So Long, Farewell...

Death is always a tragic thing. When you hear of a celebrity dying, the reaction can range to one of mild interest or surprise (if it's someone you aren't very keen on) to complete shock (if it's someone you're a fan of, or someone quite young, or both). Yes, folks, it's that time again - time to see who we lost to The Grim Reaper this year. Quite a few surprises, too.

• Alexander McQueen, designer
• Art Linkletter
• Barbara Billingsley
• Dino De Laurentiis
• Dennis Hopper
• Christopher Cazenove 
• Simon McCorkindale
• Corey Haim
• Dixie Carter (This shocked me!)
• Eddie Fisher
• Doug Fieger of The Knack
• Fess Parker
• Gary Coleman (another shocker)
• George Steinbrenner
• Gloria Stuart
• James MacArthur (Danno, from Hawaii Five-O)
• J.D. Salinger
• Jean Simmons
• Joan Sutherland
• Jill Clayburgh (shocker number three)
• Captain Beefheart
• Jamie Gillis
• Lionel Jeffries
• John Forsythe
• Lena Horne
• Lynn Redgrave
• Justin Mentell
• Maury Chaykin
• Mitch Miller
• Paul Gray (Slipknot)
• Pernell Roberts
• Peter Graves
• Rich Cronin (LFO)
• Patricia Neal
• Robert Culp
• Ronnie James Dio
• Tom Bosley
• Teddy Pendergrass
• Rue McClanahan
• Tony Curtis
• Solomon Burke
• Chris 'Champagne' Kanyon (pro wrestler fired by Vince McMahon due to his homosexuality)

And the ones that really shocked me...

Greg Giraldo, stand-up comic and judge on Last Comic Standing. On September 25, 2010, Giraldo overdosed on prescription medication. After he failed to appear for a scheduled performance at the Stress Factory, police officers found him in his hotel room at the Hyatt Hotel in New Brunswick, New Jersey, and rushed him to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in that town. TMZ reported that he had been in a coma for four days when his family had life support removed. He died on September 29, 2010. He was 44.

Manute Bol (October 16, 1962 - June 19, 2010) was a Sudanese-born basketball player and activist. Until the debut of Gheorghe Mureşan, Bol was undisputedly the tallest player ever to appear in the National Basketball Association. Bol was believed to have been born on October 16, 1962 in either Turalie or Gogrial, Sudan. He was the son of a Dinka tribal chief, who gave him the name "Manute," which means "special blessing." Manute Bol was 7 ft 7 in (2.31 m) and 225 lb (102 kg). In 1985 Bol was drafted in the second round by the Washington Bullets. He played in the NBA for ten years, from 1985-1995, spending parts of four seasons with the Bullets, parts of three with the Golden State Warriors, parts of four with the Philadelphia 76ers and part of one season with the Miami Heat. In 1987, the Washington Bullets drafted the 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) point guard Muggsy Bogues, pairing the tallest and shortest players in league history on the court for one season. Bol was very active in charitable causes throughout his career. In fact, he says he spent much of the money he made during a 10-year NBA career supporting various causes related to his war-ravaged nation of birth, Sudan. He frequently visited Sudanese refugee camps, where he was treated like royalty. More recently, Bol has been involved in the April 2006 Sudan Freedom Walk, a three-week march from the United Nations building in New York to the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C.. The event was organized by Simon Deng, a former Sudanese swimming champion (currently a lifeguard at Coney Island) who is a longtime friend of Bol. Deng, who was a slave for three years from the age of nine, is from another tribe in Southern Sudan.  On June 19, 2010, Bol died of complications from Stevens–Johnson syndrome at the University of Virginia Medical Center in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Robert Schimmel (January 16, 1950 – September 3, 2010) was an American stand-up comedian whose material was often X-rated and controversial. He was perhaps best known for his comedy albums and his appearances on HBO and The Howard Stern Show. Schimmel is number 76 on the 2004 program Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-Ups Of All Time. Schimmel cited Lenny Bruce as his all-time comedy hero. Schimmel incorporated any aspect of his personal life into his act, even his cancer and the death of his son. In one signature bit, Schimmel joked about making obscene suggestions to a lady from the Make-a-Wish Foundation.    On August 26, 2010, while travelling on Interstate Highway 10 in Phoenix, Arizona, Schimmel was involved in a major car accident that left him in a very serious condition. Aliyah, Schimmel`s 19-year-old daughter, was driving with her brother also in the car. Sources say Aliyah swerved to avoid an accident in her lane and lost control of the vehicle which rolled over. It came to a stop on its side on the shoulder of the freeway. Aliyah Schimmel was hospitalized and is in stable condition. Schimmel’s son was not injured. On September 3, 2010, Robert Schimmel died of his injuries.

Fare thee well...