# Which Celebrity Death Will Impact You Most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 26, 2006, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274 "2006-08-26T00:15:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/61 "2006-08-28T01:27:28Z")
Thanks **Case** , I’m on it! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/62 "2006-08-28T01:33:54Z")
Dammit! False start! Only available as a region 2 DVD through Amazon UK, and I’m in the US! I must channel my inner Attenborough and plod through the jungle in search of my prey… ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/63 "2006-08-28T01:37:14Z")
How about a couple of my celebrity crushes? Sean Connery Burt Reynolds Ed Harris ---
**Author:** ![movingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@movingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/movingfinger)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/64 "2006-08-28T02:02:47Z")
Science fiction writer **Jack Vance** , who is in his eighties and blind. I read the obit page every day because of him. In the motor sports world, my childhood hero, **Sir Stirling Moss**. Also American racers \*\*Dan Gurney \*\* and **Phil Hill**. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/65 "2006-08-28T02:10:52Z")
**Tenzin Gyatso, HH The Dalia Lama** , sadness when he goes, because he’s such a tremendous force and example of decency in the world, but also, when he dies, there will be a huge power void with China for the direction of Tibet as a nation. It will be quite ugly. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gaucho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ea5d25/32.png) [@El\_Gaucho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gaucho)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/66 "2006-08-28T02:32:46Z")
Jim Hall ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/67 "2006-08-28T02:47:50Z")
Robert Duvall, as many others have said. What an actor! I can’t even imagine Meryl Streep dying, so I won’t go there. I’ll throw in… Peter, Paul or Mary Judy Collins Joni Mitchell Joan Baez ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/68 "2006-08-28T02:54:32Z")
It will be quite sad when Sir Edmund Hillary passes. The passing of an era, really. ---
**Author:** ![Rubystreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Rubystreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rubystreak)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/69 "2006-08-28T03:32:48Z")
Tori Amos is my favorite musician. She’s only in her 40’s, and I hope she’s playing that Bossendorfer until she’s 100. Lots of names I agree with on this list, including Bob Dylan, George Carlin, and Stephen King. I cried when Jim Henson and Mr. Rogers died. I loved those guys-- they were part of my childhood that my kids won’t get to enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/70 "2006-08-28T03:58:22Z")
[QUOTE=Kilvert’s Pagan] I mourned both **Douglas Adams** and **Hunter S. Thompson** , even though I had the latter in The Pool. **Zappa** hit me hard too. Back to the OP: probably **Kurt Vonnegut**. It would be like having your conscience die. Most of the others I can think of are no older than me, so I don’t want to list them. [/QUOTE] Wow, mine would be pretty much identical. **Vonnegut** was who I was going to post, but the first three hit me pretty hard too. **Bob Dylan** will be tough on me. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Hey\_It\_s\_That\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_It_s_That_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/71 "2006-08-28T04:05:28Z")
[QUOTE=elelle] **Tenzin Gyatso, HH The Dalia Lama** , sadness when he goes, because he’s such a tremendous force and example of decency in the world, but also, when he dies, there will be a huge power void with China for the direction of Tibet as a nation. It will be quite ugly. [/QUOTE] Good call. I was so inspired when I saw him speak in 2004. He was a dynamic speaker, and such a stand-up individual of integrity and heroism and honor. And he smiles all the time! Whether you agree with him politically or religiously or not, I think if everyone followed his example of living (“If you can’t make things better throughout your life, then at least do your part to not make things any worse”), the world would be such a better place. ---
**Author:** ![Cherry\_Garcia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71c47a/32.png) [@Cherry\_Garcia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cherry_Garcia)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/72 "2006-08-28T05:54:31Z")
**Jane Goodall** for her tireless work most of her life in helping to preserve species of animals all over the world. Not only for her studies of chimpanzees, but also inspiring other people to preserve mountain lions, dolphins, cranes, and other animals worldwide. ---
**Author:** ![Rodgers01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b19c9b/32.png) [@Rodgers01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodgers01)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/73 "2006-08-28T07:22:17Z")
[QUOTE=Equipoise] I’ll admit to being wrong about Cobain, but not to Selena. She was HUGE, it’s just that non-Latinos (and Miami Cubans I guess) didn’t know who she was until she died. Btw, I did know who Kurt Cobain was when he died. Knew his name, where he was from, who he was married to, a few other details. I assumed too much about other people though. [/QUOTE] I would have been about 14 when Cobain died (had to look it up), and while I remember hearing about it, I don’t remember knowing much about him or being particularly shaken up by the news. [QUOTE=River Hippie] As to the O.P., I’m hoping it will be many years from now but Roger Ebert’s passing would sadden me deeply. [/QUOTE] Me too. I’ve been reading his reviews for years, and while I agree with his opinions less often than I used to, he’s the one who helped me _shape_ my opinions about the movies. Also, he tends to reveal a lot about himself in his reviews, and I feel like I know him. Not a celebrity, but I think I will be deeply shocked saddened when the last WWII vet dies. Though we still probably have a while to go before that happens. (The last veteran of the American Civil War didn’t die till the mid-1950s!) I think I’ll be shocked when any of the big movie stars from my childhood pass away, especially if its in any way before their time: **Arnold Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, Michael J Fox**. And **Bill Clinton** will be tough to lose no matter what age he goes at. ☹ ---
**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:** [August 28, 2006, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/74 "2006-08-28T11:58:12Z")
**Bill and/or Hilary**. I’ll miss them both. Rudy Giuliani. Caroline Kennedy. The last survivor of Camelot. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/75 "2006-08-28T17:31:01Z")
**Bob Dylan** I think the greatest songwriter in history and one of the great poets of the 20th century. **Valerie Bertinelli** and **Maureen McCormick**. Two of my adolescent crushes. **Bush** and **Cheney**. We’ll all rest easier when the most inept team since Moose and Squirrel makes their final exit. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/76 "2006-08-28T17:45:21Z")
Yet another vote for Bob Dylan here, and for Jane Goodall (who was my idol when I was ten or eleven, and I had the good fortune to hear her speak when she visited my college about ten years ago). Also, Jimmy Carter. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2006, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/77 "2006-08-28T21:08:14Z")
Back when Heinlein died, media wasn’t moving as fast and it didn’t make the news at all over here, so I only discovered it in '89. Made me really sad. Right now, I think that having Pratchett check out too early\* would affect me, but most celebs who live to a ripe old age don’t affect me too much. Connery just turned 76 and while he might live another 20 years, I still feel that he’s had a great life and would be leaving a huge legacy, were he to check out tomorrow. Hell, Bogart had just turned 57 when he died. Something that throws me though, is that I’ve outlived so many celebs on my personal timescale. I’m 45, topping Lennon with 5 years (and haven’t achieved 1 per cent of what he did). Did I waste my years? Bob Marley left us when he was 36, as was Marilyn Monroe. Elvis was 42. - He’s 58 and has some health problem, which seems to be why, for the first time, we don’t get a new “adult” DW book this year (There¨s a Tiffany Aching coming out). ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/78 "2006-08-29T00:01:45Z")
[QUOTE=Charlie Tan] Bob Marley left us when he was 36… [/QUOTE] And Peter Tosh was only 43, after almost being killed in 1973 in a car crash that did kill his girlfriend. Two of Tosh’s murderers were never brought to justice. One man was caught, the other two remain at large to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2006, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/79 "2006-08-29T00:32:19Z")
Peter Sallis - voice actor for the character of Wallace in the Aardman _Wallace and Gromit_ animations, and last remaining star of _Last Of The Summer Wine_ (which admittedly, is not really funny any more, or maybe it never was, but is no longer charming). ---
**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:** [August 29, 2006, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274/80 "2006-08-29T01:04:49Z")
The only celebrity death which has affected me so far in my life was **Joe Strummer**. That one hit me pretty hard. For the future, I guess it will probably be **Bob Mould** , but only because his music meant so much to me personally - he’s barely a “celebrity”, especially compared to most mentioned so far. Also, **Shane MacGowan** , just because I figure he (like Keith Richards) is basically immortal to have made it this far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-celebrity-death-will-impact-you-most/370274.md?page=5)