Notable/Celebrity Deaths | Nobuyo Ōyama (90)

[Moonface]

Given that the new year has already seen 3 celebrity deaths (there's likely more, I just saw these three on the news a few days ago), and it feels like every year there's a few big name celebrities leaving this mortal coil, I was wondering what celebrity deaths people here have cared for, since I know everyone likely doesn't care for the majority of them as it comes down to whether you're a fan of that celebrity or something.

Chester Bennington was one I was shocked by due to it being so out of the blue due to suicide. The lead singer of Cranberries was another shocker too. I think the one that made me feel legitimately sad that comes to mind is Paul Walker, since he died while I was still an active fan of something he did and he was still actively making things I wanted to consume, and the tribute to him in Fast & Furious 7 was incredibly touching. I think the fact I had actively seen him with all of that cast throughout the years and then watching a movie knowing they had to finish it without him was what got to me, as the goodbye to the character in the movie felt more of a goodbye to the man from the cast members.

Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit (yes he did a shit thing but prior to that knowledge I still found his death sad and it's still a shit situation even knowing what he did) are my two earliest memories of big names dying and I felt bummed about both of those a lot, especially as they both happened very close to each other and WWE knows how to put on a tribute show to their talent, especially the active ones you see on TV every week.

I've never really been bummed when a celebrity dies of old age though, mostly because at a certain age I start to have a slight expectation of that happening anyway. 70's is a little surprising still but anything above 80 is less so, and if they're dying above 90 then I don't really feel bad because it's not like they died young or from some bad scenario, they just simply lived their life to the end and went at a good age.

[Dragon Lord]

The only celebrity deaths that have saddened me at all were the deaths of Robin Williams and Chester Bennington. Robin Williams was probably the one that I was most sad about, considering how many of his movies I watched during my childhood, and how much I enjoyed him as an actor and a person. If there was ever a celebrity that I wish I could have known personally, it would have been him.

Other than that, I can't really say I've cared a whole lot about celebrity deaths. There were some others that I was like, "Oh man, that sucks." Like Heath Ledger and the guy who played Uncle Phil in the Fresh Prince (I unfortunately cannot remember his name right now), but the two I mentioned above where the only ones that I was legit sad about.

[queenzelda]

Celeb deaths of note to me: Robin Williams, Prince, George Michael, Penny Marshal, David Bowie, Gene Wilder, Florence Henderson, Carrie Fisher, Marry Tylor Moore, Erin Moran, & Aretha Franklin.

[Mr EliteL]

I don't usually get sad when hearing about celebrity deaths either. Although Michael Jackson, Robin Williams and Chester Bennington were the most shocking and saddest for me. Other notable ones to me would be Eddie Guerrero & Chris Benoit (when I was into WWE at the time), Heath Ledger, Alan Rickman, Carrie Fisher, Leslie Neilson, James Avery (although I don't think I heard the news of his until much later), Steve Irwin (I was getting into his shows, then boom), Bruce Forsyth (was one of those that were old enough and a matter of when, but still there was a sense of a big loss culture wise), Stan Lee (same, but more so as he was more active beforehand from the cameos), Barry Chuckle and Stefan Karl Stefansson.

[Moonface]

So I'm sure everyone has heard by now that Kobe Bryant and his daughter died yesterday in a helicopter crash. I don't care for basketball but this one sucked to hear about, more so when I found out the daughter who died was a rising basketball player herself.

[Dragon Lord]

It's definitely a tragic event. I never cared for Kobe the basketball player during his playing days, but can't deny the talent he had and had to respect him for that. 5 Championships is nothing to scoff at. The NBA lost a legend yesterday. He was one of those names that most people knew even if they didn't know a lick of Basketball. He put himself among the names of sports legends like Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth and Wayne Gretzky. It's a huge loss for both the sports world and the non-sports world.

The passing of his 13-year old daughter with him just makes this even more tragic. I can't imagine the pain he felt as a parent in those last moments knowing that his baby was about to die with him, and all he could do was hold her tight and try to make sure she knew she was loved in those last moments. At least I hope that he was in a position to where he could do just that.

It makes it more painful when you learn that he and his wife have a 7-month old baby that's never going to get to know her father. She'll only get to know him by watching his games and learning of his incredible Basketball career.

Like I said at the start of my post, I wasn't a fan of him as a basketball player, but I respected him for the amazing talent he was and the achievements he accomplished during his career, and also for all the good he did outside of Basketball with charity work and such. And looking back on it, I feel stupid for not liking him as a player. Yeah he was cocky, but the dude had the skills and the rings to be that way. He was a fierce competitor and he wasn't going to let what people thought of him change the way he played the game. After watching the Timberwolves teams of the last 12 years be absolute jokes, I could only hope for them to find their own Kobe to lead them to glory.

[ShiraNoMai]

Same sentiments as DL there. Just a big ol' shame all around. I feel like no celebrity should ever use helicopters. They're known death traps. Especially when they really shouldn't be flying.

That's probably the most notable death for me, personally, since the passing of Etika last year. The musicians passing away more recently (within the past year) has been one of those "that's a shame, but they're old" type feelings, but it gets passed around the office pretty heavily since I work in the music industry.

[Dragon Lord]

I definitely think this is the biggest death of a Sports icon that I can remember in my lifetime. There's been deaths of a lot of younger athletes who were still at the start of their careers, but I can't remember seeing news of a Sports legend like Kobe dying in a tragic accident like this. As you said, a lot of them were older and died of natural causes (though some were due to cancer in their later years as well).

The last one I can really think of off the top of my head was Roberto Clemente, a Baseball player for the Pittsburgh Pirates who died at the age of 38 in 1972 when the plane he was riding to go to Nicaragua to help in the aid efforts after a terrible earthquake that year crashed.

[Moonface]

One thing I read about yesterday was that Kobe and his wife agreed to never fly together in the event something like this actually happened, so that way their kids would have at least one parent. Probably a good idea since I think a majority of another family was together on this same flight and I think maybe one of the kids wasn't present for it, although I'm basing this off what I think I remember.

[Mr EliteL]

What happened to Kobe and his daughter plus those who were also on the helicopter is a tragedy. Any deaths that involves transport/vehicles losing control really are one of the worst ways to go, or caused by poor weather conditions.

I remember finding out about Etika's death pretty late last year, only by seeing ZeRo using the tag "4Etika" as he played Smash Ultimate on Twitch. Really sucks how he went.

[Moonface]

It isn't a death yet, but I wouldn't be shocked for Ozzy Osbourne to be out the door by the end of this year or the next since he was diagnosed with parkinson's.

[queenzelda]

It isn't a death yet, but I wouldn't be shocked for Ozzy Osbourne to be out the door by the end of this year or the next since he was diagnosed with parkinson's.

Why? MJ Fox has had parkinson's for years now & he's still alive. 

[Moonface]

Ozzy has poured a lot of stuff into his body over the years that has already taken a toll on his health, and I expect Parkinson's would just exacerbate that. MJ Fox is probably very healthy in comparison to the man.

[Moonface]

So I know most people here probably don't know who this guy is, but I just found out Howard Finkel has passed away. For context, he was pretty much the ring announcer for WWE and probably one of the best ring announcers of all time in any business. He was only 69 too.

[Mr EliteL]

That's a notable death, didn't quite make it to 70, which is a shame. I forgot Finkle was the first employee of WWF/E. Do agree he was the best at being a ring announcer. Especially enjoyed when he announced the start of a Royal Rumble, or a new champion.