It's sad when they go when they probably had a lot more to offer.Ritter is near the top of my list, Heath Ledger. Rod Serling also comes to mind. Steve McQueen.
One person who I don't believe was mentioned was Adrienne Shelly, who was murdered 10 years ago this month. I think she was just coming into her own as an actress/director when she was killed.

this is a great post. it really strikes a chord with people emotionally and people really care for actors and so they really care when they die, so that's why this is a great and interesting and compelling, and intriguing post. and then right after I thought this is a great and entertaining and interesting and fun post I saw that there are 10 thread sections for this post. wow, this really got people talking.
for me it will always be John Candy. no one, no one in any entertainment field or sports field or any other field will ever impact me, affect me, disturb me, or sadden me as much as when John Candy passed away. it was so devastating, impossible to believe and downright sad as Hell. it didn't make any sense. he was only like 46 years old then. so him dying so young seemed criminal and immoral and so wrong and so evil. it seemed wrong and immoral, first and foremost and most importantly because he was so young. second most importantly it was the fact that that robbed all the people who loved him of any more great movies or tv shows or tv show bits and that was one of the reasons why it hurt so bad.
how come it's always the comedians or comedic actors dying that hurts us the most?

I think David Bowie's death really shocked me and had me feeling incredibly sad for a few days afterwards.
~ I'm a 21st century man and I don't wanna be here.

guess
suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Phil Hartman
Chris Farley
Heather O'Rourke
Laura Branigan
Robin Harris
Robin Williams

Phil Hartman
John Ritter (I actually cried over this one)
Harold Ramis
Robin Williams
I love Jesus Christ and am 100% proud!

John Ritter, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley,
Funny your first 3 are the ones I mourn the most. I still get sad every time I see a reference to him some where. Reason I popped in here today.

Davy Jones and Andy Griffith. A little piece of my childhood died with them.

George Carlin - Did his last HBO special at age 70 a few months before he died, still at the top of his game
Richard Pryor - Right behind Carlin in my list, my heart aches for him when I see him in the crappy 80s movies he was in (Superman III, The Toy, etc) but his Live in Concert movie is legendary. Stand up comedy is dead without Carlin and Pryor, hell now he have guys apologizing for their acts. it's pathetic.
Phil Hartman - an example of no good deed goes unpunished, I'm convinced he could have hired an attorney, divorced his drug-abusing wife and gotten full custody of his kids, but he wanted to help her and keep his family together. Quite a punishment.
John Candy - I go back to his SCTV days and characters like Johnny LaRue and the Fishin' Musician.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - A helicopter pilot, on a rainy night, in an area with which he was unfamiliar, apparently couldn't be bothered to determine his minimum safe altitude before moving forward. I beep hate that guy, it makes me beep angry to this day. Gross negligence.

JFK jr is a big one. He could be president right now if he simply hired a pilot to fly the plane and wasn't so foolish!

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John Ritter
John Belushi
Gilda Radner
Terry Clements(Gordon Lightfoot's guitarist) maybe not a celeb to anyone other than fans of Lightfoot, but none the less, a darn good performer and one heck of a great guy.
Jerome Howard (Curly from the three stooges) died years before I was born, but its still a bummer to know he went so young.
Phil Hartman
Whitney Houston
Chris Farley
The Von Erik brothers. Family of six brothers, five of them dead at a younge age, three of suicide. You dont have to be a fan of wrestling to realize what a tragic family this is/was. I feel so sorry for the one brother that's left.
Maurice Gibb -The Bee gees are no more.
Heather O'Rourke -nothing sadder than the death of a child. Her life had barely begun when she died.
Peter Steele-from typo negativeI wasn't his biggest fan but I know so many people that adored him, that his death bummed me out by proxy.
John Denver-Same sentiment as the one right above.
Steve Irwin-He always seemed to be so full of energy and so full of life, I feel really really bad that he's no longer around.

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Heath Ledger and John Lennon
RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

John Ritter's death was a tragedy.
But the ones that bummed me out the most were those who were their own fault. And please, don't re-start the discussion about how his death could have been avoided by seeing a doctor.
I'm talking about deaths like those of John Belushi and Chris Farley where their abuse of drugs was their own fault. John Candy had been told for years to lose weight.
Every year one of my favorite moments in the broadcast of the Oscars is when they pause to remember all of those involved in moviemaking who died in the prior year.

Princess Diana and Michael Jackson.
Initially I thought reports of her accident were a cruel joke. I don't know why.
Michael's - well - his death was just weird to me.
Both celebrities died too early. I thought they'd live longer. May sound silly, but