• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

People You Thought Were Dead

Percy Sledge. Sadly, it's only now that I'm right that I learn I had been wrong for years.
Ben E. King too. Heard yesterday that he died last week. Thought he had been dead for years. Which is kinda sad now that I think about it.
 
BB King is still going, though, another one whom I'd assumed long gone. Perhaps I was mixing him up with john Lee Hooker, who definitely has died, some years ago.
 
I'd been kind-of assuming that Richard Adams, author of Watership Down, had died in recent years; but Google tells me that he's still with us: if he makes it to May 9th, he'll be 95.

I loved WD, but have reckoned the rest of his output -- well, highly variable. Interesting chap, though, and has led an interesting life.
 
BB King is still going, though, another one whom I'd assumed long gone. Perhaps I was mixing him up with john Lee Hooker, who definitely has died, some years ago.

There was a news story on BB King the other day about how he's in a bad way and needs hospice care. Hope your assumption isn't an omen!
 
Yeah, I'd thought he was already dead.
 
It's funny, when celebs drop from the public view either because they've retired or they've stopped being popular it is surprising when they pop back into the news, whether you think they're dead or not. I remember being surprised to hear Peter Wyngarde narrating a documentary recently-ish.
 
Wyngarde was prosecuted in 1975 for gross indecency in a public toilet. Up until then he'd been a huge star.
He kept on working though, often abroad or with a lower profile.
 
Or in a metal mask in a little movie called... FLASH GORDON!!! Of course, if more people had heard his album his career would have been dead in the water before '75.
 
For years when I was younger, I was convinced that poor old Dennis Norden was dead, although he wasn't.
 
A few years back I was beyond shocked to discover Chuck Berry was still alive.
 
I thought Dean Victor Griffin, great retired Rebel Dean of St Patricks was dead. But there he was at a TCD Scholars and Fellows Dinner last week. Hes only 91.
 
There was a news story on BB King the other day about how he's in a bad way and needs hospice care. Hope your assumption isn't an omen!

I thought BB King had died some years ago, because I was mixing him up with Bo Diddley. :oops:
Good thing I never mentioned this to my other half - he would consider this sacrilege.
 
Until recently, I thought Bo Diddley was still alive, mostly because of his 'Bo knows diddley' advertising campaign.
 
I was certain Howling Laud Hope had died until I read he was running against Boris Johnson in the general election. I then realised I had confused him with Screaming Lord Sutch.
 
We heard the news that Christopher Lee had died, and the following conversation ensued:

Me: Huh, I thought he'd died 30 years ago!
Husband: No, he couldn't have, he was the voice of Death in the Discworld cartoon.
Me: I must have had him mixed up with that other fellow, y' know, Grand Moff Tarkin.
Son: Peter Cushing.
Husband: Isn't Peter Cushing still alive?
Me: No, he died back in 1978, after he was in Shock Waves. *checks wiki*... erm, no, he died in 1994. :oops:
Husband: Well, maybe it seemed like Peter Cushing died so long ago because he was best known for The Seventh Seal, playing chess with death and all...
Me: That was Max Von Sydow.
Husband: Was it really? And Max Von Sydow's been dead since the 80's...
Me: No, pretty sure he's still alive.
Husband: No way. He's been dead for ages.*checks wiki* Oops...

That's an impressive level of wrong packed into one conversation. Clearly, son was the only person in the room who knew what they were talking about. :p
 
I'd thought both James Last and Marguerite Patten were long dead until recently.
 
Not dead, but coming out as gay....I swear I saw Anderson cooper discussing his orientation one evening on TV. A serious discussion ( not just a gossipy type show ) with cooper himself.. Much later when he did come out and was interviewed, I said what's the big deal now he said that months ago... Did I dream it? I had no special interest in him besides enjoying his interviews, and never thought about him beyond that.
 
I was utterly convinced John Goodman died of a heart attack in the late 90s. I was sure I remembered hearing it on the news and thinking 'oh that's sad, I remember him in Rosanne'. Few years ago I saw him on TV. I was completely baffled.

My theory is that perhaps our brains cluster people into certain profiles based on physicality, character, etc. If we're not overtly familiar with a given celebrity perhaps we might accidentally assign the news to a similar 'profile'. In my instance I'd guess that someone with a similar public profile and vibe to Goodman died and I subsequently recalled the wrong actor guy's demise.
 
It's odd, but some years ago, I had the same idea about John Goodman.
I don't know where I got that from.
 
Were you both thinking of John Candy?
 
I was utterly convinced John Goodman died of a heart attack in the late 90s. I was sure I remembered hearing it on the news and thinking 'oh that's sad, I remember him in Rosanne'. Few years ago I saw him on TV. I was completely baffled.

My theory is that perhaps our brains cluster people into certain profiles based on physicality, character, etc. If we're not overtly familiar with a given celebrity perhaps we might accidentally assign the news to a similar 'profile'. In my instance I'd guess that someone with a similar public profile and vibe to Goodman died and I subsequently recalled the wrong actor guy's demise.
John Goodman's character on Roseanne died of a heart attack, and the death wasn't revealed until the last episode, when it was also revealed that the entire last years storyline was a story written by Roseannes character. It had some press coverage, as no one was expecting it because his character in the last year had supposedly separated from Roseanne and was involved with another woman and had essentially been written out. It might have gotten confusing if you only heard part of the story
 
Good explanation!

I remember who I used to confuse him with - George Wendt. But he's still alive too.
 
Back
Top