the radio, and couldn’t figure out why it affected me so strongly. It made me concerned that my heart might grow three sizes that day. I’ve never felt that way about another celebrity before or since, but that one really put me in a weird funk for a week or so. It wasn’t just a matter of his death coming too soon, or the fact that the drugs he joked about eventually did him in, or that the world was robbed of his humor. Those same things could be said about thousands of other people to whom I never gave a second post-mortem thought, but Mitch’s death touched a nerve in me that I didn’t even know I had, and to this day still don’t understand. It always impresses me to see his name come up so often in these memorial threads… comedians are a dime a dozen, but his death seems to have resonated similarly with a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![orderfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orderfire/32/10908_2.png) [@orderfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orderfire)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/37 "2012-11-28T03:33:27Z")
Robert Palmer. I’ve been a giant fan all the way back to the Island and Compass Point days - love him still (in spite of Addicted to Love and Power Station). I was surprised at how the news hit me, though. I cried in the bathroom at work for a long time that day. Mr Rogers, too. For some reason, lately I’ve been thinking about the eventual celebrity deaths that are going to devastate me when the time comes. David Bowie, Stevie Wonder are up there. Donald Fagan too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/38 "2012-11-28T03:39:22Z")
None have really upset me, not like when Jim Henson died. But I was seriously saddened by Heath Ledger’s, Steve Irwin’s, and [Paul Hester](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Hester)’s deaths. Very Australia-centric of me, I notice. On a lesser-localised-celebrity death note, radio personality [Richard Marsland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Marsland)’s death was completely unexpected too. ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/39 "2012-11-28T06:10:18Z")
Paul Newman Paul Scofield David Carradine Jack Wild Darren Macgavin Elizabeth the Queen Mother Thor Heyedahl Joseph Bonanno James Coburn Dolly the sheep Idi Amin Yasser Arafat Charles Bronson Red Adair Marlon Brando Pat Morita James Doohan Bob Denver Frank Gorshin Pope John Paul II * * * I HAVEN’T EVEN REACHED 2006! These are all my favorites, childhood heroes and villains. Jack Lemon and Ray Walston don’t make the list as they died in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/40 "2012-11-28T06:36:00Z")
Neil Armstrong. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284.md?page=3)