People you didn't know were dead until years later...and were gutted

Bambi985

When I was in college I spent a semester in the US, where I travelled and partied my way around campus impervious to the outside world for a good five months.

One day I switched on the TV and saw a news anchor refer to "the late Steve Irwin"...and thought...WTF?? Crocodile guy?! He's not dead sure I watched one of his programmes a few weeks back! Or was it a few months back...noooo :eek::(:mad: The lad was dead about four months at that stage, I somehow seemed to miss the media circus and was oblivious.

When Sir Brucie kicked the bucket there last week I was in similar shock, namely because I was sure he was dead a good ten years.

Have any celebrity deaths completely passed you by? But that really gutted you when you found out?

me_irl

I think gutting them is just insult to injury.

jebus28

Bob Ross.

Watched him every morning on TV before school and he was dead the whole time, had no idea.

branie2

Not gutted, but I was surprised to find out that the Carry On actor, Kenneth Williams was dead for years.

Solomon Pleasant

I'm not sure how anyone was gutted at Steve Irwin's death, I though he was incredibly annoying!

ZuM16

Music group called the London Boys, late 80's early 90's pop group, some very catchy songs. My mum was a huge fan and they were one of the bands i vividly remember from my childhood. Many years later, for whatever reason, i suddenly thought of them, did a google search and turns out the main singers in the group were both killed by a drunk driver in 1996.

Also as a kid i was a huge fan of Mary Poppins, again many years later looked it up on IMDB and found out the little boy from the film, Michael, died in 1977 when he was 21 from illness. Gutted I was.

branie2

My uncle told about Phil Lynott's death when we were listening to Thin Lizzy records a few years after he died.

Wexfordboy89

Barry white the singer.didnt know he has been dead since 2003.

ohnonotgmail

ZuM16 wrote: »

Music group called the London Boys, late 80's early 90's pop group, some very catchy songs. My mum was a huge fan and they were one of the bands i vividly remember from my childhood. Many years later, for whatever reason, i suddenly thought of them, did a google search and turns out the main singers in the group were both killed by a drunk driver in 1996.

Also as a kid i was a huge fan of Mary Poppins, again many years later looked it up on IMDB and found out the little boy from the film, Michael, died in 1977 when he was 21 from illness. Gutted I was.

nm. it was london boys.

BrianD3

I have rarely been gutted but was oblivious to many deaths so they surprised me when I heard. E.g Die Hard actor Alexander Godunov who played Karl "Nobody kills him but me". Died in 1995 and I watched Die Hard many times for years after that not knowing that he was dead.

Had he died 10 or 20 years later his death would have been much more known - due to the internet, IMDB, social media.

Same story with many others. If someone was a relatively minor name in film or music and died before about the year 2000, chances are some won't be aware that they are dead until years later.

o1s1n

The Land Before Time was one of my favourite films as a kid, wore the VHS tape out I watched it so many times.

Found out years later that the voice actress (Judith Barsi) behind the character Ducky was murdered while she was a child

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Barsi

It's when you think someone has been dead for years and someone tells you they're still alive that always gets to me. I feel like I've jinxed them.

Are Am Eye

Solomon Pleasant wrote: »

Steve Irwin's death, I though he was incredibly annoying!

The stingray seemed to share your sentiment.

Noveight

John Ritter.

Outlaw Pete

Two deaths I wasn't aware of for well over a decade after they'd died, were Phil Hartman and Jim Varney.

me_irl

I called it last year, but "Last Christmas" will be no.1 this year.

Y'know... on account of him being dead.

Also, I had to remind myself that Alan Rickman is gone. Must have Christmas on the brain!

Outlaw Pete

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Two deaths I wasn't aware of for well over a decade after they'd died, were Phil Hartman and Jim Varney.

Hold the phone....

...Earnest is dead?

Beanntraigheach

I was shocked to find out recently that popular entertainer Al Jolson is dead.

I'd assumed he was alive and kicking and had been eagerly awaiting the release of his next gramophone record.

ThisRegard

Coincidentally I only watched one of Steve Irwin's movies that's now on Netflix over the weekend with the kids. They loved him and I had to then go try find some of the Crocodile Hunter episodes on YouTube, of which there aren't many and of poor enough quality.

The reason we came across it was because my daughter had been watching his daughter's, Bindy, show on Netflix and I was telling her about her dad being dead.

Outlaw Pete

Candie wrote: »

Hold the phone....

...Earnest is dead?

Yeah, how could you not know that....... only took me 16 years as I found out last year :P

He was a legend. Used to love those Ernest movies too.

From Wiki:

During the filming of Treehouse Hostage in August 1998, Varney started developing a bad cough. At first, it was thought that he might have caught a cold because of the climate of the area where the movie was being filmed. However, as the cough became worse, Varney began noticing blood on his handkerchief and, after filming was complete, he went to a doctor. A chain smoker, Varney had developed lung cancer. The disease slowly became worse, yet Varney continued to film movies. Upon being diagnosed, he reportedly threw his cigarettes away and quit smoking. Varney had filmed an anti-smoking public service announcement as Ernest in the 1980s, though it is often mistakenly assumed to have been filmed after his diagnosis.

Varney finally returned to Tennessee, where he went through chemotherapy in the hope he could beat the disease. However, it failed and he died on February 10, 2000 in his home in White House, Tennessee, a city north of Nashville, at the age of 50. He was buried in Lexington Cemetery in Lexington, Kentucky. Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire, which was released a year after his death, was his final role. The movie was dedicated in his memory.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Solomon Pleasant wrote: »

I'm not sure how anyone was gutted at Steve Irwin's death, I though he was incredibly annoying!

Wasn't Steve Irwin actually gutted himself?

Pelvis

Raul Julia, who play Gomez Addams in The Addams Family died in 1994.

Also John Matuszak who played Sloth in The Goonies died in 1989.

Didn't find out those until years and years later!

Outlaw Pete

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Yeah, how could you not know that....... only took me 16 years as I found out last year :P

He was a legend. Used to love those Ernest movies too.

From Wiki:

Yes, I looked up Wiki there too, hoping you were mistaken. I can't believe it.

I loved those old movies too, especially Earnest Saves Christmas. They were silly but I just loved them as a kid.

I honestly have a bit of heartache now. Poor guy.

Are Am Eye

Noveight wrote: »

John Ritter.

Janet and Chrissy are taking it very badly.

Syphonax

Richard Erwin Rood aka Ravishing Rick Rude my all-time favorite wrestler after James Brian Hellwig aka The Ultimate Warrior also dead. These were two of a number of idols I had from watching the WWF, had a soft spot foe the Demolition also, I use to re-enact their entrance into the ring and fighting styles with childhood friends when growing up and only found out from googling years later of their deaths.

Rubberlegs

Leslie Nielsen's death completely bypassed me, didn't know he was dead till a few years after. I can only put it down to my Dad dying the same month and I wasn't taking anything in.
I never heard the horror writer James Herbert died in 2013, only read about his death in recent months.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Lorelli!

Only recently found out that Tom Murphy, the actor who played Paul in Adam and Paul died in 2007.

Greybottle

Freddie Mercury. I was travelling when he died in very out of the way places. Only copped it when I saw his tribute concert on TV.

I was out for a few pints the other night with the buddies and the death of George Michael came up. One fella was shocked. Couldn't get his head around the fact that Georgie was after kicking the bucket

Irish Guitarist

I can't think of anyone I care about but I didn't know Richard Nixon had died in 1994 until I Googled it a couple of years ago.

This is beside the point but for years I thought Steve Irwin was the actor who had played Greg in Home And Away in the nineties and had made a radical career change.