I think that’s the thing - 70s…the mind has been wiped other than athletes and musicians.
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I don’t think anyone has posted this yet. Netflix has a series, “Famous Last Words,” and Steinem is their newest episode. A guy interviews a celebrity who is elderly or has a terminal illness in a studio with remotely-operated cameras. The cameras don’t pick up sound, so the only person who knows what the celebrity says is the interviewer. Then at the end, even the interviewer leaves the room so the celebrity can say whatever they want, knowing nobody will hear their words until after their death. I think it’s a cool concept. They’ve done three interviews so far - the other two are Jane Goodall and Eric Dane (who died from ALS). I watched all three shows this week.
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What’s your favorite Bob Mackie gown? Here’s mine
And while not at the top of my favorite Cher dresses, I did love her quip as she presented the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, “As you can see, I did receive my Academy booklet on how to dress like a serious actress.” Dubbed the revenge dress long before Diana, many believed she was snubbed for not being nominated for Mask.
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He is a childhood memory for me as we always watched Carol Burnett and the Sonny and Cher show. I was just reading about him in the Hollywood Reporter and they mentioned this which I did not know.
It was Mackie who sketched out the flesh-colored beaded dress for designer Jean Louis that Marilyn Monroe wore when she sang “Happy Birthday” to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden in 1962.
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I just read that Bob Mackie also designed Barbra Streisand’s (in) famous sheer black gown. It was quite daring back in the day!
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RIP Peter Max.
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Sad.
Max was his middle name. His real last name was Finkelstein.
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Mike Sweetney, great Gtown hoops player, NBA player, and Yeshiva Assistant Coach, died at 43 the other day.
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I remember Mike Sweetney well from his Big East days. What I didn’t know is that he suffered from severe depression, including attempted suicide. He didn’t tell anyone. Years later, he started to talk. He became an advocate for suicide prevention. I’ve read that he was a devoted husband who loved his wife and kids more than anything else in the world. I think that’s what Mike Sweetney should be remembered for - and the fact that he saved lives by his suicide prevention work. He turned his personal pain into a helping hand for others in the same kind of pain.
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Didn’t know that back story. Very said. There was no cause of death listed. I hope it’s not that.
I was talking to my friend the other day, asking how his niece died. It was on face book.
He said, she took her own life…that she had mental health issues but they didn’t know so bad.
There is a stigma with discussing suicide - and perhaps it makes it worse. Everyone says if you know, talk to people - but it seems and I get why, an uncomfortable subject.
I doubt that his death was due to suicide. I believe he had won that battle. His father had also died young. Some health issues are hereditary.
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I always find it sad when people die young, whether it is an age universally considered young or just multiple decades short of a typical life expectancy. But I think it must be comforting for those left behind when their loved one made so much of their life and that impact is felt even after the person’s passing. And some people who lose loved ones in tragic circumstances will rally to fight to make sure those types of circumstances are prevented in the future, to keep others from losing their loved ones. A colleague lost her child to a hazing incident a year or two ago, and has already gotten stronger anti-hazing legislation passed and just started what (hopes to be) an annual fundraiser for hazing prevention.
I always admire people who take their own challenges to try and make the world a better place for others, whether it was ones own battles with suicide (a la Mike Sweetney) or others who help to prevent things (like suicide for those whose family members took their own lives, or hazing, etc.).
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And another young one, this one from cancer:
Editor Rose Friedman, who helped shape NPR’s cultural coverage, dies at 38
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/18/nx-s1-5973098/rose-friedman-dies
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This is heartbreaking:
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How sad … she was reportedly very close to him. Addiction is just so cruel.
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Such a pattern of addiction and early deaths with the children of so many celebrities.
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@kiddie - and with many non celebrities as well. They just don’t make headlines. Sadly, mental health and addiction issues are not uncommon.
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It’s a reflection of society. My brother was not the child of celebrities, nor was my friend’s son … among so many who have been lost to addiction. It’s not new (my great uncles died as the result of their addictions), but I do think that people are increasingly willing to publicly discuss their own losses.
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