people you thought were still alive but aren't

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only about 6 months ago did i re-discover that Paula Yates was dead - shocking i know but i think it happened when i was finishing university and as ironic as it sounds, myself and many of my peers weren't really keeping up with the news - it just seemed to pass me by. i do remember hearing and reading about it at the time but i totally forgot soon after - bizarre

this happen to you with anyone famous or am i just clearly bordering on dementia?

stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 00:45 (twenty-three years ago)

keep forgetting Dudley Moore and Spike Milligan are dead too - the latter primarily because it became a joke of sorts that people were always surprised to see he was still alive when he turned up at various comedy awards in the late 90s :(

stevem (blueski), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 00:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I laughed out loud when I read in the NY Times Magazine obit issue about how Spike Milligan wanted his headstone to read "I told you I was ill."

Aaron W, Tuesday, 7 January 2003 04:32 (twenty-three years ago)

they also played Harry Secombe singing at his funeral, because Spike always dreaded that happening in the flesh if Secombe outlived him (or so I'm told)

robin carmody (robin carmody), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 04:34 (twenty-three years ago)

I think I forgot that Paula Yates died because it happened so soon after Michael Hutchence dies. Except now it turns out that it was three years.

Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 7 January 2003 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

nine years pass...

John Hughes.

huh.

dell (del), Sunday, 13 May 2012 01:24 (thirteen years ago)

He was the solution to a pre-movie trivia thing last week, like "This director's movies brought The Brat Pack to fame" / "He was born in Lansing, Michigan" / "He directed Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller" / "JOHN HUGHES" and I was like whaaa? He JUST DIED and this is his commemoration? It felt undignified for a second or something.

I always forget Liz Taylor is dead, and sometimes forget just how Long Ago people died (George Harrison seemed like he died last year but it was 11 years ago)

poxen, Sunday, 13 May 2012 04:01 (thirteen years ago)

Thinking this weekend how strange it is that Abe Vigoda outlived MCA.

pplains, Sunday, 13 May 2012 04:04 (thirteen years ago)

four years pass...

http://www.glidemagazine.com/video/15-years-ago-today-blues-legend-john-lee-hooker-died-88-watch-full-show-newport-jazz-fest-91/

I've never been a big blues guy, but I had a few John Lee Hooker albums in my teens. I'm pretty sure this is the first I've heard that he died.

how's life, Tuesday, 21 June 2016 18:07 (nine years ago)

The news came to me via Facebook Trending.

how's life, Tuesday, 21 June 2016 18:09 (nine years ago)

For some reason, I assumed Gene Autry was still alive, even though a quick Wiki check confirms that not only did he die in 1998, but that he would be turning 109 this year if he were still around.

rhymes with "blondie blast" (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 21 June 2016 18:54 (nine years ago)

I'm irrationally worried that Olivia de Haviland won't make it to her 100th on July 1

SPACE IS FAKE make no mistake! (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 21 June 2016 19:02 (nine years ago)

Gene Autry, Okla., is still there though.

pplains, Tuesday, 21 June 2016 21:40 (nine years ago)

one year passes...

David Hemmings. And he died in 2003!

Video reach stereo bog (Tom D.), Sunday, 4 February 2018 10:38 (eight years ago)

i didn't realise that, assumed he was still out there somewhere looking silly

drugs don't kill people, poppers do (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 4 February 2018 11:17 (eight years ago)

two years pass...

Robert Walker Jr., I was just watching him in the extremely entertaining Star Trek episode, "Charlie X", who died in December 2019.

Bridge Over Thorley Waters (Tom D.), Monday, 30 March 2020 10:09 (five years ago)

It seems weird that Terry Wogan is dead. I wasn't a fan or anything, he just seems like somebody who should still be around for some reason.

Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 30 March 2020 10:36 (five years ago)

one month passes...

Joan Rivers.

Is Lou Reed a Good Singer? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 20 May 2020 14:59 (five years ago)

It seems weird that Terry Wogan is dead. I wasn't a fan or anything, he just seems like somebody who should still be around for some reason.

― Wuhan!! Got You All in Check (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Monday, 30 March 2020 11:36 (one month ago) bookmarkflaglink

I'm sure I noticed at the time but this feels like news.

BRAVE THE AFRIAD (onimo), Tuesday, 26 May 2020 11:51 (five years ago)

Tom Clancy. I learned yesterday that he died in 2013.

Tuomas, Wednesday, 3 June 2020 06:45 (five years ago)

one year passes...

Nora Ephron for some reason

A Pile of Ants (Boring, Maryland), Saturday, 18 December 2021 18:16 (four years ago)

four months pass...

Robert Palmer. And he died years ago too.

Was Hitler a Hobbit? (Tom D.), Wednesday, 4 May 2022 11:55 (three years ago)

It was before social media, but I found it odd at the time how little attention his death received, especially considering he wasn't that old.

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 4 May 2022 16:07 (three years ago)

two years pass...

I was checking up what age French electroacoustic composer, Francis Dhomont, was now when I discovered he died on the 28th December 2023 :( Admittedly he was 97 but why did no-one tell me?

Blood On Santa's Claw (Tom D.), Sunday, 23 June 2024 10:58 (one year ago)

Every time Jeff Bezos pops up in the news, talking about his spaceship, I do a mild mental double-take, because it reminds me that Paul Allen - Microsoft co-founder and also spaceship enthusiast, but a completely different person - died way back in 2018.

Every fibre of my being wants to follow that sentence up with an American Psycho reference. "I could have sworn I saw Paul Allen at Dorsia's last weekend". But that would be naff.

Paul Allen was one of a clutch of shirt-but-no-tie wearing businesspeople that were in Wired magazine a lot at the turn of the millennium, along with Jeff Hawkins and Jon Rubinstein. I learned from that magazine that wearing a shirt with no tie was a symbol of power.

Ashley Pomeroy, Sunday, 23 June 2024 15:13 (one year ago)

eleven months pass...

Suddenly wondered if Eugene Landy was still alive. He's not, he died in 2006

Elvis Telecom, Wednesday, 18 June 2025 11:17 (seven months ago)

He's still taking patients though

Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, 18 June 2025 12:03 (seven months ago)

None of these people are actually dead

God only knows what I'd be without me (flamboyant goon tie included), Wednesday, 18 June 2025 12:17 (seven months ago)

seven months pass...

Christian!

"Wan o' th' immortals. Of course he's deid noo".

https://www.scotsman.com/news/people/obituaries-christian-singer-who-enjoyed-60-year-career-as-entertainer-and-panto-star-4625855

The Olde, Old, Very Olde Man. (Tom D.), Monday, 2 February 2026 20:53 (five days ago)

nelson mandela

nulloplasty, Friday, 6 February 2026 18:50 (yesterday)


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