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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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#2
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.
#3
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 2 hours 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.
#4
Chadwick Bozeman.
tdrknt1:
Chadwick Bowsman that dude was dying and still visited sick folks in the hospital. He was a good man.
JessieJ&LilyLovebug 4 hours ago
Imagining who he could become is heartbreaking. Imagining him fighting largely alone is heartbreaking.
#5
Anthony Bourdain, Prince.
#6
Vic Morrow, on the set of Twilight Zone: The Movie.
He and two child actors were killed by a helicopter blade.
#9
Alan Rickman.
#11
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.
#14
Anton Yelchin. He was an only child, too.
#15
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.
#16
Judith Barsi. I loved her as Ducky. 😢.
#17
Marvin Gaye— getting murdered by your dad during an argument is definitely one for the books.
#18
Brittany Murphy.
#19
Natasha Richardson. She left behind her husband and her two children.
#20
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.
#21
John Ritter.
#22
Judith Barsi. She was only 10 when her alcoholic dad shot her and her mother and lit their bodies on fire before shooting himself. What makes this even more tragic is that Judith and her Mum had looked for help before. They've talked to neighbours, friends and family. At 9 years old Judith needed psychological attention because she was so scared of her dad, she started rupping out her hair and eyelashes. The father even told neighbours multiple times thst he was going to kill hos family. Nobody took that or Judith and her mum seriously. Their case was dismissed by CPS in May 1988 because they were understaffed. In June 1988 Judith turned 10. In July 1988 she was dead.
StrangeOne 4 hours ago
Really gets me riled when the people who can/should/could help make lousy excuses like, "We're too understaffed". These are people's lives on the line.
#24
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.
#26
Brandon lee.
#27
Whitney Houston. Her only daughter died the same way just a few years later.
#28
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.
#30
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.
#31
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.
#34
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.
#36
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.
#37
Roberto Clemente. Died in a plane crash taking aid supplies to Nicaragua after an earthquake.
#46
Heather O'Rourke is pretty f*****g tragic. Iconic in the Poltergeist films and dies at like age 10 or 12. .
#48
Sharon Tate :(.
#50
Judy Garland's entire life was one big tragedy.
#52
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.
What do you think ?
Seán Baron 5 hours ago
Victoria Wood for me. For non UK peeps, she was an extremely brilliant t female comedian who pretty much paved the way for female comedians here in the UK, she did stand up tours - in the 70s and 80s when women didn’t do such things. She wrote everything, did stand up, sketch shows, plays, drama, acting, wrote music, did a musical, a sitcom. She also holds the record for the most continuous amount of sold out nights at the Royal Albert Hall (16 nights). She had cancer and no one knew. There was definitely more to come from her and we’ll never see it.
Seán Baron 5 hours ago
Victoria Wood for me. For non UK peeps, she was an extremely brilliant t female comedian who pretty much paved the way for female comedians here in the UK, she did stand up tours - in the 70s and 80s when women didn’t do such things. She wrote everything, did stand up, sketch shows, plays, drama, acting, wrote music, did a musical, a sitcom. She also holds the record for the most continuous amount of sold out nights at the Royal Albert Hall (16 nights). She had cancer and no one knew. There was definitely more to come from her and we’ll never see it.
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