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Death of a Star

Hello all.

It’s been a while since I posted. Not that anyone really reads this blog, but that’s not the point. Anyway, it occurs to me that one way to measure the time between now and the last time I posted is to compile a list of some of the famous people who have died during that time and to do a mini-analysis of that list. So, without further …

These are people who died, Aug. 22, 2008 – April 14, 2009, with occupation, age, death date, and cause of death.

• Andre “Dr. Dre, Jr.” Young, Jr. // famous son // 20 // August 23, 2008 // overdose, heroin and morphine
• Del Martin // lesbian rights activist // 87 // August 27, 2008 // Complications from a bone fracture, declining health previous, old age
• Killer Kowalski // professional wrestler // 82 // August 30, 2008 // heart failure
• Jerry Reed // country music singer, actor // 71 // August 31, 2008 // complications from emphysema
• Don LaFontaine // voice actor, movie trailer voice guy // 68 // September 1, 2008 // pulmonary embolism, pneumothorax
• Bill Meléndez // animator (Peanuts) // 91 // September 2, 2008 // unknown, old age
• Anita Page // silent film actor, 1st Academy Awards // 98 // September 6, 2008 // natural, old age
• David Foster Wallace // writer // 46 // September 12, 2008 // suicide
• Norman Jesse Whitfield // songwriter, producer (Motown, psychedelic soul) // 68 // September 16, 2008 // complications of diabetes
• Paul Newman // actor // 83 // September 26, 2008 // lung cancer
• Gidget Gein // musician, Marilyn Manson bass player // 39 // October 8, 2008 // overdose, heroin
• Rudy Ray Moore // comedian, actor, Dolemite // 81 // October 19, 2008 // complications of diabetes
• Anne Pressly // TV news anchor, Little Rock, AR // 26 // October 25, 2008 // trauma, beating
• Mitch Mitchell // musician, Jimi Hendrix Experience drummer // 62 // November 12, 2008 // “natural causes,” unknown
• MC Breed // musician, rapper // 37 // November 22, 2008 // kidney failure
• Munetaka Higuchi // musician, Loudness drummer // 49 // November 30, 2008 // liver cancer
• Paul “Bentley” Benedict // actor, “The Jeffersons” // 70 // December 1, 2008 // unknown
• Bettie Page // pinup model, fetish film actor // 85 // December 11, 2008 // pneumonia
• W. Mark “Deep Throat” Felt // FBI agent, informant // 95 // December 18, 2008 // unknown, old age (congestive heart failure probable indirect cause)
• Harold Pinter // playwright // 78 // December 24, 2008 // cancer
• Eartha Kitt // actor, singer, dancer, Catwoman // 81 // December 25, 2008 // colon cancer
• Freddie Hubbard // musician, jazz trumpeter // 70 // December 29, 2008 // complications from heart attack
• Jett Travolta // famous son // 16 // January 2, 2009 // seizure
• Ricardo Montalban // actor, Fantasy Island host, fine Corinthian leather enthusiast // 88 // January 14, 2009 // unknown, old age
• Andrew Wyeth // artist, painter // 91 // January 16, 2009 // old age
• John Updike // writer // 76 // January 27, 2009 // cancer
• James Whitmore // actor // 87 // February 6, 2009 // lung cancer
• Socks // First Cat under the Clinton Administration // 19 // February 20, 2009 // euthanized, possible cancer
• Paul Harvey // radio personality, storyteller // 90 // February 28, 2009 // unknown, old age
• Ron Silver // actor // 62 // March 15, 2009 // esophageal cancer
• Nicholas Hughes // marine biologist, son of poets (Sylvia Plath, Ted Hughes) // 47  // March 16, 2009 // suicide
• Natasha Richardson //actor // 45 // March 18, 2009 //accident, epidural hematoma
• Dan Seals // musician, wuss-rocker // 61 // March 25, 2009 // cancer
• Irving R. Levine // journalist, bow-tie aficionado //86 // March 26, 2009 // prostate cancer
• Andy Hallett // actor, singer, Host  // 33 // March 29, 2009 // heart failure
• Deborah Digges // poet, memoirist // 59 // April 10, 2009 // suicide
• Marilyn Chambers // porn star, actor, Personal Choice Party candidate for US VP // 56 // April 12, 2009 // unknown, “natural causes”

by age % (n)
0-17 2.7% (1)
18-25 5.4% (2)
26-35 5.4% (2)
36-49 16.2% (6)
50-60 5.4% (2)
61-74 21.6% (8)
75-100 43.2% (16)

cause of death by age
overdose 2 (18-25, 36-49)
old age 7 (75+)
heart failure 2 (75+, 26-35)
emphysema 1 (61-74)
pulmonary embolism 1 (61-74)
suicide 3 (36-49, 50-60)
diabetes 2 (61-74, 75+)
cancer 9 (lungX2, unspecifiedX, colon, prostate 75+; esophageal, unspecified 61-74; liver 36-49;)
violence 1 (26-35)
“natural”/unknown 3 (61-74, 50-60)
kidney failure 1 (36-49)
pneumonia 1 (75+)
heart attack 1 (61-74)
seizure 1 (0-17)
euthanasia 1 (18-25)
trauma 1 (36-49)

cause of death by occupation
overdose 2 (none or unknown, musician)
old age 7 (activist, animator, actorX2, politics, law enforcement, artist, radio personality)
heart failure 2 (wrestler, actor)
emphysema 1 (musician, actor)
pulmonary embolism 1 (voice actor)
suicide 3 (writer, scientist & son of poets, poet)
diabetes 2 (musician, comedian, actor)
cancer 9 (lung, colon, esophageal actorX2; liver, colon musician; unspecified playwright, writer, musician; prostate journalist)
violence 1 (journalist)
“natural”/unknown 3 (musician, actor, porn star)
kidney failure 1 (musician)
pneumonia 1 (model)
heart attack 1 (musician)
seizure 1 (none or unknown)
euthanasia 1 (politics)
trauma 1 (actor)