Thanks for the memories

Thought I would do my end of year “Stars We Lost” list again. It was such a hit last year! Um, with all three of you. Thank you my fabulous three! Thank you for reading this girl’s blog. Still not stoppin, not letting the elevator break.me.down.

So while I felt this year was quite lame compared to the amount of shocking deaths in 2009, it was a year that the TV stars decided to croak. And it is amazing the amount of wives or husbands they had! And not in the polygamous way.

Here we go. In a complete order of randomness, which is my middle name. Oh, no wait, that is Veronica.

1. Dixie Carter (1939 – 2010) A southern woman after my own heart. To be honest, she was mainly Julia Sugarbaker to me from the TV hit Designing Women. Number of husbands: 3

2. Rue McClanahan (1934 – 2010) Another southern gal! Ahh, how we loved Blanche from The Golden Girls! The second hit TV show about four women, actually I would have loved to see Blanche and Julia go head to head. Rue was born in Oklahoma AND majored in German and Theatre. She was also on her sixth husband when she died. What an inspiration! Number of husbands: 6

3. Alexander McQueen (1969 – 2010) He was British! He created gorgeous designs! What is not to love? His clients included Sarah Jessica Parker, Penelope Cruz, Mikhail Gorbachev and Prince Charles. Sadly, on the morning of Feb. 11, he took his own life, found hanged in his wardrobe. Your beauty and inspiration to fashion will be missed Mr. McQueen. Number of husbands: 1

4. Dennis Hopper (1936 – 2010) Whenever I think of Dennis Hopper I think of cool. Right? I mean how could you not with him starring in Easy Rider (which he also directed). Add to the fact that he made his debut in Rebel Without a Cause and Giant, you just know he’s gonna be a star. He dabbled in a little bit of everything; movies, TV (Bonanza, The Twilight Zone) but he was also a prolific painter, photographer and sculptor. With a camera bought for him from his first wife he created the cover art for the Ike & Tina Turner single River Deep – Mountain High. Ride on Mr. Hopper. Number of  wives: 5

5. Gary Coleman ( 1968 – 2010) Four words – “What’choo talkin’ ’bout Willis.”  RIP Gary Coleman. Number of wives: 1

6. Tony Curtis (1925 – 2010)  When I think of Tony Curtis, I think of his marriage to Janet Leigh (actress from Psycho) and their famous daughter Jamie Lee Curtis. But the movie Some Like It Hot was a brilliant and hilarious performance with Jack Lemmon and Marilyn Monroe. Have you seen it? You should. Number of wives: 5

7. Leslie Nielsen (1926 – 2010) Maybe it is the fact that his film debut was for Ransom! (NOT with Mel G.) in 1956 or it could be his deadpan comedy in Airplane, but I liked him.  “Nice beaver”, “Thanks I just had it stuffed last week” – and “Surely, you can’t be serious”, “I am serious. And don’t call me Shirley” are on my list of favorite movie quotes that if you are a close friend of mine, you must have heard me say. Number of wives: 4

8. Corey Haim (1971 – 2010) Ahhh, Corey Haim!! The Lost Boys! No wonder I am a freak for Edward… Hello, Twilight. Yes, keep up. I tore pics of him (we are back to Corey now) from Tiger Beat and pasted them inside my closet door. Oh, that was a GREAT door. LOVED the movie Lucas. He never married but did date many famous ladies; Alyssa Milano, Drew Barrymore, Nicole Eggert, even Victoria Beckham. Sadly, he accidentally overdosed on a concoction of Valium, Vicodin, Soma and Haloperidol. RIP Lost Boy. Number of wives: 0

9. Tom Bosley (1927 – 2010) The loveable dad of Richie and Joanie. Please tell me you know I am talking about Howard Cunningham from Happy Days. My parents liked him on Murder, She Wrote as Sheriff Amos Tupper. Number of wives: 2

10. J.D. Salinger (1919 – 2010) I know I mentioned in no certain order but I guess I saved the best for last. J.D. Salinger touched so many lives with his writing. The Catcher in the Rye is a fantastically superb novel featuring Holden Caulfield which Salinger later admitted “the novel was sort of autobiographical”. I have also read Nine Stories which is a collection of short stories, sometimes I don’t get short stories, I mean, they are so short. Number of wives: 3

The final count of husbands and wives from the Top 10 list of celebs that died in 2010: 30

And to bid adieu, with the perfect quote from The Catcher in the Rye:

Boy, when you’re dead, they really fix you up.  I hope to hell when I do die somebody has sense enough to just dump me in the river or something.  Anything except sticking me in a goddamn cemetery.  People coming and putting a bunch of flowers on your stomach on Sunday, and all that crap.  Who wants flowers when you’re dead?  Nobody.   ~ Holden Caulfield