They're dropping like flies!

[Grace]

First Ed McMahon, then Farrah, next Michael. This morning Billy Mays, and now Gale Storm.


LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- Gale Storm, whose acting and singing talents earned her three stars on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, died Saturday, according to a Danville, California nursing facility where she was a patient.

Storm was 87.

Storm got her first movie contract, a stage name and a husband when she won a radio talent show in Hollywood at the age of 17.

Her first TV show -- "My Little Margie" -- set the sitcom stage with Lucille Ball and other female stars in the 1950s, said Skip E. Lowe, a longtime friend who acted in some of Storm's first movies in the early 1940s.

"She was a wonderful singer," said Lowe. "She started as a singer and became known as an actress and singer."

Born Josephine Owaissa Cottle in Bloomington, Texas, in 1922, she entered and won a CBS Radio talent show that offered a grand prize of a one-year movie contract with RKO Studio, according to her personal biography.

She teamed up with the male winner, Lee Bonnell, whom she married and had four children with. The couple remained married for 45 years until his death in 1986.


http://www.hitparadehalloffame.org/2008/artistimages/GaleStorm.jpg

[K9karen]

I remember Gayle Storm in "My Little Margie". I was very young but my mom used to watch it and I sat with her.

I just Billy Mays on a talk show the other day.

What a shame. You just never know....

I heard Walter Cronkite is extremely ill.

They say *Three On A Match" but we're way beyond that.

[Grace]

They say *Three On A Match" but we're way beyond that.

When I was way younger, we always thought the 3 on a match meant the 3rd one would get pregnant :D

[Marigold2]

I have never heard of her. Lets hope that those left behind are recieving comfort.

[Grace]

And did any of you read about this last week -

Dr. Jerri Nielsen dies of cancer she found
Published: June 24, 2009 at 3:03 PM

Dr. Jerri Nielsen, who diagnosed herself with breast cancer while serving at a remote outpost in Antarctica, died this week at the age of 57.

Nielsen captured world headlines in 1999 when she discovered a dreaded lump in her breast and then treated herself with chemotherapy drugs dropped by parachute to the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Research Station.

Her brother, Eric Cahill, told CNN his sister died early Tuesday at a Massachusetts hospital. Plans for services were still pending on Wednesday.

Nielsen's plight was compounded by the remote location and harsh weather conditions. Although she discovered the tumor in June, aircraft could not fly into the station to pick her up until October.

In the meantime, she treated her own disease while acting as the only doctor for the station's 41-person staff.

The Detroit Free Press said earlier this year that she performed a biopsy on herself with the help of other crew members who practiced inserting the needle on raw chicken from the freezer.

Nielsen wrote a book about her ordeal but the cancer came back in 2005 and spread to her brain and other organs, CNN said.

[Taz_Zoee]

I don't know Gale Storm, but it is very sad. :( Danville, CA is right by me. I drive through there everyday to and from work.

This craziness needs to stop! This month has been horrible for me! One death close to me and all these celebrities, and my cat (and dog) is sick. Goodness, I can't take much more!!

[blue]

Celeb worshiping needs to end. Yes death can be sad but this commotion over MJ, FF, and BM is absolutly rediculous.

[Medusa]

I'm old enough to remember Gale Storm but I mistakenly thought she had passed years ago. I guess that's because of her advanced age and she hasn't done any theatrical work in some time.

If it does come in threes as I've always known it to, then it would appear we have yet another one coming because David Carradine started the ball rolling. Add the 4 that have just passed and that leaves one more.

[Medusa]

Celeb worshiping needs to end. Yes death can be sad but this commotion over MJ, FF, and BM is absolutly rediculous.

Just because comments are made doesn't mean that anyone is engaging in worship. It's natural to talk about these things and in a small way it can even be somewhat of a tribute. There has been controversy surrounding MJ but to deny the impact that his contribution has made to the entertainment industry and to the lives of his fans and even to those who aren't so enamored w/him is what's ridiculous. Discussion and reminiscing also helps us to be grateful for our own lives and the so-called normalcy.

[Scooter's Mom]

I'm old enough to remember Gale Storm but I mistakenly thought she had passed years ago. I guess that's because of her advanced age and she hasn't done any theatrical work in some time.

If it does come in threes as I've always known it to, then it would appear we have yet another one coming because David Carradine started the ball rolling. Add the 4 that have just passed and that leaves one more.

Are you forgetting Ed McMahon?

David Carradine (by your count)
Ed McMahon
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Billy Mays
Gale Storm

That's six.

[Medusa]

Are you forgetting Ed McMahon?

David Carradine (by your count)
Ed McMahon
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Billy Mays
Gale Storm

That's six.

Nope, I didn't forget Ed McMahon. I apparently just can't count.

[RICHARD]

"Three on a match" is another adage regarding bad luck and was supposed to have come from WWI.

Enemy snipers would look across the lines and see men lighting cigarettes - The glow from the fire and people trying to get three ciggies lit, would give him just enough time to sight and fire at the area illuminated by the match.

-----------------------

The strange part about these people passing is the level of 'famous-ness'
that each had. DC was and enigma, EM was an icon, FF an all-time sex symbol, MJ was bigger than the planet? BM? Someone you liked or chose not to notice......GS? That was a stage name!

It's like Carradine started it and it just ballooned...I got two phone calls about Billy Mays, One for MJ an no one mentioned Poor Old Ed.

Gale Storm stopped the "age trend" They were getting too young there, for a minute!:eek:

[cloverfdx]

Nice thread title :(.

[happylabs]

I have always heard the thing about things happening in 3's. Apparently we just had two sets of 3's this time.

We always said babies came in 3's when I worked at the Department of Public Welfare years ago. It seemed there were always 3 women pregnant at the same time - LOL.

[Taz_Zoee]

Celeb worshiping needs to end. Yes death can be sad but this commotion over MJ, FF, and BM is absolutly rediculous.

If you don't like it don't read the thread. Just like I'm not watching every single special about Michael Jackson. Not because I don't like him, but because there's only so much you can say about someone.

[pomtzu]

Celeb worshiping needs to end. Yes death can be sad but this commotion over MJ, FF, and BM is absolutly rediculous.

I'm with Mary - I see no worship going on here with anyone that you mentioned. I was never a MJ fan, but I for one, have probably said more about him in the past few day, than I ever had before. What's wrong with people acknowledging him for the incredibly talented person that he was, rather than slamming him for the negative aspects of his actions in life?
I for one, hope that people that know me, will remember me more for the good, rather than the bad, when my time is up.

[Medusa]

I for one, hope that people that know me, will remember me more for the good, rather than the bad, when my time is up.

What was that again, Ms. Devil? LOL Seriously, though, I think we all can wish for that, huh? Who doesn't have skeletons but if we would just remove the beam from our own eye before we notice the straw in another's, we'd all be better off. You make a good point, El.

[pomtzu]

What was that again, Ms. Devil? LOL Seriously, though,

Just remember - there's a big difference between devilish, and outright bad! :p
I know that you'll remember the devil in me. :D

[Grace]

Celeb worshiping needs to end. Yes death can be sad but this commotion over MJ, FF, and BM is absolutly rediculous.

I didn't take blue's comment to mean anyone posting here. I figured he was referring to all the hoop-la around the world.

In Detroit, for example, there has been a never-ending parade of people visiting Hitsville. To listen to them moan and groan and wail, one would think the end of the world was at hand. I truly believe some of them would throw themselves on a funeral pyre.

MJ was an entertainer; a very good one, I guess, but he wasn't the second coming.

[pomtzu]

I didn't take blue's comment to mean anyone posting here. I figured he was referring to all the hoop-la around the world.


Perhaps, but he should have specified MJ, and left FF and BM out of the equation, since there is not much of anything being published or televised about either them.

Sure there's a lot of hoop-la over MJ, but I'll bet most of it is far from celeb worship. I see a lot of people wanting to congregate at a place that had some meaning or ties to MJ, just so they can say "I was there when".....and there are many ways that sentence could be finished.

I don't remember this much criticism of a situation when Elvis passed.

[Grace]

Perhaps, but he should have specified MJ, and left FF and BM out of the equation, since there is not much of anything being published or televised about either them.

Sure there's a lot of hoop-la over MJ, but I'll bet most of it is far from celeb worship. I see a lot of people wanting to congregate at a place that had some meaning or ties to MJ, just so they can say "I was there when".....and there are many ways that sentence could be finished.

I don't remember this much criticism of a situation when Elvis passed.

There was no internet back then.

As for the celeb worship, you haven't seen the scenes from Detroit - it's enough to make one gag. Please, I don't mean to be rude or contrary, but why would someone feel such an overwhelming need to be at a specific spot?

Edit: Of course it is celeb worship. There were two 50 year old local men whose obits were in our local paper the other day. No one is wailing on a street corner - laying wreaths and flowers and toys on their front lawns.

[lvpets2002]

:( OMG now her.. RIP Gale Storm

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Didn't Bea Arthur from the Golden Girls just die last month or so too? :(

[lvpets2002]

:( Yes she did.. That was sad as well..
Didn't Bea Arthur from the Golden Girls just die last month or so too? :(

[pomtzu]

There was no internet back then.

As for the celeb worship, you haven't seen the scenes from Detroit - it's enough to make one gag. Please, I don't mean to be rude or contrary, but why would someone feel such an overwhelming need to be at a specific spot?

Edit: Of course it is celeb worship. There were two 50 year old local men whose obits were in our local paper the other day. No one is wailing on a street corner - laying wreaths and flowers and toys on their front lawns.

Damn the Internet!! :D

Hey - you're not being rude - and I'm just stating my opinion. There are too many people in this world with the "know-it-all, been there/done that" attitude and mentality, that makes them feel important about themselves if they can say that they were part of a certain event, be it good or bad, and no matter how far removed from it that they really were. I personally feel that there's a lot of that going on now. And the mob gatherings appear to be localized, don't you think? Unfortunately, Motown is going to take a big hit in that department. If Neverland was still in the picture, I can only imagine the mob scenes there. Remember Graceland?

As far as the wreaths and flowers and toys, I see that everywhere anymore. At a house fire where someone perished (especially a child), at the site of fatal accident along the roadway, where a police officer was gunned down - it's just everywhere - even for the ordinary Joe or Jane like you and me! :(

[kuhio98]

I didn't take blue's comment to mean anyone posting here. I figured he was referring to all the hoop-la around the world...

MJ was an entertainer; a very good one, I guess, but he wasn't the second coming.

I agree. blue didn't say this thread was ridiculous, he said celebrity workship was ridiculous. I agree 100%

Maybe that's why I don't hero worship any celebrity. I can admire and respect their talents, but I don't know them. They are flawed human beings like me. Doing the best they can -- they aren't God's.

With everything going on in the world right now, this 24-hour a day barage of celebrity "news" is a total waste of the airwaves and internet ~ In my opinion.

I hadn't heard about Gale Storm. I had heard the name before, but I thought Gale Storm was the man who played Mr. Moony in the ole Lucille Ball TV show. Turns out that was Gale Gordon.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

Breaking news: HLN just reported that comedian Fred Travelena just died. :(

[Grace]

Breaking news: HLN just reported that comedian Fred Travelena just died. :(

Who is he?

[davidpizzica]

I remember Fred Travelena. He was a comedian/ impressionist who guest starred on a lot of game shows and talk shows.

[pomtzu]

I'm with Mary - I see no worship going on here

Just one more comment if I may - just to clarify my use of the word here:

I was not using the word to state a specific place such as PT, but as a period of time - as in "here and now". Guess we Delawarians talk funny compared to the rest of the planet?

[Grace]

I googled Fred Travelena. My husband remembers him - I still don't.

Anyway he died at age 66 from a recurrence of an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

[Medusa]

I started a thread about Fred Travalena. There's a link there to read about him. He was really funny. We went to see him when he appeared in Cleveland years ago.

[momoffuzzyfaces]

here is a link:

www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/06/29/fred.travalena.dies/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

[lvpets2002]

:( Oh my my == Yes Fred T. was like Danny Gann in which he as well died at a young age of (I think 48) last month.. You know they did not say to much about his death.. He was out at Vegas doing shows..

[Medusa]

Danny Gann! I knew there was one that I couldn't recall!

[Freedom]

What I have noticed, that is scary -- used to be that when the "famous" folks would die I'd think "oh yeah, I remember Mom / Dad talking about him / her." (Bogart, Garbo, etc)

Now, it is my OWN MEMORY! :eek:

Of all these, F. Travalena is the only one I never even heard of. The rest: I knew OF them!

[blue]

THe Celeb worship in general, its been all over the news and talk radio for the last week or so, its disrespectfull to the dead. How many threads have been on PT alone over a celeb kicking off?

At least Farrah's family and friends took a dignified approach to her passing. McMahon's family isnt all over the news either, taking the dignified approach.

For those that want to point out that I will find humor in death, I hope that when I die my friends and loved ones will remeber my funny times or crack jokes at my expense. Ild rather leave them smiling then crying, but thats just me.

[Grace]

For those that want to point out that I will find humor in death, I hope that when I die my friends and loved ones will remeber my funny times or crack jokes at my expense. Ild rather leave them smiling then crying, but thats just me.

No, that applies to me, also. I'd much rather have a celebration of my life, than weeping and wailing. When my mom died, we had a short, graveside service - then we all went to a restaurant and told stories about our memories of her. Most of them brought a smile or laugh. That's what I want.

[Karen]

My mother's funeral was full of laughter, funny stories and smiles at memories shared. My boss of the time, who attended, decided that if my Dad, now a widower after 40+ years of marriage and having watched his wife suffer from ALS, could smile, well, it was okay for him to as well.

To each his or her own.

[Taz_Zoee]

My friend that recently passed away was one of the funniest guys I've ever known. At his funeral they showed a slide show, there were funny pictures that we laughed at. Some of the things the Reverend said were funny as well. That's exactly how Eric would have wanted it. He was always making people laugh.

[TamanduaGirl]

Edit: Of course it is celeb worship. There were two 50 year old local men whose obits were in our local paper the other day. No one is wailing on a street corner - laying wreaths and flowers and toys on their front lawns.

Actually that happens a lot. Can't seem to drive 5 miles in some areas without seeing flowers and crosses beside the road or those white bikes in cities. And people do break down and cry on street corners for people they knew and congregate with others that knew them.

All the people morning a celebrity did know a part of that celebrity even if they never met that person. And really we never know all of a person so we all only know parts of people.

It really comes off more like jealousy. "celebrities shouldn't be normed more than normal people" But if that's true then "popular people shouldn't be mourned more than unpopular people" but then "people with homes and families shouldn't be mourned more than people who have neither" The amount of people morning will directly relate to how many knew you and if you are a celebrity then lots of people know you, again even if it's just a part of you, and why shouldn't they mourn the lost of that part they loved and did know?

I do think the media tends to go over board but they always do.

[Vela]

Laughing at things someone did in life and at pictures and stories about them is not the same thing as making fun of their actual death and treating it like a joke or making comments to the effect of "Good you are dead, now I don't have to hear your voice anymore!"

I guarantee you if someone said that at a funeral of your friend or loved one and meant it, you'd be highly upset.

Some comments and lighthearted things relating to the recent deaths of celebrities are humorous and meant as a tribute, some are not funny at all and if someone can't differentiate between why that is so, that's too bad.

Celebrities are "known" to the public in general, and someone like Michael Jackson was known worldwide for 40 years. Only a few people knew the man down the street who died, compared to a celebrity of 40 years, of course reactions are going to be different.