Celebrity deaths in 2009

 While there are normally quite a few celebrity deaths every year, 2009 seems a particularly bad year for deaths, especially for surprise deaths and young deaths. It's always sad when a celebrity dies, but it is nice to reflect on their lives and to realise how each and every one has touched us in some way.

This is not a conclusive list of celebrity deaths in 2009, but it is a list of those who have touched me at some point in my lives.

Alaina’s illustrious career began on Broadway and she was among the original cast of the Broadway production of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

She mostly became famous for her role as Olivia on Sesame Street. She appeared on this show for 12 years. She moved on to star in a short-lived sitcom – 227 and also appeared in some guest-roles on tv and a couple of movies (Death Becomes Her, Cruel Intentions).

Having seen her predominantly on Sesame Street she always seemed a lovely and endearing character, and she definitely won a small part of my heart.

Brittany was a very accomplished actress who tackled ‘quirky’ and tough roles. She’s most famous for her appearance in Clueless and 8 mile. Her ability to take on challenging roles made her stand out in Hollywood as an actress who wasn’t simply another ‘bimbo’.

Her untimely death was a shock to all, and Hollywood has lost a major talent.

This amazing actress appeared in a great many movies in the 40s and 50s – she had a sultry beauty and was very appealing to the audience.  She tackled many roles over time including a provocative bi-racial woman in the Duel in the Sun.  She will live on as one of the hard working actresses of the era, who successfully managed to continue a career despite the many obstacles she faced.

I gladly admit that I was one of those teenagers in the 80s who fantasized about being saved by Charlie’s Angels and falling in love with them, most particular the beautiful Farrah Fawcett. There was something unique about her; she was beautiful and sexy but she somehow transcended that, and even though her early roles weren’t challenging you could always tell there was a great actress inside.

She proved all her skeptics wrong with her harrowing performance in The Burning Bed – it really demonstrated how much talent she had and how she wasn’t scared to tackle difficult and emotive roles.

She is and always will be one of my favorite actresses – I saw a show that detailed her struggles against cancer and I was amazed at the strength she had through this difficult period. She will be missed by many.

Although I have heard of Adam in the past, most notably when he was badly injured in a plane crash, I encountered him more recently where he helped addicts get on the road to recovery; he had his problems with drugs in the past and it was great to see someone famous giving back in this way. I was therefore shocked and saddened to see him pass away of an accidental overdose.

He was an accomplished musician and DJ and has worked with Papa Roach, Will Smith, Madonna and also was a member of Crazy Town. It’s a shame that he passed away just as his show was becoming a success and many people were benefit from his knowledge and compassion.

While I really only encountered Bea in her role as Dorothy on the superb comedy The Golden Girls, she has had an amazing career that spanned seven decades. She made her fame while starring in the role of Maude on All in the Family and concreted this fame with her role on The Golden Girls.

She was also a very accomplished stage actress and  won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as Vera Charles in Mame (1966).

While I grew up in England, even then I knew the name Walter Cronkite. While he was an anchor man of the CBS Evening News for 19 years, his reporting on many key world events including the death of President John F Kennedy made him stand out as a superb and unbiased journalist who set the standard for the journalistic world.

For me, there was just something about him that made you trust what he said; it’s a quality sadly lacking in modern journalism.

Patrick Swayze became famous thanks to his roles in Dirty Dancing and later in Ghost. Both movies showed his versatility and ability to set the mood in a scene perfectly. However, for me his roles in movies like To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!  that  really showed his ability, as well as his humor.

Patrick had an amazing screen presence that oozed sensuality, compassion and humor and over the years he produced some amazingly gritty performances. He has been sick for several years and sadly the world has lost one of the better actors around.

As a child I grew up watching Fantasy Island; I simply loved Ricardo and his suave and sophisticated role really stood out for me. As I grew older and began to see him in more and more diverse roles I realized just how good an actor he was – he had the ability to be intense and really make you either love or hate the character he played – a great ability in an actor!

My favorite role of his was Khan – both in the Star Trek episode where Captain Kirk first met him and in the movie where Khan sought revenge on Kirk – great character, great acting!

Being born into the Redgrave family is tough; it brings an expectation and pressure that could make it hard for anyone to achieve success in show business. However, Natasha lived up to her heritage and produced some amazing performances early on with her portrayals of Mary Shelley and Patty Hearst.

Married to Liam Neeson, she continued to act and produced many amazing performances; she also was very active with AIDS charaties after her father died of AIDS related causes in 1991.

Her death was very untimely and the world has lost an actress who could have become one of the greats. 

 What can you say about Les Paul? – firstly and foremost he was an amazing guitarist in his own right; however more so than that he was an inventor – his most famous invention of course being the solid-body electric guitar – there’s no doubt music wouldn’t have progresses as it has without this invention.

His playing style has influence many of today’s greats and without his influence the world of music would really be a dull place!

The King of Pop is and always will be an enigma; his life was dogged with controversy, and it seems so was his death. However, there is no doubt that his musical abilities, and dance abilities were phenomenal and he certainly earned his title as the King of Pop.

His unique style pushed the boundaries of pop music and has influenced the sounds of many artists, as well as touching the lives of 100s of millions of music fans around the world.

While some of the problems surrounding his life will never be solved, he will continue to inspire musicians around the world for years to come.

Angela's Ashes is one of the best books (and movies) of recent times. It tells the story of a young Frank McCourt and his struggles in Ireland with poverty and disease during the Depression. It is a stark book that really manages to portray the reality of life in these tough times.

Frank McCourt was an amazing author; his ability to tell a story was amazing and he really stands out as one of today’s most accomplished writers. Mostly drawing on his own experiences, he shows life from many angles and instills a huge amount of humor into his stories.

One of my defining memories of the early eighties was watching the movies Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II – Burt Reynolds and Don DeLuise had an amazing acting bond and any movie with the two in would always be amazingly funny. Even more funny were the out-takes from these movies!

Mel Brooks loved DeLuise and cast him in many illustrious movies such as Blazing Saddles, Spaceballs, Robin Hood: men in tights.

He is one of my favorite comedic actors of all time!

Billy Mays has an instantly recognizable voice in America – he was the most famous television salesman and somehow his voice and enthusiasm made you believe everything about the product he was trying to sell you.

He became so good at it and famous through it that the Discover Channel began airing a documentary that featured Mays.

Sadly, after a freak accident he passed away suddenly.

Ed is perhaps one of the most famous ‘side-kick’ TV personalities of all time. He was sidekick to Johnny Carson on the Tonught Show and hosted talent shows and Blooper shows. He was a talented comedian and always seemed a very sincere man.

It seems that a lot of the stars who died in 2009 became popular in the 80s. I remember watching Kung Foo as a teenager and loved the mystical character that David portrayed. For me his role in the Kill Bill movies was perhaps his best.

It’s amazing how many movies he has appeared in and the diversity of role he tackled was truly awe inspiring.

 Molly became famous playing Mrs. Slocombe in the British Comedy Are you being served – she was an amazingly funny woman who managed to portray this character as a ‘batty’ yet loveable character. She appeared in The Liver Birds (another Brit-com) and the highly successful British soap opera Coronation Street.

She always was loveable!

Most famous for her Adult movie roles, Marilyn Chambers ecame famous for her role in Behind the Green Door.  In 2004 she ran for Vice President on the ‘Personal Choice Party’ and receive 946 votes.

It was her home-some look and beauty that allowed her to be successful and even today her name is still linked to classic ‘adult’ movies.

While Ted Kennedy’s life had its fair share of controversy he will be remembered for his amazing dedication to his work and his relentless struggle to serve his country.

He entered the senate in 1962, and unfortunately due to the Chappaquiddick incident that resulted in the death of Mary Jo Kopechne, never had the chance to become president; he lost his only attempt to Jimmy Carter – one does wonder what would have happened had the Chappaquiddick incident not happened.

Kennedy was an amazing orator and with his skills he really pushed forward modern liberalism in America. He became known as the ‘Lion of the Senate’ due to his long tenure.

Despite being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in May 2008 he continued to work although his Senate appearance were limited.

I truly believe that there haven’t been many senators like him; whether you’re Republican or Democrat, there’s no doubt that Ted Kennedy was one of the greatest Elder Statesmen.