We’ve done this before, but with a fair amount of deaths in the past few months, I got to thinking of this topic again.
No celebrity death will hit me as hard as Roger Ebert last year. I followed him on twitter and he mentioned my correspondence with him a couple times. His death, though he was ill, was a surprise to me and I still have not fully accepted the absence of his presence in this world.
Now, on to my list of still alive folks, in no particular order:
**Werner Herzog **- Is there any greater director? His documentaries are outstanding. Let alone his fictional feature films. I’d kill to meet him and have an hour to talk. If any of you have not seen his more recent short film(30 minutes), it’s about texting while driving and will move even the toughest soul. Yes, it is free on Youtube and God bless him for having it so.
Stephen Fry - He attempted suicide in the past couple years and if he does it, I’ll never recover, nor will I ever view him the same. I know he has an illness, but this would be so tragic I could not imagine seeing him in the same way. He’s the best.
**Brandon Sanderson **- No death in sight, fortunately. My favorite author and just a great guy. I’d be so devastated.
David Mitchell, Lee Mack, Rob Brydon, Phil Jupitus, Jimmy Carr, Jon Richardson, Sean Locke, Bill Bailey, and several other panel guests - These guys make me laugh.
All seriousness aside, if he dies, I’ll be so sad, I’d have to take the day off from work and watch my DVDs of The Producers, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.
At the beginning of this year, her mother Pebe said that it’s a miracle that Ke$ha survived complications from her eating disorder (thankfully she’s now in treatment). I would have been devastated if she hadn’t survived. I don’t think I could listen to music ever again (either hers or anyone else’s).
Edie Falco. Gandolfini’s death was the first celebrity death that ever touched me. So if Falco goes too…
Hasse Alfredsson. Unknown outside of Sweden, but to me, the greatest comedian of all time. Oh and he also wrote and directed one of the darkest films of all time (Den Enfaldige Mördaren).
David Tibet. Dude from Current 93. I just don’t want him to go. Ever.
Alice Cooper. He’s 66 now and although he’s been sober for a very long time, there must have been damage done. He also has some issues from a childhood illness. Don’t even want to think about it! I saw him in November and although he rocked as usual I thought he didn’t have quite the same energy.
I was around when Marilyn Monroe died. The whole world was in shock, much more than any other public death. Nobody else’s death has ever hit like a fist to the gut . . . but some will come close:
I was a horny gay teenager back when The Dick Van Dyke Show was on, and I had a HUGE crush on him. Still do. When he goes, it’s gonna hit me hard.
And Julie Andrews. We share the same birthday, except she’s 10 years older . . . and looks 10 years younger.
Lemmy Kilmeister from Motorhead. The man is 68 and a legend in the rock world but is struggling with diabetes lately. According to his tour manager Lemmy will go on a drinking binge and finish off a couple of bottles of wine in a night.
