I am not talking about those who died in childhood or of drug overdoses or suicides in their twenties or thirties. But rather people who had an impact at a distance on your life and died too young from your perspective. Three women I most revered growing up all seemed to disappear too early: Lee Remick, Elizabeth Montgomery and Audrey Hepburn all died before the age of 65 and all died in the early nineties from similar cancers.
I most remember Lee Remick's back in Anatomy of a Murder, Elizabeth Montgomery's nose in Bewitched and Audrey Heprburn's neck in Charade. And in many other films, of course. All three were charming at any rate.
Who died too early for you?
Those are all memorable people who left too soon, patti. For me, I've always been a little haunted by Bruce Lee (32 at the time) and his son Brandon Lee (28, by way a stupid prop accident on a movie set).
ReplyDeletePatti - Oh, those women really were powerful influences, weren't they? I can think of a few people who died far too young, actually. Reggie White (first of the Phil. Eagles and then Green Bay) died at 44. Walter Payton of the Bears was only 45. I was haunted by both of those losses. I was, too, by the death of Barbara Jordan, who was only 59 when she died.
ReplyDeleteJoey Ramone. I was depressed for a week afterwards. When Johnny Cash died, it was sad but we all saw it coming... Joey Ramone, though, was a bit of a shock to me.
ReplyDeleteYes, those Lees, for sure. They seemed cursed. Walter Payton- I saw him beat the Lions so many times.
ReplyDeleteJoey Ramone, reminds me I want to see that doc. about them.
I remember Elisabeth Montgomery the best of these three. Really enjoyed her stuff back in the day.
ReplyDeleteDo you remember here playing Lizzie Borden? She was great.
ReplyDeleteBuddy Holly.
ReplyDeleteTHE DAY THE MUSIC DIED. What a loss.
ReplyDeleteJohn Lennon.
ReplyDeleteOf course.
ReplyDeleteJames Dean. I still remember the day I learned the news walking home from Junior High, simply could NOT believe it. I socked a kid in the jaw who was trying to make me believe it.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter made a pilgrimage to his hometown so even a generation later, he had appeal.
ReplyDeleteThat's easy. For me the one that jumps out first is John Lennon. Not sure why it affected me so much but at the time it really hit me hard. Partly it was because of who he was of course, but partly it was that he chose to live in New York and could be seen walking the streets like any of us.
ReplyDeleteJames Dean and Buddy Holly were really before my time.
Jeff M.
Peter Cook. George Harrison. Angela Carter. Joey Ramone. Judy Holiday.
ReplyDeleteWell, I didn't know about Judy Holiday at the time she died, but I was so deflated to find out how young she had died when I finally discovered her.
ReplyDeleteKeith Moon was really the first really important person-I-didn't-actually-know who died. My mom told me. Well, what she yelled to me down the stairs to the basement was, "One of those guys in that band of yours died." May the gods forgive me: I said to myself, "Let it be Roger." Hence his longevity.
Joe Strummer, Walker Percy, and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Oh, and Groucho Marx. God damn, I wanted Groucho to live forever.
ReplyDeleteStieg Larsson. Imagine, having sold three bestsellers only to die before he experiences one bit of the success.
ReplyDeleteI would even add Dudley Moore-tragic that people believed him to have a substance abuse problem.
ReplyDeleteJudy Holiday was a bolt from the blue. Adored Walker Percy: Lancelot.
Larsson is the most recent reminder.
Extinguishing genius is always tragic.
ReplyDeleteThey were all wonderful actresses. I miss them all and think about them frequently.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost--John Lennon. Sometimes I still find myself stunned to realize that he was only 40 years old when he died.
ReplyDeleteThe writer Laurie Colwin (who wrote two wonderful books about life and food called HOME COOKING and MORE HOME COOKING, among other things) was in her late forties when she died of a heart attack. Like Angela Carter, she was a writer I only discovered after she died--but the loss still stings.
They had virtues actresses today find it hard to come by.
ReplyDeleteLove Laurie Colwin. So sad after reading Happy All the Time, esp. The cookbooks are fun too. Too young.
Judy Garland was only 47 when she died and Marilyn Monroe was only 36. Both were huge losses to the world of entertainment upon which this inquiry appears to focus. Otherwise, there were JFK, RFK and MLK.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes, James Dean. I was running around LA then, getting nowhere fast, taking acting lessons from Batami Schneider. We always headed for a nearby place called the Villa Capri after the class, which is where James Dean hung out with his girlfriend Vampira. I can't say I knew him, but he would often stop and talk with us now and then. He was making Giant, and then suddenly he crashed his Porsche and was gone, leaving a very big hole.
ReplyDeleteSteve McQueen...Heath Ledger...
ReplyDeleteOh, Heath Ledger, of course. That was one of those bolts out of the blue that was almost physical. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is one of my all time favorite films and I felt as if not only Ledger had died, but Ennis Del Mar as well. I still shake my head over that one. Such a freakin' waste.
ReplyDeleteLaurie Colwin. Yes, I'd read two of her books and was looking forward to more. Judy Holiday - yup - BIG surprise. On the day Marilyn Monroe died, I was on some kind of camping thing with my dad and some friends. I have a photo of us so every time I look at it, I think of Monroe.
Wow. What's amazing is I Tweeted the same three women you have pictured here on Christa Faust's Twitter page. I also added Natalie Wood.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Montgomery Lizzie Borden. She played a wicked nurse in a movie with Kirk Douglas that also showed her talent.
Yes, Laurie Colwin. Just awful.
ReplyDeleteJohn Ritter - partly because he was born the same day and year as Jackie.
John Belushi. John Candy. River Phoenix. Heath Ledger.
Jeff M.
Sharon Tate.
ReplyDeleteBatami Schneider--what a great name. These are such sad memories.
John Ritter-I think I likes him most as the minister on THE WALTONs. He got it exactly right and he was a kid then.
Ted Bessell, Carole Lombard.
First and foremost, John Lennon, with George Harrison close behind. Janis Joplin. Mama Cass Eliot. Rick Nelson. Sam Cooke. Jackie Wilson. Mickey Mantle. Susan Strasberg. Nick Adams. Hugh Beaumont. I also agree with most of the people mentioned by everyone ahead of me.
ReplyDeleteCan't believe I forgot Sam Cooke, Bob. Also Otis Redding.
ReplyDeleteJeff M.
Jeff & Cap'n Bob's comments remind me of another singer who died in a plane crash way before her time: Patsy Cline.
ReplyDeleteI was just going to say that, Deb!
ReplyDeleteJim Croce
Richard Pryor
Gregory Hines
Cleavon Little
Jeff M.
Jim Henson.
ReplyDeleteJim Hutton.
ReplyDeleteJeff M.
Marvin Gaye.
ReplyDeleteAll of these comments remind me of the night Heath Ledger died. My husband and I were watching TV and one of Wilfred Brimley's diabetes supply commercials came on. My husband turned to me and said, "Who would have thought Wilfred Brimley would outlive Heath Ledger?"
ReplyDeletePatricia,
ReplyDeleteBatami and Benno Schneider were Russian refugees from Stalinist pogroms, students of Constantin Stanislavsky,and later involved in Method acting. Benno was the drama coach at Columbia Studios, and often sent his people to work with his wife. One of their proteges was Bob Francis, who died tragically in a plane crash after brilliantly performing in The Caine Mutiny. His ghost still haunted that little stage where we worked.
R
Thank you, Richard. I have always been interested in the various methods acting students are introduced to. More nuanced and deep performances seem to be a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteLee Remick was not only beautiful with that " something special", but a very talented actor. She had a great personality & she was a loving - bend - over - backwards type of Mother she loved her kids more than anything. And I am proud to say she was my Godmother & I knew her well. She made the world a nicer place.
ReplyDeleteHow lucky you are to have known her.
ReplyDelete