Animated Views Celebrity Obituary Thread
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Sentiments echoed here too. I saw a "Whatever Happened To...?" documentary on Coleman in the 1990s, when he was fighting his adoptive parents (or maybe that had just ended) and was working as a security guard.
Man...it's the curse of the child-stars. It's just too much too soon for them all, and making any transition is tough, but even more so when in the constant public eye like a sitcom and faced with other health problems.
Like Jackson, he obviously had a lot to give...the kid was a smartypants and able to pull off that role at just 10, when the show started. Still, at least he didn't seem to go off the rails as wide as his unfortunate co-stars, both of which ended up involved with the usual paraphernalia attached to such jobs.
I know Coleman's fate has wound up taking a diff'rent path, but why do we keep seeing this over and over...Britney, Lindsay Lohan... And it's not a new issue. Remember poor old Bobby Driscoll?
Such a shame and, for those they still matter to, such a loss.
Man...it's the curse of the child-stars. It's just too much too soon for them all, and making any transition is tough, but even more so when in the constant public eye like a sitcom and faced with other health problems.
Like Jackson, he obviously had a lot to give...the kid was a smartypants and able to pull off that role at just 10, when the show started. Still, at least he didn't seem to go off the rails as wide as his unfortunate co-stars, both of which ended up involved with the usual paraphernalia attached to such jobs.
I know Coleman's fate has wound up taking a diff'rent path, but why do we keep seeing this over and over...Britney, Lindsay Lohan... And it's not a new issue. Remember poor old Bobby Driscoll?
Such a shame and, for those they still matter to, such a loss.
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Re: RIP Gary Coleman
Wow, so sad...he was such a great actor too. I loved DS, and if you watch the premiere episode again you see how so much of the series rested on him, and how he carried so much of it (although his co-stars were good too of course).
RIP.
RIP.
You can’t just have your characters announce how they feel! That makes me feel angry!
Re:
Ben wrote:
Man...it's the curse of the child-stars. It's just too much too soon for them all, and making any transition is tough, but even more so when in the constant public eye like a sitcom and faced with other health problems.
...but why do we keep seeing this over and over...Britney, Lindsay Lohan... And it's not a new issue. Remember poor old Bobby Driscoll?
It's parenting or LACK of parenting, Ben.
A lot of the parents of these childstars have serious issues themselves and lose track of what's best for their kids. Entertainment attracts talented people who often have self-esteem issues and mental illnesses. It's unfortunately NOT a good industry for someone to get into when they need serious help. They're constantly under a spotlight and microscope and people crack under the pressure and get involved with drugs and other dangerous activity. They become self-destructive.
The kids become the primary source of income for the families and parents often live their lives vicariously through their children, too. There's plenty of evidence Lindsay Lohan's mother has done this in addition to many other parents in the past. It doesn't help that Dinah Lohan seems to be a moron/oblivious or in denial of what's going on with her oldest kid, either.
Most people have a very limited career in entertainment -- you can count many careers in years (!) -- and can't expect to be vibrant entertainers for decades unless they're strong individuals with a good sense of self, have massive talents and egos able to withstand rejection, really believe in themselves, and are lucky.
Gary Coleman fell into the first category of someone with limited options. Unless they're going to need black dwarfs for leading man roles it's just not happening...
He also wasn't equipped to deal with life when his acting career was over. That's why he ended up being a security guard.
His physical issues were one thing he had little control over in many circumstances but it was part of his parents' role in raising him to adjust to the fact that his career might not last forever. He should have gotten an education and training to do something else to make a living once the acting gigs dried up.
Many actors don't have much of an education beyond basic acting and the ability to gossip. You see it all the time with them backing crazy causes and the cause celebre of the moment. They honestly believe getting involved with that stuff is going to lengthen their careers and make them more valuable individuals in society. Most times they look like laughing stocks to the majority of the population that isn't completely celebrity-obsessed. Some of it is guilt over getting paid so much for participating in what's obviously a very looks-concerned/vacuous industry but I think some of it is also compensating for a general lack of meaning in many people's lives beyond their jobs, too... They just don't know what to do with themselves when they're not performing in front of a camera I think.
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Yeah, the parents issue is the obvious target, George. But there are many other ingredients that go into destructing a child's career. There should be some kind of studio-endorsed system in place that safeguards these people through whatever way they need help, from escrow accounts that hold their earnings (away from the more fame hungry moms and dads) until the usual 18 years, to the availability of therapy that help them come to terms with a career that's over.
On the flip side of the coin, of course, many young faces *do* make a go of it in adulthood, and keep going successfully. That's also down to the parents in the majority...good upbringing mostly means a more level head when dealing with the ups and downs of Hollywood, from managing money to managing a career, which is why many of those that turn out well are able to cope with the swap to more mature roles.
On the flip side of the coin, of course, many young faces *do* make a go of it in adulthood, and keep going successfully. That's also down to the parents in the majority...good upbringing mostly means a more level head when dealing with the ups and downs of Hollywood, from managing money to managing a career, which is why many of those that turn out well are able to cope with the swap to more mature roles.
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Dennis Hopper dead at 74
Courtesy of ABC News
Hollywood icon Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74 from complications due to prostate cancer. The Easy Rider star -- who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in late 2009 -- became too weak for chemotherapy treatments in March when the cancer metastasized to his bones. According to a friend, he was surrounded by family and friends when he passed away in his Venice Beach home on Saturday morning.
Full Story: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... d=10778980
Hollywood icon Dennis Hopper has died at the age of 74 from complications due to prostate cancer. The Easy Rider star -- who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in late 2009 -- became too weak for chemotherapy treatments in March when the cancer metastasized to his bones. According to a friend, he was surrounded by family and friends when he passed away in his Venice Beach home on Saturday morning.
Full Story: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wir ... d=10778980
RIP, Peter Keefe, producer of Voltron (1984)
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/20 ... asses-away
Peter Keefe, who the producer of Voltron, one of the most popular anime adaptations in the US in the mid-1980s, passed away this past Thursday. He was 57.
Like Carl Macek (Robotech, 1984), Keefe pieced together two separate anime series (Go-Lion and Dairugger) in order to create a long-running English adaptation suitable for syndication. (Syndication requirements in the mid-1980s were for 65 episodes -- a length that neither Macross nor Go-Lion met hence their transformations into segments of Robotech and Voltron respectively.) What was released became more internationally popular than the original series.
Since then, Voltron has had comic book and CGI series follow-ups in addition to a full series release on DVD through Media Blasters. Go-Lion and Dairugger have also been released in subtitled sets through Media Blasters as well.
Peter Keefe, who the producer of Voltron, one of the most popular anime adaptations in the US in the mid-1980s, passed away this past Thursday. He was 57.
Like Carl Macek (Robotech, 1984), Keefe pieced together two separate anime series (Go-Lion and Dairugger) in order to create a long-running English adaptation suitable for syndication. (Syndication requirements in the mid-1980s were for 65 episodes -- a length that neither Macross nor Go-Lion met hence their transformations into segments of Robotech and Voltron respectively.) What was released became more internationally popular than the original series.
Since then, Voltron has had comic book and CGI series follow-ups in addition to a full series release on DVD through Media Blasters. Go-Lion and Dairugger have also been released in subtitled sets through Media Blasters as well.
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I know Dennis Hopper as President Koopa from the unfairly maligned Mario Brothers movie. Sure, it may not have resembled the games much, but it's a fine fantasy film in its own right and Hopper's gleefully slimy performance is a big part of the charm for me.
I have yet to see any of his other films, but I mean to change that.
I have yet to see any of his other films, but I mean to change that.
The Official Lugofilm Ltd Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/bartsimpson83
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They'll either drop the joke or rework it so that it still makes sense. I'd prefer that they dropped it, actually, not just out of respect but because even if it was reworked it could still be pretty spiteful, and that's just trying to raise a laugh on shock value only...not because it's actually anything funny...
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Change it quick Eddie. He was worth so much more than just that movie!
Haven't you seen Speed? He was the bad guy with the bombs in that, probably his last great-ish big screen role. He was due to reprise it (somehow) in a Speed 3 that's been mooted for the past three or four years.
But most recently he was Jack Bauer's first and ultimately best opponent, in the first series of 24, which Hopper did as a favor (Sutherland earned his Exec Producer credit on later shows by bringing in a lot of his friends in the first series, including Hopper - friend of his Dad's and a previous costar - and Lou Diamond Phillips).
Funnily enough, Easy Rider wasn't my favorite of his performances. After a good start, it goes off on a few tangents throughout the movie, and there are better films that get what I will call "the culture of the time" across. Hopper was in a similar state, but gave a better performance, in Apocalypse Now, truly one of the great movies, whichever version you see.
Although his death doesn't come as a surprise, he's yet another "last link" to classic Hollywood that has now gone, a screen presence who continued to show up in varied places until recently and who will be genuinely missed.
Haven't you seen Speed? He was the bad guy with the bombs in that, probably his last great-ish big screen role. He was due to reprise it (somehow) in a Speed 3 that's been mooted for the past three or four years.
But most recently he was Jack Bauer's first and ultimately best opponent, in the first series of 24, which Hopper did as a favor (Sutherland earned his Exec Producer credit on later shows by bringing in a lot of his friends in the first series, including Hopper - friend of his Dad's and a previous costar - and Lou Diamond Phillips).
Funnily enough, Easy Rider wasn't my favorite of his performances. After a good start, it goes off on a few tangents throughout the movie, and there are better films that get what I will call "the culture of the time" across. Hopper was in a similar state, but gave a better performance, in Apocalypse Now, truly one of the great movies, whichever version you see.
Although his death doesn't come as a surprise, he's yet another "last link" to classic Hollywood that has now gone, a screen presence who continued to show up in varied places until recently and who will be genuinely missed.
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Well, I gotta say that it doesn't surprise me. The show is pretty mean/crude anyway (I went along when the London prices hit rock bottom and they were practically giving tickets away) and I didn't find it very funny even then. But keeping that song in even after his death? And only reacting to ripping on someone after they die with a "oh, this is actually pretty serious" and a concern that "I may be out of a job" for the person performing the basis of the joke?
There are plenty of other characters from the 1980s that could replace the Coleman joke in Avenue Q. And could actually be funnier. But I guess they'd not want to pay tribute to an unfortunate person from whom they've been making a lot of money off over the past few years. Or actually want to do any real work in having to rewrite a small portion of the show. No, they just say "he'll live on" in the memory of the show.
It seems even in death the guy isn't going to catch a break.
There are plenty of other characters from the 1980s that could replace the Coleman joke in Avenue Q. And could actually be funnier. But I guess they'd not want to pay tribute to an unfortunate person from whom they've been making a lot of money off over the past few years. Or actually want to do any real work in having to rewrite a small portion of the show. No, they just say "he'll live on" in the memory of the show.
It seems even in death the guy isn't going to catch a break.