2016 Obituaries

While I might think it's a shame and a loss too, I don't really mourn when celebrities pass. I didn't know them personally or anything. Regular people die every day, and that includes babies and toddlers, and there is no hoopla made over that. I suppose it's the fact that celebrities probably touch more lives than average people, more people knew of them, etc.

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David Bowie's death and the death of Scott Weiland were probably the most surprising for me. I liked both of them.

 

ChrisL wrote: I don't really mourn when celebrities pass...

It's the loss of their creativity and talent that we mourn...

... it reminds us of the gift given them that we shall no longer see.

No more Princess Leah...

Carrie Fisher, Star Wars actress, dies aged 60
Tue, 27 Dec 2016 - Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher dies aged 60, days after suffering a cardiac arrest on a flight.

 

I don't mourn for a person that I didn't know personally. Just the way I am, I suppose.

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I've only seen one movie that Carrie Fisher was in, Star Wars, so I probably won't miss her much, TBH.

 

Please go to the link and see the picture! See how may you can pick out. I could pick out a lot of them but some I don't recognize. Apparently some are British celebrities that wouldn't be familiar to many Americans. It's supposed to have Zsa Zsa Gabor but I'm not seeing her. I'm also not seeing Patty Duke. Can you find them? Is there anyone else who should be there that you're not seeing? I've also seen an updated version with R2-D2 displaying a hologram of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/sgt-pepper-2016-celebrity-deaths_us_58622d4de4b0de3a08f606d6

A Poignant ‘Sgt. Pepper’-Style Tribute To The Stars We’ve Lost in 2016
“This year really has got a wicked sense of humor.”
12/27/2016 06:15 am ET | Updated 12 hours ago
2.1k
Lee Moran
Trends Editor, The Huffington Post
The Beatles’ iconic “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album cover has inspired a tribute to all of the celebrities who died in 2016.

George Michael, Prince, David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Gene Wilder, Robert Vaughn, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Leonard Cohen were among the dozens of famous faces featured in Chris Barker’s poignant creation. There are also references to major world events, such as Donald Trump’s presidential election win and Britain’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union:
christhebarker [MENTION=1996]chris[/MENTION]thebarker
This is too much now. #ripgeorgemicheal #LastChristmas #sgtpepper2016 #sgtpepper2016 massive thanks to [MENTION=3449]Carl[/MENTION]_Price
5:47 PM - 25 Dec 2016
1,702 1,702 Retweets 1,719 1,719 likes
Inspired by the tumultuous year, the British artist wrote on his Tumblr that “a lot of people speculate that Bowie was actually the glue that was holding the universe together. It’s certainly been a bit different since he tragically passed away.”

Barker posted the first version of the image online in November. But he felt compelled to update it every time a new star died, which turned his labor of love into something akin to “a full-time job,” he said. Barker even outsourced the task to a friend when he was without his laptop over the holidays.

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christhebarker [MENTION=1996]chris[/MENTION]thebarker
Right. Has anyone famous died or can I go to bed? #dontmentionthewhippet
4:27 PM - 12 Nov 2016
3 3 Retweets 5 5 likes
“This year really has got a wicked sense of humor,” Barker told The Huffington Post on Tuesday. “Just when you think it can’t shock you any more it manages to pull something else out of the bag. I dread to think what’s next frankly but for those who are asking what I have planned for next year? I don’t know. Not this, that’s for sure.”

Despite hundreds of thousands of people sharing Barker’s images, which he admitted erroneously featured Motorhead frontman Ian “Lemmy” Kilmister (who died near the end of 2015), he hasn’t actually made a dime from his work.

“As a photographer pointed out to me, it would kind of be unethical to profit from something that makes use of so many peoples’ intellectual property so that’s why I am asking people to donate to charity,” Barker told HuffPost.

He suggested the memorial fund for Jo Cox, the British member of parliament who was assassinated by a man with white-supremacist ties before the Brexit vote. But “any charity will do,” Barker added, “apart from the Trump Foundation. That’s not even a charity in my opinion.”

Related Coverage

 

Funny title... and the image of a hammered princess. LOL! That's good.

 

More on background on Debbie Reynolds, read the whole thing at the link:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-me-debbie-reynolds-20161228-story.html

Debbie Reynolds, who sang and danced to fame in ‘Singin’ in the Rain,’ dies at 84
Debbie Reynolds: Career in photos
Valerie J. Nelson
Debbie Reynolds’ life was the stuff of movie legend, from her start as an ingenue playing opposite Gene Kelly in the classic 1952 musical “Singin’ in the Rain,” to her part in one of Hollywood’s most notorious scandals.

And her death Wednesday at the age of 84 had the kind of tragic story line Hollywood made famous, coming only one day after her daughter, Carrie Fisher, died at the age of 60.

Reynolds’ son, Todd, told media outlets that his mother was under stress over the death of her daughter and suffered a stroke at her home at about noon. Reynolds told him she missed her daughter and wanted to be with her.

On Tuesday, Reynolds had posted a statement on Facebook about the outpouring of grief about her daughter’s unexpected death. Fisher, a well-known actress and author in her own right, died four days after suffering a cardiac incident on a flight from London back to Los Angeles.

"Thank you to everyone who has embraced the gifts and talents of my beloved and amazing daughter," she wrote. “I am grateful for your thoughts and prayers that are now guiding her to her next stop. Love Carries Mother.”

Reynolds’ singing and dancing in “Singin’ in the Rain” and other musicals and frothy entertainment turned her into America’s Sweetheart and a potent box office star for years. She became famous near the end of the Golden Age of Hollywood and was a link to the great studio era.

And like the stalwart heroines she played, Reynolds never quit. She continued performing for the rest of her life on screen and stage, including a one-woman revue highlighting her remarkable life on screen and off. She was also a major collector of Hollywood memorabilia.

Debbie Reynolds: Actress had a remarkable life on screen and off
Debbie Reynolds: Actress had a remarkable life on screen and off
From 1950 to 1967, she appeared in more than 30 movie musicals and light comedies, receiving her lone Oscar nomination for playing the title character in 1964’s “The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” Many critics considered it her most memorable early role, and it was a favorite — Reynolds related to a woman with tremendous zest for life.

Off-screen, she starred in the real-life role of the wronged woman in a love triangle that many in the late 1950s considered at the time the Hollywood scandal of the century. Her first husband, pop singer Eddie Fisher, left Reynolds — perceived by moviegoers as the girl next door — for sultry actress Elizabeth Taylor.

Standing alone in her front yard in 1958, the abandoned Reynolds met the press. Fastened to her blouse was a diaper pin, a reminder of the couple's two young children inside. The “nuclear-like split,” as a Times article from that era described it, proved disastrous to Fisher's career.

The outpouring of public sympathy for Reynolds only served to increase her fame — the comedy “The Mating Game” that she co-starred in with Tony Randall was one of four movies she appeared in the next year.

But as the lighthearted films she was known for went out of style in the late 1960s in favor of message movies, Reynolds turned to the stage. She earned a Tony Award nomination for playing the title role in a Broadway revival of “Irene” in the early 1970s, then gave birth in Las Vegas to the nightclub act that she would perform for decades.

Stars on social media react to death of Debbie Reynolds so soon after Carrie Fisher's passing
Stars on social media react to death of Debbie Reynolds so soon after Carrie Fisher's passing
In 1996, she returned to the big screen for her first major part in years, playing the title role in the well-reviewed Albert Brooks comedy “Mother.” The role allowed her “to bare a steely edge beneath her famously perky exterior,” People magazine said in 1997. It also earned her some of the best reviews of her career.

She was just 18 when she was cast in “Singin’ in the Rain” despite her lack of experience as a dancer. Decades later, Reynolds said she could still recall the pain from three months of dance rehearsals that made her feet bleed.

“ ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ and childbirth were the hardest things I ever had to do in my life,” Reynolds wrote in her 1988 autobiography “Debbie.”

The movie about Hollywood’s transition to talkies was a box-office hit, and her portrayal of an up-and-coming spunky actress turned Reynolds into a star. It is widely considered one of the greatest movie musicals.

One of the keys to “Singin’ in the Rain’s” success was its “tremendous amount of energy,” dancer Donald O'Connor, who also starred in the film, told NBC in 2002. “Everybody liked each other” and Reynolds came off “as a great trouper” in the film, he said.

 

I'm still not seeing Zsa Zsa or Patty Duke:

http://www.seattletimes.com/enterta...o-celebrity-deaths-of-2016-runs-out-of-space/

‘Sgt. Pepper’s’-style homage to celebrity deaths of 2016 runs out of space
Originally published December 29, 2016 at 6:48 am Updated December 29, 2016 at 12:54 pm

British art director Chris Barker put together this visual memorial to celebrities who died in 2016 using the memorable “Sgt. Pepper’s” album cover. He started in November with around 40 celebrities. It’s now at 82, with Debbie Reynolds... (Chris Barker) More


Here is the story behind that viral “Sgt. Pepper’s”-inspired collage featuring 82 personalities who died in 2016. Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, were the latest addition.

By Erik Lacitis
Seattle Times staff reporter
You might have run across the viral image that uses the unforgettable “Sgt. Pepper’s” album cover, but replaces the images on it with celebrities who died in 2016.

David Bowie. John Glenn. Fidel Castro. Leon Russell. Arnold Palmer. Leonard Cohen. Alan Rickman.


And just recently, George Michael and Carrie Fisher.

And then Debbie Reynolds, Carrie’s mother, who died Wednesday at 84. There are still a few days left in 2016, the Year of Loss.

christhebarker [MENTION=1996]chris[/MENTION]thebarker
#RIPDebbieReynolds Terrible sad news. I have had enough of this year now. #sgtpepper2016
1:05 AM - 29 Dec 2016
701 701 Retweets 727 727 likes
The Twitter account for London art director Chris Barker, who created the collage, now has that image at 4.2 million impressions. Add to that tens of thousands of reposts on the internet.

“I had no idea millions of people were going to engage with it,” he says in an interview carried over his Twitter account. “I thought, tops, a couple of hundred people would like it and then it’d disappear.”

Not quite.

Barker first posted the image Nov. 9. He says he just wanted to use graphics to sum up the tumultuous year, not only with personalities but such events as Brexit, important to where he lived.

He first considered having David Bowie at the center and everything else orbiting around it.

“A lot of people speculate that Bowie was actually the glue that was holding the universe together. It’s certainly been a bit different since he tragically passed away,” Barker wrote in an essay.

Then he found a full-length shot of Bowie, and to Barker it looked like an image that belonged on that Beatles’ 1967 album “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

Sure, it was “a bit of a designer cliché.” But a fantastic cliché. He completed the collage in three hours.

“At first I didn’t have enough people to fill,” says Barker. “The original album has 61 or so characters. I didn’t have that many so I was actually scrambling around for ‘extra dead people,’ would you believe! So I decided to enlarge all their heads a bit and there would be around 40 on the original.”

But since Nov. 9, personality after personality has died.

He’s now got 82 people on the collage. “I’ve totally run out of space,” says Barker.

After adding Carrie Fisher, he tweeted, “I’m really sorry everyone. This is so sad. I feel awful. #RIPCarrieFisher #sgtpepper2016 May the force be with 2017.”

 

Sorry I looked at that. Fair to assume he's and anglophile homosexual?

 

And to close out bloody 2016, it's William Christopher of M*A*S*H fame, deceased 31 December 2016.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Christopher

William Christopher (October 20, 1932 – December 31, 2016) was an American actor known for playing Father Mulcahy on the television series M*A*S*H and Private Lester Hummel on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

This year, man. This year. Looking forward to the next, starting for me in just under four hours now!

 

The 'Dead or Alive' website lists people who've died-
http://www.deadoraliveinfo.com/

 

I'm not sure there's time or space to add William Christopher to the Sgt Pepper picture.

 

Well, here's to hoping that 2017 is kinder to our celebrities! *cheers*

 

Is there a new thread for 2017. Milt Schmidt and the former President of Portugal are the biggest so far.