Poll: Which Celebrity Death Affected You The Most This Year?

[Wintermute_v1legacy]

I can't think of a single celebrity death that's ever affected me. But that Anton Yelchin guy was the one that stood out for me because it was just random. I was watching a movie and my brother goes "that guy died" and I just had to google it because I was pretty sure my brother was full of shit. Then I just figured it must have been drugs or something, but nope, he was killed like he was in a Final Destination movie.

 

[Sonmi]

Cohen would be it, but since he's not there, I have to go with Wilder.

Grew up with him being Willy Wonka, and later in life he became one of my favourite comedic actors. His collaborations with Mel Brooks remain some of my most watched movies, I watch them with the family pretty much every holiday.

 

[Gordon_4_v1legacy]

I wouldn't say any of them 'affected' me, though most of them are sad because it's the end of something we've always had around us. Some of them, like Ron Glass and Alan Rickman also seemed like they had more than a few good years left in them yet so their sudden loss seems the more jarring.

That said I'd like to give a quick shoutout to a couple of lesser known but no less sad passings.

Jerry Doyle (Michael Garibaldi, Babylon 5) and Andrew Sachs (Manuel, Fawlty Towers). Again they were hardly stabs to the heart: I (sadly) didn't know them personally. That said they were artists; as long as I can still watch an episode of B5 and Fawlty Towers, or listen to Life on Mars or Golden Years then these people will remain part of our cultural spirit for many more years. Gone perhaps, but never forgotten.

 

[Bobular]

Was going to say Terry Pratchett, but when he wasn't on the list I looked it up and that was last year, seems a lot more recent to me than that.

So I guess out of the ones that actually did die this year I would have to say Alan Rickman, don't think I've seen a bad movie with him in it and he's in a lot my favorites.

If you look at my phones texts that were sent out to my whole family, it consists entirely of[footnote]Not in these exact words[/footnote]:

Winters coming[footnote]I was cold & board that November[/footnote]
Spock died
Pratchett died
Bowie died
Alan Rickman died
Then an offer from Pizza Hut I forwarded to everyone[footnote]I was trying my un-subtlest to hint that I wanted pizza[/footnote]

So these are all clearly some of the most important events in my life since I got this phone.

 

[happyninja42]

Ron Glass for me. The others listed were all sort of "eh" for me personally. Love Alan Rickman, but he doesn't hold a deep place in my heart like he does for other people.

 

[Evonisia]

Bowie for me. Not that I was the biggest Bowie fanatic in the world or anything, but his death genuinely saddened me at the time and, of all these listed, his death is the one that continues to sadden me whenever I think about it. Not to mention that the combination of "Blackstar" and his cause of death being cancer probably contributed to a lot of that initial feeling.

 

[McElroy]

George Kennedy, as he is in a couple of movies I actually re-watch from time to time (The Naked Gun Trilogy).

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Not really a "celebrity" as much as a public figure who did a lot of good work; Jo Cox. Was shot by a neo-nazi fanatic earlier this year. I think that was on a Robin Williams level of loss, personally speaking. In the sense of being a positive influence within society. Not sure what else to add.
Edit: Oh, shit, didn't notice it was a poll. I...guess somewhere between Bowie, Cohen, Anton, Rickman and Gene. Can't decide.

 

[RaikuFA]

Lemmy Kilmeister. I know hes not on the list but fuck it.

2016 has been shit.

Edit: he died in 2015 but it was on the 28th so it counts-ish. But ill choose Bowie. 2016 is still shit.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I admired Cohen the most, although he lived as full a life as anyone could ask for.

Yelchin was rattling because he was so young and it was so stupid and random. A grim reminder of our own mortality, and how quickly it can all be over.

 

[sageoftruth]

Wow. All those people died this year? I'd say this post affected me more than any of their actual deaths.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Bowie without a doubt if one has to be chosen above the others. Always loved his music.

Alan Rickman deserves a mention due to his impact on screen, my chosen career. I always enjoyed his performances and will miss him for that.

 

[MrCalavera_v1legacy]

I was saddened by Bowie's death the most, because i only have really started getting into his music like year before he died.

Lemmy Kilmeister. I know hes not on the list but fuck it.

It does feel to me like it all started with Lemmy kicking the bucket.
Christmas have ended. Lemmy died. Then 2016 came.

 

[JohnnyDelRay]

For me it was Ali, because I always feel that for people to put their heart and soul into something that will ultimately ruin you, means so much. Repeated head trauma can only spell a bad end for your career - you can have all the millions, fame, recognition as "the greatest", but in the end you're just a walking vegetable. Biggest respect, and hardest loss for him and all who loved him.

Bowie was huge, but felt distant. I never "got" his music, but respected what he contributed to the genres he played to and inspired. For me, Prince was much more significant because I recognized his talent easier, maybe it was just more on my level. The tributes to Prince and his style of soloing were quite beautiful.

Yelchin though, holy shit. So young, so much going for him, and so freakish an accident, just made me realize how fragile life is, and you can never let your guard down.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

http://www.syracuse.com/celebrity-news/index.ssf/2016/01/celebrity_deaths_in_2016_famous_photos.html

Huh...quite a few I'd forgotten.

...Chyna died this year?! I thought she passed away years ago but given her affiliation with the WWE, especially her being popular when I knew it as the WWF, I had assumed that she had died long ago. Like the Ultimate Warrior, Piper, Hart, Guerrero...

Anyway, there wasn't a death this year that affected me like Iwata's death last year. Gene Wilder and Alan Rickman were pretty bad but with Wilder, he had been retired for a while. Rickman is an actor who I always liked in general though. I remember him as being one of the best parts of the Hitchhiker's Guide film adaptation and as Metatron in Dogma. He's going to live on every December though since Die Hard is an X-Mas movie...and I guess that Harry Potter franchise might help preserve his memory too maybe, I dunno.

...I just double-checked his wiki and I didn't realize this at the time but Iwata died about 2 weeks after my Dad did! Oh 2015...you...you were definitely a year that didn't involve a Gorilla death...oh right, 2015 was the year of Cecil the Lion...Can we put Miyamoto in a death-proof bubble for the next 3 weeks please?

 

[Frankster]

Harambe.

Not even being facetious.

Now these are the kind of questions that keep me up at night.

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Not on your list but the combination of Keith Emerson dying at the start of the year and Greg Lake dying recently is probably what makes me saddest since I'm a big Emerson, Lake and Palmer fan.

 

[BoogieManFL]

I really liked Alan Rickman, but Anton Yelchin's death affected me more just because of how sudden it was, and how young he was. That and the way he died.. I hope it was quick.

 

[evilcorgi]

I honestly think Bowie's death was pretty well timed.

Like, I'm sad he's gone, sure. But he'd created lots of stuff, lived a full and eventful life, and he even went out with an album the topic of which *was his own death*. One of the most fitting, climactic and suitable artist deaths I've ever seen.

 

[Remus]

Alan Thicke. I grew up watching Growing Pains and a host of other cheery sitcoms so this one surprised me the most. Heart attack while playing hockey with his son. I couldn't imagine the devastation this caused his family.