# Who do you think will be the next \*big\* celebrity to die? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 8, 2019, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745 "2019-03-08T06:52:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/61 "2019-03-10T09:36:13Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > God help me for even saying it, Dylan. (When you only need the last name, that’s big.) Oh no! Dylan was one of my favourite characters in “The Magic Roundabout”. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/62 "2019-03-10T10:16:40Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > My sister said Robert Redford, but I dunno. He’s old, but he takes care of himself. He may go on and on, to 100 or even beyond. My first guess is Bob Dylan; second is Ringo Starr. (But not McCartney, for the same reason as Redford.) What say you? If anything I’d think it would be Paul who would go first, not Ringo. Ringo always struck me as a rather hardy and hale fellow, whereas Paul seems much more delicate. I don’t like to think of either of them leaving us, but my money would be on Paul first. Bob Dylan I could see going any day. He lived hard and fast. Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, not so much. I could easily envision both of them continuing to perform regularly for the next 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Mike\_Mabes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mike_mabes/32/1782_2.png) [@Mike\_Mabes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mike_Mabes)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/63 "2019-03-10T23:40:38Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > It won’t be Keith Richards. He’s gonna eventually transform into a living mummy. (if he hasn’t already) I’m late to this thread and scrolling through I knew he would come up. _For every cigarette you smoke, God takes an hour away from your life and gives it to Keith Richards._ ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/64 "2019-03-11T01:55:19Z")
The great Harry Belafonte is 92. I hope he sticks around. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/65 "2019-03-11T13:11:19Z")
Among musicians I’d go with Shane McGowan. Wheelchair bound for a couple years. He finally got around to marrying Victoria in November. A sure sign of getting his affairs in order. He also got a lifetime achievement [award](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42701430) which is often a bad sign. Only 61 compared to Richards’ 75. It takes a real effort to drink and drug yourself into infirmity like this. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/66 "2019-03-11T14:35:24Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I didn’t Beverly Cleary was still alive at the age of 102; I’d be more upset at her death than any former politician or royal. Who?? > [@terentii](#): > > You never watched _ **Airwolf** _? :eek: What?? > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Stephen King. Between his misspent youth of drugs and alcohol and that horrific car accident, he’s living on borrowed time anyways. Ditto Ben Vereen. Ben Vereen’s hardly a big celeb. I’ve known who he is since the 1970s because my family had the record of the _Pippin_ soundtrack, but despite being familiar with his name, I rarely hear of him. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/67 "2019-03-11T14:46:05Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > Bob Dylan I could see going any day. He lived hard and fast. Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen, not so much. I could easily envision both of them continuing to perform regularly for the next 10 years. Given that Dylan was born in 1941 and the other two were born in 1949, one would expect Dylan to go first, all other things being equal. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2019, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/68 "2019-03-11T17:04:49Z")
Barbra Streisand and Alan Alda will really cause brouhaha’s with their deaths. And Jimmy Carter, our oldest living ex-President. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/69 "2019-03-11T17:06:05Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > RBG and Phil the Greek seem to be tottering. And if Phil goes, Brenda will follow quickly from a broken heart. Yeah, the Queen is a tough old bird but once Phil goes she will start the downward spiral (although it won’t be “quickly”). > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > John Astin turns 89 on March 30. If he lives that long. But he’s feeling _much better now_. I just discovered that John Astin is Sean Astin’s stepdad (Sean’s mother is Patty Duke, to whom Astin was married for 12 years). I did not know that. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/70 "2019-03-11T17:19:46Z")
Concerning your signature: I don’t know and I don’t care. Concerning the thread: Neil Diamond. ---
**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:** [March 11, 2019, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/71 "2019-03-11T17:24:16Z")
Nitpick: No, John Astin is Sean Astin’s adoptive and therefore legal father. Patty Duke was having an affair with the then-married Astin, hot pregnant, and claimed he was the father. However, at the same time she was having an affair with 17 year old Desi Arner, Jr, and there was some speculation about that. But she insisted Astin was the biological father, married him, he adopted Sean and later fathered Mackenzie Astin. Sean would later have DNA testing, which proved his genetic father was Michael Tell, a man Duke was married for 12 days before having the marriage alluded for “non-consummation.” To her dying day, Duke insisted John Astin was Sean Astin’s father, and the genetic testing was wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/72 "2019-03-12T10:41:45Z")
You could argue that really old stars are no longer celebrities. When Zsa Zsa Gabor died, you got the impression that nobody remembered who she was. But then, fame is short-lived, and she was famous for being famous. Real celebs? Who still remembers Spartacus, Yup, I’ll vote for Kirk Douglas, who has the odds against him at 102. Olivia de Havilland? No major films for a long time, so perhaps a has-been. Apart from the really elderly, the next choice is rock stars. I’m surprised / dismayed how many of the classic rockers of the 60s and 70s are dying off, in their sixties and early seventies. Seems that cancer is getting a goodly number of them, far less romantic than OD’ing in your twenties, I agree, and not the stuff of legends. While the obvious choice for the Chemically Self Destructive Lifestyle Award is Keith Richard, somehow I think he’ll hang on. Put it down to self-pickling. Murder / suicide: I’ll book a time slot further ahead and ponder aloud what will happen when (not if) Our Donald is deelected. Or Hillary, if she decides to run again. ---
**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:** [March 12, 2019, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/73 "2019-03-12T13:21:04Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Ben Vereen’s hardly a big celeb. I’ve known who he is since the 1970s because my family had the record of the _Pippin_ soundtrack, but despite being familiar with his name, I rarely hear of him. I only added Vereen as a footnote to Stephen King because they both have a history of drug abuse and survived being hit by cars. I’m assuming you know who King is. The biggest “not-so-big” celebrity whose death will hit me the hardest is folk singer Tom Paxton. You may not know the name, but you know his songs. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/74 "2019-03-14T11:27:37Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Barbra Streisand and Alan Alda will really cause brouhaha’s with their deaths. > > And Jimmy Carter, our oldest living ex-President. Every time I see the commercial with Carol Burnett honoring Alan Alda’s talent it makes me think he died! I wish they would drop that commercial! I thought maybe it was Jimmy that was the oldest living… Not know who Beverly Cleary is? A Gabor sister, not knowing her must imply or infer Green Acres hasnt been seen by the masses. I dont mean she was on it but ya cant mention one with out the other! ;)😉 I dont know but I think who it happens to turn out to be, will be S_h_O_c_K_i_n\*G! :dubious::dubious: ---
**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:** [March 14, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/75 "2019-03-14T14:44:33Z")
Hal Linden turns 88 on March 20th. If he lives that long. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/76 "2019-03-14T15:38:42Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Among musicians I’d go with Shane McGowan. Wheelchair bound for a couple years. He finally got around to marrying Victoria in November. A sure sign of getting his affairs in order. He also got a lifetime achievement [award](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-42701430) which is often a bad sign. > > Only 61 compared to Richards’ 75. It takes a real effort to drink and drug yourself into infirmity like this. On a similar note, Ozzy Osbourne has not been well recently, and if his lifestyle finally catches up with him it will do so hard. As for Shane, I really hope that the talk of him recording again is true, it’s been far too long since he’s done anything new, and morbid as it may seem he’s a good enough writer that a final album from him could match Cohen’s or Bowie’s. Hell, for me if it only matches Chuck Berry’s last album I’d still love it. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/77 "2019-03-14T15:52:42Z")
I’ll go with Bob Newhart, although I really hope not. ---
**Author:** ![WildBlueYonder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ce7236/32.png) [@WildBlueYonder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildBlueYonder)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/78 "2019-03-15T15:38:04Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I’ll go with Bob Newhart, although I really hope not. yes, love him! So many of our loved celebrities go way too soon. Heartbreaking. Guess we will all be gone too. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/79 "2019-03-15T22:17:57Z")
Beverly Clearly – she’s a children’s author, she wrote the Ramona Quimby books, Henry and Ribsy, Ralph S. Mouse, etc. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Hal Price. When that Prince dies, it will be bigger than Prince Phillip. Who? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745/80 "2019-03-15T22:25:42Z")
Girls would be far more likely to know who Beverly Cleary is than boys would. (Conversely, who wrote the “Goosebumps” series? Was it a person or committee?) While we’re on authors, a lot fewer trees will die when Danielle Steel does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-do-you-think-will-be-the-next-big-celebrity-to-die/830745.md?page=5)