Celebrity deaths of 2009

[The Straight Story]

Celebrity deaths of 2009 including Brittany Murphy & Michael Jackson: More than usual? (video)

The number of celebrities who have died in 2009 seems to be more than usual, but that may not be true. Brittany Murphy is the latest, but Michael Jackson was the most shocking.

Among those who passed: Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Billy Mays, Natasha Richardson, Bea Arthur, Adam "DJ AM" Goldstein, Dom DeLuise, Karl Malden, David Carradine, Patrick Swayze, Mary Travers of “Peter Paul & Mary,” John Hughes, Ed McMahon, Walter Cronkite and Don Hewitt. Also on the list were authors John Updike, Frank McCourt and Dominick Dunne.

In sports, NFL players Steve McNair and Chris Henry died along with basketball coach Chuck Daly. Politics saw the death of Sen. Edward Kennedy and former U.S. Housing Secretary Jack Kemp.

The real question is “were there more celebrity deaths in 2009 or are we just more aware because of social networking tools like Twitter and the Internet in general? Adam Bernstein, editor for The Washington Post's obituary section, believes that it’s because of our hightened awareness of world events. He said he believes the perception of the mass mortality of stars is driven by the overwhelming amount of attention paid to the deaths of even minor celebrities.

http://www.examiner.com/x-7311-Cultural-Trends-Examiner~y2009m12d22-Celebrity-deaths-of-2009-including-Brittany-Murphy--Michael-Jackson--More-than-usual--video

[Hawkeye-X]

1. Karl Malden also died this year.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_RnRejIPRpAY/Skzock2BXHI/AAAAAAAAFyY/P7PYI9vwkXU/s400/Karl+Malden.jpg

[beyurslf]

2. I think it has a lot to do with who died also. We had several shockers

and MJ was the biggest. It is not every year that a celebrity as famous as MJ dies. Everyone knows who he was. For instance, while everyone my age and older knew Farrah Fawcett, my boys (all teens) had no idea who she was. I didn't know who Brittny Murphy was. But we all knew MJ.

[cherokeeprogressive]

3. I think that in the "larger picture", celebrity itself isn't really that old. Fifty or sixty years

or so. Most of those we consider to be "celebrities" have only become so since the advent of TV. It's expected I think, that more and more people will die whose deaths will be considered worthy of noting.

[The Straight Story]

4. Good observation (nt)

[cherokeeprogressive]

6. Hey TSS... Off Topic: What's the status of your wife's search for her bio family?

If it's a sensitive topic, ignore it or PM me, but I caught your post the other day and every time I've seen a post from you since then I've been curious...

[Kaleva]

5. Mary Travers died? Dang, I'm getting old.