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Every week, msnbc.com entertainment producers Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, Denise Hazlick, Paige Newman, Kurt Schlosser and Anna Chan weigh in on topics ranging from TV commercials to movie hype to the latest celebrity blunder. We're not ashamed to admit our love for bad TV or reveal what's on our iPods, and invite you to join the conversation via your comments.



Better to burn out than fade away?

Posted: Wednesday, July 16, 2008 7:00 AM by Kurt Schlosser
Filed Under: , ,

You'd have to be dead to not know that this is a big week for a particular movie star who is no longer with us. Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker in the new Batman film is being hyped and hailed as Oscar worthy, and for the first time since "No Country For Old Men" I'll probably make a trip to the theater.


Warner Bros.

For me, Ledger falls into the category of celebrities who died too soon and are actually worth missing. His death from an accidental overdose of prescription pills in January was a shocker and my sympathy for those who were actually close to him is coupled with my own selfish regret that I'll no longer see him on screen. I felt the same way when River Phoenix died in 1993 -- again very talented, very young and again from a drug overdose.

In 1994, I was deeply saddened when Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain took his own life. Something about having the architect of your life's current soundtrack suddenly disappear will put a crimp in your turntable. I imagine many people felt the same way about Elvis or Jimi Hendrix or Janis Joplin or John Lennon or Jim Morrison or ...

Is it the shocking death that makes the star burn brighter for us? Plenty of huge stars live into old age and die with less media fanfare than Ledger. Leaving one final critically acclaimed performance on celluloid doesn't appear to hurt one's legacy. Yet how do we explain Anna Nicole Smith or the inevitable next star who burns out without leaving a body of work one would deem worthy of the coverage their death generates?

As we appreciate the work of the Joker this week and watch the box office dollars roll in for "The Dark Knight," take a moment to remember an actor or musician who impacted your life and was then gone, too soon. Are you still affected by what this person left behind when you see or hear it? Do you appreciate it for what it was then and leave it at that, or do you wish he was still alive today as whatever brand of entertainer time had turned him into?

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Comments

Stevie Ray Vaughn....taken too soon. To watch him play guitar was to watch poetry in motion. I miss him so much. I just keep hoping for new music....and alas there isn't any.

Cindy (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:47 PM)

Bill Hicks.  

Ben, Peoria, IL (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 12:50 PM)

John Lennon - I cried and cried.  We were robbed of so much and so was his family especially his children.  Also, George Harrison, gone way to soon, such a gentle soul who made beautiful music.

Mariann, New York, NY (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:04 PM)

While remembering Andy Gibb, don't forget Maurice Gibb either, lost because of medical incompetence.

cv (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:12 PM)

Harry Chapin and Jim Croce. Both great storytellers and both greatly missed. Jim Croce's album was the first one I ever bought (in 1973 at 9 years old) and I remember, when he died that September, being sad that he wouldn't be writing any more music. And nobody does it like Harry Chapin any more. I was in high school when he died, and I was crushed. I had the chance to meet him after a concert the year before, and he was so nice and so gracious that when he died it really did feel like the loss of a friend.

Carol, Los Angeles (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:13 PM)

Jim Henson!!  Died of complications from a strep throat!  Honestly, I believe that the world would be a better place if he were still alive.  You can't say that about too many people.

And I will second or third Brandon Lee and Jeff Buckley.

Lou (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:16 PM)

Jeff Healey wrote songs that really touched me. His amazing talent will be deeply missed!!!

Annie, Wenatchee, WA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:17 PM)

First of all, Heath will be missed.  Good actor, seemed like a nice guy, too. Looking at some of these lists, I have to say, if I was a musician with a hit, I'd take a bus or train everywhere.  No planes.  Then I'd take a boat for my European or Asian tours.

TimK (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:22 PM)

I still remember where I was when I heard Selena died (I'm from South Tx).  Also more recently, news of Tim Russert came as a big shock.  

anon, Brownsville, Tx (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:22 PM)

There have been many over the years including Elvis, Natalie Wood, Steve McQueen (by cancer), Princess Di, JFK Jr., but none moreso than Heath Ledger. I was upset for weeks after his death. I thought it was a particularly sad loss because he was so young and talented, and his death could have been avoided. All these individuals impacted my life, and I still miss them.

Sandy, Charleston, WV (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:22 PM)

I'm a bit surprised that no one has mentioned Andy Kaufman yet. A true comedic visionary.

Brian H., Studio City, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:24 PM)

I think anytime someone dies young, it has a bigger impact.  When my cousin died just before turning 8 of cancer, I know that hit my family worse and hurt more than any other death.  We're a big Irish family.  Funerals are usually a time of laughter and song remembering who we just lost.  At my cousin's funeral, it was VERY quiet, everyone in shock and sad and hurt.  Not much in the way of laughter that day.

I'll miss Cliff Burton (to hear what he could do on Bass, I just have to wonder what he'd be doing today), John Lennon (I was only 5 at the time, but I can STILL remember the news reports from his death), Tim Russert, Pricess Diana, Michael Hutchence (INXS), Layne Stanley.

Beth, Rochester, NY (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:31 PM)

George Harrison - The first musician or actor that I really loved who passed away.  To this day, listening to "Cloud Nine" makes me feel like I'm in 6th grade.

Glenn Quinn - Glenn was Mark on "Roseanne" and Doyle on "Angel" before his passing in 2002 at age 32.

Steve Clark - One of Def Leppard's guitarists who passed away in 1991 at age 30.

Judy, Raleigh, NC (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:32 PM)

I would have to say Heath Ledger, Adam Petty, John F. Kennedy Jr., and John Ritter.  Adam was the heir apparent to the royal family of NASCAR.  He had the talent to be up there with his grandfather, Cale Yarborough, and Jeff Gordon.  However, gone too soon.  I was glued to my television set until the body of JFK, Jr. was found.  It was such a terrible tragedy.  No one knows where he would have been in politics by now. John Ritter was a great actor to watch on the television screen.  It still saddens me to see the reruns of Three's Company.  Heath Ledger's death was sad because it hit closer to home since he was my age.  He was a talented, gifted actor who was just at the beginning of his acting legacy.  There are more but those standout to me.  

Shelbie (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:34 PM)

I miss Marvin Gaye so much....

Jackie, Dayton, OH (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:35 PM)

Jeez, I forgot my favorite!  Brandon Lee.  I saw the crow more times than I can count

Beth, Rochester, NY (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:37 PM)

God - the Skynard plane crash wasn't due to the aircraft running out of fuel.  Still, I miss them.

Add to the list:  Shannon Hoon from the Gin Blossoms, Duane Allman, Bradley Nowell of Sublime.  All huge talents.

Tari North America, Planet Earth (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:38 PM)

Get over it people....it's just actors.  More important people die everyday.

John Doe, Seattle, Wash. (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:44 PM)

Stephen Clark from Def Leppard - what a talent

Pat Lotsey (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:44 PM)

I really really loved Aaliyah, I have all her albums and movies I can't even bare to listen or watch her movies. So So sad!!!!!

Andrea Chambers Baltimore MD (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:50 PM)

Jim Croce

Debbie, Albuquerque, NM (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:57 PM)

Tim Russert was the only "known" figure that I have acutally cried for.

Randy, Midlothian, VA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 1:58 PM)

Eva Cassidy-the most beautiful voice no one ever heard before she passed away at the age of 33 from skin cancer. Her few CDs have sold millions since then. On many, many soundtracks.

Kathleen, Twin Cities, MN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:01 PM)

Princess Diana and JFK, Jr.  Both had such great potential...I also cried the day (and many days after) when I Stevie Ray Vaughn died.  After working so hard on kicking his habit, too.  It kills me to think of all the great music we missed because of his senseless death.

Dee, Columbus, OH (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:06 PM)

I lost Superman twice. George Reeves and Christopher Reeves.

nuanced (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:10 PM)

A gifted musician/songwriter, Steve Goodman, left this earth at age 36.  People may not remember his name but his songs will go on----"The City of New Orleans", "Go Cubs Go", to mention just a few.  I still get misty-eyed when thinking about him.

Nell, Chicago IL (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:11 PM)

Replay Neil Diamond's "Done Too Soon." Think how much longer that song would be today...

Lani, Honolulu, HI (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:13 PM)

Jeff Buckley, Tim Buckley, Freddie Mercury, Paul Kossoff, John Bonham, Stuart Adamson & Ian Curtis. Their legacy lives on - wish they had too.

Expadriata NY (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:18 PM)

My younger brother introduced me to Jeff Buckley right before I went off to college. I loved his music and thought he was kind of hot. I remember being so shocked when my brother shared with me that he was dead. That spring we went to Graceland during spring break. I absolutely adore Elvis, and my parents thought it would be a great road trip. Going to Memphis was wonderful, but I found myself feeling sad while staring at the Mississippi River right where Jeff Buckley drowned, and seeing the home and grave of one of my all-time favorites, Elvis. I was born a few years after Elvis died so his death has never affected me personally, but I’ve always felt bad that I didn’t discover Jeff Buckley until a few years after he died.

Just as my brother introduced me to Jeff Buckley, I introduced him to comedian Mitch Hedberg. We both absolutely adored him and his witty observations. Hedberg died my first year out of college, which was my brother’s second year at Penn State. I don’t remember how I found out that Mitch Hedberg died, but I remember being the one to tell my brother during a phone call a few days later. I remember my brother, the typical oblivious college kid saying, “So that’s why the flags on campus were at half-staff. I knew that someone important must have died. That’s so cool that Penn State honored him like that!” I quickly informed him that the most likely reason the flags were lowered was because Pope John Paul II had just died (a couple days after Hedberg). My brother’s response, “Well, I’m not Catholic, so I’ll pretend their honoring Mitch.”

Heather B R, Cville, VA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:19 PM)

It seems more tragic when it's an unexpected death due to no fault of the entertainer (ala Stevie Ray Vaughn).  When the entertainer does it to him/herself, I don't feel the same sense of tragedy.  It's more a sense of pity and anger.  (ala Kurt Cobain)

Sven Rodriquez Omaha, NE (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:20 PM)

It always amazes me when someone with so much to still offer the world dies in a tragic, needless death.  And of course, we will always miss them and think of all the things they could still be contributing to our little worlds.  So many, it saddens me every day.  But none so much as John Lennon and George Harrison.  They had barely touched their gifts to the world. I just wanted to watch Princess Diana and John F Kennedy Jr grow old and to see their lives come full circle.  What a huge loss.

Mary, Washington State (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:23 PM)

Lets not forget the Great Sam Kinison. It is even harder for me to forget him. I seen Sam in Concert just weeks before he was killed by a Drunk Driver is CA. Also Chris Farley was a favorite of mine. He will be forever missed.

Kenny Dillon, Wichita KS (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:24 PM)

I'm still, to this day, upset about Jim Henson.

Dan, Boston, MA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:24 PM)

You probably won't remember him but Jon-Erik Hexum was the first celebrity I ever lost.  I was so young and cried for so long.

Dianna, Covina, CA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:27 PM)

How about Harry Chapin? His words and music weaved beautiful stories. And Jim Croce.  

M Brown, Belmar NJ (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:29 PM)

Elvis was 42

Kevin Armstrong (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:30 PM)

Actresses Heather O'Rourke, Dominique Dunne and Rebecca Schaeffer. Even songwriter Paul Davis. I never knew if he survived a liquor store robbery until about 3 months ago and then he died about 1 month ago.

Kathleen, Twin Cities, MN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:36 PM)

The only 3 celebrities I've cried for in my short life were Aliyah, Heath Leger, and Tim Russert. All 3 of them died so young and in the prime of their careers. All of them were seen as positive individuals who never faced controversy or media backlash. Only the good die young...

Shari M. (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:38 PM)

It isn't so much who dies young.  Talent or not, it's the loss of the future and what might have been.  If there already is talent, how might it grow?  If it doesn't yet show, will it manifest itself and how?  So sad not to know.

emmy, Philadelphia, PA (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:38 PM)

Donny Hathaway, Phyliss Hyman, Curtis Mayfield, Marvin Gaye.

Dawn, Memphis, TN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:40 PM)

The ones that shocked, sadden and still "haunt" me are: Elvis, John Lennnon, SRV and John Denver (I was on my honeymoon in Hawaii when I heard). All of them were senseless tragedies that reverberated across all ages, creeds and religions. Everytime I hear songs from any of these artists I cannot help but think the "What if?" question, espcially Lennon given the current world situation i.e. Katrina, Iraq, etc. The world lost more than talented individuals, it lost great music and it is the music that lives on. All of these people had everything they could ever hope for except time.  

Ben - NY (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:43 PM)

Has anyone mentioned Heather O'Rourke or Dominique Dunne from Poltergeist? Both talented - and died way too young. Heather during an operation and Dominique at the hands of her then-boyfriend, who basically got away with the crime.  Also another senseless death was Rebecca Shaeffer - gunned down by a stalker.

KP (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:45 PM)

I think with songwriters the loss is a little keener because an actor will be replaced by another actor, another singer can sing the song but no one else can write that song that we'll never hear. Sporting wise - Derrick Thomas and back in '84, there was a football player home in the off season who drowned while trying to save two drowning boys. He didn't know how to swim but he still went in for them. That's a hero. Roberto Clemente, anotehr hero. Oh, oh, Patsy cline.

Kathleen, Twin Cities, MN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:45 PM)

Heath Ledger's death absolutely shocked me.  The other two deaths that I will never forget are Princess Diana and John Ritter.  All of these people were far too young when they passed on.  I still remember watching Princess Diana's funeral with her two boys walking behind the casket and I still feel like crying.

Lisa Gallant, Toronto, Ontario (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:46 PM)

Mama Cass and Janis Joplin.

Stacey, St. Paul, MN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:53 PM)

I was very sad when I found out that Mitch Hedberg died. He was a very talented comedian who struggled with drug use and low self-esteem. It's the hardest I think when it's obvious someone is troubled, but still cannot be saved. I still listen to Mitch's CDs often. Even though I know them by heart, he still makes me laugh every time I hear them.

Brandy, Murfreesbor, TN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:54 PM)

Steve Irwin's death should be a reminder to us all: let the animals be.  Don't grab alligators to wrestle them, don't poke at octopi for the camera.  I wonder if the animal world was trying to teach humans a lesson: don't use us to make your career or boost your ratings.

Darius, Santa Barbara, California (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:56 PM)

Princess Diana's death had a major impact on me.  I had always admired her as a young girl, and I still remember where I was when I heard that she'd died.  My friends and I had a sleepover (in college) to get up early and watch the funeral live early in the morning and we watched it again when they re-aired it for American audiences (since the live one was super early).  Golfer Payne Stewart's death made me very sad because he had just begun a comeback with a win at the US Open, especially all the waiting that day since his plane lost cabin pressure and everyone were hoping everyone on board could survive even though they were sure they wouldn't.  

As far as in the entertainment business, John Ritter (I recently saw a Cosby Show rerun with him and his widow as an expectant couple - it made me laugh and cry) and Phil Hartmann (all those Simpsons reruns keep him alive, but he was great in Newsradio) were huge losses.  Watching Footloose, I'm sorry for the loss of Chris Penn, and I miss seeing Steve Irwin's smiling face on TV.  

Julie, Nashville, TN (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 2:58 PM)

Gilda Radner, Madeline Kahn, and Princess Diana.  Two funny women and one tragic figure.  Gilda and Madeline were two comedic gems!

Dinana, OR (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 3:35 PM)

JFK Jr died on my birthday - nine years ago today. We lost him WAY too soon.

Amanda Kilman (Sent Wednesday, July 16, 2008 3:39 PM)



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