Celebs that you thought were dead but still alive & vice versa

[gerry]

Just last night a few mates & i were talking about movies,& i had to break the news to 1 of my mates that John Candy was actually dead.I think he has been dead now for 9 or 10 years.But my mate had no clue & was gutted by the news.Which got me wondering is there any celebs that you thought were still alive & were actually dead or was there a celeb that you thought that was dead but they are still alive.

[twiglet4frog]

i thought Q from james bond films was actually dead 2 years before he really did die, i was gobsmacked he had died a second time. i was sure i read it in a newspaper he had died as well but apparently not!

[~Wingnut~]

Hi

I was totally shocked when I found out John Ritter ( 8 Simple rules..) had died. I only found out because we got a freeview box and when the ABC1 channel started and I looked at info for 8 Simple rules.. it said "Starring the late John Ritter". I still can't believe it! He'd been dead about a year and I believed that he was still alive and kicking.
I mentioned it in a conversation to a friend the other week funnily enough and they didn't know that he had died either.

~Wingnut~

[KebabMeister]

In the early 90s a friend came into our local and said he bought the latest Jimi Hendrex CD and how much he liked it.  Somehow I mentioned his death, before we were born, and my friend seriously didn't know that he was dead!  It was absolutely hilarious (not Jimi dying) but my friend was gutted!!

[bernardo]

A few years ago Fae Wray (from the film King Kong) appeared at the Oscars for some reason.  I had assumed that she was long dead.

Since 1993 I have been making a list of famous people when they die.  It is not meant to be exhaustive or totally inclusive, but only of those people I consider to be famous enough in my own mind.  Very occasionally a person dies who I consider to be famous enough to be in the list, but it is not reported widely enough for me to notice at the time.  The best example of that has been the actor Reginald Marsh (various sitcoms) who had been dead for a few months before I found out.

Incidentally, my list tells me:
4th March 1994 John Candy (43) actor.

[Dagman]

Try looking at www.dpsinfo.com a site dedicated to this very subject!

[Golem]

or this one ...

http://www.whosaliveandwhosdead.com

[littleoldme]

For some reason a while ago I was under the impression that Doris Day and Smokey Robinson were dead, when in fact they're both still going.

Good question, BTW.

[Lorcan]

A month a go I watched Open Range on DVD. I wondered who the 'character actor' playing Percy was. I looked up the film on the imdb and was shocked to find out he had been played by Michael Jeter, who died aged just 50.

By the way littleoldme I thought they were both dead too.

Simon Mayo did a similar question to this on his 'Dead Or Alive?' radio feature.

[gerry]

My Sister somehow was convinced that Dick Van Dyke was dead she only found out that this wasn't true when they brought out the Mary Poppins 40th Anniversary dvd this year & he featured on the Audio Commenatry track made for the dvd.

I myself only found out last month that American Comedian/Actor Rodney Dangerfield had died.

[airbolt]

Jack Palance - I thought he passed on years ago.

[airbolt]

Thanks for the Link , Golem . Glenn Fords still alive!

[littleoldme]

I used to think Jack Palance was dead too, but I reckon I was confusing him with the somewhat younger Jack Nance, often employed by David Lynch (Twin Peaks, Eraserhead, WIld At Heart etc), who died as a result of head injuries sustained in a brawl in 1996.