For some people, the greatest thing you can achieve in life is to become in some way famous. People will due all manner of humiliating and morally reprehensible things just to have the limelight shone in their direction for even the most fleeting of moments. They'll queue, in the rain, for hour after hour just for the chance to warble at a desk full of people whose only discernible talent is sitting behind a desk judging whether or not other people have any discernible talent.
We want the notoriety, we want the magazine covers, we want the fortune and the prestige and the attention. We want to be celebrities. But that may all be about to change.
Being famous has never been a guarantee of happiness, and now it's not even guarantee of safety. Famous faces have been dying off left and right recently. In October alone we've lost a good handful of people you've heard of, and trying to keep up with the obituary requirements of this seemingly unstoppable Celebri-cull is a truly daunting prospect. Too much death to catalog in individual articles, so here's a roughly comprehensive list of everyone who's passed away this month so far.
October 1st - Tom Clancy; Author of such epic spy/action novels as Hunt for Red October, the Jack Ryan series and mastermind/brand name behind the Rainbow Six franchise of video games. Clancy died of an "undisclosed illness" at Johns Hopkins University Hospital aged 66.
October 8th - Phil Chevron; Guitarist and song writer for Irish punk band The Pogues. Chevron wrote Pogues' anthem "Thousands are Sailing" as well as "Lorelei" and many others. He died of Oesophegeal Cancer in Dublin aged 56.
October 17th - Giant George; World's Tallest Dog. No necessarily a celebrity as such, but Giant George was a Great Dane who was 3.5 feet tall. That's the same height as Warwick Davies. George slept in a Queen Sized Bed and was on the Oprah Winfrey Show. That's a pretty famous dog y'all. George died from undisclosed circumstances aged 7 in Tucson, Arizona.
October 19th - Noel Harrison; You might not have heard of him personally, but Noel wrote and sang the song "Windmills of your Mind". It's a slightly trippy and melancholy tune about being mental, and it's been used in numerous movies including The Thomas Crown Affair and Killing Them Softly. He was also an Olympic Skier, professional gambler and actor. He died following a heart attack in Devon, aged 79.
October 25th - Hal Needham; Stunt Man and Director, Hal Needham doubled for Burt Reynolds for years before making the transition to directing with Smokey and the Bandit. He was also responsible for Cannonball Run, which is awesome. On top of that he invented the Stunt Airbag (like Riggs jumps on in Lethal Weapon), the aircannon that flips cars over in movies and a ton more other cool stuff. Hal Died aged 82 of Cancer at his home in Los Angeles, California.
October 25th - Marcia Wallace; A working actress for 45 years, Marcia Wallace is probably best known for her work on The Simpsons, where she played Mrs Krabappel; a role for which she won an Emmy in 1992. Prior to this Wallace appeared in iconic shows like Taxi, Bewitched, Magnum PI and Murder She Wrote. She died aged 70 of complications from pneumonia.
October 27th - Lou Reed; Lou Reed! Of Velvet Underground and of being Lou friggin' Reed fame. His career in music spanned 50 years, during which time he was responsible for "Perfect Day", "Walk on the Wild Side" and a total of 44 singles over 22 studio albums. He also acted in a bunch of movies and was Lou fucking Reed. He died aged 71 after a long battle with liver disease.
And there it is. No one you've heard of has died in the past 3 days, which is lucky for you and a blessing for them.
We're into November now. Will the Fameageddon continue or is Bruce Forsythe safe for another month?
Words by Gazz Wood
Gazz is a writer from the Northern Film School in Leeds. He also hosts the "Possibly of Interest" podcast with TV producer Howard Cohen (Impractical Jokers) and special guests from the British Comedy world. Plus he's got his own show; "Gazz Wood Has A Podcast", with weekly guests like MISFITS Director Nirpal Bhogal and Sex & Relationships Expert Annabelle Knight! Good Lord!
Gazz is a writer from the Northern Film School in Leeds. He also hosts the "Possibly of Interest" podcast with TV producer Howard Cohen (Impractical Jokers) and special guests from the British Comedy world. Plus he's got his own show; "Gazz Wood Has A Podcast", with weekly guests like MISFITS Director Nirpal Bhogal and Sex & Relationships Expert Annabelle Knight! Good Lord!
