# Which celebrity death really affected you when you first heard about it? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 2, 2010, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366 "2010-09-02T09:52:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/41 "2010-09-02T15:02:58Z")
I’m curious about the ages of those who were strongly affected by Henson’s death. Sesame Street and the beloved muppets were a staple of my childhood, but I never really associated Henson with them. I know that sounds dumb, but I didn’t…they were, just characters of my childhood and I never really thought about the man behind them at all. When he died, it didn’t really get to me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/42 "2010-09-02T15:15:02Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] John Peel. I actually cried when I heard. It was so unexpected; he was such a huge part of my childhood and adolescence; he felt like a friend on the radio. I also know it profoundly affected many other Brits too. [/QUOTE] Yeah, [let’s have a minute’s noise for John](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KiLeUV98nY). Damn, got something in my eye. A couple of others that won’t mean anything to non-Brits. Oliver Postgate (wonder why that might be?) Ken Campbell ---
**Author:** ![Dunkelheit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dunkelheit/32/248_2.png) [@Dunkelheit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunkelheit)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/43 "2010-09-02T15:19:46Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > I was watching Monday Night Football the night John Lennon was killed, and I remember hearing Howard Cosell announce it like it was yesterday. I stumbled across a YouTube video of this and it brought it all back again. > > So, Lennon is the easy answer for me. > > I would also add George Carlin. I’ve been a long-time fan of his, and his death caught me completely off guard. > > A couple others come to mind, but I’ll save them for now, awaiting Doper input. > mmm Douglas Adams, because it was so completely unexpected and I’m such a big fan. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/44 "2010-09-02T15:24:44Z")
In case you need reminders of the ones who have gone on ahead: [http://dpsinfo.com/dps/2010.html](http://dpsinfo.com/dps/2010.html) Dead People Server > **[Celebrity Deaths 2010](https://fiftiesweb.com/dead/dead-people-2010/)** > > Jean Simmons January 22 Pernell Roberts January 24 Kathryn Grayson February 17 Alexander Haig February 20 Corey Haim March 10 Merlin Olsen March 11 Peter Graves March 14 Fess Parker March 14 Robert Culp March Gone But Not Forgotten - 2010 > **[\- Who's Alive and Who's Dead](https://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com/h_links.asp)** > > by Who's Alive and Who's Dead Who’s Alive and Who’s Dead ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/45 "2010-09-02T15:40:06Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > I’ve mentioned this on the boards before. > > [John Peel](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Peel). > > I actually cried when I heard. It was so unexpected; he was such a huge part of my childhood and adolescence; he felt like a friend on the radio. > > I also know it profoundly affected many other Brits too. Agree totally. It was like my childhood died. And I was 35 when he shuffled off this mortal coil. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/46 "2010-09-02T15:44:17Z")
**Joe Strummer** for me, as well. My girlfriend called to tell me when I was at work, and it was the first celebrity death that felt personal (I remember Lennon’s death, but I was only 10 at the time). I was in a funk the whole rest of the day, and blasted the first Clash album as soon as I got home. **John Peel** was a bummer, too, but not on the level of Strummer for me. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/47 "2010-09-02T15:47:42Z")
Julia Child. I was a budding food writer when I had lunch with her just nine months before she passed away. I had worked and met with tons of celebrities and meeting her was the only time I became flustered by a person’s celebrity. It was the best lunch of my life as she was sharp, engaging, and incredibly witty. I drank my very first martini on the day she passed away – in honor of her as it was her favorite cocktail. I drank my second martini a few months later when my mother passed away (also a favorite cocktail for her) and both their passings gave me an appreciation for martinis. I now cannot drink one without thinking of these two women who changed my life. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/48 "2010-09-02T15:48:37Z")
Charles Schulz. I wanted to be a comic strip writer as a kid, and I cut out ‘Peanuts’ from the newspaper every day and kept the strips in albums. Also, given that the OP says \*when you first heard about it \*-[Arnold Lobel](http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/lobel.html). I loved the _Frog and Toad_ books as a kid, and when we had kids, I read _Frog and Toad_ to them a lot, and decided to look up the author on the internet. He’d been dead twenty years. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/49 "2010-09-02T15:56:54Z")
In the sense of “affected” that implies surprise or shock, I was “affected” by the death of Mitch Miller recently. I thought he had been dead for decades. I’ve looked over the listings by year at [Celebrity Deaths 2010 - People who died in 2010](http://www.fiftiesweb.com/dead/dead-people-2010.htm) and must admit that I was neither shocked nor unduly saddened by the passing of anybody since 2000. Had Paul Newman not been ill as long as he had, or Brando, they might have grieved me more. But I’m guessing I’d have to go back to the 90’s for a really “affecting” death to appear. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/50 "2010-09-02T16:06:55Z")
I usually don’t feel much for celebrity deaths, but recently reading the Stieg Larsson books I felt sad that he had died so early. Partly that was self serving - sad that there would be no more books to read, but partly because he died before his books took off in a big way. I was saddened by the unexpected departure of Douglas Adams. I was also sad when Paul Newman died. He was pretty old so it wasn’t completely unexpected, but I think the world is slightly less cool without him in it. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/51 "2010-09-02T16:10:09Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > I’m curious about the ages of those who were strongly affected by Henson’s death. Sesame Street and the beloved muppets were a staple of my childhood, but I never really associated Henson with them. I know that sounds dumb, but I didn’t…they were, just characters of my childhood and I never really thought about the man behind them at all. When he died, it didn’t really get to me at all. Well, I suspect that those of us who mourned his death _did_ think about the man behind those puppets. If you ever heard him speak, his voice was pretty much the same as Kermit’s. It was weird to think that Kermit died. For a lot of kids who grew up in the late 70s and 80s (not saying you didn’t), he was a part of all the good stuff -\* The Muppet Show, Sesame Street, Star Wars, Fraggle Rock\*. I was sad when Henson died…I was 11 and was done with _Sesame Street_ and the _Muppet Show_ was well over but it really made me sad to think that younger kids wouldn’t get the same good stuff that we got. Who knows what else the Muppets would have done if Henson was still around. The Jim Henson Memorial ([this guy has it up on YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/user/elvissf422)) is pretty much the saddest thing ever. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/52 "2010-09-02T16:10:27Z")
Robert Heinlein. Robert B. Parker. Andre Dubus. Isaac Asimov. Octavia Butler. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/53 "2010-09-02T16:10:38Z")
Another one for Michael Jackson. I’m 27, so it’s not like I knew life with out him performing. I was on the phone with my parents, as it was obvious he wouldn’t be the same if he pulled through. I came to the conclusion he wouldn’t make it as I was relaying the news. I broke up during it. It really took me by surprise, didn’t expect to get emotional over it at all. Fred “Mister” Rogers : This one didn’t affect me as much. Just thinking of his Legacy, and that it had ended took me for a second, when compared to what kids today watch on TV. I’m not saying I’m old, but it is definitely another generation on tv currently. ---
**Author:** ![Jelly\_Roll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Jelly\_Roll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jelly_Roll)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/54 "2010-09-02T16:14:06Z")
Already mentioned: Steve Irwin - just so sudden and unbelievable. And the raw emotion from Terry; she couldn’t hide her absolute and overwhelming grief. She was hard to watch sometimes. Princess Diana - I don’t know why this one bothered me, but it did. I think I’d always felt a little sorry for her because she seemed like a nice person who married a total dipstick. I woke up at 3 or 4 a.m. to watch her funeral. And I’ll add: Christa McAuliffe - I was in third grade when she died and remember being sick to my stomach thinking about her and her family. We spent the rest of the school day watching the news coverage and talking about what had happened. ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/55 "2010-09-02T16:14:18Z")
Gene Roddenberry and John Lennon ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/56 "2010-09-02T16:26:52Z")
I’d agree with Douglas Adams and Jim Henson, of the two, the loss of Douglas hit me harder, I never had the honor of meeting him, yet I felt like I had lost a good friend ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/57 "2010-09-02T16:38:41Z")
Another Jim Henson person here. And it was so unnecessary, if only he’d gone to the doctor sooner. I was even a little angry at him for a while, for not taking better care of himself. But that feeling faded. ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/58 "2010-09-02T17:03:07Z")
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Roy Buchanan. I’d seen each in concert about six months before their death, and I was feeling kind of cursed. I was thrilled to finally get to see them, I enjoyed the concerts greatly, then they died. I was a huge SRV fan, and while I had known some of Roy’s music, I started getting heavily into his work following the concert. Knowing that there wasn’t any more music forthcoming from either. . . I was down for weeks about it each time. I didn’t mope or anything, but everything was colored by these events for a month or so. ---
**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/59 "2010-09-02T17:14:04Z")
Gonna go with Chris Farley and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Chris you could maybe see coming ala John Belushi (Lord help me I typed Jim Belushi at first) SRV was like a punch in the gut. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366/60 "2010-09-02T17:16:15Z")
I had a very difficult childhood. Sometimes when things got particularly bad in the common areas of the house, my oldest sister (13 years my senior, so born in 1948) would say to me “Come on, baby, let’s go up to my room”. She was a huge Beatles’ fan. In her room, she would read me poetry from _John Lennon In His Own Write_ (Original ink drawings by Paul McCartney). I memorized my first John Lennon poem when I was five. (“I sat belonely down a tree, humbled fat and small. . .”). She gave me that book for my 10th birthday. When I was 19 and working for minimum wage at a dime-store, I loaned the book to a friend of mine who worked there. The friend still had possession of the book when I woke up one morning, to my radio alarm clock, to the news that Lennon had been killed. Oh my goodness. I worried _all morning_ about my book. I’m ashamed now to admit that I thought “Well, I’ll never see _that_ book again”, but when I got to work, he had it with him. He handed it to me. “I thought you might be worried about this”, he said. There were tears in his eyes when he said it, and in mine too. Dan Fogelberg. His death just hit me hard. I guess it’s because I realized, at a very vulnerable point in my life, that he was really more a poet than a musician, and I loved his poetry so very, very much. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-really-affected-you-when-you-first-heard-about-it/552366.md?page=4)