I third Stephen King. I lose myself in his stories.
(pregnant pause) She’s still around? Please, as a favor for me and I promise not to ask for another until I forget about this one, which will be five minutes from now, next time you speak with her could you please tell her how hot I was for Melanie? Sure, now I think she was a doormat, but I was young and a sucker for strong-yet-vulnerable.
Impact for me, though, requires surprise. I’m old enough, and a big enough Pop Culture nerd, to have the surprise beaten out of me long ago. I don’t think there’s anybody left whose death can impact me beyond a, “Oh, how sad.”
Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr are numbers 1 and 2 on my list. I was a wreck when George died (I wasn’t born when John died).
Stephen King
Bill Murray
Clint Eastwood
I second Bob Barker.
I never thought I could possibly give a damn about a celebrity death. When Dale Earnhardt died I laughed at people who’d never met him but cried for literally days on end, refused to leave their house, etc. Then, maybe 2 months later, if that, Douglas Adams died and I thought of all those Dale Earnhardt fans as I tried in vain to hold back the tears. I’ll never make fun of someone for crying over a celebrity death again.
Future deaths that will be tough are:
-Stan Lee. He’s 84 and his chest-up appearances on tv lately have got me worried that he can’t stand, or at least not for very long.
-George Carlin. I think the only good that will come of his death is that his is the genius that is typically appreciated more after it is lost.
The two that would crush me the worst would be Howard Stern and [311 frontman] Nick Hexum. They’ve probably been with me through more of my life, and definitely more of the wild experiences I had as a teenager, than any other entertainers. Either of their deaths would merit me calling out of work the next day.
There aren’t too many people whose death would affect me too much. Many of those celebrities I admire are already gone (the aforementioned Douglas Adams, Jim Henson). But I think I’d be quite shocked when Steven Spielberg dies. And I agree with OpalCat, the loss of Terry Pratchett would be a heavy blow too.
Stephen Hawking, because it will be sad to lose a mind like that. Bill Murray, because it will be sad to lose an artist like that. Martin Scorsese, especially if he dies without an Oscar. Mick Jagger, because I’d bet someone he’d live forever. Or at least outlive me. I have no idea how I planned to collect on that, but hindsight is 20/20.
Stephen King and also his wife Tabitha. I love their works. Of course, Stephen is living on borrowed time, but still…
Andrew Lloyd Webber. I collect CDS of his shows, and his influence on musicals cannot be denied. I also think he is a lot better than most people give him credit for.
The last Beatle, Dylan and Springsteen.
Kate Bush, but then she has already had a cushy life full of success and respect. Her legacy is assured. Ditto Peter Gabriel.
I’d better be gone myself before Happy Rhodes bites it. It won’t be pretty. Seriously. If she pulls a Jeff Buckley or Eva Cassidy, meaning that she gets her due recognition after she’s gone, that’ll be good, but I’ll lose it everytime I think that not one of her idols, not a one, ever acknowledged her existence while she was still alive. Profanity and cynical bitterness will ensue.
I’d be sad, but also really pissed off if George Clooney got into a motorcycle accident and died. He’s got decades full of great movies ahead of him, in front of and behind the camera.
Ditto Sofia Coppola (except, she doesn’t ride a motorcycle as far as I know), especially since she’s just about the only high-profile, high-quality female director out there.
For those on the verge (meaning, really old), Christopher Lee. I love that he’s had a second wind and great success in his later years. He seems as strong and as vital as ever. Same with Ian McKellan, though he’s a lot younger than Lee.
Arthur C. Clarke. He’s lived a long life, but it will be sad when the last of the old masters passes. (Ray Bradbury is in a different - but not lesser - category IMHO)
Brian
**Gene Hackman ** and Robert Duvall: Two great character actors whom I adore.
Queen Elizabeth II: As long as I’ve been alive, she’s been the Queen. I just can’t picture U.K. currency without her mug.
Barry Gibb. He was my first pre-teen crush. He’s going to be 60 in a few days. His music makes me happy. It’ll rock my world when he kicks the bucket. (Insert oblibatory “Stayin’ Alive” pun).
The two that mattered most to me are already gone - Robert Heinlein and Warren Zevon. With Ronald Reagan a close third. And I really miss Johnny Carson. When you get to your mid-40’s, you start losing a lot of your childhood idols…
Of the ones still around, I think Paul Newman will be tough to lose. Which makes me think of an interesting sub-question: Which celebrity death will cause the most consternation/media coverage? I remember when Elvis died, we had non-stop Elvis-is-dead coverage for it seemed like weeks. Same with Diana.
There are very few entertainers whose deaths are important enough to stop the world - for broadcasts to be interrupted with the news, special reports being issued, public memorials being held, etc. Reagan had that - Nixon, not so much. John Lennon did. Elvis. George Harrison, almost but not quite. Johnny Carson, almost but not quite. Then there are those who are almost canonized upon death - Reagan, John Lennon, Lady Di. Bob Hope’s death would have had a bigger impact
Who among the living celebrities will cause the biggest stir when they die? Paul Newman I think will kick off some of that, but not as much as the three mentioned above. Paul McCartney, I suppose, but he could be around for another 30 years so who knows?
Untimely deaths get a lot more coverage than ones we see coming for years. Kurt Cobain, River Phoenix, Tupac, & Biggie all seem like they got more coverage than Bob Hope.
I wonder how big it will be when ObL dies. Zarqawi seemed to have only gotten about half a day’s news coverage and then everyone forgot about him.
I can’t think of any entertainers currently as big as most of the dead celebrities listed here (Elvis, Lennon, Cobain, Shakur, etc.) so I don’t know who would get real “stop the press” coverage right now unless they were gunned down in some spectacular fashion or else died in some other news-friendly way.
That’s a good question. I can’t think of a one. I think a tragic death for Bill Clinton would cause quite an outpouring of grief, though not on the levels of the other people you mentioned. Chelsea Clinton would cause a minor eruption of grief, but mainly because of her youth and because she seems like such a nice girl. No one would want to see Caroline Kennedy go before she’s 100. I will mourn Jimmy Carter.
Celebrity-wise, I do think Paul Newman and Robert Redford’s deaths will cause much rendering of garments.
People keep mentioning Kurt Cobain. Did anybody really think that Kurt Cobain’s suicide would cause that much grief before he died? Selena was better-known than he was, though most non-Latinos had never heard of her until she was shot. How many non-grunge buffs even knew Kurt’s name? They might have heard of Nirvana, but I don’t know about Kurt himself. I only mention Cobain and Selena because they’re two examples of people whose deaths, and the massive outpouring of grief by fans, caught a lot of people by surprise. Then you get to know a bit about them, and you start to feel sad too.
I can’t find a link, so apparantly it’s not available in The Onion’s archives, but this thread reminds me of an Onion headline after Diana’s death.
Collectable Plate Industry Calls For Tragic Death Of Barbara Streisand
Cite? Of course she was better-known in the Hispanic world, but there is no way she was better-known in the US and I doubt she was more popular overall.
How old were you when Kurt died? I’m guessing you would’ve had to have been under the age of 10 or over the age of 40 to be making these comments. I was in Jr. High and he was the biggest thing in the world at the time. Even the teachers made a big deal out of it. Even my dad - who was well past the point of listening to new music by that time - liked Nirvana, knew Kurt’s name, and was upset by his death.
My grandparents talked about it when Kurt died and they hadn’t listened to new music since early Elvis.
Both my dad and stepfather (who at the time were 44 and 40, respectively), were pretty upset about it too. I was a Nirvana fan and was crushed, but both of them being guitar players - and so even better at recognizing Kurt’s genius - were sad about the lost potential. Also the tragedy of the suicide, leaving a young child, and succumbing to depression (which may have been treatable with therapy and/or medication) affected people deeply, even if they weren’t big fans of his music.
For me, it might be David Bowie. Although he hasn’t done his best work in years, he remains a huge influence on pop music, many of his albums are undisputed classics, and he still manages to come out with interesting, modern work once in a while. And I’ve been lucky enough to have a one-on-one conversation with him (albeit brief), so I can attest that he is still one of the most gorgeous creatures on the planet. Nice, too. When he had that heart surgery a while ago, I fretted a bit.
Or any of the Hansons. None of them can go before they’ve convinced the general public that they aren’t just a 90’s nostalgia joke.
And I second Bill Clinton. As long as he’s around, you still sort of feel safer in knowing that someone out there knows how to be the leader of the free world.
Well, I’m 39 now, but I have no idea how old I was when the guy committed suicide. I really didn’t care- I thought he was overrated and under-whelming. “The new Dylan?!?” Jeez, kids, the old Dylan is plenty, and sorry but Cobain was no Bob Dylan.
Back to the OP-
Clint Eastwood
Morgan Freeman
Gene Hackman
Gene Kranz
Rudy Dee
Lena Horne
Bill Cosby
Stephen King
More when I think about it…
It’s going to take a lot to top Jim Henson.
Actually…
It depends on whether I’m under the bridge when Tom Cruise flings himself from it. 
I’m gonna have to question all of that too. I know you like your female singers and all, Equipoise, but Kurt Cobain was a household name and a mega-star at the time of his suicide, and nobody outside of Texas knew who Selena was until the Jennifer Lopez biopic came out. Heck, most people, even in heavily-Hispanic Miami, where I lived at the time of both deaths, still didn’t realize she was anyone famous or influential in music.
As far as the world coming to a stand still, would it do that for Oprah?
I can remember clearly when Walter Cronkite came into our family room and told us that President Kennedy had died.
I remember the bulletin that broke in on the radio to say that John Lennon had been shot and killed.
President Regan brought mixed emotions. While I was happy he was removed from the misery that his life had become, I was saddened by our loss.
I cannot think of a personality around right now that will have the impact these have had on me.