# People more famous because they died **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 19, 2000, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875 "2000-11-19T20:34:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/61 "2000-11-21T15:39:19Z")
How about people famous because other people died? I mean really, would we now know the wonder that is Kato Kaelin (sp?) if Nicole and Ron weren’t offed? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/62 "2000-11-21T20:10:55Z")
Hmmm…well, what about people who are famous for the WAY they died, like Rasputin? ---
**Author:** ![Anake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@Anake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anake)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/63 "2000-11-21T22:46:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tommy the Cat \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by iampunha \* > > **Abraham Lincoln.** > > You gotta be kidding. > > The man who gave the Gettysburg Address, who led the country through its bloodiest war, and who wrote the Emancipation Proclaimation. You’re saying we wouldn’t remember him if he hadn’t been shot while at the theater? \*\* I’ve read (somewhere OTHER than the horrible textbooks) that during his term, Lincoln was not that popular of a President and only until he got shot was he seen as an icon and legend like he is today. From, Anake ---
**Author:** ![Anake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/97f17d/32.png) [@Anake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anake)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/64 "2000-11-21T22:50:20Z")
Forgot to add a person. What about Andy Kaufman? This is only a speculation, because he was famous before he died, naturally. But after Taxi was cancelled and he started to become even more bizarre with his stunts, did he start to slip into obscurity because people thought, “Enough is enough,” especially with the wrestling with women. Then when he died of cancer on May 16, 1984, did people really talk, thinking, “What if he faked his death?” One of the reasons they think that is because his career was going downhill, he would have done something to boost it back up. After his death, there were a couple of specials shown, the REM song “Man on the Moon,” and the movie of the same name. I happen to think he’s dead, but that’s my opinion. From, Anake ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2000, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/65 "2000-11-21T23:22:35Z")
This thread is on its second page and no one has yet mentioned the first name I thought of… Christa McCauliffe. ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [November 22, 2000, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/66 "2000-11-22T03:06:29Z")
Ummm…I thought of a few. Che Guevara (spelling, please-I really can’t remember) Trotsky (if he’d not been second to Stalin and been murdered, would we know him?) Can’t think of any more right now… ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/67 "2000-11-25T06:42:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Orshee \* > \*\*I’m with Welfy on Elvis. I read Careless Love, the second half of Elvis’ biography (first half was Last Train to Memphis), and it sounds like he would have just faded away if he hadn’t died so young. \*\* Elvis wouldn’t have died if he hadn’t lived as he did. And wealth and fame enabled him to live as he did. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/68 "2000-11-25T13:36:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nocturne \* > \*\*Ummm…I thought of a few. > > Che Guevara (spelling, please-I really can’t remember) > \*\* Would anyone remember Che Guevara or Eva Peron if it wasn’t for EVITA, the musical? I think it would have amazed Eva that her biggest achievement was being the inspiration for a musical written two decades after she died. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/69 "2000-11-25T16:53:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*\* > Would anyone remember Che Guevara or Eva Peron if it wasn’t for EVITA, the musical? I think it would have amazed Eva that her biggest achievement was being the inspiration for a musical written two decades after she died. \*\* I would like to introduce you to a new concept. It’s called Other Countries. Apparently there are quite a few of them. One of them is called Argentina. In this country (for better or worse) Eva Peron was pretty important. And she is still remembered by these people, and not because of Andrew Lloyd Weber. She had a huge effect on her country, and while that might not seem like much in the larger world of American Solipsism, I doubt she would consider inspiring a musical her greatest achievement (tho’ she probably would have been pleased). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 25, 2000, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/70 "2000-11-25T18:36:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by betenoir \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > > \*\* > > Would anyone remember Che Guevara or Eva Peron if it wasn’t for EVITA, the musical? I think it would have amazed Eva that her biggest achievement was being the inspiration for a musical written two decades after she died. \*\* > > I would like to introduce you to a new concept. It’s called Other Countries. Apparently there are quite a few of them. One of them is called Argentina. In this country (for better or worse) Eva Peron was pretty important. And she is still remembered by these people, and not because of Andrew Lloyd Weber. She had a huge effect on her country, and while that might not seem like much in the larger world of American Solipsism, I doubt she would consider inspiring a musical her greatest achievement (tho’ she probably would have been pleased). > > \*\* Okay, okay. Would anyone outside of Argentina (or South America)…In the rest of the world, she is known because of EVITA. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_and\_I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Cat\_and\_I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_and_I)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2000, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/71 "2000-12-07T17:47:51Z")
Montgomery Cliff is still famous, but only because he came out of the closet when he died. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2000, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/72 "2000-12-08T03:10:58Z")
**Brandon Lee** His shooting death (in both senses of the word) while filming _The Crow_ earned him the admiration of every “goth” punk wannabe in the nation. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2000, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/73 "2000-12-08T04:01:33Z")
I wanted to suggest Jesus and Andy Kaufman but I got beat to it so how about Abel? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![afireinside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4bbf92/32.png) [@afireinside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/afireinside)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2000, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/74 "2000-12-10T03:27:29Z")
“If you die when nobody’s watching then the ratings drop and you’re forgotten.” - Marilyn Manson, “lamb of god” ---
**Author:** ![Nocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9fc348/32.png) [@Nocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nocturne)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2000, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875/75 "2000-12-11T03:40:28Z")
What about D. B. Cooper or Jimmy Hoffa? (Yes, I know for all practical purposes, they “vanished.”) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-more-famous-because-they-died/41875.md?page=3)