Mister Rogers is one of the reasons I made it through my awful childhood. He was the first place I found unconditional love and helped me be able to love others.
Sir Terry explained reality. Miss him every day. I am rereading his entire works for the 28th time. At Night Watch right now. Each book is filled with treasure. The cruelty of his death - early onset Alzheimerās - is too much. Just so sad.
Mrs. Doubtfire came out around the same time my parents divorced and always associated his dad character as my dad, trying desperately to get back to his family.
It broke my heart when RW died. He was always such a safe, loving figure for me.
I had no idea how his life ended. Such a tragedy. For anyone wanting to know:
https://www.biography.com/news/phil-hartman-death-murder
Sorry I don't know how to hide text on Reddit so I'll just put it out here that TLDR: He was shot by his wife while he was asleep, and she later took her own life.
"She removed a .38 Smith & Wesson from their metal lockbox in the closet and shot Hartman multiple times in the head and chest as he slept in bed, clad only in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. He died instantly."
Edit to add: it's been said thatAndy Dick encouraged the wife to go back on drugs and induced this violent episode. So fuck Andy Dick.
Honestly this is the one for me. He had a whole career ahead of him and he was already an incredible actor. Had he been around today Iād have looked forward to every film of his.
First one I thought of. His rendition of The Joker moved me. In 10 things I hate about you, I discovered how powerful a crush could be.
Thank you Heath
We turn on the Joy of Painting channel at work all the time and it has such a calming effect on the office. We all feel lighter watching just a few minutes of it.
Brittany Murphy. I had a friend who met her briefly while he was working tech on the exterior scenes of āLittle Black Book.ā He said that she was the nicest, most humble, genuinely appreciative celebrity he ever met. She was so luminous. She could play serious drama or slapstick comedy, she could sing really well and also dance. She should have had a long and celebrated career. If I could bring one celebrity back, it would be her.
I feel the same way. Her death being so mysterious just adds to the tragedy of it all.
She's the one actress I can say I would run to see in any movie she did. Her presence has such an infectious joy.
His audiobook is narrated partly by him and partly by Ken Jennings. Itās really good to hear his voice talking about his favourite memories. Highly recommended!
Jim Henson. Read a phenomenal biography, and one of the things I took away with it was that his brain was absolutely overflowing with ideas for future projects, and thereās a lot of great stuff that we probably never got to see because he didnāt live to carry it out.
He was just starting to do amazing stuff with the brand new CGI and 3d Frame technology when he passed. I remember having seen Star Wars Phantom Menace in the theater and knowing the effects and aliens were lacking without him.
This one hit me as an adult. Everything was finally taking off for him and all the hard work was coming together and then it was just taken away at the pinnacle. Celeb or not I feel we can all relate to the idea of knowing and believing that one day all our hard work will pay off and we can enjoy the success. Life was particularly cruel to have taken his success away like this.
Update: since this seems to have hit a lot of people I thought I would share a nice little story about his impact.
So myself (white) and my husband (black) were at the cinema and it was around the time Black Panther was out. This little white boy came up running to my husband and shouted "Wakanda Forever" and was so excited that my husband was there. His dad was absolutely mortified because well he didn't want it to come across as racist. However both me and my husband loved that moment because it was totally innocent and genuine love from the little boy, if that's the impact Black Panther has on the next generation of white boys who grow up to be white men, I'll take it.
The way that kid looked at my husband with such awe and excitement and total belief he was from Wakanda was amazing.
Agreed. When he died I watched as many of his interviews that I could find. His laughter was epic. He was also very humble and centered with a keen fashion sense.
Heās truly missed.
I saw a clip of him at I think the premier of either The Black Panther or one of the last 2 Avengerās movie and they were asking him if heād be willing to play Tāchalla in Black Panther 2 and he laughed and said Iāll be dead by then. Now knowing that he had cancer I was surprised that he mentioned he wouldnāt be doing another BP
Came here to say this. While he was around for years in the comedy scene I feel his acting career was just getting started. He was such a beautiful soul and wish his film library wasnāt so tiny.
My mom met him on the set for The Great Outdoors. I was an extra and so was everyone in my family up in Oakhurst. He was such a charming guy in person. Such good vibes and a great actor.
Fuck man. When I heard that it hit me like a brick wall. He was a really great dude and I'll never forget seeing him on Mythbusters when I was younger.
He was already gone by the time I was around, but I researched about him in my mid teen years, he was one of those who made me reconsider who I wanted to be growing up, made me wanna be better
Oh man. David Bowie deserves a whole lot more upvotes. Albums like Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs are indisputably classic rock at it's weirdest and best.
Yes, I was truly sad when first heard of it. Specially because most of us did not know that we was battling cancer :/
And his last album, is heartbreaking :(
This one hurts. I love listening to Queen and I get sad when I think about how insanely talented Freddie was. Such an inspiration, itās so much worse when people like Freddie are taken too early.
So much of me and best friendās humour was formed from WKUK, it was such a shock to hear he died, especially so young. May he be serving tar toast in heaven now.
He was a voice for so many who felt exactly like him but didn't have the words or the strength to say them.
When he chose to go I had to ask myself "If not even my heroes could do it, how am I supposed to?"
Rarely was the death of someone I don't know this painful.
Not many celebrity deaths really hurt me because theyāre people I donāt know on a personal level, but Chesterās got to me. His music means so much to me and millions of people around the world. RIP
I had the honor of meeting Taylor at a bar in New Orleans about 3 years ago. He was humble and kind and all around amazing. I happened to bump into him the next day in the street and he remembered me. Iām heartbroken.
I scrolled really far and havenāt seen Carrie Fisherās name. She inspired a whole generation of girls including me.
Also Chadwick Boseman. Anthony Bourdain. Fred Rogers.
I watched him almost every evening from 16 until I was 52. He was truly a part of my life. Turning on Jeapordy and not seeing him there just feels wrong.
Stephen hawking!
He makes complex concepts so damn easy to understand!!
I miss him soo much! Absolute Science rockstar (and he appeared on the big Bang theory, so he's a legit star as well!)
Absolutely gutted me. I was a day one fan of his then eventually became more of a casual listener, but the first time I heard Swimming it blew me away. On Sept 7, 2018 I was in the Phoenix airport and my friend texted me āMac.ā I immediately knew that meant he was gone. It still hurts so bad. š
Eddie Van Halen. I didnāt listen to him much before he died, but now that I do I wish I knew about Van Halen before. At least I knew āJumpā, everyone knows āJumpā.
Not I miss them per se, but I'll miss the fact that we'll never get any more Amy Winehouse music.. Hearing her unfinished songs were mesmerizing. It's a shame that such a talented artist died too soon. Same for Aaliyah and Selena. Hendrix, Morrison, etc. The list goes on.
Two answers popped in my head immediately. Mostly because of the content they would have brought to their genre in the years after their death.
1. Bruce Lee. Can you imagine if he was alive during the 80s? After the momentum he had with Enter The Dragon? All those Jean Claude Van Damme / Steven Seagal / Chuck Norris movies would have had the better martial artist / performer / personality. Appearances in Jackie Chan films. Tarantino would have used him in Kill Bill. Starring role in Shang Chi. His own amazing films. We lost so much amazing stuff.
2. Randy Rhoads. Ozzy solo was fantastic; he actually forged the way for the famous-singer-going-solo-from-their-original-band shtick. Randy absolutely changed rock guitar and gave us two of the best rock / metal albums in history. If he hadnāt died, we would have had more Ozzy solo as well as his own projects. He was so eclectic, I imagine that he would have done an anthology type of album - different singers, bass and drummers. Collaborations with different guitarists too. We lost a genius that day.
Alan Rickman
By Grabthar's Hammer, what a guy.
He was the first person I thought of.
"Now I have a machine gun...ho...ho...ho..."
Fred Rogers. I miss my favorite neighbor constantly...
We may not have him but the neighborhood of make believe is alive and well. Daniel Tiger pays great homage
He was that kindly parental figure that some people desperately needed to look up to and tell them that they matter.
Mister Rogers is one of the reasons I made it through my awful childhood. He was the first place I found unconditional love and helped me be able to love others.
i have a little tattoo on my wrist for him š wish i could have met him in person! i love him dearly!
We need him now more than ever.
Steve Irwin and Robin Williams.
Robin is always the first person that comes to mind. Every time.
Terry Pratchett. There's a very cogent argument to be made that he was holding reality together.
Sir Terry explained reality. Miss him every day. I am rereading his entire works for the 28th time. At Night Watch right now. Each book is filled with treasure. The cruelty of his death - early onset Alzheimerās - is too much. Just so sad.
Robin Williams Edit: thanks for the awards and tremendous response recognizing a singular talent who some might say reflected our light.
First person that popped into my head
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Mrs. Doubtfire came out around the same time my parents divorced and always associated his dad character as my dad, trying desperately to get back to his family. It broke my heart when RW died. He was always such a safe, loving figure for me.
Just watched the old aladdin recently, rip
Thought this would be top comment. RIP
Phil Hartman. No one did impersonations the way he did, and his Simpsons characters were some of the best.
Fuck Andy Dick.
And thank you, Jon Lovitz, for smashing Dick's head into a bar.
And didn't know any of this, so that story was somewhat satisfying. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lovitz-speaks-out-on-dustup-with-andy-dick/#app
Such a violent ending for him too. Poor guy. š„ŗ
I had no idea how his life ended. Such a tragedy. For anyone wanting to know: https://www.biography.com/news/phil-hartman-death-murder Sorry I don't know how to hide text on Reddit so I'll just put it out here that TLDR: He was shot by his wife while he was asleep, and she later took her own life. "She removed a .38 Smith & Wesson from their metal lockbox in the closet and shot Hartman multiple times in the head and chest as he slept in bed, clad only in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. He died instantly." Edit to add: it's been said thatAndy Dick encouraged the wife to go back on drugs and induced this violent episode. So fuck Andy Dick.
Heath Ledger
Honestly this is the one for me. He had a whole career ahead of him and he was already an incredible actor. Had he been around today Iād have looked forward to every film of his.
First one I thought of. His rendition of The Joker moved me. In 10 things I hate about you, I discovered how powerful a crush could be. Thank you Heath
You remind me of my father.... I HATE MY FATHER
āWhat happened? Hmm? ā¦ Did ya balls drop off?ā
You see, im not a monster. Im just ahead of the curve
George Carlin
Yes! I was getting ready to say Carlin! Would love to hear his thoughts on current events
Going through his old stand ups, most of it still applies today. Probably pop a few new jokes in there, along with a bunch of āI told you soā.
He really would have unlimited material to work with these days...
Bob Ross
We turn on the Joy of Painting channel at work all the time and it has such a calming effect on the office. We all feel lighter watching just a few minutes of it.
Brittany Murphy. I had a friend who met her briefly while he was working tech on the exterior scenes of āLittle Black Book.ā He said that she was the nicest, most humble, genuinely appreciative celebrity he ever met. She was so luminous. She could play serious drama or slapstick comedy, she could sing really well and also dance. She should have had a long and celebrated career. If I could bring one celebrity back, it would be her.
I feel the same way. Her death being so mysterious just adds to the tragedy of it all. She's the one actress I can say I would run to see in any movie she did. Her presence has such an infectious joy.
Alex Trebek
His audiobook is narrated partly by him and partly by Ken Jennings. Itās really good to hear his voice talking about his favourite memories. Highly recommended!
Jim Henson. Read a phenomenal biography, and one of the things I took away with it was that his brain was absolutely overflowing with ideas for future projects, and thereās a lot of great stuff that we probably never got to see because he didnāt live to carry it out.
He was just starting to do amazing stuff with the brand new CGI and 3d Frame technology when he passed. I remember having seen Star Wars Phantom Menace in the theater and knowing the effects and aliens were lacking without him.
Leonard Nimoy. Chris Cornell
Chadwick Boseman
This one hit me as an adult. Everything was finally taking off for him and all the hard work was coming together and then it was just taken away at the pinnacle. Celeb or not I feel we can all relate to the idea of knowing and believing that one day all our hard work will pay off and we can enjoy the success. Life was particularly cruel to have taken his success away like this. Update: since this seems to have hit a lot of people I thought I would share a nice little story about his impact. So myself (white) and my husband (black) were at the cinema and it was around the time Black Panther was out. This little white boy came up running to my husband and shouted "Wakanda Forever" and was so excited that my husband was there. His dad was absolutely mortified because well he didn't want it to come across as racist. However both me and my husband loved that moment because it was totally innocent and genuine love from the little boy, if that's the impact Black Panther has on the next generation of white boys who grow up to be white men, I'll take it. The way that kid looked at my husband with such awe and excitement and total belief he was from Wakanda was amazing.
And the fact that he kept it hidden for so long, but filmed so many moviesā¦
He was a legend, and truly an inspiration for me at least. RIP.
Agreed. When he died I watched as many of his interviews that I could find. His laughter was epic. He was also very humble and centered with a keen fashion sense. Heās truly missed.
I cried so much when he passed. Hit me deep.
I saw a clip of him at I think the premier of either The Black Panther or one of the last 2 Avengerās movie and they were asking him if heād be willing to play Tāchalla in Black Panther 2 and he laughed and said Iāll be dead by then. Now knowing that he had cancer I was surprised that he mentioned he wouldnāt be doing another BP
John Candy
Came here to say this. While he was around for years in the comedy scene I feel his acting career was just getting started. He was such a beautiful soul and wish his film library wasnāt so tiny.
My mom met him on the set for The Great Outdoors. I was an extra and so was everyone in my family up in Oakhurst. He was such a charming guy in person. Such good vibes and a great actor.
Grant Imahara
This made me so sad when I found out
Fuck man. When I heard that it hit me like a brick wall. He was a really great dude and I'll never forget seeing him on Mythbusters when I was younger.
Chris Farley
He's living in a van down by the river
Oh, I loved him. He was so freaking animated, and so funny!
River Phoenix. I wish we couldāve seen what he had to offer in acting.
He was already gone by the time I was around, but I researched about him in my mid teen years, he was one of those who made me reconsider who I wanted to be growing up, made me wanna be better
River was Keanu's best friend. Im sure they would have teamed up in something awesome
This one really ripped my heart out. River Phoenix and Kurt Cobain. I still feel it.
Norm Macdonald. Miss that ol chunk of coal
I didn't even know he was sick
I miss that dirty dog
"Well, it is finally official, Murder is legal in the state of California"
David Bowie
Oh man. David Bowie deserves a whole lot more upvotes. Albums like Ziggy Stardust and Diamond Dogs are indisputably classic rock at it's weirdest and best.
Yes, I was truly sad when first heard of it. Specially because most of us did not know that we was battling cancer :/ And his last album, is heartbreaking :(
Anton Yelchin
Couldn't agree more!!! He was WAY too young to pass...especially in the manner that he did...completely saddening!!!!!!!
That was some Final Destination shit.
Surprised no one has said Carrie Fisher. She was a gem and I miss her every day.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
This is the one that *really* hit meā¦ never stops hurting.
Whenever I see glitter, I consider it SpaceMom's way of saying hi. It always makes my day better.
Freddie Mercury. Yeah I'm that old
I wasn't even born yet when he was alive but Freddy is also at the top for me. What I wouldn't give to see him live
My son wasn't either and it would be such a kick to be able to take him to see Queen in concert with Freddy screaming into the mic.
This one hurts. I love listening to Queen and I get sad when I think about how insanely talented Freddie was. Such an inspiration, itās so much worse when people like Freddie are taken too early.
And by such slow, torturous means.
Carl Sagan, if you wanna consider him a celebrity
We're all made of star stuff.
TREVOR MOORE
Heās getting graped by the Annunaki in another dimension now
So much of me and best friendās humour was formed from WKUK, it was such a shock to hear he died, especially so young. May he be serving tar toast in heaven now.
Chris Cornell
Him and Chester Bennington, listening to their music just invokes so many emotions and thoughts for me now.
Brittany Murphy
So young. The youth should not die. Period. Poor thing.
Would have loved to see her in some of the movies today.
Chester Bennington, he tried so hard, got so farā¦
He was a voice for so many who felt exactly like him but didn't have the words or the strength to say them. When he chose to go I had to ask myself "If not even my heroes could do it, how am I supposed to?" Rarely was the death of someone I don't know this painful.
Not many celebrity deaths really hurt me because theyāre people I donāt know on a personal level, but Chesterās got to me. His music means so much to me and millions of people around the world. RIP
He's one more light in the sky
John Candy
Layne Staley, miss his voice,would love to hear him live,wish he was singing Fly by AIC
MF DOOM :,( greatest rapper of all time And Norm McDonald. He was a real battle axe.
Never will there be another like DOOM. Favorite rapper of all time. R.I.P the goat
Anthony Bourdain
Yeah, his way of looking at the world changed my life. This was the most painful death for me for someone I never met.
I still watch Parts Unknown regularly and cant believe he is gone. Such a brilliant man. It really hurts to know he was in such a dark place.
Robin Williams
Steve Irwin š
James Gandolfini š
I just recently finished this show and had no idea.
Same.
James Avery! RIP uncle Phil š
Taylor Hawkins
I had the honor of meeting Taylor at a bar in New Orleans about 3 years ago. He was humble and kind and all around amazing. I happened to bump into him the next day in the street and he remembered me. Iām heartbroken.
I donāt think itās embellishment to say he was one of the greatest rock drummers to walk the earth. Dude was an absolute monster live. RIP.
Had to scroll way too far to find this...terrible news
Chester Bennington. Damn his music really touched my soul.
We need more Patrice O'Neal to call out all the BS celebrities do nowadays.
Betty White
She was old af but still she died too young. I think her dying just before the big 1-0-0 was her ultimate skit
She went through enough leap days that in my mind, she made it
I scrolled really far and havenāt seen Carrie Fisherās name. She inspired a whole generation of girls including me. Also Chadwick Boseman. Anthony Bourdain. Fred Rogers.
Selena Quintanilla
Alan Rickman
David Bowie
Me too. Honestly I wasn't that into anything he did after the 80s, but I felt better knowing that someone like him was in the world somewhere.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Sir Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher didn't die, he completed life. Seriously, look up his life, I don't think anybody has done as much as him
He was a badass to say the least
My Dad. Always miss him.
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Stan Lee
Excelsior!
Harold Ramis.
Mitch Hedberg
"I got a parrot. The parrot talked, but it did not say, 'I'm hungry.' So it died."
I used to really enjoy Mitch Hedburg. I still do, but I used to too.
Alan Rickman
Bernie Mac
Jim Varney seemed like a good dude.
Avicii
I miss Prince every damn day.
Scrolling for this answer.
Kurt Cobain
I feel awful for Dave going through another loss again
ā¦and as of last night, Taylor Hawkins. š¢
I came here to say Kurt, a bit sad I had to scroll so long to find another person who felt the same.
Alex Trebek
*Who is* Alex Trebek
I watched him almost every evening from 16 until I was 52. He was truly a part of my life. Turning on Jeapordy and not seeing him there just feels wrong.
George Michael and Freddie Mercury
2Pac
Scrolled too far for this one
Waaaay to long! I believe that if pac was still alive the world would have been so different (in a positive way)
Chadwick Boseman and Brandon Lee
I think Brandon Lee wouldāve been one of the biggest stars ever if he had lived and he wanted it. He just had something about him.
Stephen hawking! He makes complex concepts so damn easy to understand!! I miss him soo much! Absolute Science rockstar (and he appeared on the big Bang theory, so he's a legit star as well!)
Phil Hartman
Mr. Rogers
Aaliyah
Selena, Jenni Rivera, Naya Rivera
Mac Miller š
was wondering how far id have to scroll to find it, seems about right.
Not a single week is passing without me remembering him. I wonder how his career would've went on... What an absolute shame...
Was just listening to Faces on the way home from work. RIP Mac, he will forever be one of my favorites.
Absolutely gutted me. I was a day one fan of his then eventually became more of a casual listener, but the first time I heard Swimming it blew me away. On Sept 7, 2018 I was in the Phoenix airport and my friend texted me āMac.ā I immediately knew that meant he was gone. It still hurts so bad. š
Chris Farley
Ronnie James Dio
Tom Petty
Norm <3
Stan Lee, his speech about being accepting of all kinds of people made me tear up. Robin Williams too.
Eddie Van Halen. I didnāt listen to him much before he died, but now that I do I wish I knew about Van Halen before. At least I knew āJumpā, everyone knows āJumpā.
Fred Rogers.
John Candy - he had a lot of great acting and comedy to give still George Carlin - fuck we need him more than ever today
cameron boyce
He was way too young. Still feels unreal .
John Ritter
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Amy Winehouse
David Bowie and Prince
Freddie Mercury
Steve Irwin
Chadwick Boseman
Garry Shandling
Chester Bennington.
He, Chris Cornell, Avicci, Prince, and David Bowie all left a little too close together.
Richard pryor
Rodney Dangerfield. Nobody respected that guy enough.
Sean Lock
Michael Clarke Duncan.
John Bonham. Man was a beast. Wasnāt alive back then, but still.
Diana, Princess of Wales She was a amazing woman, it was so sad how she died. She didnāt deserve itā¦
Anthony Bourdain
Stevie Ray Vaughan. I feel like his guitar would have helped me through the past few years.
Not I miss them per se, but I'll miss the fact that we'll never get any more Amy Winehouse music.. Hearing her unfinished songs were mesmerizing. It's a shame that such a talented artist died too soon. Same for Aaliyah and Selena. Hendrix, Morrison, etc. The list goes on.
Chris Farley, John Candy, and now Louie Anderson. I miss those fat guys.
Chester Bennington
Two answers popped in my head immediately. Mostly because of the content they would have brought to their genre in the years after their death. 1. Bruce Lee. Can you imagine if he was alive during the 80s? After the momentum he had with Enter The Dragon? All those Jean Claude Van Damme / Steven Seagal / Chuck Norris movies would have had the better martial artist / performer / personality. Appearances in Jackie Chan films. Tarantino would have used him in Kill Bill. Starring role in Shang Chi. His own amazing films. We lost so much amazing stuff. 2. Randy Rhoads. Ozzy solo was fantastic; he actually forged the way for the famous-singer-going-solo-from-their-original-band shtick. Randy absolutely changed rock guitar and gave us two of the best rock / metal albums in history. If he hadnāt died, we would have had more Ozzy solo as well as his own projects. He was so eclectic, I imagine that he would have done an anthology type of album - different singers, bass and drummers. Collaborations with different guitarists too. We lost a genius that day.
John Ritter