# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/21 "2006-10-20T13:17:54Z")
I saw Art Buchwald on TV a few months back after resigning himself to death. Still hanging in there. LadyBird always amazes me that she’s still around. ---
**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, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/22 "2006-10-20T13:20:28Z")
[QUOTE=The Chao Goes Mu] I’ll be damned. I didn’t know that Glenn Ford and Steve Howe bit it. [/QUOTE] That’s the baseball Steve Howe, not the Yes guitarist Howe, just so prog-rock fans can put their hearts back in their throats… ---
**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, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/23 "2006-10-20T13:43:54Z")
[QUOTE=An Arky] That’s the baseball Steve Howe, not the Yes guitarist Howe, just so prog-rock fans can put their hearts back in their throats… [/QUOTE] Crap, I meant to clarify that. Sorry if I caused anyone a coronary. ---
**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:** [October 20, 2006, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/24 "2006-10-20T14:08:13Z")
I was surprised when I first heard actor [Charles Lane](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0485272/) was still alive: he seemed old when I first noticed him in the 1960s (and he was: he had helped found the Screen Actors Guild in 1933). But Lane celebrated his 101st birthday last January, and seems to be still going strong. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/25 "2006-10-20T14:12:09Z")
There was a story on the local news earlier this week about a book signing by Art Linkletter when he was in town. My GF and looked at each other and said, of course, “He’s still alive?” And she read something about Jack laLane still hanging in there too just the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Winston\_Bongo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a9adbd/32.png) [@Winston\_Bongo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winston_Bongo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/26 "2006-10-20T15:03:03Z")
For the last several years, any time Gerald Ford’s name pops up in the news (usually related to a health problem), I’ve had the exact same reaction: “He’s not dead??” Technically this should only have happened once before I learned my lesson, but no. It doesn’t matter how many times I learn that Gerald Ford is not dead, part of my brain persists in thinking Gerald Ford is dead. I also thought Peter Cushing was dead for about a decade before his actual demise because someone told me he had died shortly after filming _Star Wars_. Turns out he lived a whole \*seventeen years \* after that. Sorry, Pete! ---
**Author:** ![UntouchedTakeaway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d78d45/32.png) [@UntouchedTakeaway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UntouchedTakeaway)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/27 "2006-10-20T15:07:47Z")
I knew she was alive - but not _this_ alive! Gina Lollobridgida - 79 - to marry beau of 22 years - 45! [http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/20/people.lollobrigida.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/10/20/people.lollobrigida.ap/index.html) God bless her 😃 VCNJ~ ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/28 "2006-10-20T18:32:45Z")
I’m taking notes for the Celebrity Death Pool. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/29 "2006-10-20T18:40:51Z")
I could swear I heard a year or two ago that someone had created a Firefox extension that kept you updated on Abe Vigoda’s status - it was just a little box with “Alive” or “Dead” in it. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/30 "2006-10-20T18:43:57Z")
[QUOTE=Winston Bongo] For the last several years, any time Gerald Ford’s name pops up in the news (usually related to a health problem), I’ve had the exact same reaction: “He’s not dead??” Technically this should only have happened once before I learned my lesson, but no. It doesn’t matter how many times I learn that Gerald Ford is not dead, part of my brain persists in thinking Gerald Ford is dead. [/QUOTE] You don’t have to worry about it anymore. He died a few weeks ago. Anna Russel, a musician and comedian best known for her 30-minute synopsis of Wagner’s Ring Cycle, died earlier this week. When I heard the report on the radio, I realized I had assumed she’d died years ago. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/31 "2006-10-20T18:45:01Z")
Sorry, I read that as _Glen_ Ford. Former president is still around. ---
**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, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/32 "2006-10-20T18:47:24Z")
[QUOTE=Smeghead] I could swear I heard a year or two ago that someone had created a Firefox extension that kept you updated on Abe Vigoda’s status - it was just a little box with “Alive” or “Dead” in it. [/QUOTE] (see post #20) ---
**Author:** ![Autumn\_Almanac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d26b3c/32.png) [@Autumn\_Almanac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autumn_Almanac)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/33 "2006-10-20T19:32:36Z")
I clearly remember seeing a local news broadcast several years ago saying that Mark-Paul Gosselar (sp?) of _Saved by the Bell_ fame had been killed in a motorcycle accident. I found out at least a year later that no such thing had happened. I still can’t figure out whether I somehow misunderstood the newscast, or if the newscast was just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/34 "2006-10-20T19:47:42Z")
[QUOTE=MrDibble] I had this reaction to a recent thread about The Pogues and Shane MacGowan touring: “Shane’s still alive?” [/QUOTE] Sort of depend on what your definition of “living” is, doesn’t it? 😃 I’m pretty sure his liver died years ago. Mine was (until recently) Syd Barrett. I was shocked to hear of his death in July 'cause I thought he had died sometime in the early '80s. I remember when a compilation album came out, I thought it was posthumous. I mean, seriously - Syd Barrett as a 60 year old man? That just does not grok. Shine on, you crazy diamond. RIP, Roger. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2006, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/35 "2006-10-20T20:23:49Z")
Van Morrisson is still around ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/36 "2006-10-21T00:10:36Z")
Generalissimo Franco is still dead. ---
**Author:** ![leafrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cab0a1/32.png) [@leafrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leafrog)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/37 "2006-10-21T01:42:28Z")
A couple of years ago, around the beginning of Season 2 of Deadwood, my husband and I lamented that Jeffrey Jones had recently passed away, and wouldn’t be on after that season. Then, when he appeared all the way through Season 3, we got confused and googled him and discovered he was still alive. Neither of us can figure out who must have died that we confused Jones with. sorry if that was a bit convoluted…hope it made sense ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/38 "2006-10-21T02:11:35Z")
[QUOTE=leafrog] Neither of us can figure out who must have died that we confused Jones with. [/QUOTE] Well, this may not be the one, since he died back in 1998, but I often mixed up Jones with [J.T. Walsh.](http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000687/) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/39 "2006-10-21T02:58:04Z")
I remember hearing a radio station a few years ago playing a call-in game like this. The host would give names and the caller had to say whether they were alive or dead. Get five in a row right and there was some sort of prize. And they said afterwards that the one almost everybody got wrong was Fay Wray, the lead actress in the 1933 version of _King Kong_. She died only two years ago, about a month short of her 97th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![overeasy4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b9bd4f/32.png) [@overeasy4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overeasy4)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2006, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181/40 "2006-10-21T03:08:28Z")
[QUOTE=h.sapiens] Sorry, I read that as _Glen_ Ford. Former president is still around. [/QUOTE] I’d figured you posted that just to mess with him! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-didnt-know-they-were-still-alive/377181.md?page=3)