Since coming to school, many of us have been shocked and dismayed by the deaths of three beloved entertainers: music legend Warren Zevon, comedic actor John Ritter, and Johnny Cash, possibly the coolest man who has ever lived.
Zevon’s unique brand of rock music brought us such songs as “Excitable Boy,” about a prom night rape and murder, “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner,” an ode to a decapitated Norwegian soldier of fortune, and his most famous song, “Werewolves of London,” about werewolves who prowl the SoHo singles scene.
Zevon died last week at age 56 after a yearlong fight against inoperable lung cancer. “I made a tactical error by not seeing a physician for 20 years,” he explained to longtime friend Dave Letterman on Letterman’s show last year.
His final album, “The Wind,” released last month, drew praise from critics and fans alike.
John Ritter, known mostly by our generation through reruns of the kooky ’70s sitcom “Three’s Company,” collapsed unexpectedly last week because of an undetected heart problem while filming his ABC comedy “8 Simple Rules … For Dating My Teenage Daughter.” He was taken to a hospital, but despite the efforts of surgeons to save his life, died at age 54.
Son of Western film star and country musician Tex Ritter, Ritter hit the big time on “Three’s Company,” a show about a goofy bachelor who pretended to be gay so he could live with his two female roommates. The show regularly enjoyed high ratings, but was hampered because of off-stage problems between Ritter and co-star Suzanne Somers. Somers was eventually written off the show, but reconciled with Ritter before his death.
Cash, whose brusque demeanor and rebellious looks made him an icon for decades, died last Friday at the age of 71 due to complications from diabetes.
Recently, Cash enjoyed mainstream success for the first time in years by covering the Nine Inch Nails song “Hurt” on his most recent album “American IV: The Man Comes Around.” The video for “Hurt,” which displays old home footage of Cash visiting his childhood home and stowing away on boxcars interspersed with a recreation of the crucifixion, was nominated for six MTV Video Music Awards, winning one.
Cash’s career spanned over five decades, and was marked by memorable songs such as “Folsom Prison Blues,” “I Walk the Line,” and “Ring of Fire.”
He also had several cameos and guest appearances on television shows, including a recurring role in “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman” as an aging Old West gunslinging lawman. He guest-starred on the show with his second wife, June Carter Cash, who died in May.
The deaths of these three notable entertainers serve as clarion calls to all, reminding each and every one of us of our own mortality. As Cash sang roughly and unsteadily sang in his most recent hit, “Hurt,” “Everyone I know goes away in the end.”
Indeed, Johnny. Indeed.
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