Given they hype surrounding dead celebrities and icons in 2016, we thought it was time to bring back our Are They Dead question.
It is part of The Gurgler’s Crap Fantales section. This is where we celebrate the forgotten people and things from back in the day. Things and people that wouldn’t necessarily make a normal Fantales wrapper bio.
We’re not saying the subject is crap, just one that a normal Kardashian following, Trump voting, Kidman admiring, Who Weekly subscribing person would call crap.
For this edition of Are They Dead we look into the big deaths of 2016, and find the periphery people attached to those icons to see if they are still alive. As we at The Gurgler aren’t about the big stars, we love the forgotten and forgettable. The backbone and every other bone of Crap Fantales.
Are They Dead is essentially a Where Are They Now, except a little different, and with far less subtlety.
THE SPIDERS FROM MARS
David Bowie was one of the big celebrity deaths of 2016, and he was mourned by many. One of the biggest moments of his career was the Ziggy Stardust era – Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
But what of the Spiders? If Bowie is loved and remembered as Ziggy Stardust, does anyone care about the Spiders from Mars aka the other people on the band.
We do and we turn our Are They Dead attention to the lesser known aliens.
MICK RONSON – Guitar, Vocals, Keyboards – Dead
TREVOR BOLDER – Bass, Trumpet – Dead
MARK WOODMANSEY – Drum – Alive
ANYONE WHO SANG LEONARD COHEN’S HALLELUJAH
Leonard Cohen passed away in 2016 closing a chapter on a music legend. He also came up with one of the most covered songs in Reality TV of all time.
So in honour of Are They Dead and Leonard Cohen, we will see if anyone who made a single of the song Hallelujah is Dead or Alive. Thankfully most are alive.
JOHN CALE from Velvet Underground – Alive
JEFF BUCKLEY – Dead
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT – Alive
k.d. LANG – Alive
ALEXANDRA BURKE from UK X Factor – Alive
BOB DYLAN – Alive
WILLIE NELSON – Alive
SUSAN BOYLE – Alive
THE OTHER BLOKE FROM WHAM
George Michael’s death saddened many. But did anyone spare a thought for the other bloke from Wham. We did and answer the Are They Dead question below.
ANDREW RIDGELEY – Alive
THE PERSON WHO PLAYED CHEWBACCA and OTHERS IN THE ORIGINAL STAR WARS
Loads of people mourned Carrie Fisher whose biggest work was in Star Wars, but we ask the question Are They Dead about some of the other forgotten stars.
PETER MAYHEW – played Chewbacca – Alive
KENNY BAKER – played R2D2 – Dead
ANTHONY DANIELS – played C-3PO – Alive
OTHER ACTORS FROM DIE HARD
Alan Rickman was a big loss, and his best known work was as Hans Gruber in the blockbuster movie. We know he’s passed away, but what about some of the others from the Movie.
REGINALD VELJOHNSON – The Cop and Father from Family Matters – Alive
WILLIAM ATHERTON – Annoying Reporter – Alive
HART BOCHNER – Sleazy Executive – Alive
FAWLTY TOWERS
We were very sad to hear about the passing of Andrew Sachs aka Manuel from Fawlty Towers. We called him the best TV character of all time. But what about the other 3? One is obvious the other two less so.
JOHN CLEESE – Basil Fawlty – Alive
PRUNELLA SCALES – Sybil Fawlty – Alive
CONNIE BOOTH – Polly – Alive
