It seems that there has been an on-slot of deaths among major celebrity and sports
figures in the first half of 2009.  The struggling world economy of a late has put
extra financial and social stress on people, in return causing a wave anxiety and in
many cases lost hope.  This might have an influence on the abnormally large
amount of deaths this year.  We have lost some legendary personalities, some
sparkling on stage, in the studio, or on the track.  Some of these cases involve
sudden and shocking passing, while others deaths included many years of poor
health.  We have truly lost some of the most legendary national personalities and
they will all be greatly missed.  This list will be discussing the lives of ten of the
most infamous celebrity deaths in 2009. 

David Carradine is a legendary American actor who was born in Hollywood,
California.  He appeared in more then 100 movies in his lifetime.  Carradine
made his motion picture debut in 1964 in the movie Taggart, a western
based on a novel by Louis L'Amour.  Carradine is probably most widely
known for his work on the 1970’s television series Kung Fu.  He starred as
Kwai Chang Caine and was nominated for an Emmy and Golden Globe for
his work.

This role instantly gave Carradine a reputation as a wonderful mixed martial
arts character actor.  He became internationally known, especially in many
Asian countries that enjoy Kung Fu cinema.  In recent years he starred in
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill films, portraying the title character of Bill.  He
was an intense man that took his profession seriously.  He was truly one of
the greatest supporting actors of the last fifty years.  On June 4, 2009 David
Carradine was found dead in his hotel room while shooting a film in central
Bangkok, Thailand.  Police reports say that he was found hanging by a rope
in the room’s closet.

His body was found curled up with one end of a shoelace tied around his
penis and the other end around his neck.  Investigators ruled his death
accidental and not a suicide.  It is believed to be autoerotic asphyxiation
leading to an autoerotic fatality.  However, there are some inconsistencies in
the case as Carradine’s hands were tied behind his back when found.  Some
people have claimed a conspiracy, as Carradine was apparently attempting
to uncover groups working in the martial-arts underworld.                       

Billy Mays was an American television direct-response advertisement
salesman.  He was the most recognizable and successful man in the
business.  Thousands of potential inventors would contact Mays looking for
advertising expertise, many wanting to launch and expand their product
base.  His distinctive beard and loud sales pitches made Billy Mays widely
recognizable in the United States.  Some of his most noted products are
OxiClean, Orange Glo, and various television bits, including a spot for
ESPN Direct.

He was the director and founder of the successful company Mays
Promotions, Inc.  In April of 2009, The Discovery Channel began airing the
show Pitchmen, a documentary series which chronicled Mays and his
business.  He was routinely recognized as one of the hardest working men
in advertising and the business world.  Television direct-response is an
enormously profitable and large consumer market.

Billy Mays was found unresponsive by his wife in his Tampa, Florida home
on the morning of June 28.  He is assumed to have passed away sometime
overnight.  Medical examiners have stated that he suffered from a
hypertensive heart disease and that a heart attack was the likely cause of his
death.  It has been determined that heart disease was Billy Mays "primary
cause of death" and cocaine was listed as a "contributory cause of
death."       

On April 14, 1912, the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage and
sank in less than three hours.  The crash resulted in the deaths of 1,517
passengers, making it one of the most deadly peacetime maritime disasters
in history.  Millvina Dean was born in London, only nine weeks before the
disaster.  The entire Dean family boarded the Titanic as third-class
passengers on there way to settle in Wichita, Kansas.  Dean was barely two
months old when she boarded the doomed vessel.  During the sinking, she
was one of the first to board a lifeboat with her mother and brother, but her
father was killed.

Millvina lived a wonderfully full life and served in the British government
during the Second World War.  She also worked as a cartographer, a
secretary, and an assistant to a tobacconist.  Later in her life she contributed
too many Titanic-related events, including conventions, exhibitions,
documentaries, television and radio interviews, and personal
correspondence.  She died quietly in her sleep at the age of 97 and has the
legendary statues as the last survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic.  

Farrah Fawcett

Died - June 25, 2009

Age - 62 Years Old

Farrah Fawcett was an American movie actress who became internationally
famous in 1976 when she played Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's
Angels.  Farrah was an international sex symbol in the 1970’s and 80’s and
had a profound impact on millions of teenagers and an entire generation.
She was recognized by her famously admired hairstyle.  Fawcett has the
best selling pin-up poster of all time, originally published in Life magazine in
1976.  The poster has sold more then $12 million copies to date.

Later in her life she became a well respected actress and received multiple
Golden Globe and Emmy nominations.  Some of her famous roles were in
the movies The Burning Bed, Extremities, Between Two Women, Nazi
Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, and Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara
Hutton Story.  She also had a successful stint on Broadway.  Sadly, in 2006
she was diagnosed with anal cancer.  She began treatment, which included
chemotherapy and surgery.  She was cancer free for a while, but then had a
malignant polyp return.

Fawcett traveled to Germany and had various unique forms of treatment.
The cancer traveled to her liver and in April of 2009 she was rushed to the
hospital unconscious and in critical condition.  She passed away on June 25
at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.                            

Rob Gauntlett grew up in England at Petworth, West Sussex and attended
the independent boarding school Christ’s Hospital.  As a child he loved
discovery and adventure.  After his graduation, Gauntlett decided to take a
cycle ride from Bilbao to Istanbul.  He was in excellent physical condition
and worked out vigorously.  Rob was an explorer and adventurer, he loved
to climb mountains and perform various extreme sports.  He was also an
incredible motivational speaker and would travel around speaking about
expeditions, but always making sure to emphasize safety.

Gauntlett was an extreme individual and in 2006 he became the youngest
British climber to summit Everest, a week after his 19th birthday.  Between
April 8, 2007 and October 9, 2007 Gauntlett and a fellow explorer made a
180º expedition from North to South Magnetic Poles.  They did this using
only human and natural power.  The goal of the expedition was to help raise
the awareness of climate change.  On this journey they traveled by ski, dog
sled, sail boat, bicycle, automobile, and many miles by foot.

In 2008, he was named as one of the National Geographic Society’s
Adventurers of the Year.  In January of 2009 Gauntlett took a vacation to
France and on January 9th he set out with a friend to do some ice climbing
at Chamonix in the Alps.  During the climb something went horribly wrong
and the two men accidentally fell to their death.  The weather was not great,
but it is uncertain what happened on the mountain.

Natasha Richardson was an English stage actress and member of the fifth-
generation theatrical dynasty Redgrave family.  She was born in London and
grew up surrounded by theatrical arts and a supportive family.  Richardson
was an award winning theatrical actress.  She was a Broadway regular and
most famous for her role as Sally Bowles in the 1998 Broadway revival of
Cabaret.  Earlier in her career she starred in the revival of Anna Christie.

Natasha crossed over into major motion pictures and was featured in Nell,
The Parent Trap, and Maid in Manhattan.  She was married to actor Liam
Neeson and they have two boys.  In her life Natasha helped raise millions of
dollars for AIDS research and other various charities.  On March 16, 2009,
Richardson sustained a serious head injury, when she fell while taking a
skiing lesson at the Mont Tremblant Resort in Quebec.  The accident was
followed by a lucid interval, when she felt like she was fine and refused
treatment.

She then went back to her hotel, but returned to the hospital three hours later
complaining of a headache.  Her condition quickly diminished and she was
flown to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, where she died on March
18.  Richardson suffered a epidural hematoma due to blunt impact to the
head.  She was a family woman and excellent mother.  Natasha’s case has
taught everyone a grave lesson about how serious a head injury can be.  It
also raised safety measures at some national ski parks.   

Nick Adenhart was a starting pitching for the Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim.  He was drafted straight out of Williamsport High School in
Williamsport, Maryland as the 413th overall pick in the 14th round.  He was
originally slated as a Top 10 draft pick, but sustained an elbow injury two
weeks before the draft and had to have Tommy John surgery.  Adenhart
was a determined man and worked every day to become the best player he
could.  He was constantly perfecting his delivery and mechanics.

He steadily made his way through the miners and coming into the 2009
season he was the #1 prospect in the Angels organization.  Adenhart
opened the 2009 season as the third starter in the Angles’ rotation.  On April
8, 2009, in the opening week of the MLB season Adenhart pitched well
against the Oakland Athletics and recorded a no-decision.  He looked great
on the mound and his career was in full swing.  Later that evening, shortly
after midnight on April 9, Adenhart was killed in a car accident in Fullerton,
California.

An individual driving a red Toyota Sienna minivan ran a red light, hitting the
gray Mitsubishi Eclipse that Adenhart was riding in.  Three of the four people
in his car were killed and Nick suffered fatal internal injuries.  The driver of
Toyota fled the scene, but was later apprehended and is being put on trial
accused of three-counts of murder. 

Michael Jackson is one of the greatest musicians of all time.  His record
sales and award nominations dominate all others and he is widely
considered the “most successful entertainer of all time.”  He has thirteen
Grammy Awards, thirteen #1 singles in his solo career, and has sold over
$750 million records worldwide.  He made his professional music debut in
1971 at the age of 11 as a member of the Jackson 5.  Jackson was also a
renowned philanthropist and supported 39 different charities, raising millions
of dollars for the less fortunate.

Michael clearly struggled with mental problems at times in his life, facing
celebrity downfall in his final days.  On June 25, paramedics responded to
Jackson’s house after he suddenly collapsed and stopped breathing.  He
entered into cardiac arrest and died at the hospital within the hour.  Jackson
apparently passed away one hour after receiving an injection of Demerol, a
well known painkiller.  His friends say that he was addicted to the drug and
that his health had been fading of late.

In the days following his death, many stories were been written claiming
various inconsistencies with his autopsy and final will.  A day of worldwide
mourning was observed and Michael’s record sales soared once again.  The
week after his death, eleven different Michael Jackson and Jackson 5
albums made appearances in the Top 100 on national charts.    

Jeremy was born in San Diego and became a professional freestyle motocross
rider when he was 19-years-old.  Lusk made an instant impact on the sport and
was winning numerous competitions of late.  In 2008, he won the gold at the X
Games in motocross freestyle and best trick competitions.  He was also
awarded the bronze helmet at the 2008 Moto X World Championships.  On
February 7, 2009, Jeremy Lusk crashed while trying to land a “Hart Attack
Indian air back flip.”  He was performing in a freestyle motocross competition
in San Jose, Costa Rica. 

He under-rotated the flip which caused his front wheel to strike the landing,
subsequently throwing him head-first off the bike.  He suffered extreme brain
damage and three days after the crash entered into cardiac and respiratory
failure.  In the weeks before his death Jeremy had the words “In God’s
Hands” tattooed across his chest.  His sudden and devastating death took
everyone by surprise and the impact was felt all over the world.

Las Vegas, Nevada is a tourist spectacle that has an incredible demand for
magic shows, concerts, theatre, and various forms of entertainment.  Danny
Gans was born in Los Angeles, California and attended Cal Poly University
at San Luis Obispo.  He was drafted by the Chicago White Sox, but his
baseball career came to an end when he tore his Achilles tendon while
fielding a ground ball.  In 1995, he created a one-man comedy show.  He
was a talented singer and vocal impressionist.  He was billed as The Man of
Many Voices.  In 2000, he signed a $150 million dollar contract with the
Mirage Hotel, which is located in Vegas.

His show was truly remarkable and Gans was named Las Vegas Entertainer
of the Year a record 11 times in a row.  On May 1st, 2009, authorities
received a phone call claiming that Danny Gans was having trouble
breathing.  Paramedics attempted to treat an unresponsive Gans, but he
was declared dead at the scene.  He died of a heart attack caused by a high
toxicity of hydromorphone, which is a pain relieving opiate.  Gans had been
prescribed the drug and he was diagnosed with chronic pain syndrome.  He
had a pre-existing heart condition that also played a role in the accident. 

Other Notable 2009 Deaths

Ray - September 22, 2010

It’s so sad that we all have to die, some young and some old.  It is a sad world we
live in, just make the most while we are here and enjoy what we have.

Bryan - September 30, 2010
Well Said.