# Worst year for celeb deaths 1977, 1997 or 2003? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 28, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246 "2003-09-28T02:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/1 "2003-09-28T02:25:58Z")
Okay, this is a purely subjective question, but a lot of postings suggest 2003 is the year with the highest celebrity mortality rate. I think 1977 and 1997 are on an equal par. Rather than make 3 huge lists, please do your own research, make your own judgments and post what you think. ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/2 "2003-09-28T05:42:34Z")
I’ll go with 2003. It sure does seem like there’s been a lot of them this year. According to AMG, which lists people in the music biz, I counted 129 deaths for 1997 and 99 deaths for 1977. Unfortunately, no results returned when I tried 2003. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/3 "2003-09-28T06:11:35Z")
how do you measure? By sheer number, or relative fame, talent, general beloved-ness of the deceased? The emmy memorial reel was pretty amazing this year, I’ll say that. Quite a roster of talents. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/4 "2003-09-28T08:19:34Z")
I think you have to think in terms of generation. Granted, some die young - but most die in groups. My guess is that 2053 will be a bad year…what with Brad Pitt and his ex-wife Jennifer both dying, along with Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Dick Clark. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/5 "2003-09-28T08:24:12Z")
> [@](#): > > My guess is that 2053 will be a bad year…what with Brad Pitt and his ex-wife Jennifer both dying, along with Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Dick Clark. Talk about addition by subtraction… ---
**Author:** ![tarragon918](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d26b3c/32.png) [@tarragon918](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarragon918)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2003, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/6 "2003-09-28T10:15:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DMark \* > \*\*My guess is that 2053 will be a bad year…what with Brad Pitt and his ex-wife Jennifer both dying, along with Eminem, Justin Timberlake and Dick Clark. \*\* Ah, so you figure that by 2053, someone will have found that _Dorian Gray_ portrait of Dick Clark and destroyed it then? 😉 On a more serious note, it may be a bit premature to judge 2003, as there are still three months left to it. Unfortunately. I don’t recall 1997 as having an unusually high number of celebrity deaths but I do recall 1977–maybe it was that they were BIG celebrities? My vote is for 1977, for the time being. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/7 "2003-09-30T01:00:31Z")
Well 1977 was a bad year (I vote for that year myself). Anyway, for 1997, among others were: Princess Diana Mother Teresa Robert Mitchum Jimmy Stewart Jacques Cousteau Red Skelton And here’s a link for celebrity deaths in 1997 (it’s on the IMDB but is fairly inclusive) [http://us.imdb.com/DiedInYear?1997](http://us.imdb.com/DiedInYear?1997) ---
**Author:** ![umop\_ap\_sdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/dbc845/32.png) [@umop\_ap\_sdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/umop_ap_sdn)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/worst-year-for-celeb-deaths-1977-1997-or-2003/204246/8 "2003-09-30T06:29:45Z")
And you can also go to: [http://us.imdb.com/DiedInYear?2003](http://us.imdb.com/DiedInYear?2003) [http://us.imdb.com/DiedInYear?1977](http://us.imdb.com/DiedInYear?1977) I vote that we revive this thread in January 2004 with an official count (according to IMDB) and then we’ll have the matter settled. OR, we can each go to all 3 lists and count the names that we _recognize,_ thus forming our own subjective counts and worst year.