I had been thinking about this blog for a while now and today, CNN beat me to the punch. I guess it is a slow news day because towards the top of its news list, CNN ran a story that said “Abe Vigoda is still alive, thank you very much.” In case you don’t remember, there was a rumor going around that Abe had died…in 1982. That year, a reporter for PEOPLE magazine wrote in an article that the “late Abe Vigoda” was not at the “Barney Miller” wrap party. Needless to say, that came as a bit of a shock to the very much alive Vigoda. Abe is still alive and kicking today.
However, he is not the only celeb to have their deaths prematurely mentioned in print or online. It isn’t even a new phenomenon – remember Mark Twain’s famous quote “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated?” It is believed he said that after reading his own obituary in the New York Journal. It was actually a cousin of Twain’s that had died – oops!
Sometimes obituaries are just prematurely published. In fact, Bob Hope and Pope John Paul II both had their obits accidentally posted online multiple times. Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had his obituary mistakenly published by Bloomberg on August 28, 2008. While there have been some speculations about Jobs’ health (he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004), he is most certainly alive. Needless to say, Bloomberg retracted the obit.
Back in 1976, a German newspaper reported that all the members of the band ABBA with the exception of Anni-Frid Lyngstad (who they reported had been badly disfigured) had been killed. Just to prove the paper wrong, the band appeared together on German television.
Actor Peter Boyle had a massive stroke in 1990, which caused many media outlets to proclaim he was dead. He was paralyzed and spent months recovering, but didn’t actually die until late 2006.
(Photo by Alan Light and is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0)
Stay tuned tomorrow for more premature obits of celebrities.