# Who is the most famous person killed by covid-19 so far? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 22, 2020, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987 "2020-03-22T00:02:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2022, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/261 "2022-02-02T23:06:25Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > There aren’t that many famous people. C’mon, Hollywood! How can we combat this virus without a famous poster child? Anyone volunteering? Maybe a surplus member of one of those “Families That Are Famous, But Only For Fame”. Oh, and let’s get someone who the anti-gummint demographic would admire… a country star maybe? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2022, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/262 "2022-02-03T03:06:04Z")
Crap… I think I was confusing him with Louie Anderson who died the day after. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/263 "2022-05-19T23:08:39Z")
Wiki says that Vangelis died from heart failure while receiving COVID treatment. > **[Vangelis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vangelis#Personal_life)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > > > Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou (Greek: Ευάγγελος Οδυσσέας Παπαθανασίου, pronounced \[eˈvaɲɟelos oðiˈseas papaθanaˈsi.u\]; 29 March 1943 – 17 May 2022), known professionally as Vangelis (/væŋˈɡɛlɪs/ vang-GHEL-iss; Greek: Βαγγέλης, pronounced \[vaɲˈɟelis\]), was a Greek composer and arranger of electronic, progressive, ambient, and classical orchestral music. He was best known for his Academy Award-winning score to Chariots of Fire (1981), as well... ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2022, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/264 "2022-05-19T23:33:33Z")
Well, i have more information, now. My mother’s death certificate lists four primary causes and a contributing factor. The proximate cause of her death was covid. But for her immune deficiency she likely would have survived the covid. But for her myasthenia she wouldn’t have been profoundly immune compromised. I tell people she died of covid, and i think that’s a true statement. But for the covid she wouldn’t have died when she did. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/265 "2022-06-04T17:54:33Z")
Actor Brad Johnson (Always, Flight Of The Intruder) died 18 February of COVID-19 at the age of 62. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2022, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/266 "2022-06-04T18:55:07Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > I tell people she died of covid, and i think that’s a true statement. I think you are quite correct, because when you have multiple factors contributing, the relevant issue is which element was potentially _preventable_. Anti-maskers and antivaxxers made it more difficult for your mother and other victims of COVID to be safe, and they are accountable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2022, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/267 "2022-06-28T20:54:00Z")
I guess nobody knows who R. Dean Taylor was. I didn’t, though I do know his one hit Indiana Wants Me. [Motown songwriter, Toronto’s R. Dean Taylor dies at age 82 | The Star](https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2022/01/20/motown-songwriter-torontos-r-dean-taylor-dies-at-age-82.html) > Taylor died Jan. 7 at his Los Angeles home at age 82, more than a year after he contracted COVID-19 and was placed in hospice care. Yes, he was 82. He’d contracted COVID a year earlier. I’d say he was at least indirectly killed by COVID. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/268 "2022-07-19T19:59:20Z")
If we’re including famous in Africa, and now worldwide thanks to a “documentary” produced by RFK Jr. and directed by Andy Wakefield, then Dr. Stephen Karanja qualifies. Karanja, a Kenyan OB-GYN, warned of a sinister plot to sterilize women through tetanus vaccination (“after they’re through with Africa, they’re coming for you”) and opposed Covid-19 vaccination. In 2021 he died…of Covid-19. > **[Stephen Karanja: Kenyan anti-vaccine doctor dies from Covid-19](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-56922517)** > > Dr Stephen Karanja repeatedly said that the jab was "totally unnecessary". Karanja is a featured player in the latest RFK Jr./Wakefield film: “Infertility: A Diabolical Agenda”. The people who made and are pushing this docu-fraud also want people to believe that Covid vaccines cause infertility. Shadowy powers seek to depopulate the Earth, you see. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/269 "2022-07-19T20:06:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > In 2021 he died…of Covid-19. Hahahahahah…\…hahahahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2022, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/270 "2022-07-19T23:44:00Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > _Shadowy powers_ seek to depopulate the Earth, you see. Italics mine. I see you’ve/they’ve misspelled “virus” yet again. 😉 I totally love it when some anti-vax COVID-hoaxing yahoo is laid out cold by this stuff. What was it Vader said? Oh yeah: “I find your lack of faith disturbing.” Well the virus sure Force-choked the life out of that guy. Shame he had any influence on anyone but himself. Or maybe it’s like this: The rest of Earthly Lifeforms really, really hate humans. After what we’ve done to them collectively, can you blame them? Not I. Payback shall be a cast-iron bitch. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/271 "2022-07-20T03:38:32Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The rest of Earthly Lifeforms really, really hate humans. After what we’ve done to them collectively, can you blame them? Not I. Payback shall be a cast-iron bitch. Oh now, no reason to get all antrhomoporcentric. It’s not personal, they’re all out to get everyone else too. There’s just a lot of us to get at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/272 "2022-07-20T17:51:33Z")
I Iove the irony that a substantial fraction of humanity is losing a battle of wits w a strand of RNA. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/273 "2022-07-20T18:44:01Z")
Some times, victory is not to the swift or the strong (although that’s the way to bet), but to the SOB who just doesn’t know when to quit. And a strand of RNA has a lot of sticktoitness. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/274 "2022-07-21T15:07:41Z")
pres. biden tested positive; mild symptoms. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/275 "2022-07-21T16:22:02Z")
Getting your claim into the thread early? ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/276 "2022-07-21T16:50:20Z")
oh dear, wrong thread. should be in the “does anyone here know” thread. ack! ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/277 "2022-07-21T17:35:11Z")
😁 (character count strikes again) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2022, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/278 "2022-07-21T19:16:03Z")
I cross linked. Good enough. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/279 "2022-09-09T11:12:48Z")
Maybe Queen Elizabeth > **[Queen Elizabeth II Dies at 96 After a Series of Health Issues](https://www.healthline.com/health-news/queen-elizabeth-ii-dies-at-96-after-a-series-of-health-issues#The-bottom-line)** > > Queen Elizabeth II of England died at the age of 96. The queen had been experiencing several health and mobility issues, including testing positive for COVID-19 earlier in the year. It was reported that the queen died peacefully at her summer... > “Based on what we know about COVID’s activity with regard to the heart and the vasculature, that means clotting, and I don’t know what variant of COVID she might have had, whether it was the Omicron or the Delta — and the Delta is still going around. That could have been the source of her demise,” said Lahita. > > ## > > The bottom line > … > While a cause of death has not yet been released, experts say her previous infection with the coronavirus may have contributed to her death. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2022, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987/280 "2022-09-09T16:51:47Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Maybe Queen Elizabeth It brings up a good question - how long after a COVID infection, and subsequent (apparent) recovery, can a person’s death still be attributed to COVID? The Queen appeared to be back doing most of her normal things after COVID, and was not hospitalized due to a COVID infection at the time of her death, right? The most liberal interpretation would mean everyone who had COVID and recovered, but then later died (from any reason) could be pinned on COVID. I am not exactly sure how cause of death is determined when a COVID infection is in someone’s past, and how long ago. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-most-famous-person-killed-by-covid-19-so-far/849987.md?page=15)