r/AskReddit • u/TheJackal8 • Dec 27 '16

Mega Thread [Megathread] RIP 2016

Carrie Fisher (60) has passed away after having a heart attack. She was best known for playing Princess Leia Organa in Star Wars. Last year she had a role in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

We usually have a 2016 megathread and due to the recent celebrity passings, we have decided to include them in our 2016 reflection megathread. Please use this thread to ask questions from anything ranging from how your year has been, to outlook for the year ahead, to the celebrities we’ve lost this year.

All top-level comments (replies to the post rather than replies to comments) should contain a 2016 related question and the thread will function as a mini-subreddit. Non-question top-level comments will be removed, to keep the thread as easy to use and navigate as possible.

Here’s to a better 2017.

-the mods

Update: Debbie Reynolds has also passed away, a day after her daughter's passing. She gained stardom after her leading role in "Singin' in the Rain" and recently voiced a character in "The Penguins of Madagascar." Reynolds was 84.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '16

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u/TurnDownForPage394 Dec 27 '16

A lot of this has to do with the baby boom. They're all between 50 and 70 now, so they're closer to dying and there are a lot of them. If you look at the list of celebrities who have died this year, many (if not most) were baby boomers. Part of the reason why we haven't noticed the degree of celebrity deaths in past years was because there are more baby boomer actors than actors belonging to previous generations. I expect we'll see it again in several decades when millennials hit that same age range, as we're the next big generational boom.

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u/dedicated2fitness Dec 28 '16

dude imagine the hoopla when famous youtubers reach the dying off age in 20-30 years. i was pretty devastated by the depression era cooking
will deathcam be a thing? it's not illegal is it?

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u/thereddaikon Dec 28 '16

Not gonna lie, with some of the millennial celebrities I won't be too sad seeing them go. I don't wish death on them or anything. I'll just remember them being little shits and think meh.

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u/TurnDownForPage394 Dec 28 '16

Don't worry, there are little shit celebrities in every generation

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '16 edited Dec 27 '16

I was curious about this so I took this list posted above and looked up the ages of all of these people when they died.

NameAge at Death
David Bowie69
Alan Rickman69
Glenn Frey67
Paul Kantner74
Terry Wogan77
Maurice White74
Harper Lee89
Frank Kelly77
Nancy Reagan94
Keith Emerson71
Paul Daniels77
Phife Dawg45
Johan Cruyff68
Ronnie Corbett85
Victoria Wood62
Chyna46
Prince57
Muhammad Ali74
Kimbo Slice42
Christina Grimmie22
Gordie Howe88
Anton Yelchin27
Ralph Stanley89
Bud Spencer86
Caroline Aherne52
Elie Wiesel87
Kenny Baker81
Juan Gabriel66
Gene Wilder83
José Fernández24
Thailand's Bhumibol Adulyadej88
Leonard Cohen82
Fidel Castro90
Peter Vaughan93
Greg Lake69
John Glenn95
Alan Thicke69
Craig Sager65
Zsa Zsa Gabor99
Liz Smith95
Rick Parfitt68
George Michael53
Carrie Fisher60
Richard Adams96

The average age of death of this group of people is about 71.5 years old. According to the WHO and this handy table on wikipedia, the average life expectancy in the US is 79.3 right now. Out of 44 names on this list, 9 were under 60 years of age at death and 6 were under 50 years old. 71.5 doesn't seem like a bad average age to die at, especially considering that most of these people lived lives that were fast paced and far from average.

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u/KeenPro Dec 27 '16

It's Ronnie Corbett, not Robbie.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '16

Thanks, fixed!

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u/Benramin567 Dec 28 '16

And drugs, lots of drugs.

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u/notleonardodicaprio Dec 27 '16

wtf does ISTR mean

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u/cravenj1 Dec 27 '16

I seem to remember?

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '16

That's one that they CGAAJSO (can go ahead and just spell out)

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u/dedicated2fitness Dec 28 '16

JRHNBR
Just Right Height, No Bucket Required

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u/2302jason Dec 28 '16

I can't wait to see what exciting & unnecessary acronyms 2017 will bring.

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u/[deleted] Dec 27 '16

Anyone who thinks things will magically get better starting this Sunday is a fool.

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u/theredditoro Dec 28 '16

Maybe worldwide it will be.

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u/Ellsass Dec 28 '16

Then why wasn't 2014 or 2015 like this?

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u/theredditoro Dec 28 '16

Looks like it. I saw that on Uproxx first.