You stole mine.
He was such a big part of my childhood that, as somebody said upthread, his death marked the death of my youth as well. Elvis probably would have had a similar impact, but he died when I was ten, so I probably thought “That sucks. Let’s go play!” But when Johnny died, I was old enough to be nostalgic, and his music, along with Elvis’s, is so intertwined with my memories of my mom that the loss hit me pretty hard.
In another thread someone mentioned Gilda Radner. I’m pretty sure I shed a tear when she died.
I was very sad when Zero Mostel died, but didn’t cry. Likewise John Candy.
The only time I just broke down crying at the initial news was when Robert Heinlein died–it hit me so fast that I’d never get a chance to meet him and that there wouldn’t be any more books (lucky for me that wasn’t strictly true!) and I just started leaking. Still do, once in a while–he was the father of my mind in many ways.
I’m more the after-the-fact type, I snivelled the first time I heard Warren Zevon’s version of “Knocking On Heaven’s Door” and Johnny Cash’s version of “Hurt,” both of which occurred soon after their respective deaths.
I’m pretty bummed about Heath Ledger, because he always seemed like such a cool guy and I hate it when talented people die young–what is it about being 27-28 that so many artists die right then? No actual tears, though…
Cary Grant
Jimmy Stewart
Gregory Peck
I don’t know if he counts as a celebrity, but I was completely undone when Terry Fox died. I still get pretty emotional just reading about him.
Just remembered one that really got to me: Joe Strummer.
I didn’t cry, but I did put on Johnny Appleseed and get really depressed.
Johnny Appleseed, indeed.
I was deeply upset by Princess Diana’s death. It wasn’t that I was particularly interested in her in life, but it came as such a shock, and the timing coincided with things in my life that made it hit home more than usual. In particular, I felt for her sons. Growing up in that family must be incredibly difficult - not only are they affected by the same family problems as any of us, but they are also constantly in the media spotlight and weighed down by the expectations of the people. I wouldn’t trade places with any of them for all the money in their grandmother’s coffers. I felt so incredibly sad for the two little princes who would be growing up in that gilded cage without their mother.
As a sidenote I’ve always struggled with accepting death, particularly when it comes suddenly or to young people, and participating in the deathpool (morbid as it may be) has really helped me to view it in another way and not take it so hard. I suppose making fun of things that disturb us is hardly a new concept, but I think I now have a healthier reaction to celebrity deaths than I once did. I don’t dwell on it the way I once would.
Gene Roddenberry and Mark Lenard, the latter particularly since I had had no idea that he had cancer.
Princess Diana
Steve Irwin
John Ritter
Heath Ledgers death got me all teary eyed. I was reading ONTD earlier, a celebrity blog for those that dont know, and someone mentioned the I hate the way speech from 10 Thing… that got me started and then I saw the statement from his family, cue tears.
I dont really remember any other celebrity death ever having that effect on me before.
Wow, that gave me the chills.
I tend to be pretty stoic about celebrity deaths, but I felt pretty shocked when Mitch Hedberg, Phil Hartman, and Old Dirty Bastard died. I really don’t know why about the last one- I had no particular investment, but I was very sad.
ETA: I remember Jim Henson dying, and I was very young when he did. I remember being sad, and I felt that weird realization of mortality thing. His death was very unsettling.
Steve Irwin’s death made me cry. I know he annoyed some people, but I liked him a lot.
For me it’s usually somebody I enjoyed reading or watching or listening to, and am sad not only because it’s a death and death is sad, but because I know that there won’t be anything new from them to look forward to and enjoy. I experience a similar sadness when a band I really like breaks up. I’m still not over the idea that there will never be another new Pink Floyd album, for example.
I am quite sure no one will recognize the name, but Johanna Sällström. She had a popular recurring role in the Wallander film series. This was incredibly cheesy, but one of the few series subtitled in English, and I watched it in the US to help improve my language skills (at first with subtitles, then without when the series continued and I got better). She had a daughter the same age as mine.
One night, after watching the latest film, I read online that she had committed suicide. I felt like I lost my personal tutor. And I felt so sad for her daughter. Probably weird, I know.
Oh I thought of one–can’t believe I forgot. I was watching MTV and the video for “Bohemian Rhapsody” came on. I love Queen and loved that song, overplayed or not, but had never actually seen the video, and so I was watching it with particular interest. Anyway, my husband said to me “Freddie Mercury died of AIDS” (which was at the time a recent event and quite possibly the reason they were playing Queen videos) which shook me for a moment, then I looked back to the TV just in time to see him sing the line “I don’t want to die, I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all” …it was like being punched twice in the stomach and I just started bawling my eyes out. (That moment is at about 2:30 in the video if you want to see it here on YouTube)
Jeff Buckley. But I knew him a little bit and had a serious crush on him.
I was seriously freaked out by the Challenger, and Columbia sort of brought it all back for a while. But it wasn’t just “the deaths” it was that I was watching it live, in the sky, from the field at my school and it was just the dawning horror of what I’d seen that disturbed me so much. I think if I had seen it on TV, even live, it probably wouldn’t have affected me so deeply. I was in 8th grade at the time and I had Challenger-disaster-inspired dreams well into my adulthood.
Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov have been two of my favorite authors for much of my life, and I was just stunned when I finally read bios (because come on, who reads those things?) on books of theirs published after they died, and I realized I’ll never get to read a new Heinlein or Asimov, because they died when I was a toddler.
Me too. When I heard it, I felt like I was punched in the gut. He seemed like such a genuine, down-to-earth guy and a great comic talent.
John Ritter was equally upsetting for me. I’m a huge “Three’s Company” fan and he was a fantastic physical comedian.
A death like Heath Ledger’s, while not eliciting tears, is upsetting in a different way. I have a daughter that’s the same age as his daughter and she was my first thought when I heard. I guess I was more sad for the people he left behind.
**Paul Hester ** from Crowded House made me so sad that it surprised me. I’m a big Split Enz/Crowded House fan and he seemed like such a happy, fun guy that his suicide was shocking to me.
Richard Brautigan.
Sorry no link, but I got to know him by reading Trout Fishing In America when I was in the 6th grade. Heavy reading for a young girl, but I was absolutely unaware that he was mentally ill. I just thought he was vibrant and flamboyant, kind of like how I felt about myself. He was one of a kind. I recommend reading any or (better) all of his books.