# People you were surprised to find out are dead **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 13, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026 "2012-06-13T16:15:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [June 14, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/21 "2012-06-14T18:32:20Z")
You know, I’ve had the experience of being surprised to find out someone is dead, but I can’t really remember any of them at the moment. It stands to reason, I guess. If they were such a small blip on the radar that I’d forgotten they were dead, I’m not likely to remember that I’d forgotten they were dead. The only one I can think of is Jonathan Brandis, from _SeaQuest DSV_. Somewhat related is when I see an old movie, look up some of the actors, and are surprised by the timing of their deaths. I saw _My Man Godfrey_; Carole Lombard died only six years after it was made, William Powell died in '84 when I was already in college. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/22 "2012-06-14T20:41:40Z")
Easy-E from NWA. I was shocked once by that news, promptly forgot, and then got shocked again a few years later. I plan to remember it this time but you never know. ---
**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:** [June 14, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/23 "2012-06-14T21:47:43Z")
I started a similar thread about watching an actor in a movie or show and then realizing “Hey, they are dead!” I have this with Madelaine Kahn. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/24 "2012-06-14T22:02:15Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > If you would have asked me which one is dead, Gilligan or The Professor, I would have probably bet that it was The Professor. > How did I miss Bob Denver dying? Add me to that list. I didn’t know he was dead. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/25 "2012-06-14T22:40:07Z")
> [@JuliaSqueezer](#): > > I believe Raskolnikov means \*\*Martin Short’\*\*s wife. Ah! So it’s Kathy Lee who thinks Martin Sheen’s wife is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/26 "2012-06-14T22:45:37Z")
I was surprised to learn of the death of character actor Lane Smith ([picture](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_rzdB5a4kLAo/S-XiMfdBaqI/AAAAAAAATfY/9urLtFz9PEA/s1600/LaneSmith.jpg)). He was a regular on _Lois and Clark_ and appeared in countless vehicles as a barracuda in “Aw shucks, I’m just a country boy” clothing. The way I learned he was dead was after seeing a couple of movies that had characters that were so “Lane Smith role” you’d think they were written for him but were cast with others, and it made me wonder if he was unavailable. (Turns out he was due to a relatively [mercifully?] fast advancing case of ALS.) > [@JuliaSqueezer](#): > > I believe Raskolnikov means \*\*Martin Short’\*\*s wife. Martin Short and Martin Sheen were wife swappers? No wonder Charlie’s so screwed up. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/27 "2012-06-15T00:47:31Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Sarah Jane from Doctor Who. Nooooooooo!!! I honestly hadn’t heard of this. I loved both the Pertwee and Baker Doctors, and Sarah Jane was the connection between them! ---
**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:** [June 15, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/28 "2012-06-15T01:51:17Z")
Thought of a couple others: **Warren Oates** - Sgt. Hulka in _Stripes_ (1981), died in 1982 **J.T. Walsh** - Big Bob in _Pleasantville_, died before it was released. He was also Lt. Col. Markinson in _A Few Good Men_. Both were in their early-to-mid 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/29 "2012-06-15T04:46:06Z")
I have to keep reminding myself that JT Walsh died of a heart attack. My brain keeps trying to tell me he committed suicide. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/30 "2012-06-15T04:52:17Z")
First I was like “holy crap, Rick Moranis died” Then I was like “no, just his career” ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/31 "2012-06-15T05:08:46Z")
I was at a huge, all-night benefit rock concert the night Sam Kinnison died and missed the news. I didn’t learn he’d died until a couple of years later. I can’t think of anyone specific, but it depresses me to discover a “new” talent, only to learn the performer/artist has already died. Yeah, I know, it sucks more for _them_, but still… ---
**Author:** ![Mole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc348/32.png) [@Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mole)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/32 "2012-06-15T05:21:25Z")
Richard Dawson. Because I thought he’d died years ago. File this under “People you were surprised to find out are dead… because they now are and you just didn’t know it.” ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/33 "2012-06-15T12:49:08Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > First I was like “holy crap, Rick Moranis died” > > Then I was like “no, just his career” From Wikipedia: Rick officially left the film industry in 1997, six years after the 1991 loss of his wife, Anne, to liver cancer. He later explained that he began to “pull out” of making movies in about '96 or '97. “I’m a single parent and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I found that I really didn’t miss it”. [http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-10-12-rick-moranis\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-10-12-rick-moranis_x.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/34 "2012-06-15T13:03:35Z")
Johnny Carson. It must have been all over the news, but I think I found out he was dead about two years ago, while he died seven years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/35 "2012-06-15T13:22:13Z")
Andy Rooney. I watched him sign off 60 Minutes. He died about a month after retiring, and I didn’t learn of his death till months after that. I thought someone made a mistake until I Googled him. Yeah, it was only a few months after the fact, but it was still surprising given his recent retiring. BTW: I didn’t know most of the people in this thread were alive, let alone dead. People I am not instantly familiar with and would have to look up: Tony Thompson Sarah Jane The guy from Weezer Jerry Reed Gunther Gebel-Williams Jonathan Brandis William Powell Lane Smith Warren Oates J.T. Walsh ---
**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:** [June 15, 2012, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/36 "2012-06-15T19:49:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > BTW: I didn’t know most of the people in this thread were alive, let alone dead. People I am not instantly familiar with and would have to look up: > > Tony Thompson > Sarah Jane > The guy from Weezer > Jerry Reed > Gunther Gebel-Williams > Jonathan Brandis > William Powell > Lane Smith > Warren Oates > J.T. Walsh Oates and Walsh I can understand. I just had “where have I seen that guy before” moments and looked them up. And then I started recognizing them in even more movies. I even saw Warren Oates in an old episode of _The Twilight Zone_, and J.T. Walsh is in _Executive Decision_ which one of the cable channels has been showing of late. They were both dead by the time I knew who they were. You’ve almost certainly seen them, but not in headlining roles where you’d be sure to know their names. But not knowing William Powell is inexcusable. Go rent a copy of _The Thin Man_. ---
**Author:** ![Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@Hero\_From\_Sector\_7G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hero_From_Sector_7G)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/37 "2012-06-15T21:07:27Z")
I was surprised to hear Bradbury hadn’t already died. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/38 "2012-06-15T21:16:59Z")
To answer the opposite question, Phyllis Diller. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/39 "2012-06-15T22:08:40Z")
Rockers [Ronnie James Dio](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_James_Dio)in 2010, and [Ronnie Montrose](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronnie_Montrose)in 2012. I guess it has been a bad couple of years for people named Ronnie. ---
**Author:** ![Hellestal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ab097/32.png) [@Hellestal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hellestal)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026/40 "2012-06-16T00:13:35Z")
Bruce Willis in that movie. A friend of mine figured it out while he was watching, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-you-were-surprised-to-find-out-are-dead/625026.md?page=3)