Posts tagged: Celebrity Deaths

Side-by-side photos of bell hooks (a black woman in a classroom, holding a microphone and pen) and Evel Knievel (looking through the skeleton of a shark's jawbone)

bell hooks outlived Evel Knievel

Both were daredevils in their own way. Evel Knievel jumped over buses and fountains on a souped-up motorcycle. Dr. bell hooks jumped over sexists and racists with her deep thinking …..

2020 is a Rough Year for the Women of ‘Goldfinger’

2020 has been rough for everyone, but especially rough for the women of the James Bond film Goldfinger. First came the death of Honor Blackman, a good egg who played Pussy …..

Carl Reiner’s Last Day

In our recent post about the death of comedy legend Carl Reiner, we noted that his passing must have been rather sudden, since he’d been tweeting that same afternoon. Now …..

Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisher, 1956

Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher: PHOTOS

Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, fellow actors as well as daughter and mother, have died one day apart. Fisher died of a heart attack on December 27th, and the next …..

Under the Cherry Moon (1986). Directed by Prince. Shown: Prince.When: 16 Apr 2016.

Do all pop stars die young?

Drug overdoses, but also rare forms of cancer and plane crashes. The good do die young.

Photo of William Shakespeare in a crazy wide white starched collar, embroidered coat, bags under his eyes and bald pate with long hair down past his ears on each side

Happy 400th Deathday (Maybe) to William Shakespeare!

William Shakespeare, the Immortal Bard, proved all too mortal on this day 400 years ago. Or close to this day: he died on or about April 23, 1616. The exact day of Shakespeare’s …..

Abe Vigoda Is Dead. Yes, Really.

Actor Abe Vigoda is dead. Yes, really. The character actor with the hangdog face and the amazing eyebrows died this morning: Vigoda’s daughter, Carol Vigoda Fuchs, told The Associated Press that Vigoda died …..

P.D. James is Dead at Age 94

The celebrated mystery author has died “peacefully at her home in Oxford.”

Did Edgar Allan Poe Die of Rabies?

His death was long blamed on liquor or sheer craziness, but the famous author may actually have fallen victim to “an unrecorded animal exposure.”

Ariel Sharon is Dead at 85

In a coma for the past eight years, the former prime minister of Israel finally succumbs to heart disease.

Peter O’Toole is Dead

The Lawrence of Arabia star ‘had been ill for some time.’

Elmore Leonard is Dead at Age 87, Alas

The esteemed crime and western novelist who wrote Get Shorty and Out of Sight has died a few weeks after suffering a stroke.

George Jones Biography

The country music legend nicknamed “The Possum” has gone to the Great Beyond.

Tony Scott Had Brain Cancer: Report

ABC News is reporting that the action director had inoperable brain cancer when he jumped from a Los Angeles bridge yesterday.

Andy Rooney is Dead

A few short weeks after his final 60 Minutes broadcast, the gently grumpy journalist has died after surgery.

Did Sobriety Kill Amy Winehouse?

The coroner has ruled that Amy Winehouse drank herself to death.  But there could be a little more to the story.

Dictatorial Quote of the Day

“He could have left and gotten out of the country and lived a happy life.”

‘Just a Sweet Tiny Thing With a Huge Great Voice’

Tracy McVeigh remembers the late Amy Winehouse.”The reservoir of goodwill in the industry towards Winehouse was enormous. She had been a huge trailblazing force in the music industry, credited with clearing the way for, and inspiring, Adele, Duffy and even Lady Gaga.”Still…

Amy Winehouse, Talented Train-Wreck Singer, Dead at 27

“It sounds like such a wank thing to say,” Ms. Winehouse once said, “but I need to get some headaches goin’ to write about.”The Big Headache came for Amy Winehouse today.  She was found dead at her home in London this afternoon.

Gil Scott-Heron: The Funeral Will Not Be Televised

“The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.The revolution will not make you look five pounds thinner,Because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.”Gil Scott-Heron has died at age 62.  The news came out today via a tweet from his publisher, Jamie Byng.  No cause of death was announced.

Famous People Who Died in 2010

Here’s our big list.  It starts with feminist Mary Daly on January 3rd, and ends (so far) with JFK advisor Ted Sorensen on October 31st.Who was the most famous person to die in 2010? Tthere’s no real standout there. I give the nod either to Catcher in the Rye author J.D. Salinger, or to Hollywood icon Tony Curtis. 

John F. Kennedy: How Many Remember His Death?

John F. Kennedy was shot to death on this day in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald.  Lyndon Johnson is sworn in as president on Air Force One after the death of John F. Kennedy on 22 November 1963.

Tony Curtis Dead at Age 85

Actor and old-school Hollywood icon Tony Curtis has died at his home near Las Vegas. Tony Curtis served in the Navy in World War II (he was in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrender was signed) and then worked his way up through the old Hollywood studio system. He acted with everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Cary Grant to Laurence Olivier — well over 100 movies in all.

George Steinbrenner, Farewell!

George Steinbrenner, the feisty owner and boss-man of the New York Yankees, has died at age 80.  He’d been in failing health for years after some strokes, but a “massive heart attack” is what got him.

Peter Graves, Enemy of Leaf Blowers, Dead at 83

“In 1998, he joined his wife, Joan, in an effort to get Los Angeles to ban gasoline-powered leaf blowers from residential areas, testifying before the City Council, ‘We’re all victims of these machines.'”Jeepers, good for Peter Graves.

Did Branwell Brontë Die Standing Up?

Did Branwell Bronte really die standing up?So says Somerset Maugham.We mentioned earlier that Maugham lists Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights in his book on the 10 greatest novels of all time.  Emily was preceded in death (barely) by her older brother Branwell, and Maugham relates a curious anecdote about his death.

Alexander McQueen Hanged Himself: Inquest

Fashion designer Alexander McQueen hanged himself last week, according to evidence presented at an inquest today.McQueen left a note and there were “no suspicious circumstances.”More from BBC News and the Daily Telegraph.

Rep. John Murtha Dead at 77, Two Days After Setting Longevity Record

Pennsylvania Congressman John Murtha has died at age 77. He had been suffering from an infection after gall bladder surgery.Just two days ago Murtha became the longest-serving Congressman in Pennsylvania history. He took office in 1974 and was reelected 17 times.A Vietnam War veteran as a Marine, John Murtha was a “master of pork barrel politics” and an ally of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

J.D. Salinger, Author of ‘Catcher In the Rye,’ Dead at 91

Last year we noted that author J.D. Salinger was 90 and deaf. Now, alas, he’s 91 and dead.  Salinger passed away of natural causes, according to his son, at his remote compound in Cornish, New Hampshire.

Happy 82nd Birthday Simon Raven, You Naughty Boy

The death of Simon Raven, at the age of 73 after suffering a stroke, is proof that the devil looks after his own. He ought, by rights, to have died of shame at 30, or of drink at 50.British author Simon Raven was born on this day in 1927 and died in 2001, prompting one of the more colorful obituaries of the decade.

A woman stands smiling with a large tan horse

Connie Hines of ‘Mister Ed’ is Dead – PHOTOS

[Editor’s note 2016: Most of the text of this post about the death of actress Connie Hines was deleted by accident in a 2015 technical revamp of Who2. Sorry! But we’ve left the photos …..

Brittany Murphy: “My Heart Would Explode”

LA station KTLA digs up digs up an eerie Brittany Murphy quote from the past: In 2005 the actress faced questions about her apparent weight loss and conjecture that it …..

Brittany Murphy Dead — Morning Update

Brittany Murphy “began vomiting early Sunday morning and told family members she was feeling very ill,” according to TMZ. The gossip site says Murphy was “taking prescription meds for flu-like …..

Brittany Murphy Dead; Cardiac Arrest Blamed

Brittany Murphy is dead.  The actress, who got her break in Clueless and played rough-around-the-edges chums and lovers in films like 8 Mile and Sin City, died this morning at age 32.

Happy 10th Deathday, Desmond “Q” Llewelyn

Desmond Llewelyn, the actor who played gadget wizard ‘Q’ in James Bond films for nearly four decades, died 10 years ago today — at age 85 in a head-on crash …..

Happy 20th Deathday, Lee Van Cleef!

Lee Van Cleef, the nine-fingered master of the sidelong Western sneer, died 20 years ago today.Had he lived, he’d be 84 years old now.

How To Bury A Millionaire

Someone just paid $4.6 million for the crypt directly above Marilyn Monroe.”Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe,” the eBay auction description boasted.

Weird New Images From Heath Ledger’s Last Film

Heath Ledger was filming a movie when he died: not Batman but The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, the latest hallucinatory (and typically cursed) project from Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam.How hallucinatory? New photos below.The flick was described this way at Cannes:

Jeff Goldblum Is Not Dead

Farrah Fawcett, yes. Michael Jackson, yes. Jeff Goldblum, no. Reports of Goldblum’s death are not true. His publicist says the actor is alive and well in Los Angeles.Apparently the rumor, that Goldblum had fallen off a cliff in New Zealand, first began in 1999 and somehow cropped up again today.