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I’ve never been one to idolize celebrities. That said, it would be foolish of me to claim they haven’t touched countless lives. So, when they’re gone, it’s no wonder their loss is felt so deeply.
Just last week, I paused mid-scroll during an otherwise mundane social media browse to learn that David Lynch had passed.
It felt strangely personal. His work, creative talent, and unshakable authenticity had always inspired me. He was a dreamer unlike any other, and it saddened me to realize there won’t be any more projects under his name. I’m still thinking about him.
As it happens, Redditors recently reflected on other celebrity deaths that struck a similar chord. Their stories moved us to put together a list of their choices as a tribute. Read them below, and let’s honor their legacies together.
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#3
When I was a boy, my dad would vocally discuss how he didn't want me.
Mister Rogers was an adult male who seemed to like me just fine. I would watch his show as a child and my mom say I would *plead* with the television when he started putting on his shoes.
"Stay today! Just this time, please, just stay this time..."
I heard he died at the end of my work day. I couldn't finish my supper, I went into my room, closed my door and cried my eyes out. I was 24. I really, really, really wanted to just tell him thank you.
#5
Chadwick Bozeman.
tdrknt1:
Chadwick Bowsman that dude was dying and still visited sick folks in the hospital. He was a good man.
JessieJ&LilyLovebug 10 months ago
Imagining who he could become is heartbreaking. Imagining him fighting largely alone is heartbreaking.
#6
Anton Yelchin. He was an only child, too.
JessieJ&LilyLovebug 10 months ago
This one was hard, not just because of how young he was, but because of how he died...absolutely horrific.
#7
Steve Irwin.
maybeee123_Report:
Steve Irwin could have done some some amazing things in the last 20 years.
His kids are making him proud though.
#9
Grant Imahara.
He was full of life, totally healthy, uplifting, jovial, enthusiastic about science, the exact kind of voice we need in this current time. And he died due to a very sudden brain aneurism. Basically, absolutely nothing you could do to prevent that. It's just a thing that...happens.
A lot of celebrity deaths are tragic and heart-breaking. But Grant's death also felt just straight-up *unfair*.
KahlessAndMolorReport:
Grant Imahara from myth busters was on a date with his fiance when he complained of a headache and then passed out in a restaurant.
Sudden aneurysm at age 49 with virtually no warning.
LuisSD stuff 10 months ago
My best friend as child died of the same thing. He had a terrible headache and just died. My sister told me and I was stunned for days. We both grew up in the 70s which was magical time for kids long before computers and cell phones. I hope to meet him in Heaven and thank him for being my friend.
#10
Betty White dying just 17 days before her one-hundreth birthday was so sad. She was a wonderful person. Her death was sad enough, but seeing that picture of the empty Golden Girls couch that was doing the rounds that day hit me the hardest.
#12
Matthew Perry hit me HARD! My partner is very much like chandler and I am “a Monica.” People compared us all the time. I had JUST finished his memoir, then less than an hour later heard he died. I have never cried over a celebrity death, I’m not really a cryer (control freak) but I came close with him.
#13
John Candy broke my heart.
#15
David Bowie.
The Queen Of France 10 months ago
My favourite image following his passing. https://pin.it/5U8UTPMCU
#16
Phil Hartman.
#18
River Phoenix. He'd be just as big as Joaquin if he didn't die.
#19
Marvin Gaye— getting murdered by your dad during an argument is definitely one for the books.
#22
Jim Henson. Refused to go to a doctor and ended up with Disney running The Muppets.
#23
I’m still sad that Gilda Radner died way too soon.
#24
Bill Paxton. It still hurts to watch Twister.
#26
There are so many, but Otis Redding has to be on the list. He recorded "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" three days before he was killed in a plane accident. It became the first posthumous No. 1 single in the US.
#27
Vic Morrow, on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.
He and two child actors were killed by a helicopter blade.
cerinamroth 10 months ago
So that the child actors can also be honoured, their names were Renee Shin-Yi Chen and Myca Dinh Le.
#29
Anthony Bourdain, Prince.
Angela B 10 months ago (edited)
Prince. Broke my heart, still does. As a huge fan (22 albums I have) and his talent, gone. To find the loss was due to over prescription of pain meds absolutely destroyed me. Love or loathe him, his talent and musical abilities were astonishing. "Sometimes it snows in April".
#32
Chris Cornell was a tough one.
LukewarmSoymilk 10 months ago
Chris Cornell *and* Chester Bennington for me. They'd been best friends, and Chester took his own life on Chris' birthday, who had passed away only a few weeks prior. I wonder if that might've been been the tipping point for Chester's ultimate decision. :( Maybe they rest in peace.
#33
Leslie Jordan.
I know, he was already old, but goddamn it was still too soon for him to leave us. He was such a gem of a man, and a truly wonderful actor.
RIP Leslie Jordan, you would have loved Chappell Roan.
#34
For me, out of nowhere - P.S.Hoffman.
#35
Judy Garland's entire life was one big tragedy.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Hugely influential singer. The young Barbra Streisand worshipped her. Underrated actress.
#36
Norm MacDonald. We should have had many more years of top-tier comedy if it weren't for the cancer that basically no one knew he had already been dealing with for years.
#37
Whitney Houston. Her only daughter died the same way just a few years later.
#38
Aaliyah.
LukewarmSoymilk 10 months ago
Ugh, another one that upsets me because it was entirely preventable. The pilot had warned everyone the plane was overloaded, and Aaliyah hadn't wanted to board the plane in the first place. She was given an "unindentified pill" for her headache - IIRC it was a benzodiazepine - which knocked her out, so they could take off. If she hadn't trusted that person who gave her the pill, she might be alive today.
#39
Layne Staley. Just because it was a couple weeks before he was found and he had another rig in his hand ready to go. His remains weighed less than 100 lbs as well. Sad.
#41
John Lennon was murdered in front of his wife, with his five year old son in the apartment just upstairs. It was just before Christmas, he was about to release a comeback album, and his aunt who raised him found out about it on the news the next morning in England.
#42
Heather O'Rourke is pretty f*****g tragic. Iconic in the Poltergeist films and dies at like age 10 or 12. .
#45
Jayne Mansfield.
There is a reason trucks have that bar at the bottom of the rear, now.
Anton Yelchin, his death sparked a Jeep recall.
The Shark 10 months ago (edited)
I saw photos of Jayne Mansfield's accident on the Frontline doc, America's Dangerous Trucks. Can't help but look across where my head lines up to the underside of a tractor trailer in a sedan... The fatality rate for underride accidents is INSANE, but the Trucking industry's fierce lobbying against regulations for quality standards for "that bar" and requirements for underride guards along the sides of trailers is even worse. Most existing guards fail in a collision under 30mph. Your car goes underneath, and you literally take the back of a semi to the face. Give trucks their space on the road and don't pass on the right... Accidents happen.
#46
Roberto Clemente. Died in a plane crash taking aid supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake.
#47
Anna Nicole Smith always seemed like such a waste to me. She seemed like such a lost soul. Her end always struck me as terribly tragic with her son dying shortly afterwards and both of them leaving behind her baby… celebrity or not this was just such a sad story.
Sarah Suelzle 10 months ago
I agree although I never thought she was a "waste" just lonely and sad. Her son died before her, right in front of her 3 days after her daughter was born. I always felt like she died of a broken heart.....💔❤❤❤
#49
Avicii.
#51
Buddy Holly.
Der Kommissar 10 months ago
Buddy's name comes up a lot. Richie Valens and Big Bopper, not so much. They were also on that plane.
#53
Cameron Boyce.
MaryHadaLittleLamb 10 months ago
This one wrecked me. My daughter loved the show "Jessie," and he was so fun on that. He was taken way too young.
#55
Gotta be Kobe because of everyone else including his daugjter.
What do you think ?
The Doom Song 10 months ago
Chester Bennington for me. I think his death was actually the first celebrity I cried over. RIP Chester
Kendall 10 months ago
Yes! I kept scrolling through these waiting to see his name. One More Light kills me now.
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James016 10 months ago
That one hit hard. I still watch what I think are his best bits on YouTube. Carrot in the box, R****m of the Year...
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The Doom Song 10 months ago
Chester Bennington for me. I think his death was actually the first celebrity I cried over. RIP Chester
Kendall 10 months ago
Yes! I kept scrolling through these waiting to see his name. One More Light kills me now.
Load More Replies... James016 10 months ago
That one hit hard. I still watch what I think are his best bits on YouTube. Carrot in the box, R****m of the Year...
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