Summer of Death
The "Summer of Death" is a name given to the summer of 2009 when numerous high-profile people died in a short time frame of one another. These included (but are not limited to) Billy Mays, Ted Kennedy, Walter Cronkite, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, David Carradine, Patrick Swayze, and most prominently, Michael Jackson, also known as "The King of Pop". Though there was nothing statistically unusual about the number of celebrity deaths that particular summer, some have speculated that the sheer number of headline deaths, coupled with increasing nostalgia in the population of Western nations may have increased the outpouring of grief during the summer of 2009.
List of celebrities that died during the summer of 2009
The full list of celebrities and high-profile people that died in, or close to, the Summer of 2009 is contained below, in order of their death:
- Dom DeLuise (May 4)
- Mickey Carroll (May 7)
- Chuck Daly (May 9)
- George Tiller (May 31)
- David Carradine (June 3)
- Michael Roof (June 9)
- Ed McMahon (June 23)
- Farrah Fawcett (June 25)
- Michael Jackson (June 25)
- Gale Storm (June 27)
- Billy Mays (June 28)
- Fred Travalena (June 28)
- Harve Presnell (June 30)
- Alexis Argüello (July 1)
- Karl Malden (July 1)
- Steve McNair (July 4)
- Allen Klein (July 4)
- Oscar G. Mayer, Jr. (July 6)
- Robert S. McNamara (July 6)
- Edward Downes (July 10)
- Arturo Gatti (July 11)
- Dallas McKennon (July 14)
- Walter Cronkite (July 17)
- Frank McCourt (July 19)
- Gidget (July 21)
- Vernon Forrest (July 25)
- Merce Cunningham (July 26)
- George Russell (composer) (July 27)
- Corazon Aquino (August 1)
- Naomi Sims (August 1)
- Budd Schulberg (August 5)
- John Hughes (August 6)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver (August 11)
- Les Paul (August 13)
- Robert Novak (August 18)
- Don Hewitt (August 19)
- Ted Kennedy (August 25)
- Ellie Greenwich (August 26)
- Dominick Dunne (August 26)
- Adam Goldstein "DJ AM" (August 28)
- Wayne Tippit (August 28)
- Carl Reindel (September 4)
- Army Archerd (September 8)
- Eric Davidson (September 9)
- Gertrude Baines (September 11)
- Larry Gelbart (September 11)
- Henry Gibson (September 14)
- Patrick Swayze (September 14)
- Mary Travers (September 16)
- Irving Kristol (September 18)
- Lucy Vodden (September 22)
- William Safire (September 27)
In popular culture
The "Summer of Death" was parodied in the South Park episode "Dead Celebrities", and also mentioned in the JibJab animation Never a Year Like '09.
See also
References
- http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2009/09/03/the-summer-of-death/
- http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/21/the-end-of-2009s-summer-o_n_293097.html
- http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/10/summer-of-death-200910
- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082103426.html