# Did any celebrity deaths actually hit you hard personally **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150 "2016-04-26T03:09:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/1 "2016-04-26T03:09:18Z")
I can only think of 2 that actually bothered me personally. 1. Robin Williams. It was just sad that a guy who gave so much enjoyment to the world had to end up hanging himself in his guest bedroom because he had depression and a terminal neurological disease. What an ignoble end to someone who deserved so much better. Someone like that should die happy and surrounded by family. 2. Michelle Eileen McNamara. True crime writer but mainly known as Patton Oswalt’s wife. She died last week in her sleep and was only 46. Her and Patton have a 7 year old daughter. I love Patton’s work and this is really sad. I’m more sad for Patton and his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/2 "2016-04-26T03:25:28Z")
Phil Hartman. I liked his style of humor, but didn’t realize how much until right then. Newsradio was a great show, and he was the best part of it. It probably hit me hard because it came at a bad time following the passing of several people close to me. Phil had made me laugh in those times and then suddenly he was gone 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:** [April 26, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/3 "2016-04-26T03:33:22Z")
Jim Henson. And I’ve still not recovered because nobody has filled the hole he left behind. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/4 "2016-04-26T03:56:46Z")
Alan Rickman, because he was my favorite actor ever since I saw _Die Hard_ when it came out in the theaters. Phil Hartman. Similar to what **TriPolar** said, I really liked him, but I didn’t realize how very much until he was gone. ---
**Author:** ![dada2fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ccd318/32.png) [@dada2fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dada2fish)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/5 "2016-04-26T04:15:57Z")
I haven’t yet come to terms with the loss of David Bowie. I told someone it feels just like someone in my family died suddenly and I wasn’t exaggerating. ---
**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/6 "2016-04-26T04:16:44Z")
There were a couple that I thought were sad, but I was always quick to move on once the initial surprise wore off. Then Prince died. ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/7 "2016-04-26T05:14:29Z")
Robin Williams is the celebrity death that affected me the most. Heath Ledger is a pretty close second, and maybe even a bigger tragedy since I think all of his most important and best work would have been ahead of him. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/8 "2016-04-26T05:27:16Z")
Mostly the few I had personally known. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2016, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/9 "2016-04-26T05:38:20Z")
JFK John Lennon Cary Grant Steve Jobs Glenn Frey And surprisingly enough, Aubrey McClendon, co-founder and former CEO/Board Chairman of Chesapeake Energy, who died March 2 when his SUV crashed into a bridge abutment at high speed, either as a result of suicide or having become distracted by something that occurred in the cabin (at the speed he was traveling, the collision occurred less than 1.5 seconds after his car crossed the center line). Some think he killed himself because he’d been indicted the day before on charges he’d conspired to rig lease bids and/or due to recent financial woes related to his business activities. But he was a known scrapper who’d faced down financial and personal adversity many times before and was known to drive like “a bat out of hell”, as it was relayed to me, and to multi-task while driving. I have relatives who work for energy companies and McClendon was known far and wide for his charisma, his generosity, his pride in growing a company that provided livelihoods for over 12,000 people, and his easy-going, likable demeanor with everyone he met, be they wait staff in restaurants (where he was known to leave $100 tips for everyone), convenience store employees, or high-powered bankers, financiers and business executives. I’d learned quite a bit about him by the time he died and had grown surprisingly fond of him due to having read a lot about him and from watching interviews and so forth online. With the possible exception of JFK, Aubrey McClendon’s death hit me the hardest of all. I can still hardly believe it a month and a half later. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/10 "2016-04-26T05:51:51Z")
Owen Hart. I was deeply involved in the wrestling business when it happened and it depressed me for days. Even though I was only 12, John Lennon because I just discovered and got into the Beatles in 1980. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/11 "2016-04-26T06:06:20Z")
The first one that really hit me that I remember was Curt Cobain. I was driving when I heard the news on the radio and had to just pull over right where I was because I started crying immediately. Brittany Murphy. I loved everything she did and she could/would have done so much more. Robin Williams and David Bowie, I wept on and off for weeks. I will be doing the same with Prince now. ---
**Author:** ![Annoying\_Buzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Annoying\_Buzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annoying_Buzz)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/12 "2016-04-26T06:22:35Z")
Jim Henson and David Bowie. Henson was likely the biggest pop culture influence on my entire childhood, and he died just as I was finishing high school. It was like the universe slammed the lid shut on my childhood. Bowie has been one of my favorite musicians ever since I heard Space Oddity when I was 14. More than that, though, I idolized him, even well into adulthood. In everything he did, he was amazing: his music, his style, his acting, his business ventures, hell even his marriage. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/13 "2016-04-26T06:36:59Z")
Terry Pratchett Robin Williams Alan Rickman I know I’m going to lose it when Van Morrison dies. For some reason, I was completely gutted by Princess Diana’s death. I don’t know even know why, really. If you’d asked me beforehand, I would have said that I had no more than a casual interest in any of the Royals. Maybe because I was in an unhappy marriage at the time. Or maybe not. Took me by complete surprise. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/14 "2016-04-26T12:19:01Z")
This thread is best suited for Cafe Society. I’ve relocated it from IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/15 "2016-04-26T12:32:28Z")
Terry Pratchett. I was moaning about it in front of my coworkers who probably never heard of him. Johnny Cash and John Ritter dying on the same day got me down as well. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/16 "2016-04-26T12:38:44Z")
[Walt Kelly](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly) [David Hartwell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_G._Hartwell) Duane Allman ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/17 "2016-04-26T12:45:21Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Terry Pratchett. I was moaning about it in front of my coworkers who probably never heard of him. > > Johnny Cash and John Ritter dying on the same day got me down as well. Sir Pterry or me too ---
**Author:** ![Tapiotar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@Tapiotar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapiotar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/18 "2016-04-26T12:48:13Z")
I felt shocked and disbelieving when John Lennon was killed, sad about George Harrison, sad for days for Robin Williams, David Bowie, and Alan Rickman. But not hard hit, not like grief for a family member or close friend. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/19 "2016-04-26T13:18:55Z")
Sort of a retroactive thing … Bradley Nowell from Sublime. I heard a what I Got" on the radio one day and immediately knew I’d found my new favorite band. I ran right out and bought their major label CD and played the absolute shit out of it. Then I found out that Nowell had been dead for about a year. I was bummed. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150/20 "2016-04-26T13:24:23Z")
A relatively obscure bluegrass musician but mostly because he died of the same variety of brain tumor that had recently killed my brother. I had talked to him at the merch table after a show. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-any-celebrity-deaths-actually-hit-you-hard-personally/753150.md?page=2)