THE RECENT demise of screen icon and legendary beauty Elizabeth Taylor has prompted us to recall how other movie greats were mourned by their fans when they passed away. Instructively, the stars most deeply missed and fervently remembered even decades after their deaths have tended to be luminaries who died relatively young, or under controversial circumstances.
When Rudolf Valentino died in the 1930s, his many fans were so shocked and anguished that a few of them even committed suicide, so they could be with their idol “for eternity.” For many years after his death, other fans would continue to place flowers and light candles on his grave.
The most untimely death of James Dean was bitterly mourned, because he died in a car crash when he was only in his 20s, and after acting in just three or four films. But his talent was so exceptional and incendiary that, despite that exceedingly meager output, he continues to be regarded as one of US cinema’s enduring thespian icons.
Intense, too, was the grief expressed when Marilyn Monroe passed away in a still controversial case of death due to drug overdose. She was the silver screen’s most celebrated sexpot—but that didn’t explain why she was so popular.
People appreciated how she had struggled to successfully transform herself from just a sex kitten into an outstanding actress, who could hold her own in scenes with the best in the business.
For her part, Grace Kelly was famous for her cool blonde beauty and sophisticated roles, but her greatest claim to fame was her having become a true-blue princess when she married Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Like Dean, Princess Grace died in an automobile accident decades ago, but her tomb continues to be visited by people from all over the world when their tours take them to the Principality of Monaco.
In the field of rock music, many famous singers have passed away, but Elvis Presley’s death is still the most intensely mourned by his fans, who even hold an annual event at his Graceland mansion to pay tribute to him.
Much more recently, Michael Jackson’s own demise shocked the world, resulting in a posthumous resurgence in his popularity and album and movie sales.
Many fans rued the fact that he still had many great songs and performances in him, and chose to focus on his talent and achievements, instead of on the many controversies that hounded him for much of his adult life.
Heath Ledger was not as big a star as Jackson and Presley, but his most untimely death a few years ago also shocked movie fans because, like James Dean, he died at the peak of his career.
Elizabeth Taylor’s recent death was significantly different from many of these stellar departures because she had lived a full life and done more than her share to grace the world with her finest performances, her humanitarian advocacies, and her great beauty and feisty personality. Like other “deathless” stars cited here, she now belongs to the cinematic ages.