I think it’s kind of bad form to say this - or rather to write it in a public forum. Yes, it’s something, maybe the first thing, that leapt to mind when you heard the news - but saying so really means nothing, since famous people are often out of the public eye post-achievement or notoriety, and yes sometimes they do have long lives.
Similarly, any old film clip you see on YouTube will sooner or later get someone to comment, “All these people are dead now”. Not an original insight.
Johnny Nash. I thought he died of cancer in the early 70’s, mainly because every TV ad for a musical compilation later in the decade always seemed to feature “I Can See Clearly Now”, couched in such a way that my tween mind inferred that he wrote said song after his diagnosis, bravely showing his optimism in the face of his fate.
What actually happened of course is that he completely slipped off of the public radar after all of his subsequent singles failed to go top 40, and these comps were merely using the song to sell themselves. Nonetheless I was utterly shocked when I read about his 2020 death here.
More than a few times, out of the blue, I’ll wonder if some past celebrity is still alive, confirm they are, and then within the week read their obituary. I then feel personally responsible for their deaths.
Just one of many examples: Sid Melton. How often have you thought about Sid Melton? I did, on November 2, 2011.
Only basketball great Bob Cousy and actress Glynis Johns are miraculously alive despite my lethal premonitions.
He’s dead now, but when this awesome, Not-Safe-For-Work, um, “tribute” to Ray Bradbury came out in 2011, I was astonished that he was still alive. (He died in 2012.)
Coincidentally, Ed Asner’s most recent role was in episode 3 of B.J. Novak’s The Premise, in which,
A pop megastar returns to his high school to pledge a donation to build a new library, but instead promises to have sex with the school’s valedictorian as an academic achievement prize.
