2009 Celebrity Passings (actor, characters, life, pretty)

[Mike from back east]

Too many good folks passed away this year, here are some links to lists, add more if you have them.

Anyone in particular you are most bummed about? For me, the loss of Walter Cronkite was a bummer.

L.A. Times List of 2009 Obits (http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/notable-deaths-2009/ - broken link)

NY Times List of "Arts" celebrities who passed, with a listing by month/date.

Wikipedia has a massive listing of famous persons who passed in 2009.

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

... Anyone in particular you are most bummed about? For me, the loss of Walter Cronkite was a bummer ...

Cronkite was for me too, because I associate him with big events in my life such as the Kennedy assassination and the Apollo landing on the moon.

[Bluesmama]

My biggest losses were Koko Taylor (who I saw in concert twice and whose music I love) and David Carradine. I very sad for Michael Jackson but he really did turn himself into a freakshow.

I did not know that Ingemar Johanssen passed. I remember him as a child (I grew up in a family of boxing fans).

[TexasGirl@Heart]

The ones that affected me in some way or another...

Natasha Richardson's death saddened me. She was a great actress.

Patrick Swayze's death ...very sad, such a great human being and a terrific actor.

Michael Jackson's death shocked me. As much as he contributed to his early demise, I still never expected it. He was a great musician and performer.

Brittany Murphy---shocking and sad because she was so young.

[jfkIII]

We all gotta go sometime...one way or another. It's inevitable.

[springfieldva]

Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson and Patrick Swayze - I watched them act/perform while I was growing up. It just seemed very early for them to go..

[Travel'r]

One of the most delightful, engaging people it has ever been my privilege to encounter (just a year prior), Michael Finocchiaro passed this past May. Better known as Mickey Carroll, this gentleman could engage one for hours with his sharp memory into his late 80s and wonderful personality. He was the "Main" Munchkin in The Wizard of Oz with the speaking roles/characters as most of the rest were from Germany (US citizen child working laws) and they didn't speak English. AVID St Louis Cards baseball fan his entire life (and Al Capone's Godson -- He probably gave me enough great trivia over a week's conversations at Spring training that I could end up in Bill Gates' income bracket via "Bar Bets" )

A truly good guy.

[Miss Crabcakes]

I'm still sad about Michael Jackson. Still cannot believe he is gone. I actually thought about his kids on Xmas and wondered how they're doing. I feel so bad for them.

[Stripes17]

At first, I was very surprised and kind of saddened by the death of TV pitchman Billy Mays.

The guy seems to have been around forever selling stuff on TV and it seems this year he was really coming into his own. They had the TV show (Pitchmen) that was pretty good and there was an exposure into Billy Mays the person, rather than just the guy on TV.

His sudden passing was a shock. Even more shocking was the report of cocaine being a (minor) contributing factor in his death.

What a shame...

[Mike from back east]

The New York Times has another great listing on their page today, with a drop down menu to sort it by the career type of the deceased. There were links to their lists for 2008 and 2007 as well. Extremely well done.