# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![sparky\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@sparky\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sparky_1)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/41 "2012-11-28T06:37:59Z")
For some reason, Layne Staley really upset me (and I wasn’t really a Alice in Chains fan). I think it was the loneliness of it. More recently: Paul Newman and Neil Armstrong. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/42 "2012-11-28T07:01:27Z")
Since 2002? Nobody (well, maybe Paul Newman and Steve Jobs). Before 2002? Too many to mention. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/43 "2012-11-28T07:14:14Z")
> [@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. I wasn’t terribly sad. I had the feeling that his was a full life, well-lived. It was kind of like a piece of my childhood dying, but it had died long ago anyway so it didn’t hit me that bad. Even so, I was very aware of his passing, and didn’t just shrug it off. It stayed with me, but I wasn’t sad. > [@Zjestika](#): > > 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. So young, and just taking off in popularity. She went blonde and got the lead in rom-coms, instead of playing the troubled/crazy girl. She was better as the troubled/crazy girl, though. The other roles were cotton-candy; too sweet and nothing really there. Mitch Hedberg and Gregg Giraldo seemed like such a waste. Two of my favorite stand-ups. Steve Irwin was a damn shame, because he seemed like he had such joy and enthusiasm for his work. On the other hand, you could totally see him having a death by misadventure, so it was sad, but not surprising. ---
**Author:** ![coffinjumper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@coffinjumper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coffinjumper)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/44 "2012-11-28T08:24:50Z")
Liz Sladen. It just came so suddenly. One minute I’m looking forward to S5 of Sarah Jane, and the next I was hearing she died without ever having heard any indication she was sick. Hell I had recently been commenting to my friends how great she looked for her age. I expected the Brigadier to go soon, but her so close? It was a shock. And I think the closeness of the two really was part of why it got to me so much. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/45 "2012-11-28T09:01:16Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > 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 was a child of the 80s and grew up when Michael Jackson ruled the airwaves. I remember lying in a hospital bed in 1984 with the Sony Walkman my parents bought me and listening to Jackson’s _Thriller_ cassette tape. I absolutely loved “Thriller” and can scarcely imagine my childhood without Jackson. He remained relevant up until I was in my mid-teens when he moved from being celebrity weird to just being weird and almost a self-parody. He was still an immensely talented man though. I still remember the 25th Anniversary celebration of Motown! So, yeah, I understand why you’d be upset. For me it was just tough that a piece of my childhood was dead. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/46 "2012-11-28T10:15:54Z")
David Wayne - lead singer of Metal Church Denis “Piggy” D’Amour - lead guitarist of VoiVod Dimebag Darrell George Carlin John Ritter Laura Branigan (“Solitaire” was my favorite song growing up!) Nancy Marchand (aka Livia Soprano) Neil Armstrong the crew of Columbia’s final flight Pat Morita (“wax on, wax off!”) Paul Baloff - original lead singer of Exodus Quorthon - lead singer of Bathory Rick Wright - Pink Floyd keyboardist Ronnie James Dio Steve Jobs Walter Cronkite (for some reason) honorable mention: Chuck Schuldiner, lead singer of Death - died Dec. 2001 but I’m listing him anyway. ---
**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, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/47 "2012-11-28T10:29:09Z")
> [@coffinjumper](#): > > One minute I’m looking forward to S5 of Sarah Jane, and the next I was hearing she died without ever having heard any indication she was sick. Nobody knew. I was listening to an interview with Russell T Davies, where he said they were on the hiatus after filming three stories of the series when Lis called him to say she was sick, which was the first he knew of it, and only a few weeks later she died. ANd now you’ve reminded me, I have to add Lis Sladen to my list, too. ---
**Author:** ![toast\_pakora](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3ec8ea/32.png) [@toast\_pakora](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toast_pakora)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/48 "2012-11-28T10:41:05Z")
I was saddened by Tim Russert’s death. I loved watching Meet the Press during the lead up to the 2008 elections. Really missed him and his whiteboard on election night. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/49 "2012-11-28T10:54:00Z")
There’s several already mentioned, including Johnny Cash, Heath Ledger, Joe Strummer, Clarence Clemons, and Ronnie James Dio, that affected me, but I’ll mention some others I’ve not seen yet. [Pete Steele](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_steele), singer and bassist of the goth metal band Type O Negative shocked and upset me, mainly because it came out of nowhere. This might be stretching the definition of celebrity slightly, but the death of [Mike Alexander](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Alexander_(musician)), the guitarist of metal band Evile hit me hard. For a couple of reasons, I was actually slightly acquainted with him, and friends of mine knew him well, and also because he was almost exactly my age. I was supposed to be seeing the band a couple of weeks after that, supporting Amon Amarth, but obviously they didn’t play. The headliners dedicated their song “Fate of Norns”, which is a father’s lament for his dead son, to him, and being in a room with several hundred hairy bearded metalheads crying was a moving experience, to say the least. The one that’s affected me most this year was [Barney McKenna](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_McKenna), banjo player and founding member of The Dubliners. Probably the best musician I’ve ever seen in concert, and a truly great performer and entertainer. A terrible, but oddly enjoyable, singer, too. He was the last surviving original member, and the group will be disbanding at the end of the year, after finishing their 50th anniversary tour in his memory. The end of an era. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/50 "2012-11-28T13:11:29Z")
I’m not usually much affected by celebrity deaths, but Johnny Cash’s death made me sad for a while. In Nick Cave’s words: [ > [@](#): > > Take this deafening thunder down > Take this bread and take this wine > Your passing is not what we mourn > But the world you left behind > Well, do not breathe, nor make a sound > And behold your mighty work > That towers over the uncaring ground > Of a lesser, darker world ]([http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ffhNWxh41I](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ffhNWxh41I)) He truly was the real thing. Also, Hunter S. Thompson’s death affected me, though he went out the way you’d always expected him to. I remember having a few shots of whiskey on him afterwards. David Foster Wallace saddens me in retrospect: I’ve only gotten into his writing after his passing, and the thought that it’s all limited, some day it’ll bottom out and there will be no more, is pretty depressing. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/51 "2012-11-28T13:43:54Z")
**MCA**. Futurama made me believe the Beastie Boys would live forever. While I certainly miss Johnny Cash, he had a full ass life. Adam Yauch was only 47 but still seemed like a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/52 "2012-11-28T18:20:44Z")
**[Alex Chilton](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Chilton)** Probably best known to the masses as the lead singer on [The Letter](http://youtu.be/HIWY8UyW9bw) (recorded, amazingly enough, when he was 16), but to hipsters, he was the voice of **Big Star** : [Thirteen](http://youtu.be/pte3Jg-2Ax4) - Big Star [In the Street](http://youtu.be/pte3Jg-2Ax4) - Big Star Anyhow, he was living and playing in Athens, GA when I was a student there, so I felt some connection to the guy, and some sadness when he died. ---
**Author:** ![edwards\_beard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@edwards\_beard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwards_beard)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/53 "2012-11-28T19:18:41Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > 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. I’m thinking pretty much the same thing…not many really affect me, but Patrice did. Partly because he was on the show so much I felt like I knew him a lot more than just a random actor or singer. The other (bigger) part is the day they came on and Jim Norton told the story about going to the hospital to see him for the last time, followed by all the big name comics that came on/called in to give their personal stories…made it feel so much more personal. I teared up quite a few times during those shows. (Also teared up at the end of Norton’s latest special that ended with a shot of Patrice’s hat) With that being said, have to also mention Dimebag Darrel whose death was just utterly shocking. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/54 "2012-11-28T19:30:20Z")
Doug Hopkins from the Gin Blossoms. Suicided just as the band was breaking big, having been fired for alcoholism. Most of their best songs were written by him, and most of his best songs have substance abuse referenced in them. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/55 "2012-11-28T20:50:57Z")
Captain Beefheart. It wasn’t unexpected–he had been sick for years–but he was a real hero to me and it was a sad loss. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/56 "2012-11-28T21:09:03Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Doug Hopkins from the Gin Blossoms. Suicided just as the band was breaking big, having been fired for alcoholism. Most of their best songs were written by him, and most of his best songs have substance abuse referenced in them. He died in 1993, Van Winkle. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/57 "2012-11-28T21:12:08Z")
The weird thing about Leslie Nielsen’s death was that just a day or two before he passed away, TAC TV (a Canadian thing, I guess) aired a brief bio of him that looked like an obituary (it was actually just a 60-second filler item). My daughter turned and asked me “Is he dead, then?” I said “Not so far as I know.” That was probably on a Sunday, while we were watching “Perry Mason”; by Tuesday or Wednesday, Leslie was gone! It felt so strange! Like, e.g., Neil Armstrong, James Doohan, Bob Denver, George Carlin, and (pre-2002) Steve Allen, DeForest Kelley, and Gene Roddenberry, it seemed he was someone who would be around forever. ---
**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/58 "2012-11-29T00:53:15Z")
I cried (a little) when Jerry Orbach died. I was sad when Brittany Murphy died, too. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/59 "2012-11-29T00:53:28Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > He died in 1993, Van Winkle. 😉 Well then, from 2002 on, I guess I’m good! (I can’t **believe** it has been that long…) “and if you don’t expect too much from me, you might not be let down…” Thanks, **Spoke**. ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-deaths-since-2002-that-upset-you-most/642284/60 "2012-11-29T01:39:27Z")
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