Rik Mayall Dead at 56

I rarely jump on the bandwagon when it comes to celebrity deaths; we don’t know these people after all, other than in their capacity as icons and public figures. But I’m genuinely saddened today to read of the death of Rik Mayall at the age of 56. His character in the Young Ones is one of my favourite characters of all time, one that certainly encouraged me to become a raging Marxist anarchist in university (I’m only partially kidding). It seems crazy that Young Ones performed so poorly with only two seasons when ultimately it became a much loved cult classic and a lot of that is down to the foul-mouthed lunatic Rick. 

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Corey Haim dead at 38

Corey Ian Haim

23 December 1971 – 10 March 2010

This one is really sad. Corey Haim has died of a drug overdose in Burbank, California. The Two Coreys, Corey Haim and Corey Feldman were my idols when I was a teenager and I loved their performances in The Lost Boys (1987) and License to Drive (1988).

I always preferred Corey Haim as he was better looking (in my opinion).  In fact, my high school crush looked exactly like Corey in the photo above!

While Corey Feldman went on to become “a husband, father and environmentalist” according to IMDb, Corey Haim became a drug addict and finally lost his life this morning.  Very sad indeed but I wish celebrities would start to see the clear correlation between drugs and death.

You will always be young, beautiful and innocent in the eyes of the people that forgot about you when you went over to the dark side, Corey. Rest in peace.

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Brittany Murphy dead at 32

To/FilmMagic [Image source]

This is the worst kind of news of all.  The beautiful and talented Brittany Murphy has died at the age of 32.  The LA Fire Department responded to a call from her husband  her mother at 8am and she was rushed to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles this morning but was declared dead on arrival.

It is said that she went into full cardiac arrest and never recovered.

It seems awfully unusual for such a young person to die of a heart attack and I am sure the rumours will begin to fly about eating disorders and drug use.  Huffington Post quotes her responding to allegations of cocaine use back in 2005:

"Wow. No, just for the record I have never tried it in my entire life, I've never even seen it, and I don't leave the house too much, except to go to work," she said. "My worst vice is caffeine. [The rumor is] really pretty darn far-fetched -- it couldn't be further from the truth. I have known people over the course of my life that have bad problems with drugs, and it's something really serious."

Okay... but if my otherwise healthy 32-year-old sister / daughter / wife / friend died of a massive heart attack, I'd sure start asking questions and want to know the reasons why. 

What a terrible loss and a sad, sad day.

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Actress Natasha Richardson dies

[photo source]

The beautiful and talented actress Natasha Richardson died last night, 18 March 2009, aged just 45 years old.  Natasha had sustained a serious head injury following a seemingly innocuous skiing accident on Monday.

I have been a fan of Natasha's for as long as I can remember but my favourite role of hers was as Offred in the 1990 adaptation of Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale.

There are countless articles circulating at the moment detailing Natasha's wonderful contributions to both stage and screen; talking about her famous family and the loved ones she left behind.  I'm not going to go into details right now as I am just too sad and all too painfully aware of just how fragile our human bodies are.

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