Two icons...

In the entertainment world there is a superstition which has become somewhat folklore. That when a famous entertainmer dies, they are preceded or followed by others to the total of three. This belief was started (so I was told many years ago by my Grandmother) by the death of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens and The Big Bopper in the one aircraft accident in the 1950's .

Strangely and sadly enough this morning two people who I 'grew up with' have passed away in tragic circumstances.


FERRAH LENI 'FARRAH' FAWCETT
February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009

Farrah (Ferrah) Leni Fawcett-Majors, one time model, actress and pop culture icon passed away, from complications due to cancer, this morning at the age of 62. It was expected for a few weeks now, and the public nature of her demise makes it no less tragic, and yet not as much of a specatcle as one would think. Almost as the opposite of some of the paparazzi-hounded tragedies of recent years, this one seemed to be served with a certain piognancy, a certain respect.

Her career was meteoric at it's outset, with commercials, leading to guest spots on popular sitcoms of the day (such as 'I Dream Of Jeannie', 'The Flying Nun' and 'The Patridge Family') and, with new husband Lee Majors, 'The Six Million Dollar Man'. There was much conjecture that she had been considered to play Jamie Summers (Majors' love interest in The Bionic Woman episodes) but these have not been substantiated. Her rise seemed unstoppable as she co-starred in the 1970's hit show 'Charlie's Angels' as Detective Jill Munroe, a role which cemented her iconic place in pop culture. Her poster image/s adorned the walls of thousands of bars and teenagers bedrooms, her hairsyle copied by countless teenage girls over the world. After she left Charlie's Angels (and the court-case surrounding her early departure had quickly faded), Fawcett moved to more dramatic roles, moving through well-know films such as 'Myra Breckinridge', 'Logan's Run', 'Saturn 3' and 'Cannonball Run', finally seeming to gavitate towards those of abused/infamous women in; 'Extremities' 'The Burning Bed', 'Between Two Women', 'Nazi Hunter', 'Poor Little Rich Girl', and 'Small Sacrifices'.

Her acting career never faltered through any cause except choice, even surviving a narcotics arrest in the . At times she eschewed the screen and stage to collaborate with artists, and even tried her hand at backing Broadway productions. When the mood struck she would happily appear on popular TV series' such as 'Ally McBeal' and 'Spin City' (in their heydays). Her final production was a documentary, following her secondary cancer diagnosis and subseqyent treatments, along with a fly-on-the-wall perspective of her life throughout this time, made by Rod Stewart's ex-wife Alana Stewart.

Farrah Fawcett died on June 25th, 2009 in Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California. Alana Stewart and Fawcett's long-time partner, since 1982, Ryan O-Neal was at her side only a week after admitting on air to Barbara Walters that Farrah had finally agreed to marry him (after years of his asking).

She is survived by her son Redmond and her Fiancee, Ryan O'Neal.

She was 62.

"God made man stronger but not necessarily more intelligent. He gave women intuition and femininity. And, used properly, that combination easily jumbles the brain of any man I’ve ever met." - Farrah Fawcett.


Secondly, sadly, and suddenly...


MICHAEL JOSEPH JACKSON
August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009

Rarely has there been an individual who has had the effect on popular music that this one man had. His talent is mentioned in the same breath as Elvis Presley and John Lennon.

Michael Joseph Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, to Joseph Walter 'Joe' Jackson and Katherine Esther née Scruse, in 1958. He was the seventh son of a nine-children family. At the age of 6, Jackson was performing for his family and as he grew older, becamse involved in the vocal groups started by various members of his family. The abuse he (and his performing siblings) suffered at the hands of their father is well documented and need only be mentioned here as a notew that it affected Michael for the rest of his life. He performed with his brothers in the final incarnation of their early vocal groups, called The Jackson 5, and won a talent contest with a rendition of James Brown's hit 'I Got You (I Feed Good)'. They signed with Motown Records in 1968 allegedly at the urging, and recommendation, of another of Motwon's stars, Diana Ross. The Jackson 5 released a string of hits, and four albums between 1968 and 1975, when they left for CBS Records. They had grown out of their bubblegum phase (Songs such as 'ABC' and 'I'll Be There' are excellent examples of the safe early Motown style which made them a household name) and started exploring the burgeoning disco/dance craze. This was to be their transition into a more adult and mainstream music, which shaped Michael's perception of entertainment for years to come.

Songs such as 'Shake Your Body Down' and the anthemic 'Can You Feel It' telegraphed Michael's new direction and as the group grew, Michael also grew away from them. His first adult solo album 'Off The Wall' garnered him praose, awards and chart-topping singles, though not the success that Micahel thought it could have been when compared to the effort he felt that he put into it. He was determined to exceed the sales and success of the album, and continued this trend for each album he wrote, performed and produced thereafter. His follow-up album, 'Thriller' is touted as being the best selling album of all time with sales around 109 million worldwide. It was with this album, and it's debut single, 'Billie Jean' that Michael cemented his place in the popular music patheon by not only performing the song live on television (with people equating this performance to that of Elvis, or the Beatles on Ed Sullivan), but also totally re-imaging the field, production values, complexity and polish of music promotional video clips, something that he became known for and was in effect a form of signature. People not only love the music, but they hungered to see what style of music video he would give the world for each subsequent single release. The song 'Thriller' was accompanied by a 20 minute music video 'mini-movie' (at the time the longest promotional music clip in history, and indeed is still seen as the mark to which all others are measured) and sales of that video cassette almost eclipsed that of the single release itself. The debut on Australian Television broke all viewing records at the time.

He was not only known for his talent, but his philanthopic works. His support of drug and alcohol charities garnered him a Presendential Award in 1984. In 1984 he also wrote the anthemic 'We Are The World' with Lional Ritchie, in answer to Band-Aid's 'Do They Know It's Christmas' in support of the African famine.

Jackson appeared in the film of the African-American version of the The Wizard Of Oz, 'The Wiz' as the Scarecrow, and in the Francis FordCoppola directed 'Captain EO' for Disney. He lent his voice to a charecter in 'The Simpsons' and has been known worldwide as The King Of Pop due to his single handed effect on the popular music industry.

His post-'Thriller' albums such as 'Bad', and 'Dangerous' showed a dazzingly range of talent from performing to producing which has rarely been rivalled. 'HIStory', unfortunately, didn't fare so well, and is noted by analysts as being the beginning of the decline of Michael's popularity.

His personal life was more turbulent, and has been dissected in minutae in the poplar/tabloid media. Suffice to say that allegations toward Michael Jackson were never proved in any court. Witnesses either dropped the criminal cases (after receiving a cash settlement in a civil case), or denied any accusations levelled by a very few persons. There are many instances attricuted to Jacksons personal life which are either exaggerated or simply tabloid fodder. Whilst some of his actions could be called into question, there is still the feeling of a benign innocence and non-comprehension as to why these actions could be deemed to be suspicious. As some in the entertainment industry have said: "The proof of his guilt is in his conviction." There were never any convictions. However, the court of popular opinion did more harm to Jackson than any court could have done. His career stalled in the mid 2000's, with climbing debt and poor sales, Jackson even sold his much-loved Neverland Ranch to make good on his financial affairs. He recently announced a set of performances (noted by some to be the beginning of a comeback tour) in the London O2 Arena. he had recently sold out 50 shows in the one venue (something that had not been done by any one artist with any one venue of that size in the history of popular music).

In the lead up to this marathon series of shows, Michael Jackson enlisted the assistance of body-builder Lou Ferrigno, to get him back into performing shape. The exercise regimine was not known, but it was during the preparations for this concert series that Michael Jackson suffered a massive cardiac arrest on the morning of June 25th. He fell into a coma and died shortly after being rushed to UCLA Medical Center that afternoon.

Michael is survived by two ex-wives, Lisa Marie Presley (daughter of Elvis Presley) and Debbie Rowe, and his three children: Michael Joseph

Jackson, Jr. (also known as 'Prince'); a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince Michael Jackson II (also known as 'Blanket')

He was 50 years of age.

"I've been in the entertainment industry since I was six-years-old... As Charles Dickens says, 'It's been the best of times, the worst of times.' But I would not change my career... While some have made deliberate attempts to hurt me, I take it in stride because I have a loving family, a strong faith and wonderful friends and fans who have, and continue, to support me." - Michael Jackson



It's strange... but many people find an outpouring of grief toward a celebrity to be somewhat shallow, especially when compared to other events on the planet. The situation in Iran, Zimbabwe, North Korea, airline crashes, hostages, Somalian pirates, earthquakes, it's all tragic - especially to those intimately connected to these events. That, however, is my point. Intimacy and connection. It's not just the cult of celebrity which is the cause. It's the pseudo-intimacy that we have (even vicariously) through the media, which brings people together with these spotlighted individuals. We *know* these people, we have been privvy to many of their foibles, their triumphs, their failures, their scandals, and that equates in us a faux-personal knowledge. A falsely-based, yet no less real personal relationship. We invite them into our houses through TV and Radio and DVD, we integrate them, in many differing ways, into our lives and our daily experiences. They intersect our lives at (seemingly) pivotal points... a song playing when something important happens, an image on a TV in the background, these points imprint a shared intimacy which (whilst not real) is no less visceral.

These celebrities, whether they want to or not, become mainstays in our lives for the shared experiences we have with them. Thus, when something tragic happens, we grieve more profoundly with/for them, then we do for the thousands of other people who may suffer the same way, because we don't have that personal intimate perceived-relationship with them. Many people know a famous entertainer from film/TV/stage/music, in their homes, at work, in the papers. No one knows 100 unnamed people who we have never seen.

It doesn't make their passing less tragic, but it is less personal to those who don't know them.