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Did More Celebs Die This Year—or Does It Just Feel That Way?

Wed., Oct. 14, 2009 9:42 PM PDT by Leslie Gornstein

Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, DJ AM (Adam Goldstein), Patrick Swayze, John Hughes, Walter Cronkite

Pool Photographer/Getty Images; Jason Merritt/Getty Images; Jeff Kravitz/Getty Images; Mike Marsland/Getty Images; Paul Natkin/Getty Images; PBS

Just read about Captain Lou Albano dying. This really is the year of death for celebs, isn't it?
—RK12, via the Answer B!tch inbox

Year? Well, it's only October. Give the Grim Reaper through mid-November at least, sheesh.

Besides, you aren't in sync with the lingo; Twitterers have declared this past season the Summer of Death, and, indeed, statistics do indicate that the hot months of 2009 were a serious hotbed of death and deathlike activity. Ricardo Montalban died in January, but there was no wave of celebrity deaths in that month—on Fantasy Island or anywhere else—and it's too soon to say whether Albano's death will usher in a tragedy trend for the fall. But between Michael Jackson, DJ AM, Patrick Swayze, Farrah Fawcett, Walter Cronkite, John Hughes and Billy Mays—not to mention Albano—there is indeed evidence that the summer proved slightly more hazardous for the famous...

Take a look at the numbers and decide for yourself. There's a service called Celebrity Death Beeper, and, as the name suggests, it pings you when someone of note dies, in a noteworthy manner or not. And the Beeper people have said that, with about 31 deaths over this past summer—compared with roughly 29 in 2007 and 23 in 2008—the season proved deadlier, albeit not horrifically so. (That isn't to say that the deaths of George Carlin in June 2008 or Merv Griffin in July 2007 were any less notable or sad. They just weren't part of a catchy phenomenon like the Twitter Summer of Death.)

So why does it seem like there have been more deaths lately? Well, let's not forget one very serious factor: You're getting more news than ever before, including the deathy kind. Even as little as a few years ago, it was harder to find out exactly who was dead and of what. Sure, we had the 24-hour news cycle, but phenomena like Twitter have allowed a certain type of impatient person to learn about deaths they otherwise might have missed. And ever since Michael Jackson's death—come on, face it: More of you are actually focusing on stories of dying celebrities than you have in years past.

In other words, deaths have always happened (breaking news: you are dying right now), but were you always paying attention?

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So much talk of death. How about some lively counterprogramming with our Baby Bumpin' gallery!