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Comedy Actors Who Died Young

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    Comedy Actors Who Died Young

    Doing this in roughly chronological order, the deaths I remember occurring during my teenage years were Harry H Corbett, Richard Beckinsale and Hattie Jacques, all gone by 1982. Tony Hancock killed himself when I was only 2 and the first time I heard of him was 1986.

    John Belushi died in the same month as Corbett, March 1982, but he had never been on my radar and I still find his appeal incomprehensible.

    Kenneth Williams counts as a young death by today's standards, suicide in 1988 aged 62, but I only started to perceive him as an important figure when I read his diaries in 1995.

    Graham Chapman again not really on my radar because I had been too young when Python was on TV.

    John Candy died in the same time period as Bill Hicks and Kurt Cobain. Danny Baker was on his Radio 1 stint and did a WTF reaction.

    Since then it's people dying who were part of my youth, such as Richard Pryor, and Robin Williams

    #2
    Mel Smith aged 60, Rik Mayall 55, Kenneth Mc Donald (only fools and horses ) aged 50, Dermot Morgan 45, Pete Duel (alias Smith and Jones ) 31

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      #3
      Linda Smith (48)
      Last edited by Gangster Octopus; 10-08-2017, 16:46. Reason: Adding age...

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        #4
        Mitch Hedberg was 37. That man could write a line. Snorted quite a few, too, hence the dying at 37 bit.

        Hovis Presley was only 45. He could have been a huge star but never wanted the attention. A lovely, lovely man. Gave me the best review of my career "You surprised me there, son. You weren't shit."

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          #5
          Gilda Radner (43)

          Phil Hartman (50)

          Bernie Mac (50)

          Andy Kaufman (maybe)

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            #6
            Chris Farley
            The documentary about him made by his brother is very good.

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              #7
              Gerard Hoffnung (34)

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                #8
                Originally posted by Hot Pepsi View Post
                Chris Farley
                The documentary about him made by his brother is very good.
                Not sure how I forgot about him. Tommy Boy is good, and some of his stuff from SNL was great, but his movies before he died aren't much to remember. I could seen him taking a mid-life turn and being in a drama, something like a Punch Drunk Love role.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by Incandenza View Post
                  Not sure how I forgot about him. Tommy Boy is good, and some of his stuff from SNL was great, but his movies before he died aren't much to remember. I could seen him taking a mid-life turn and being in a drama, something like a Punch Drunk Love role.
                  He didn't make much other than Tommy Boy, did he? I recall he had a few pretty good cameos like in Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2.

                  I can still vividly remember the first time watching "Matt Foley, motivational speaker." It was my sophomore year in college. I was watching because Midnight Oil were the music guest and Christina Applegate was the guest. In the sketch, she and David Spade are really struggling not to break. That's probably one of the top 10 nearly-pissed-myself-laughing moments of my whole life.

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                    #10
                    Marty Feldman (48)

                    Lenny Bruce (40)

                    Tmothy Birdsall (27)

                    The latter is obscure today but was part of the Cambridge U Beyond the Fringe group. Best known as a cartoonist and, along with Gerald Scarfe and Ralph Steadman, noted for skewering politicians and other pompous notables — he was sued by Lord Beaverbrook at one point. He appeared regularly on TWTWTW however, which is why I include him here.

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                      #11
                      I didn't realize Lenny Bruce was quite so young when he died!

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                        #12
                        Yes. Are you watching I'm Dying Up Here on Showcase (here in Canada?) Bruce's spirit kinda hangs over the show I think, in both good and bad ways.

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                          #13
                          John Ritter (54). Not young exactly, but you gotta shift the goalposts ...

                          The lad from Glee was very young, if that's a comedy.

                          In both cases the show went on without them, uncomfortably (commerce beats art).

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
                            Yes. Are you watching I'm Dying Up Here on Showcase (here in Canada?) Bruce's spirit kinda hangs over the show I think, in both good and bad ways.
                            No. I think it's on Showtime here, which I don't get.

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                              #15
                              Caroline Aherne. Can't remember how old she was but she couldn't have been much over 40.

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                                #16
                                Originally posted by Snake Plissken View Post
                                Hovis Presley was only 45. He could have been a huge star but never wanted the attention. A lovely, lovely man. Gave me the best review of my career "You surprised me there, son. You weren't shit."
                                As one who started with I Rely On You and was then inspired to find out more and more, this made me smile warmly. Lovely stuff.

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                                  #17
                                  Richard Beckinsale (Godber, in Porridge) was 32.

                                  And I am not sure that anything over 50 can be considered as "young".

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                                    #18
                                    James Beck, Private Walker in Dad's Army, died at 44. Second youngest cast member, but first to go on the roll call of death that is the opening credits.

                                    Comedian and sitcom actor Freddie Prinze was just 22 when he offed himself im 1977. Now also known as Freddie Prinze Sr after his son's modest comic acting career.

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                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by Gerontophile View Post
                                      And I am not sure that anything over 50 can be considered as "young".
                                      In terms of wearing skinny jeans, no. In terms of death, yes.

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                                        #20
                                        Aherne was 52 but would be considered young for death purposes.

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                                          #21
                                          Originally posted by Giggler View Post
                                          As one who started with I Rely On You and was then inspired to find out more and more, this made me smile warmly. Lovely stuff.
                                          We had - like so many others - I Rely On You read out at our wedding.

                                          Never realised Feldman was quite so young. Had Young Frankenstein on in the background recently and Mrs P had never seen it. By the end she was giggling every time Feldman even sidled onto the screen.

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                                            #22
                                            One or two of these are not really comedy 'actors' as such.

                                            If they count - which is also debatable - then most of the young cast of Diff'rent Strokes seem to have perished at a rather young age.

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                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by Snake Plissken View Post
                                              Hovis Presley was only 45. He could have been a huge star but never wanted the attention. A lovely, lovely man. Gave me the best review of my career "You surprised me there, son. You weren't shit."
                                              What was your career, Snake (sorry if you've talked about this elsewhere and I missed it)?

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                                                #24
                                                Originally posted by jwdd27 View Post
                                                James Beck, Private Walker in Dad's Army, died at 44. Second youngest cast member, but first to go on the roll call of death that is the opening credits.
                                                Closing credits I think you mean, i.e. the "You have been watching..."?

                                                I could swear that every single time we watched an episode of Dad's Army when I was growing up in the early '90s, my dad (who's very good at belabouring a point oblivious to how many times he's done so before) would almost literally perform this "roll call" of which you speak: as each member of the cast marched past during the credits, he'd go "He's dead. He's dead. He's dead.", as if making us newly aware. Since all of those concerned (Messrs Lowe, Le Mesurier, Laurie, Ridley, Beck etc) had been gone since about 1984 at the latest, he must have been firmly set in that groove for a fair number of years already. Since the only ones to escape this verbal scythe were Clive Dunn (who would live until 2012) and Ian Lavender (who is of course still going), he never had to actually change the litany for the thick end of 30 years.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by Furtho View Post
                                                  What was your career, Snake (sorry if you've talked about this elsewhere and I missed it)?
                                                  It wasn't so much a "career" but I did stand-up for a few years until juggling that and a proper life got too much.

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