When one admires a movie star, musician, or other kind of celebrity, it's hard not to get emotional when that renowned public figure passes away. It doesn't matter if that person died young unexpectedly or left this world after living a long life. It's a feeling of loss that is natural, no different from losing a close friend or family member, because we are so inspired by that person. We don't ever want that feeling to stop.
I started thinking about this much more deeply after 2016, a year when an unusually high number of celebrities died, several of them very high-profile. It's also a time when plenty of people in the entertainment industry I am familiar with have left this world, reminding me that my generation will be going as another comes in. Meanwhile, my beloved celebrities who haven't left us yet will eventually get to that point as well, perhaps not too long from now.
So I thought I'd take a few moments to share my tributes to celebrities who have touched my heart and are now gone. Obviously, this will not cover every deceased major celebrity, and it will likely not cover some celebrities whom you are a fan of, because we all have different tastes. But if you gather my tributes here plus everyone else's, you will see that we exist as one community of fans and that everyone in the entertainment industry has won us over. I also hope that my memorial here will inspire you to share yours as well.
Without further adieu, I now present my own personal celebrity in memoriam.
Alan Rickman
(1946-2016)
This will come as a shock, but I actually hadn't known Alan Rickman had passed away until months after the fact (just goes to show how busy my life can be). He had died in January 2016, but I didn't know about it until about April 2016 when I heard about the film Eye in the Sky in an entertainment news piece that also mentioned his passing and this being his last film. When I heard it, my jaw dropped.
Rickman was definitely an accomplished actor who could fill many shoes in various genres. He was the evil German terrorist Hans Gruber in
Die Hard and the mysterious Severus Snape in the entire eight-film Harry Potter series. But he could also do some comic material, like the role of an angel in Kevin Smith's
Dogma. If there is one characteristic that defines a great actor, it's versatility, and he has shown it throughout his career.
While I haven't seen every film with Alan Rickman, I know I will enjoy his presence whenever I see another movie with him, as if he has never left us.
Gene Wilder
(1933-2016)
Gene Wilder is one of those people whom I tend to not notice the signs of aging. In other words, whether he's the young actor we've come to love in the 60s and 70s or the older actor in later years, I see the same person, instead of old and young versions of the actor. It's like how some people, including me, don't really notice television host Dick Clark aging over the years.
Anyway, Wilder is definitely a legend in comedy films. You'll especially remember his performances in Mel Brooks comedies, namely
The Producers,
Young Frankenstein, and
Blazing Saddles. Also along those lines is his fun presence as the title character in
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Then there's his appearance in
Bonnie and Clyde and his work alongside Richard Pryor, with films such as See No Evil, Hear No Evil. With such a good career, it was sad to hear of his death due to complications from Alzheimer's disease. Plus, it was also 2016, a year of many more celebrity deaths than usual.
Florence Henderson
(1934-2016)
Florence Henderson may have been known mainly for one acting role, the motherly Carol Brady on the TV sitcom
The Brady Bunch, but her character has transcended her generation. Even younger folks with at least some interest in classic TV may come to love Carol Brady and the way she deals with everyday family issues. Henderson was definitely a great choice for the part.
Following that show, she would reprise her role as Carol Brady in various Brady Bunch follow-ups on TV, like A Very Brady Christmas, and live through the media spotlight revealing some scandalous behind-the-scenes material, like how costar Robert Reed played family man Mike Brady while being a homosexual in real life and eventually dying from AIDS and colon cancer. There are even a few comical appearances by Florence Henderson outside of The Brady Bunch. She appeared very briefly as a murder victim in the opening title of an episode of
Police Squad!, which was rather funny. Also, she was a guest on the improv comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? and even participated in a joke about performer Wayne Brady, an African-American, being the lost Brady kid.
I have one more memory of her. In 2014, I attended the Indianapolis 500 auto race live in person. Florence Henderson was there singing "God Bless America." While I sat very far away from her, it was nice to hear her live, especially as Indiana was her birth state and she would sing at the Indy 500 a total of 23 times before her death.
Don Adams
(1923-2005)
Here is a performer whose voice is definitely distinctive and perfect for comedy because of it. I first heard him as the voice of the cartoon character
Inspector Gadget, which I grew up watching on the kids cable channel Nickelodeon. Years later, Nickelodeon played episodes of both Inspector Gadget and
Get Smart because of Adams's involvement with both. My transition from his well-known 80s cartoon to his well-known sitcom was not that difficult. Inspector Gadget is about a bumbling bionic police officer in adventures that are lighthearted and fun, and Get Smart is about an idiotic secret agent on missions that are gutbustingly hilarious.
I would watch several episodes of Get Smart as another great childhood experience, then not watch them until I purchased the complete DVD set sometime around 2006 or 2007. It was a chance to relive my favorite moments and see the episodes I missed. I would ultimate conclude that Get Smart may be a spoof of James Bond, but Don Adams's performance, the rest of the cast, and the show's writers ultimately created something that stands on its own, enough to avoid comparisons between Agent 86 and Agent 007.
Plus, the DVD set allowed me to appreciate fascinating extras. While they're all great, one really stood out: footage of Don Adams's memorial, courtesy of his estate, that is moving and ultimately inspiring to watch. The memorial ends with a final round of applause from the attendees, a fitting tribute to a funny man who has brought so many smiles through his work.
Bob Denver
(1935-2005)
Like Don Adams, Bob Denver was mainly known for one specific role in television comedy. In this case, he was the title character of
Gilligan's Island, a sailor who, along with the Skipper and five passengers, gets shipwrecked on an island. The sitcom was rather original in its premise, especially when you consider how many TV sitcoms in that era tended to be about everyday domestic life. At the same time, the situations that occur while surviving on the island are often similar to what people may go through in life.
Denver himself was a rather good choice to play Gilligan. He played a gentle and lovable man who can often be a nuisance to the Skipper because of his clumsiness. It's that comical persona that makes the character fun to watch and the other characters just as amusing when they interact with him. Overall, Bob Denver may be known just for playing Gilligan, but he sure left a mark in the hearts of many.
John Ritter
(1948-2003)
John Ritter may have had a variety of roles in film and television, but there's really just one that I, along with many other people, know him for: the character Jack Tripper on the TV sitcom Three's Company. It's not his character so much as the premise of the show that I loved. Ritter was great as a guy who has to pretend he is gay just so he can live with two female roommates, but it's the outrageous sexually suggestive humor that really hit home. I remember laughing out loud at moments where a conversation is overheard and really sounds like it's related to sex, even though it isn't. A daring show like that deserves the large audience it received.
That's really it with regard to my memories of Ritter. Many years later, I would notice that he was the star of a new sitcom called 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter. It wasn't a show I watched, but I thought it was nice to hear that Ritter was still working. Then, all of a sudden, he died. Cause: aortic dissection.
When I first heard of that cause of death and learned about it, my heart broke for the late actor. Aortic dissection, whereby the tissues layers of the aorta tear apart from each other, is said to be excruciatingly painful. It's one thing to die quietly and peacefully, but it's another to suffer during the final moments of life. Amy Yasbeck, his widow, had to be devastated by this.
As with anyone else who is deceased, the best way to heal is to keep his positive memories alive. Ritter has many, for sure.
Steve Irwin
(1962-2006)
Australian animal expert Steve Irwin was a special kind of guy, someone whose enthusiasm for animals really shows in the way he describes them while physically up close. The fact that he would do this with dangerous animals, like crocodiles (hence, his "Crocodile Hunter" nickname) shows that he is incredibly brave. It's no wonder that he was the star of various animal documentary shows, like The Crocodile Hunter and Croc Files, plus the 2002 movie
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course.
Because he was still fairly young, nobody ever thought he would die so soon. But on September 4, 2006, the world would learn the shocking news that he had died due to a stingray tail piercing his heart, which occurred while filming a documentary. As an American in the United States, I was far away from Irwin's home country, but I could already tell how much Australia was in mourning. Of course, the grief was worldwide, because he was a beloved international icon. If there is one thing I could take comfort from, it's that Irwin had died doing what he loved all his life: being with the animals.
Michael Jackson
(1958-2009)
Speaking of celebrity deaths that occurred too soon, the passing of pop superstar Michael Jackson was so unbelievable that wall-to-wall coverage dominated the news media. What's even more heartbreaking was that actress Farrah Fawcett died earlier the same day, and coverage of Jackson's death practically turned everyone's attention away from Fawcett. (I'm sorry to say that I am not familiar with the life and career of Farrah Fawcett, but I am sure that others who are familiar with her will have wonderful tributes to the late actress.)
If you watch the documentary film
This Is It, which compiles footage of Jackson's rehearsals for his upcoming concert tour (the one that got cancelled upon his death), you will see that he seemed to be in wonderful health. There was no visible sign of him being too sick to perform on stage. However, what we couldn't see was that Jackson had trouble sleeping due to the stress of his work, so he turned to Dr. Conrad Murray to give him some medication for it. Sadly, Dr. Murray had given Jackson a combination of meds that proved to be lethal.
While I'm not a die-hard fan of the King of Pop, I have heard at least several of his songs, which is typical for anyone who isn't fully isolated from pop culture. I cannot count how many times I've bobbed my head to early hits like "Beat It," "Bad," "Thriller," and "Smooth Criminal," or be amazed by the sight of his signature dance called the Moonwalk. (And while you're at it, don't forget that Michael's music career really started before adulthood when he was a member of the Jackson 5.)
Because Jackson had vitiligo, an autoimmune medical condition that destroys the pigment-producing cells of the skin and results in uneven patches of white skin, he resorted to treatments to give his skin a more uniform appearance. In doing so, he took on the appearance of being fully pale, in contrast to the darker skin characteristic of African-Americans like him. But that didn't stop him from producing more music, like the songs "Black or White" (a tune that is fitting for the issue of skin color), "Remember the Time," and "Will You Be There" (featured on the soundtrack of the 1993 film Free Willy).
As much as we would like Jackson to still be around to perform, we can at least cherish the prolific music he created and his long-lasting widespread impact on the world. He truly is one of the greatest musical artists who ever lived.
Prince
(1958-2016)
Prince was a musician with plenty of pseudonyms, including a symbol and The Artist Formerly Known as Prince. Obviously, none of them stuck, because we have always known him as Prince until the day he died, and he will always be known as Prince forever after that. Like Michael Jackson, Prince had died unexpectedly and too soon. Plus, he died from medication, which in this case was an accidental overdose of fentanyl that he took because of his addiction to opioids.
In the weeks following Prince's death, a frequent conversation topic among people I knew was what their favorite Prince song was. Plenty of them said "Purple Rain." Others considered "1999" as their favorite. I am not a huge Prince fan, and I'm going against the majority by saying that my favorite Prince songs are "Cream" and "Raspberry Beret." Whatever your favorite Prince song is, there is no denying that he left an impression.
Patrick Swayze
(1952-2009)
As long as we're talking about icons who are often associated with the 1980s, here's another: actor Patrick Swayze. I did not pay attention to him early on, but I can remember how plenty of young women and girls would get so excited over him, to the point of just swooning with joy. Early on, I knew he was a good-looking guy, but that was it.
Later, I would watch a few of his movies, namely
Dirty Dancing and
Ghost. I became more aware of what his appeal was. It wasn't just the heartthrob looks. It was also the personality, that of a man with a gentle heart and soul. Just from what I've seen of him so far, he is a good casting choice for the roles of men who are simultaneously handsome and kind-hearted. Not that he shouldn't play an arrogant tough guy, because the guy can act. Once Swayze died of pancreatic cancer in 2009, I immediately understood why so many people will miss him for a long time: his ability to warm anybody's heart.
Hugh Hefner
(1926-2017)
Here is another pioneer who has had a major impact on entertainment, though of a different type. If you were to chronicle the history of erotica and pornography, you will really end up covering human history, because sexuality has fascinated humans from the beginning. But if you want to limit it to the 20th century and beyond, one man certainly stands out as having pushed the boundaries and ushered in a new era of adult entertainment.
Hugh Hefner had worked for Esquire magazine before launching his own magazine: a men's lifestyle magazine called Playboy. The first issue in December 1953 featured Marilyn Monroe on its cover and a nude photo of Monroe in its centerfold. This practice of featuring nude and semi-nude women as centerfold models would be a tradition for the magazine (though it stopped that temporarily for about a year based on the assumption that it could not compete with Internet porn). Of course, it's not all about the centerfolds, because the magazine also features a variety of interesting articles to read. Hence, the commonplace joke about being interested in Playboy only for the articles.
The success of Playboy is not just the success of a magazine. It's the success of a brand, extending also into adult-only videos, an adult-only cable channel, websites, and other business lines managed by Playboy Enterprises. Through it all, Hefner lived his lavish lifestyle characterized by wealth, parties, and gorgeous women. The image of Hefner in a bathrobe at the Playboy Mansion is one that truly represents his achievement of the American Dream through a unique sexual revolution, and a lifestyle that plenty of men must be dreaming about.
Roger Moore
(1927-2017)
Speaking of men with beautiful women, the fictional British secret agent James Bond comes to mind. It's a film series that has now spanned more than five decades, and many people, whether actors or crew members, have come and gone from the Bond movies. Although several had passed away at some point, it would be a long time before we hear the first-ever news of the death of an actor who had played James Bond in the official film series.
Roger Moore was the actor whom I first saw as Bond when I was first introduced to the series in the 80s. As I watched the Bond movies repeatedly, I came to appreciate Moore's approach to the character. He was the Bond with light humor in his lines and demeanor, making spy adventures more fun than they already are. Moore's four Bond movies in the 70s were like that. His last three in the 1980s were slightly less like that, as a more serious tone was thrown in, but he was still great to watch. From
Live and Let Die in 1973 to
A View To a Kill in 1985, Moore had left a mark as 007.
Moore was also known for the British television series The Saint and The Persuaders, neither of which I am familiar with. He would make other appearances here and there, including a role in the movie The Cannonball Run, hosting the Discovery Channel documentary SpyTek, and hosting the 2007 World Magic Awards. Outside of entertainment, he had done charity work as a UNICEF ambassador, and for his contributions, he was knighted in 2003.
My last memory of Moore was back in 2012 when he proclaimed, on the Today show on NBC, that Skyfall was the "best Bond ever made." It was no doubt a well-deserved blessing to that movie marking the 50th anniversary of the series, coming from someone who was a big part of it previously.
Richard Kiel
(1939-2014)
Richard Kiel may not be a recognizable name in the mainstream, but among James Bond fans, he will always be known for playing a villainous character in two Bond movies. In
The Spy Who Loved Me and
Moonraker, Kiel played the steel-toothed henchman Jaws, serving two different misanthropic villains who want to wipe out the majority of the human race that they see as deeply flawed. He is perhaps the most popular Bond villain henchman since Oddjob from
Goldfinger.
Jaws may be an adversary for Bond, but there's something about the character that still makes him likable. Maybe it's his endless determination to defeat Bond, or his endearing comical reactions to his failures. Whatever it is, it led some Bond fans who originally saw The Spy Who Loved Me back in 1977 to cheer when they learn that Jaws has not died in the movie. I don't know how Kiel as the actor approached the character, but he should be proud of the result.
Kiel, who spent the latter part of his life residing in central California, died in a Fresno hospital from a heart attack. Lots of people paid tributes, including Roger Moore who expressed on Twitter his heartbroken feeling for his beloved costar.
Desmond Llewelyn
(1914-1999)
Another deceased actor who was best known for a role in the James Bond movies was Desmond Llewelyn. He played the gadget master Q in every Bond movie from 1963 to 1999, except Live and Let Die in 1973. The character's real name is actually Major Boothroyd, and the department providing equipment for MI6's field agents is Q Branch. But starting with Goldfinger, the name Q was used as a nickname for Boothroyd, and that has stuck since.
The relationship between Q and Bond is that of someone who is frequently annoyed by the other not returning borrowed equipment in intact condition. This provides a great source of comic relief in the Bond movies. Q has been in so many Bond movies (17 in all) that he has two recurrent lines that make me laugh or smile each time I hear them: "Now pay attention, 007" and "Really, 007!"
The World Is Not Enough in 1999 was intended to be Llewelyn's last Bond movie. Tragically, instead of going into retirement or doing whatever he was planning to do, Llewelyn died in an automobile accident, not too long after that film was released in theaters. What this means is that Q's final appearance in The World Is Not Enough, as well as the Bond series, has become a reminder of the actor's death. In that scene, Q says, "I've always taught you two things. First, never let them see you bleed." Then Bond asks, "And the second?" Q then utters his final line before descending down an elevator and out of sight: "Always have an escape plan."
Carrie Fisher
(1956-2016)
I shall now jump from one big movie franchise to another. In late 2016, Star Wars fans would receive the devastating news that one of the principal stars of the very first
Star Wars movie in 1977 had passed away. Carrie Fisher, known for the role of Princess Leia, had collapsed while on a commercial flight from London to Los Angeles, and ultimately died of cardiac arrest a few days later. Given her status as an international icon, the outpouring of grief was widespread. A notable heartbreaking reaction came from Star Wars costar Mark Hamill, who kept his message short on Twitter: "no words #Devastated"
The character of Princess Leia could definitely be considered heroic, especially for all the young girls out there. She's not the damsel-in-distress that needs to be saved by a man. Yes, Luke Skywalker and Han Solo free her from a jail cell on the Death Star, but look at what she does after that: takes a blaster and shoots a hole in the wall to provide an escape into a trash compactor, instead of just waiting for a laser gunfight to end with Imperial Stormtroopers losing. Another example of Leia's bravery is in
Return of the Jedi, when she frees Han from his hibernation in carbonite, and when, in the film's climax, she fires a blaster at an Imperial officer unexpectedly when she appears to be wounded. Over five movies, Leia has been a strong character, whether in youth or old age.
Besides acting, Carrie Fisher was also a script doctor improving screenplays for various movies and an author of books such as the semi-autobiographical novel Postcards From the Edge. Then there is her work as a humorist, like her one-woman stage show Wishful Drinking, which inspired a book of the same name. And this is where I have a few unique memories to share.
You see, I took the opportunity to see Wishful Drinking live as the show toured a few American cities from 2008 to 2010. It was one of the few times in my life that I got to see a celebrity live in person, not just as an image online, in print, or on television. When Fisher came on stage, I was in awe. Here was the lady who played that princess in that awesome sci-fi movie series. Of course, she wasn't dressed as Leia. She was just herself, wearing mostly blue clothes and some makeup and having put on some weight compared to how she appeared over the years previously.
And boy, was she funny. She talked about her parents, Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, and how things got crazy when Eddie left Debbie to marry Elizabeth Taylor. And Carrie presented a large diagram of celebrity hookups and breakups, titled "Hollywood Inbreeding 101," that encompassed this immediate craziness plus other relationships in the periphery. It's easy to understand why Fisher would suffer from bipolar disorder and drug addiction. I'd go crazy, too, if I grew up surrounded by this kind of madness. Then there were Fisher's funny reminiscences about Star Wars and George Lucas, like how the director told her not to wear a bra underneath her Leia costume because bras didn't exist in space (or something along those lines).
If you look at her life as a whole, Carrie Fisher was more than just a recognizable actress and a witty comedienne. She was also a fighter, someone who could keep going even with personal struggles that plagued her throughout. So there are plenty of reasons to feel sad about the passing of Carrie Fisher. (Also, Debbie Reynolds died one day after her daughter did. I'm sorry to say that I am not familiar with Reynolds enough to write a separate tribute, but I am sure others are doing that quite well.) As the end credits of
Star Wars: The Last Jedi put it: "In Loving Memory of our Princess CARRIE FISHER."
Christopher Lee
(1922-2015)
Christopher Lee was an actor who did that job for a long, long time, all the way until his death at the age of 93. Even when he was past 80, I couldn't believe he was still doing it. I remember seeing as Count Dooku in Star Wars
Episode II and
Episode III in the early 2000s and thinking how he still had the ability to be in films. I had the same thought while seeing him as Saruman in various entries of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series. It's as if Christopher Lee is immortal.
Of course, those were my own memories of the actor. Other people will no doubt remember Lee as Count Dracula in multiple horror movies from the British film production company Hammer. Then there are James Bond fans who recall Lee as Francisco Scaramanga, the villain in
The Man With the Golden Gun. Whatever role you most associate with Christopher Lee, one thing is clear. The actor was prolific and never stopped doing what he did best.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
(1967-2014)
Philip Seymour Hoffman was an actor with a drug addiction that relapsed before he died. I actually never knew he had a drug problem until he died of an accidental drug overdose. It's a shame, because he's definitely one of the best American actors I've ever seen. He has a special gift for sinking into whatever role he is given to the point where he practically becomes the character.
The best example of this is the film
Capote, where Hoffman plays the title character of author Truman Capote working on his book In Cold Blood. Here, Hoffman transforms into a man with both a gentle demeanor and a compassionate soul. When you watch this movie, you are not seeing Hoffman as Capote. You are practically seeing Capote himself.
Even when Hoffman is taking on supporting roles, he has this way of just being the character. Whether he is a medical student in
Patch Adams, a CIA agent in
Charlie Wilson's War, or a member of the Oakland A's front office in
Moneyball, he can act for sure. Again, he's such a great actor that I'm sorry he still isn't around to amaze us with his mastery of the craft.
Gene Siskel
(1946-1999)
There have been many movie critics who make a living from reviewing movies, and a couple of them may be big names in the business. One such big name was Chicago Tribune film critic Gene Siskel, who is recognizable as the counterpart of critic Roger Ebert, both of whom comprise the duo known as Siskel and Ebert. You know Siskel as well as Ebert because their film reviews on television are summed up with thumb votes. If a movie pleased both of them, the ads for the movie could say that Siskel and Ebert gave it "Two Thumbs Up." Plenty of people would consider that a badge of honor.
As I watched episodes of Siskel and Ebert, I noticed a pattern. Between the two critics, Siskel was the one who was more difficult to please. There were plenty of movies Ebert liked that Siskel didn't, and vice versa. But if Siskel agreed with a positive review from Ebert, that was something. For example, the first
Naked Gun movie got two thumbs up, with Siskel saying that the movie was very funny and that many other comedies just try too hard. Also, he and Ebert gave two thumbs up to the 1997 James Bond movie
Tomorrow Never Dies, with Siskel stating that it's the villain that makes this one work and that it's the first time in many years that he enjoyed a James Bond movie. So yes, Siskel was a relatively tougher critic, but it was still sad when he died from complications following surgery to remove a brain tumor.
Roger Ebert
(1942-2013)
Roger Ebert, film critic for the Chicago Sun-Times, wasn't just fun to watch on TV. He was also fun to read online and in print. I first watched him and Gene Siskel on television, without really looking at their print reviews. Years later, I would discover how great of a writer Ebert was, so I began to read his movie reviews, not just watch him on TV. If I had to sum up Ebert's writing style, it's that he describes movies with creative wit and knowledge of film, all while keeping in mind who the movie's intended audience is. So I had two places to enjoy Ebert's take on movies: his written reviews and his televised reviews alongside Gene Siskel plus various rotating co-hosts and eventually the permanent co-host Richard Roeper, also with the Chicago Sun-Times.
But like Gene Siskel, Roger Ebert would have his own health problems. In 2006, he had to take a leave of absence to undergo surgery for cancer of the thyroid and salivary glands. That meant no movie reviews for quite some time. Other critics would fill in for televised movie reviews. Ebert would resume writing print reviews, which even included some reviews of 2006 movies, like
Casino Royale and
300, that he wrote in 2007, a year after the film was released. Because he lost his ability to speak, the only time we would see him on TV again was for the last incarnation of Siskel and Ebert/At the Movies, titled Ebert Presents: At the Movies, which ran for only one year.
When Ebert died in 2013, it was widely agreed that the late critic was part of a major era in film criticism. One of the most touching tributes to Ebert I've read is the following:
?For a generation of Americans ? and especially Chicagoans ? Roger was the movies. When he didn?t like a film, he was honest; when he did, he was effusive ? capturing the unique power of the movies to take us somewhere magical. Even amidst his own battles with cancer, Roger was as productive as he was resilient ? continuing to share his passion and perspective with the world. The movies won?t be the same without Roger, and our thoughts and prayers are with Chaz and the rest of the Ebert family.? - U.S. President Barack Obama
Leslie Nielsen
(1926-2010)
Leslie Nielsen is best known for one thing: deadpan comedy. Interestingly enough, his early career involved a variety of genres other than comedy, including science-fiction films like Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure. Certainly give him credit for all of that work. Still, if an actor does something so well, it's hard for audiences to want to see him in something else.
Just look at the way Nielsen acts in
Airplane!, that 1980 spoof of disaster movies. He is so funny because he acts totally serious even in the context of visual gags. Some performers try to act funny and know it. Nielsen doesn't seem to try to be funny, but he nevertheless is funny because of where he is placed. This is also why the short-lived TV comedy show Police Squad! and the three Naked Gun movies are so hilarious to watch. Even though he did more spoof comedies, like
Dracula: Dead and Loving It and
Spy Hard, his earlier work shortly after transitioning away from drama was where his comedic talent really was.
George Carlin
(1937-2008)
George Carlin is one of the few stand-up comedians whose career I am familiar with. Maybe not as much as the biggest die-hard fan, but I have listened to each of his albums at least once, particularly those in the last three decades of his career.
His first claim to fame was in the early 1970s, with the infamous set of seven words that you can never say on television: s**t, p**s, f**k, c**t, c********r, m**********r, and t**s. (Anyone who is not familiar with Carlin but still has a sufficiently dirty mind can figure them out.) In fact, one of the major subjects of Carlin's comedy is the English language itself, particularly its absurdities. For example, in his 1990 HBO comedy special, he devotes a segment to euphemisms and the evolution of language, like "passing away" instead of "dying" or different terms for disabled people. Also, for Jammin' in New York in 1992, he hilariously dissects common phrases in airline announcements, such as the logic of a flight attendant welcoming passengers to their destination even if she herself has just landed at that destination along with everyone else on the plane.
But that's not all. Carlin is also known for observing oddities in everyday life. In a famous bit titled "A Place for My Stuff," he talks about how life is about accumulating stuff, storing stuff, moving stuff, getting more stuff, traveling with some but not all stuff owned, and doing all sorts of stuff with that stuff. He has also found interesting contrasts between the sports of baseball and football. And beyond all of that, Carlin delivers harshly honest thoughts on the flaws of humanity and society. For example, he wonders how people who are against abortion and therefore pro-life could also support the death penalty (Back in Town, 1996), points out the meaningless of religion (You Are All Diseased, 1998), and criticizes the notion that "every child is special" (It's Bad For Ya, 2008). For all of his comedic work, Carlin was awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2008, which was first announced days before his death and then officially given posthumously that year.
Some people will say that Carlin is offensive and vulgar. While I can understand where they may be coming from, I would also encourage them to look past Carlin's cynical style of stand-up in order to see truths about ourselves that we may be uncomfortable seeing, but are better off knowing about. That's why George Carlin was one of the most brilliant comedians ever and one who definitely shaped comedy during his lifetime.
Robin Williams
(1951-2014)
This is the last celebrity tribute I have on this page, and I am using it to honor the life of someone who has truly made the world smile.
Robin Williams was not just a funny man. He was a funny man who could turn on comedy like a switch. He is what you would call a spontaneous and improvisational comedian. If you watch his comedy films or some of his stand-up comedy work, you will tend to notice his manner of delivering laughs at a fast pace and quickly switching from one thing to another without warning. You will probably laugh while trying to catch your breath, and maybe repeat that process a few moments later.
Williams has acted in plenty of films, in both drama and comedy. I shall just focus on the latter and do so by looking back on two notable funny roles in the 1990s. First, the 1992 Disney movie
Aladdin for which Williams voiced the Genie. Yes, I know it's an animated movie, but the way he voices the character in an enthusiastic and wacky manner is still there, and the animated Genie on screen seems to work just as well as a live-action Robin Williams. Then there is Williams as the title character of
Mrs. Doubtfire. His ability to voice an old woman and do it while in costume is admirable to begin with, and to have him also do physical comedy on top of it is better. Just watch the scene where he accidentally sets his fake breasts on fire, or does the Heimlich maneuver in a restaurant, and you'll see what I mean.
Williams would later suffer from multiple symptoms due to Lewy body dementia and eventually commit suicide. Like any death, there was an outpouring of grief by fans from all over. Aside from those tributes, I remember a specific suggestion for a tribute to the actor. Because Robin Williams loved video games and even named his daughter Zelda Williams after the Nintendo video game The Legend of Zelda, video game fans signed a petition to have the Nintendo game company create a new video game character named Robin. While I have not heard of that suggestion actually becoming reality, I thought that was a creative idea.
Because Williams's early stand-up comedy career included performing in San Francisco and because he resided in the San Francisco Bay Area in the latter part of his life, there is a tribute to him that you can see while driving. If you leave San Francisco by heading north on the Golden Gate Bridge and then continue north on the 101 towards Sausalito, you will eventually reach the entrance of a tunnel. It was formerly the Waldo Tunnel, but is now called the Robin Williams Tunnel. The name change was made official by the California State Legislature in 2015, with every member of the Assembly and Senate who voted providing a yes vote, and the sign was placed in 2016.
Final Words
Whew! I didn't realize I would write so much about the celebrity deaths that really touched me. I guess they had an impact on me more than I originally recognized. Anyway, that is my list, and I hope I have inspired you to look back on the celebrities I talked about as well as others who have inspired you. Remember, no person will live forever, but their memories don't have to die. That's what fans like us are for.
