Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Have any famous people's deaths got to you a lot?

430 replies

Mrsblobby12 · 22/05/2023 09:50

Feel this way about the death of Andy Rourke of The Smiths. They are one of my favourite bands of all time and just listening to them now. He was such a talented musician, he's the same age as my father, and I feel sad knowing he had such a cruel disease.

OP posts:
SongofBernadette · 08/10/2023 11:53

Victoria Wood, I'm still pissed off and miss her very much.
Sad for Sinead O' Conner that she couldn't find peace of mind in this world, she was a warrior.

kagerou · 08/10/2023 11:48

Not famous to most people (unless they like obscure Japanese rock music) but the death of my favourite singer Daisuke Ochida still gets to me. One of his band names is my username on here.

He was only 32 and had a heart condition that meant he could die at any time but the small amount of information online when he died seemed to suggest it may have been suicide or accidental overdose 💔

I hope if there is something after death that he has found peace

Borgonzola · 08/10/2023 11:25

Jeremy Hardy. I'm glad I was working from home the day I found out, I just burst into tears. I have old series of the News Quiz downloaded and listening to them is such a comfort blanket; it's so bittersweet though as he jokes so much about (unknowingly) being at the end of his life. It still makes me so sad knowing that he's gone.

Purplebunnie · 08/10/2023 11:03

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 08/10/2023 10:03

Ditto to Freddie Mercury
And (long ago now) Rudolf Nureyev.

And the Queen. Such a ‘permanent’ seeming fixture ever since I could remember, I.e. 1953/4.

Funny I was thinking of Nureyev, I have always wondered what more he would have achieved, he was an excellent choreographer and had so much more to give to the ballet world

Catsmere · 08/10/2023 10:59

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/10/2023 09:46

The Knowledge is a really good TV play, written by Jack Rosenthal. I've wondered recently whether black cab drivers in London still have to go through this test, now that they have satnav and so much competition from Uber.

Yes! First thing I saw Nigel Hawthorne in. David Ryall, too - I never did know his name, I always called him Titanic whatever role he played. 😆

@CagneyandLacy it's on YouTube!

The Knowledge (1979)

The Knowledge is the process all London black taxi drivers must go through in order to hold the coveted Green Badge.This film takes a light-hearted look at t...

https://youtu.be/oSAAB1ZmudY?si=ma7v7kgGcXFdVms-

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 08/10/2023 10:03

Ditto to Freddie Mercury
And (long ago now) Rudolf Nureyev.

And the Queen. Such a ‘permanent’ seeming fixture ever since I could remember, I.e. 1953/4.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 08/10/2023 09:46

The Knowledge is a really good TV play, written by Jack Rosenthal. I've wondered recently whether black cab drivers in London still have to go through this test, now that they have satnav and so much competition from Uber.

CagneyandLacy · 08/10/2023 09:30

Catsmere · 07/10/2023 22:57

I remember him! He was Eddie Hairstyle in The Knowledge and Wayne in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and a few other roles I didn't see. Died during the filming of the second series.

Show quote history

I haven’t seen The Knowledge - will try and find it. I looked at some pictures of Gary Holton last night and it struck me that he had a real “look” of John Cooper Clarke about him (I think he was an addict too).

student26 · 07/10/2023 23:03

Rik Mayall. So, so sad. Such a huge part of my childhood and teens.

Catsmere · 07/10/2023 22:57

CagneyandLacy · 07/10/2023 22:39

Most people may not remember this actor - Gary Holton, who played Gary in “Auf Wierdersehen, Pet”. It was 1986 I think and I loved (fancied) his character. He also sang the theme tune for another programme I loved at the time, “Murphy’s Mob”. Some of it was filmed in my home town, Watford, so I guess I felt he was even more special.

I remember him! He was Eddie Hairstyle in The Knowledge and Wayne in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, and a few other roles I didn't see. Died during the filming of the second series.

CagneyandLacy · 07/10/2023 22:46

Sorry. Gary Holton played Wayne.

Waitingfortheconferencehosttojoin · 07/10/2023 22:41

I sobbed, quite literally sobbed, when the Queen died. And I’m a republican! Took me completely by surprise. I can only assume I was actually crying about something else…?

CagneyandLacy · 07/10/2023 22:39

Most people may not remember this actor - Gary Holton, who played Gary in “Auf Wierdersehen, Pet”. It was 1986 I think and I loved (fancied) his character. He also sang the theme tune for another programme I loved at the time, “Murphy’s Mob”. Some of it was filmed in my home town, Watford, so I guess I felt he was even more special.

Coffeelotsofcoffee · 07/10/2023 22:05

Freddie mercury. Would love to have seen him live . Still feel its such a great loss

LuluBlakey1 · 07/10/2023 21:59

The Queen
Victoria Wood
George Michael
Ala Rickman

cakewitch · 07/10/2023 21:56

Prince. A huge part of my life from being 14 years old. I'll miss him forever

PurpleSneakers · 07/10/2023 21:53

@Seeline Rik Mayall for me too - larger than life. Just gutted when he died.

Irish comedienne Sean Hughes. Loved his work.

Catsmere · 07/10/2023 21:33

ThelmaBorden · 07/10/2023 13:43

Catsmere - Sonny Bono too, skiied straight into a tree, died instantly,
days after Robert Kennedy’s son Michael died the same way, neither
wearing a helmet,
although hitting a tree with your head at speed wouldn’t save you.
Natasha declined both helmet and an ambulance.
Schumacher was wearing a helmet but fell onto a rock, off piste

I'd forgotten they were killed skiing. As @beguilingeyes said, don't go skiing, folks!

JudgeJ · 07/10/2023 20:38

eastegg · 07/10/2023 16:08

For me there’s just one. Victoria Wood. I don’t think I’ve felt genuinely upset about the death of someone I didn’t know before. It’s hard to put into words but she was a big part of my cultural influence and she drew people together. I think my whole family found her funny, my mum especially, so there’s that shared experience and nostalgia.

I can recall being totally shocked when I got the Guess Who's Dead message from my daughter, she was so incredibly talented, I still laugh when I drive through the village of Kimberley, no way could I ever live there pretty as it is! Similarly if anyone mentions sash windows and when I clear the fluff from the tumble drier I remember her.

lalaloopyhead · 07/10/2023 19:39

Victoria Wood, I felt sad like I actually knew her. She was a brilliant woman who had been in my life for a long time. Also Prince who was either the day before or the day after Victoria and was just like what???

Seahorsemama · 07/10/2023 19:36

Heath Ledger. Never a huge fan till he was in Batman, but found his untimely death so sad.

GilChesterton13 · 07/10/2023 19:34

Dermot Morgan

shellyleppard · 07/10/2023 19:33

Raymond Briggs and Shirley Hughes..... read all of their books when my children were small. Robin Williams and John candy.....two larger than life actors who I adored. I cried buckets when we lost Queen Elizabeth II.....she was always part of my life.

yarnwitch · 07/10/2023 17:14

Not a well known one but tv presenter Kristian Digby. I watched him on daytime tv whilst on maternity. Feeling low and alone he was funny and always made me smile. Couldn't believe it when he died so young. Seeing him in the Driving home for Christmas video each year still makes me sad.

slowlysmaller · 07/10/2023 17:07

I haven't read every message, so not sure if anyone else mentioned him, but Sean Lock's death really got to me.

I think it's because we'd seen him looking increasingly frail on the 8 out of 10 cats Countdown programme, then having long periods when he was absent, and it just felt so... cruel and wasteful.