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Actors/actresses who solidified their legend by dying

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by Yonkers, Jun 1, 2009.

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Yonkers Contributing Member

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I was reading about the new pictures of Marilyn Monroe that just surfaced and it mentioned she would have been 83 this year. I was also thinking about how no one will know what she looks like old and we only think of her as this beautiful young woman. We would never get a chance to judge her the way the public/papparazzi judge actors nowadays.

Which actors do you think would have gone down in reputation throughout the years?
Elvis hit the fat Elvis years but was still able to leave a legacy. Paul Newman was still cool until he died. Clink Eastwood is still cool today.
However, think about Elizabeth Taylor. I think of fat and eccentric when I see her. But she was absolutely gorgeous when she was younger. If she died at that age she would have cemented her legacy without any tarnish.

#1 Yonkers, Jun 1, 2009

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James Dean comes to mind.... I'll have to think who else...

#2 Dr of Dunk, Jun 1, 2009
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River Phoenix / Heath Ledger.

#3 moestavern19, Jun 1, 2009
Yonkers Contributing Member

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moestavern19 said:

River Phoenix / Heath Ledger.
Click to expand...

Was River Phoenix ever considered a good actor? I don't associate any sort of legend with him.
Do you think Ledger would have eventually gotten 'sucky'?

#4 Yonkers, Jun 1, 2009
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Yonkers said:

Was River Phoenix ever considered a good actor? I don't associate any sort of legend with him.
Do you think Ledger would have eventually gotten 'sucky'?
Click to expand...

I think Ledger would have ended up one of the all-time greats.

Phoenix had a lot of talent, I think he would have become more of a movie star than a great actor.

#5 moestavern19, Jun 1, 2009
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Bruce Lee

#6 Precision340, Jun 1, 2009
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Elvis and Bruce Lee come to mind.

#7 tested911, Jun 1, 2009

Yonkers Contributing Member

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moestavern19 said:

I think Ledger would have ended up one of the all-time greats.

Phoenix had a lot of talent, I think he would have become more of a movie star than a great actor.
Click to expand...

Ah okay. That makes more sense. My question was more... who died young and everyone thinks is cool but you think would more likely have become like Liz Taylor?
I guess my title was misleading and opposed to the question in the thread itself.

#8 Yonkers, Jun 1, 2009
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I agree that I think Heath Ledger would have gone down as one of the top tier of actors of all time....

#9 Two Sandwiches, Jun 1, 2009
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Jane Mansfield

#10 southernjustice, Jun 1, 2009
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Yonkers said:

Do you think Ledger would have eventually gotten 'sucky'?
Click to expand...

Heath Ledger was one of the most talented actors in Hollywood. I never saw him give a bad performance.

He also was good with a wide range of roles.

#11 Refman, Jun 1, 2009
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Chris Farley and Belushi.

nobody will probably consider him great, but I always liked John Ritter.

#12 Landlord Landry, Jun 1, 2009
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#13 Luckyazn, Jun 1, 2009

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Landlord Landry said:

Chris Farley and Belushi.

nobody will probably consider him great, but I always liked John Ritter.
Click to expand...

i was just talking about farley the other day. for as well loved as he is, really think about his body of work. one really funny movie and a few seasons on snl. that's about it. granted, those five seasons on snl were freaking great...

i think john ritter was already a tv comedy legend.

#14 Rocketman95, Jun 1, 2009
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He's not exactly considered a legend, but John Cazale (Fredo Corleone) appeared in six films. All of them were nominated for the best picture Oscar. He probably would not have kept that up if he had not died of bone cancer at 42. I think Bill Simmons called him the Robert Horry of movies.

#15 The Hunted, Jun 1, 2009
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Landlord Landry said:

nobody will probably consider him great, but I always liked John Ritter.
Click to expand...

Ritter was an amazingly gifted physical comedian. Go back and watch some old episodes of Three's Company, and you'll see that no one could pull off pratfalls and camera mugging like him. It's a shame that his health deteriorated over the years, because in his prime, he was definitely great.

#16 BetterThanI, Jun 1, 2009
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river phoenix

brandon lee

aaliyah

#17 peleincubus, Jun 1, 2009
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James Dean is the easy pick. Bruce Lee as well. Dean was just cool, though.

#18 Ismail, Jun 1, 2009

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Some of these people I'd have to argue as being legends or are legendary. Bruce Lee definitely was a good pick.

I'm having a hard time thinking of anyone else whose legend was assured by their death.

Yul Brynner could be one. But he lived into his 60's before dying of lung cancer (anybody remember that commercial with him in it that aired after his death?). He was a badass till the end, so maybe he doesn't qualify since he lived into his 60's.

I had to Google a few more :

Judy Garland died young and I'll always remember her for the Wizard of Oz.
Andy Kaufman of Taxi and Wrestling fame.

#19 Dr of Dunk, Jun 2, 2009
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Dr of Dunk said:

Some of these people I'd have to argue as being legends or are legendary. Bruce Lee definitely was a good pick.

I'm having a hard time thinking of anyone else whose legend was assured by their death.

Yul Brynner could be one. But he lived into his 60's before dying of lung cancer (anybody remember that commercial with him in it that aired after his death?). He was a badass till the end, so maybe he doesn't qualify since he lived into his 60's.

I had to Google a few more :

Judy Garland died young and I'll always remember her for the Wizard of Oz.
Andy Kaufman of Taxi and Wrestling fame.
Click to expand...

I think there are only 3 people who die young that I considered a legend or immortal because of their tragic death:

Bruce Lee(charisma, power, present on film and first action star to pave way for other action stars)
Marilyn Monroe(sex symbol)
James Dean(weakest link, male sex symbol)

I don't think Judy Garland is one of them. Because of her age and the way she die and she wasn't really a standout in the female acting world.

#20 Cowboy_Bebop, Jun 2, 2009

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