Celebrity Death Thread

[romster]

I didn't know that about the Quiet Riot guy. They were part of the soundtrack to my junior high days.

[Dan V]

Mellow rocker Dan Fogelberg has died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. I danced to his song "Longer" at my wedding

[The Cat]

Every day for 10 days, The 5 Hole will present the most significant sports figures of 2007. Whether you love or hate these people, there is no denying they were among the top stories of the year. At #5 is former Washington Redskin Sean Taylor.

There are several layers of tragedy involved with the murder of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor. He was a promising young player, a hard hitter who team-mates nicknamed "Meast" because they considered him to be half-man, half-beast. He left behind an 18-month-old daughter who team-mates said gave him a new outlook on life and helped keep him out of trouble after previous run-ins with the law for DUI and assault.
It appeared that Taylor was on his way to following the right path in his life and not wasting his athletic talents like too many of his NFL colleagues. Unfortunately, for all his efforts to stay out of trouble, his life ended after a November 26 encounter with intruders in his home who mistakenly thought Taylor would be out of town. One of them shot Taylor in the leg, critically wounding his femoral artery. He died in a Miami hospital the following day.
Immediately after his death, several notable media opinion-makers claimed that Taylor's death wasn't a surprise because of his checkered past. Before the full details of the crime came to light, Washington Post columnist Leonard Shapiro lumped Taylor in with other troubled players like Michael Vick, Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson, saying that "You also can look at the timeline of his professional life printed on this web site or in the newspaper and draw your own preliminary conclusions."
And what sort of conclusions were those, exactly? Are we supposed to feel that Taylor "had it coming" because of the company he kept and his previous legal transgressions? ESPN radio personality Colin Cowherd took these implications to another level when he said on his show, "Just because you clean the rug doesn't mean you got everything out. Sometimes you've got stains, stuff so deep it never ever leaves."
Well, it turned out that Taylor's killer wasn't somebody he used to commit crimes with, as some of these commentaries would have us believe. These were professional thieves who intended to rob the house of a professional football player who they assumed would be out of town. Taylor's history had absolutely nothing to do with the real reason he was targeted – the thieves knew he was wealthy and had many valuable possessions they wanted to steal.
The commentary and speculation surrounding Sean Taylor's death exposed an ugly side to how some of us view young, black athletes. Because a select few of them use poor judgement with what they do in their free time and with whom they choose to associate, there is a growing tendency to paint many of them with a broad brush and use terms like "ghetto culture" that are visibly couched in racism.
To this day, I know there are still some people who feel that Taylor somehow brought this tragedy on himself – and I expect I'll read some of those opinions in email responses to this piece. These people don't think people like Taylor are allowed to put mistakes behind them and turn over a new leaf in their lives.
In reality, the proverbial "stain" that people like Cowherd speak of is really a black mark on a society that should universally have the good sense not to make baseless speculations on why events like Taylor's murder happen. Sean Taylor certainly wasn't an angel, but if I'm sure of one thing about his murder, it's that he most definitely did not "have it coming".
Three weeks after that fateful event, all that really matters is that an 18-month-old girl lost her father and the Washington Redskins lost a team-mate and friend. As for the people who thought Taylor somehow contributed to his own demise, I hope they feel at least a little bit ashamed of themselves.
Feedback or column suggestions? Send them to the-5-hole@hotmail.com.

[Guise Marino]

Bowman the Showman - first skater to throw a quad - OD's at 40.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/01/10/sports/s213904S92.DTL

[Sharkbait]

Nice. Stupid boy.

[spdrcr557]

Troubled Actor Brad Renfro Dies at 25
Jan. 15, 2008, 8:13 PM EST
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Brad Renfro, whose career began promisingly with a childhood role in "The Client" but rapidly faded as he struggled with drugs and alcohol, was found dead Tuesday in his home. He was 25.
Paramedics pronounced him dead at 9 a.m., said Craig Harvey, chief investigator for the Los Angeles County coroner's office. The cause of death was not immediately determined, Harvey said, but an autopsy could be conducted as early as Wednesday.
Renfro had reportedly been drinking with friends the evening before his death, Harvey said.
Renfro's lawyer, Richard Kaplan, said he did not know whether the death was connected to any problems with addiction.
"He was working hard on his sobriety," Kaplan said. "He was doing well. He was a nice person."
Renfro recently completed a role in "The Informers," a film adaptation of a Bret Easton Ellis novel that stars Winona Ryder, Brandon Routh and Billy Bob Thornton.
"Brad was an exceptionally talented young actor and our time spent with him was thoroughly enjoyable," Marco Weber, president of the film's production house, Senator Entertainment, said in a statement.
The actor served 10 days in jail in May 2006 after pleading no contest to driving while intoxicated and guilty to attempted possession of heroin.
The latter charge stemmed from his arrest in Los Angeles' Skid Row area, when he attempted to buy heroin from an undercover officer in 2005.
For several years he was better known for that drug bust and the resulting criminal case than for acting.
After one court appearance, he talked to reporters about drug rehabilitation, saying he was "tired of paying the consequences" for drinking and drug use and eager to get clean.
"It's definitely been an eye-opener," he said of his rehabilitation program.
Other run-ins with the law included a 1998 charge of cocaine and marijuana possession, for which he avoided jail time in a plea deal. He was also placed on probation in January 2001 and ordered to pay $4,000 for repairs to a 45-foot yacht he and a friend tried to steal in Florida in August 2000.
He was arrested again in May 2001 and charged with underage drinking, violating the terms of his probation, and was ordered into alcohol rehabilitation the following March.
A native of Knoxville, Tenn., Renfro's film career began when he was 12, acting opposite Susan Sarandon and Tommy Lee Jones in "The Client." His other credits included "Sleepers," "Deuces Wild," "Apt Pupil" and "The Jacket."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.


I remember seeing him when he was younger in The Client and Sleepers and being very impressed with his acting ability for his age, I never really followed his career so I had no idea that he was into drugs and such. Sad that he was so young RIP.

[romster]

I loved The Jacket and don't remember what role he played. I remember him in The Client though. His death saddens me. I can't help but think something terrible must've happened to him as a child to steer him in the direction of drugs and alcohol.

[FVD]

It seems to be a reoccuring theme over the years with child stars that get into drugs and alcohol, very sad nonetheless.

[WingsFan]

I like him in Bully

[Malto Marko]

Why is it that those who have to really work for a living can keep their feet on the ground and those who are given instant success have a hard time with the realities of life?

[gjdodger]

Maybe 'cause those who had to work hard are cognisant of what it took to get there and don't want to risk losing it.

[Drew]

Bobby Fisher, chess champion died. He had denounced his American citizenship several years ago.

[gjdodger]

I think you mean renounced, although they're probably both true. Weird son-of-a-bitch, and there are tons of stories about his bizarre behavior. My favorite was when he had won a tournament and was in line to be received by a foreign king; he had a little pocket chess game and was working out strategies, and was only briefly distracted when the king stood before him.

[Drew]

...recession, repression...denounce, renounce...it's all the same thing.

[gjdodger]

As Bobby himself would say, "iceberg, Goldberg..."