# When this Celeb dies I will cry **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 27, 2003, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185 "2003-01-27T06:27:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![thermalribbon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@thermalribbon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thermalribbon)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2003, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/81 "2003-01-31T02:50:20Z")
I was crushed when \*\* Jerry Garcia \*\* died. I thought he would be around forever. ---
**Author:** ![MemoryGongs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@MemoryGongs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MemoryGongs)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/82 "2003-02-02T13:57:22Z")
ya i can’t imagine bawling over some celeb. i do feel sad tho at the loss of talent. phil hartman jack lemmon maurice gibb george harrison john candy ill be sad when tori amos goes don delillo wayne gretzky others ill know when they’re dead ---
**Author:** ![Witch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/258eb7/32.png) [@Witch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Witch)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/83 "2003-02-02T17:45:03Z")
I was a few weeks shy of 16 when **John Lennon** was killed. My childhood ended that night. **George’s** passing effected me profoudly, but in a different way, as the circumstances were so different, and I was so much older. When one of the Stones dies, especially \*\* Mick\*\* or **Keith** , I will take it badly. The deaths of the surviving members of **Led Zep** would make me shed several zillion tears as well. But when one of the members of **Aerosmith** go, any of them, but in particular **Joe** or (can’t even think about it) **Steven** , it’ll be like losing a part of myself. It will grieve me more than the deaths of some family members. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/84 "2003-02-02T19:25:31Z")
I was very upset by **River Phoenix** —not so much because he was a big favorite (though I loved him in “Dogfight”) but because he was so damned young and it was so damned pointless. I am still pissed off at him for ODing like that. Another vote for **Phil Hartman**. He was always a favorite and damned funny—another total waste. I also didn’t like seeing news coverage of the funeral because it was held at the same place as my dad’s memorial service—Forest Lawn in Glendale. I don’t like being reminded of that place. I’ll be upset when any of my favorite actors go, like **Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Berenger, Lily Tomlin, Michael Ironside, Brendan Fraser, Susan Sarandon, James Garner, Kathryn Hepburn, Clint Eastwood** and countless others that I can’t remember right now. However, I probably will curl into a ball when my favorite composer, **Jerry Goldsmith** goes. Ever since I can remember, I’ve looked forward to his latest works, and have squealed with delight when one of his new sountrack CDs comes out. (His latest is “Star Trek: Nemesis”—pretty good.) I got to see him conduct his own music at the Hollywood Bowl so I can die happy, but it will be a dark day when the steady stream of new Goldsmith sountracks is stopped forever. I’ve already tried to become obsessed with a younger composer ( **Thomas Newman** is a good candidate) so I can still look forward to new sountracks when Goldsmith is gone. But no one is quite like the great Jerry Goldsmith. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/85 "2003-02-02T20:18:25Z")
It will be a deep sadness to me when Joe Paterno passes. Having grown up in Pennsylvania, Penn State football has been a huge part of my life. I met him once and he was a genuine gentleman in every way. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/86 "2003-02-03T00:30:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jackelope \* > \*\*Sorry for the hijack, but John Lee was \*one of \*the last of the majorly famous Mississippi bluesmen. B.B. King is still with us. Plus there are a number of lesser-known bluesmen still playing; check out [Fat Possum Records](http://www.fatpossum.com/) for new stuff from T-Model Ford, R. L. Burnside, Robert Cage, and a bunch of others. Strange, wild, dark music. > > We now return you to your regularly scheduled morbidity. \*\* Yer right, jackelope. I worked with Fat Possum in their early years. Before even seeing your reply, my immediate answer to this thread was “RL Burnside”. I’ve had a long friendship with him, he was my “blues guru” during my years in Mississippi. That friendship made me a much better person. When he had life-threatening heart trouble earlier this year, I literally went numb with worry, and prayed harder than I ever have. He recovered, thankthankthankfully. When he does leave this world, I don’t know what I’ll do. Contrary to his PR created image as a Bad Mayhem Guy, he is one of the most open, generous people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, a wise and caring man, and a brilliant musician. Another Memphis-area musician I would weep for days over: Jim Dickinson. He’s hale and hearty, but I think Memphee might as well slide off into the River without that amazing rock of a man. ---
**Author:** ![ninevah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/46a35a/32.png) [@ninevah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ninevah)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/87 "2003-02-03T02:30:45Z")
I remember being extremely sad when I had heard that **Roald Dahl** had died. I was in primary school, grade six, and he was one of my favourite authors. But I know I’ll be very sad when any of the members of **Crowded House** and **Split Enz** go. Fine musicians. ---
**Author:** ![djf750](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ea666f/32.png) [@djf750](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djf750)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2003, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/88 "2003-02-03T05:04:29Z")
Any sports fan from Los Angeles will know what I mean when I say : Vin Scully. We have lost Jim Murray, the great sportswriter, Chick Hearn, the Lakers great announcer, but when Scully goes, all of LA will be in mourning. He is the greatest sportscaster of all time and we Southern Californians all grew up listening to his genius. And when Sandy Koufax and Willie Mays go, forget it. Its over. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/89 "2003-02-17T21:00:48Z")
When \*\* Ray Bradbury \*\* and \*\* Harlan Ellison \*\* go, there’s gonna be a couple of great big holes in my life. Likewise, the demise of \*\* Arthur C. Clarke \*\* will mean quite a bit to me, too. I was genuinely distressed to hear that \*\* Warren Zevon \*\* has terminal lung cancer. And this surprises me, as I’d never thought of myself as a big Zevon fan. I only own five or six of his albums and have never attended a concert. \*\* Paul Simon’s \*\* passing will be something of a blow to me, though I have no reason to believe it will happen any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![musicguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@musicguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/musicguy)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/90 "2003-02-17T23:20:02Z")
I second Vin Scully. The Dodgers will never be the same. Concerning blues artists, Buddy Guy will be hard. one of the last great Chicago bluesmen. Jimmy Carter will sadden me greatly. Not because he was a great president, he wasn’t. But because of the things he has done since his presidency. I’m not so sure the same could be said for any other president. ---
**Author:** ![Ave\_Minerva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@Ave\_Minerva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ave_Minerva)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/91 "2003-02-17T23:24:31Z")
Joe Strummer John Lennon George Harrison Joey and Dee Dee Ramone. I didn’t actually shed tears, but I was pretty bummed. Especially over Joe Strummer. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/92 "2003-06-17T01:41:31Z")
A second for Harrison Ford. . . . because Indiana Jones _never_ dies. . . Tripler . . . he just rides off into the sunset. . . ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/93 "2003-06-17T02:00:09Z")
Johnny Cash. (I did cry when June died, mainly because I’d just bought the new CD and his cut of “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, even though it’s not his song [or wasn’t until he sang it], is a total love ode to her, and knowing that his muse was now gone and he probably wouldn’t be long was really sad.) Bob Hope will be hard because he’s such an institution, but at 100 you can’t mourn that much. Ditto Kurt Vonnegut, even though he’s vowed never to write again. Just knowing he’s in the world somehow makes it nicer. Katherine Hepburn- I know she’s nearing 100, retired, and feeble, but see Vonnegut. I have a theory about celebrities: they’re our gods, and when one dies it’s a major disappointment because it means we’ll never get a theophany and it’s a reminder of our own mortality. Or maybe we just like 'em. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/94 "2003-06-17T02:13:06Z")
Like **Troy McClure SF** , the celebrity death so far that has affected me the most was Aaliyah’s. I was genuinely upset when I heard that she had died. I liked her a lot – actually I got more than one phone call from friends that day. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/95 "2003-06-17T02:39:22Z")
You have posed a difficult question – I cried buckets, for days, when John Kennedy Jr. died - I just thought he looked so much like my son in that saluting picture at his father’s (our President’s) funeral, it killed me. I’m a native Dallasite, mother pregnant with me as she shook hands with JFK, half an hour before he was shot down. I’ll have to go with any living former President - there’s always something really sad about those passings. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/96 "2003-06-17T02:48:02Z")
MLK’s widow is Coretta, not Loretta. I was very sad when Layne Staley died. More so than you might think, given that it had been a long time since I’d listened to Alice in Chains (I went out and bought _Sap_ and _Jar of Flies_ on CD). You’d think a fan would be numb to it, given how long he’s been hooked on heroin. But that only made it more depressing and sad. He really couldn’t help himself, or didn’t want to. The last celeb I remember crying over was Douglas Adams. Pretty damn hard, while checking out tribute pages. It’s not just how much I enjoyed his work, it’s that I really identified with him and I think we’d have gotten along well. I imagine I’ll feel the same way if Matt Groening dies and I never get the chance to meet him. Michael Jordan’s retirement was definitely like the end of my childhood. I cried after his last game ended. I’ve cried any number of times over Duane Allman and Berry Oakley, and they were both gone 10 years before I was born. If anything happens to any of the other original Allman Brothers Band members, I probably won’t get out of bed for weeks. Heck, I’m very attached to the younger guys in the current ABB as well, so ditto there. I actually get choked up thinking about it at all, so I’ll stop. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/97 "2003-06-17T03:53:53Z")
Like others have said, the unexpected (even if I wasn’t a necessarily fan) are the ones that have gotten to me in the past… JFK, Jr., Diana, Lisa Lopez, Cobain, River Phoenix, Michael Hutchence, et al have been like a sucker punch. The ones I’m absolutely dreading like there’s no tomorrow are **Steven Tyler** , **John Cusack** , **Meryl Streep** (who were both my first cinematic loves – just in different manners ;)), and **Stephen King**. The first and last one will leave me devastated for all eternity, so I shudder at the mere thought. Perhaps they’ll live forever? One can only hope they’ll at least out live me. :::whimper::: ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/98 "2003-06-17T04:20:27Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Eve \* > \*\*. . . At which Eve settles back to tell everyone about how she saw Lincoln’s funeral cortege pass by her house . . . \*\* 😃 Know what you mean. I was 33 and 8 months pregnant with son #2 when my husband woke me up and told me of Princess Diana’s death. I’ve been instilled by my mother with a love of English life and literature – and it’s very sad that she went so young. When Garfield goes, that’s it!! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/99 "2003-06-17T04:23:06Z")
**Charlton Heston** for me. Before VCR’s when movies were still re-released, I was lucky enough to see _Ben-Hur_ on a really big screen. A few years later it was on television, and I was watching it with my grandfather(dead for twenty years now). There’s a scene near the end where Judah is facing the crosses on the hill. He doesn’t speak, but the emotions play over his face, without even a word being said. I’ll always remember my grnadfather saying “Now that’s acting”. Heston is 79 now, and falling into Alzheimer’s, but I’ll always remember him as a guy who gave me a neat memory of my grandpa. (Plus, he was so damned good looking!) ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185/100 "2003-06-17T04:44:42Z")
Beverly Cleary. My daughter and I both grew up on her books. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-this-celeb-dies-i-will-cry/151185.md?page=6)