# I didn't know they were still alive! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181 "2006-10-20T03:11:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/1 "2006-10-20T03:11:26Z")
Just saw a commercial for David Letterman. Apparently tonight Willie Tyler & Lester will be making an appearance. I was surprised, I could have sworn I remember hearing about Willie Tyler dying about 10 years ago. I had the same reaction when I saw Twiggy as a judge on _America’s Next Top Model_. I have a clear memory of her dying of a cocaine overdose sometime in the early 80’s. Who did you think was dead, until you saw them again? ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/2 "2006-10-20T03:18:17Z")
Quite a number in fact (over the years). I woulda sworn that Larry Hagman met his maker a couple of years ago, but some quasi-random surfing last night to the IMDB showed that he’s still with us. I dunno if it is my Swiss-cheese memory or I’m slipping between realities… ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/3 "2006-10-20T03:27:15Z")
You weren’t too far off, Hagman had a liver transplant that saved his life in 1996. I seem to recall the Hollywood ET Insider Report shows saying he was “near death”, but I don’t know how close he was to going to the big ranch in the sky. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/4 "2006-10-20T03:45:25Z")
At my college graduation in the late 1990s, when they were giving out honorary degrees, I think that hundreds of us had this reaction at the same time. You could hear the murmur in the crowd…“Arthur Miller’s still alive?!” (Yes, I know he’s dead now.) ---
**Author:** ![Wheeljack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@Wheeljack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheeljack)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/5 "2006-10-20T04:48:32Z")
[QUOTE=John DiFool] I dunno if it is my Swiss-cheese memory or I’m slipping between realities… [/QUOTE] Been competing in any bat’leth tournaments lately? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/6 "2006-10-20T06:10:53Z")
I saw Willie and Lester at a comedy club… 4 years ago? He/They had just won a national venriloquism compeition in Vegas. ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/7 "2006-10-20T06:26:04Z")
Is Abe Vigoda still alive? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/8 "2006-10-20T06:34:36Z")
I had this reaction to a recent thread about The Pogues and Shane MacGowan touring: “Shane’s still alive?” I opened the thread and saw I wan’t the only one. ---
**Author:** ![DataZak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@DataZak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataZak)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/9 "2006-10-20T06:44:04Z")
Jack Palance is still alive! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/10 "2006-10-20T06:51:34Z")
For me, it’s often old political figures: John Anderson, Howard Baker, Griffin Bell, Earl Butz, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Ramsey Clark, Chuck Colson, Al Haig, Howard Hunt, Henry Kissinger, Melvin Laird, Jeb Magruder, Robert McNamara, James Schlesinger, Stansfield Turner ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/11 "2006-10-20T10:13:47Z")
Don Ho is still making _Tiny Bubbles_. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2006, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/12 "2006-10-20T10:16:42Z")
For years I thought Diana Rigg was dead. But no, not only was she not dead when I thought, she’s still not dead now! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/13 "2006-10-20T11:15:54Z")
Imagine my dismay when I realized that Gordon Lightfoot was still alive after 2 years of thinking he succumbed to some sort of cancer. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/14 "2006-10-20T11:16:39Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] For me, it’s often old political figures: …Robert McNamara… [/QUOTE] McNamara is still alive? (Checks Google…) Well, I’ll be dammed, he is! ---
**Author:** ![Sonia\_Montdore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Sonia\_Montdore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sonia_Montdore)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/15 "2006-10-20T11:44:28Z")
**Dead or Alive** , the website that tracks whether famous people are still with us: [http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages-nf/main](http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/dead.nsf/pages-nf/main) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/16 "2006-10-20T12:06:34Z")
I OP’ed [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=366805&highlight=cheeta) about Cheeta, Tarzan’s chimp sidekick from the old 1940s movies. He’s going to be 75 in April! ---
**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:** [October 20, 2006, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/17 "2006-10-20T12:19:16Z")
I thought Bob Hope was dead long before he really was. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_chao_goes_mu/32/3191_2.png) [@The\_Chao\_Goes\_Mu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Chao_Goes_Mu)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/18 "2006-10-20T12:47:32Z")
I’ll be damned. I didn’t know that Glenn Ford and Steve Howe bit it. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/19 "2006-10-20T12:52:05Z")
Larry Hagman always confuses me too because he went through Liver problems right around the same time as Mickey Mantle and Mick died. I think I always associate the two events. Lady Bird Johnson always gets me. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/20 "2006-10-20T13:08:07Z")
[QUOTE=overeasy4] Is Abe Vigoda still alive? [/QUOTE] The last time I saw him, he was riding a bicycle-built-for-three with John Tesh and William Shatner (on Conan O’Brien’s 10th anniversary special). From Wikipedia: “In 1982, Vigoda enjoyed a little extra publicity when People magazine erroneously declared him dead. Vigoda took the error with good humor, posing for a photograph showing him sitting up in a coffin, holding the magazine in question. Since then his erroneous death has remained a running joke for Vigoda.” and "Greg Galcik created the website [abevigoda.com](http://www.abevigoda.com/) in May 2001, which was a single page displaying “Abe Vigoda’s status” which reports whether Abe Vigoda is currently alive or dead. In 2002, Galcik recorded a gothic rock song Abe Vigoda’s Dead, a parody of “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus. Didn’t I hear something about Paul McCartney being dead? 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181.md?page=2)