I was also very saddened by Jerry Orbach's passing. John Ritter and Jason Raize were both shocking to me.
Of course any time we lose someone that has even the most insignificant impact on our lives it's a sad day.
Jason Raize's death was so unexpected and so sad. I love his voice very much.
Cy Coleman's death was so sudden, it was like woah!
I didn't know that Steve Barton was dead, how did he die?
As for David Carrol, my teacher was besdt friends with him as kids and adults, and she told me about how sad it was.
Larry Kert
Swing Joined: 8/2/05
I'm older than most here, so I have to say three: David James Carroll, Kim Milford, both of whom I had met, and Raul Julia.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/1/05
Jason Raize
Jerry Orbach
Cy Coleman
Wally Harper
I think Jason Raize's death was the saddest for me. Most everyone else that was mentioned on the board lived full and sucessful lives. Jason, on the other hand, had his whole life before him. I don't understand would have caused him to believe suicide was the best way to go. Had he lived longer, who knows how much more he could have contributed.
Madeline Kahn. Like some of the others, she had been sick for a while, but still.
The Greatest Carl Anderson
In 2002, Jesus Christ Superstar tour played near my place with Carl, but I missed the show. And in 2004 I knew that Carl passed away. One of the most regrets in my theatre life.
my greatest shock, and i blocked it out until this minute, was lynne thigpen. i had a twilight zone moment when i heard. she was one of the liveliest people you would ever meet. her death was an awful blow and i carried it around for a while.
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
Definetly Jerry Orbach was one. I was really upset when I first heard. It's still hard to believe.
I remember screaming when I saw Gwen Verdon's obit...
Michael Jeter -- such a comedic genious. It's hard to imagine someone that makes that many people laugh having to die.
Same thing rings true for Madeline Kahn -- such a FUNNY, talented woman who went WAY before her time.
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/16/05
I second Madeleine Kahn, she was a funny performer
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/9/04
Jerry Orbach, Dorothy Loudon and Gregory Hines.
God, I miss them!
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
Jason Raize. I knew him...or at least I thought I did. He would have turned 30 this summer....
Michael Bennett
Danitra Vance
as for non-theater related deaths, nothing blew me away more than the death of River Phoenix.
I'll second Lynne Thigpen.
Leading Actor Joined: 5/9/05
Anne Bancroft's death really saddened me. I hadn't known that she was ill. In her career she won a Tony for Miracle Worker, an Emmy and an Academy Award. My impression had always been that she and Mel Brooks had an amazing marriage and that he adored her.
I felt as if she was his life force and so felt as if not only did the theater community lose a great talent, but that it might take Mel Brooks a long time to recover his passion
The ones we lost in their prime always get me...
I often wonder what theatre would be like now, if they had been around longer.
Michael Bennett
Jerry Ross - together with his partner Richard Adler, Jerry wrote "The Pajama Game" and "Damn Yankees." He died at the youthful age of 29, winning both his Tonys for "Damn Yankees" posthumously.
Jonathan Larson
PERFORMERS:
Ron Richardson (Tony winner for Big River), Timothy Scott (B'way's first Mr. Mistoffelees), Gregg Burge (Sophisticated Ladies)... So many others.
Broadway Star Joined: 6/5/03
Gregory Mitchell.
I was just copying my 1999 clip of some of the Chicago cast singing Christmas carols on the Today show for somebody, and it struck me that two of the people in it are no longer with us, Greg Mitchell and Mark Arvin. Both gone way too early.
Ms. Kahn
Ms. Loundon
and the lovely Margo Skinner
Bob Merrill
Many of my personal saddest losses have been mentioned. But the waves of AIDS-related deaths among the theater community were just devastating.
Jerry Orbach and Jonathan Larson
Fred Ebb
Ann Miller
and Ted Bales, a marvelous comedic actor, seen off-Broadway in Party.
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