Celebrity deaths do not come in threes
A year ago, I wrote this post attempting to debunk the superstition that deaths come in threes.
With the passing of Ed MacMahon on Tuesday, along with Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson today, I’ve seen this superstition resurface. Yet my arguments from a year ago still stand.
I’d also like to add this refutation: Dom DeLuise died alone.
Take this list from Wikipedia of celebrities who died in May. I’d argue that Dom was the “most famous” of all the names listed there, but please feel free to assert differently if you disagree. So, where are the other two, if deaths do indeed come in threes?
We can repeat the exercise for other months.
RIP, Ed, Farrah, Michael and Dom. Please don’t cheapen their memory repeating a baseless superstition that tries to find a pattern where none exists.
UPDATE June 28th: Billy Mays has also passed away today, breaking the pattern for even the current three.
June 25th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
who the fuck is Dom DeLuise?
June 25th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
You don’t know who Dom DeLuise is, but you’ve heard of Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon?
June 26th, 2009 at 1:49 am
What is strange is that debunking of this myth does come in threes.
June 26th, 2009 at 2:35 am
So I’m destined to make a third blog post on this topic?
June 26th, 2009 at 11:37 am
obiviously there are many “celebrities” that pass away every month, but i do believe there is a pattern of threes. for instance dom was the third- natasha richardson march 18th, Beatrice Arthur april 25th, and then dom may 4th. Sometimes they happen in one week, a couple days or maybe a few weeks but I do see a pattern of celeb deaths happening in threes. It doesnt cheapen their memory, or lives to notice or comment on this weird coincidence.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:39 am
According to celebritydeath.net here are three:
Dom DeLuise
May 4, 2009: Dom DeLuise, comedic US actor best known for his roles in the films Cannonball Run, Silent Movie, Spaceballs and Blazing Saddles.
Marilyn French
May 2, 2009: Marilyn French, 79, US feminist and author of the bestselling The Women’s Room.
Danny Gans
May 1, 2009: Danny Gans, 52, US comic and impressionist who was named Las Vegas entertainer of the year 11 times.
June 26th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
Kages post helps prove that this is nonsense. The last 2 hardly qualify as celebrities. A celebrity is someone who the average person on the street knows. Despite their accomplishments, those 2 do NOT qualify. At any rate, there is no consensus on who qualifies. And devin..you can’t call it a pattern and a coincidence in the same post! It IS a coincidence. Who’s to say Dom was the third of the Richardson-Arthur-Deluise trio or the first of the Deluise-McMahon-Farrah trio? Is there an official list? It’s all so random and ridiculous
June 26th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Well put, George.
Also, Kage, celebritydeath.net is in Spanish and not updated, so I’m thinking you get this from somewhere else. What about Jack Kemp in the same time frame? Now there’s four. Ruh-roh!
Devin, there was over a month between Natasha and Bea. That’s hardly a few weeks. If you give yourself a month for the series of three to occur, what predictive power does this superstition have?
June 27th, 2009 at 6:06 am
It’s really no coincidence at all. Everybody dies.
June 28th, 2009 at 10:24 am
“But not everybody truly lives.”
June 29th, 2009 at 4:04 am
A highly educated friend really believes that death comes in threes. When we wre talking about this today she reminded me that David Carradine passed away on 6-3-09. Then today Gale Storm died and Sky Saxon from The Seeds died on 6-28-09. She is satisfied that 6 celebrities have now passed, she doesn’t count Billy Mays. Me thinks she is just picking and choosing to fit her views and beliefs. But then that is true of a lot of people.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
Hi Winnie! From 6/3 to 6/28 is 25 days. That’s a long period of time. If you count fairly unknown people like Gale Storm, I’d think it would be impossible to find any recent period of 25 days where you don’t have more than three celebrity deaths.
Look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recent_deaths — ask your friend why she gets to pick and choose? My newspaper had a large obituary for Billy Mays but nothing for Gale or Sky.
June 29th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Also: Sky Saxon, Michael Jackson, and Farrah Fawcett all died on the same day. David Carradine and Ed McMahon died before that day, while Gale died two days later. Why would the two series of three deaths be split up that way?
Everyone has a different idea of what a celebrity is. To my sister, the most shocking death was that of Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan on June 18th.
June 29th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
Oh, I agree that at this time Billy Mays was more well known than Gale Storm or Sky Saxon and that everyone has a different idea of what a celebrity is. I just find it somewhat amusing that this otherwise intelligent friend of mine chooses to see these deaths to fit her belief that death comes in threes. But she’s not the only one. There is only one online forum that I follow and with every death there is a handful of people who start keeping track of who died and some have different ideas as to who should be counted as being one of the three. There is nothing logical about superstitions.
June 30th, 2009 at 9:07 pm
But it is interesting enough that we all talk about it and notice that over the years it can be common for very well known celebrity deaths to occur in threes. Could just be the media, could be nothing…but enough people notice it and obviously find it worthy of all this discussion. I was not trying to, and will not try to convince anyone of anything I dont even fully believe. I was just posting some death dates of well known celebs that seem to fall in threes to me. Its just something I (and others) have always noticed…I am sure there is no science behind it or proof, that would be silly….ITS JUST INTERESTING.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:42 am
But it’s only interesting as an exercise of selective perception. Try this: Convince yourself that celebrity deaths come in fours instead. Try picking out those patterns. You’d do equally well with that theory in the long-run.
What’s really interesting to me is how the human mind works and how we can delude ourselves so easily.
July 23rd, 2009 at 3:46 am
I wonder how the death of a celebrity dog fits in with the pattern of three that some people like to belive in.
http://omg.yahoo.com/news/taco-bell-chihuahua-dies-at-15/25534?nc
July 24th, 2009 at 2:43 am
Good question, Winnie. Let’s watch and see if two more celebrity dogs suddenly pass away.
June 25th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
If you believe that celebrities die in three, I ask you this: Why did Dom DeLuise die alone? (RIP, Dom.) EDIT: Since some hadn’t heard the news, Dom passed away on May 4th (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dom_DeLuise#Death)
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
If you believe that celebrities die in three, I ask you this: Why did Dom DeLuise die alone? (RIP, Dom.)
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I’ve seen Nathan Chase (http://friendfeed.com/nathanchase), Adam Turetzky (http://friendfeed.com/troubledwine), Thomas (http://friendfeed.com/tserio), and angrykeyboarder™ (Scott) (http://friendfeed.com/angrykeyboarder) express the superstition. Previous debate was here: http://friendfeed.com/nathanchase/9cae81fa/they-always-come-and-go-in-threes
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Stephen, because his weight was worth three people?
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
+100000000000000 Akiva!
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I am defeated. There is no retort. Akiva is the supreme victor for all time.
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
I am defeated.
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June 25th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Ah, wait, victory has been snatched from defeat. CNN says his weight was a mere 325 pounds (http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Movies/05/05/obit.deluise/index.html), so he was only worth the weight of two people. Superstition is again defeated, and science marches on, triumphant, but with much work to do.
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
Stephen, you don’t know enough small people. =)
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
Heh, Andrew — but how many adult male celebrities can you name who weigh 108 or less?
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
Why male?
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:17 pm
Why adult?
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I’m 20 and weigh 125, that’s pretty close. Though I am no celebrity, Verne Troyer though.
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
I’m 20 and way 125, that’s pretty close. Though I am no celebrity, Verne Troyer though.
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June 25th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
Stephen, I applaud your rational non-superstitious ways.
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June 25th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Thanks George! For the others, so, remind me how the rule works? Celebrities die in threes, or weigh as much as three very very slim or young celebrities? Remind me again what agent enforces this rule?
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June 25th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Welcome to a new episode of Stephen Mack Takes Shit Too Seriously!
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June 25th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
Gary Colman, Tiny Tim, and Tom Cruise
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June 25th, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Akiva, that’s my very favorite show! I watch it daily.
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June 25th, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Mack obviously hasn’t been hanging out around the tracks enuf, all of my friends way less than 100 lbs and no more then 4 feet tall
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June 25th, 2009 at 10:33 pm
Tom Cruise isn’t a people.
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June 25th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
That’s because he’s a NUT.
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June 26th, 2009 at 10:46 am
When an unexpected death hits, we can all be at a loss for words. Sometimes our brains just reach for platitudes because we don’t know what else to say. And then this superstition about death coming in threes spills out. I beg you, plead you — avoid the silliness, avoid the superstition, and refrain from falling back on this moronic, unscientific, magic fairy dust concept of death coming in threes. Thank you.
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June 26th, 2009 at 10:48 am
This is where I go… Dom DeLuise died?
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June 26th, 2009 at 10:49 am
Indeed, back in May. Might not have had quite the same level of coverage that MJ’s passing had….
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June 26th, 2009 at 10:49 am
I didn’t even know! Now, this one makes me sad.
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June 28th, 2009 at 11:04 am
RIP, Billy Mays (passed away today — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mays). So, is it "celebrity deaths come in fours" now? Or, if two more are pending, please be sure to let me know the timeframe so we can make sure it’s exactly two more and not one or three more.
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June 28th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
You know, saying "I told you so," is such a great quality. Not in the least bit pretentious or smug.
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June 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Sorry you see it that way, Sean. I’m really not trying to say "I told you so" — I’m trying to refute magic thinking and pseudoscientific poop. If you read the earlier thread, there are people posting who genuinely believe this superstition.
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June 28th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
Sorry you see it that way, Sean. I’m really not trying to say "I told you so" — I’m trying to refute magic thinking and pseudoscientific poop. If you read the earlier thread, there are people who genuinely believe this superstition posting.
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June 28th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Ah, Sean, I see your "trifecta" post now (http://friendfeed.com/txsean/eaadd5fa/ed-mcmahon-farrah-mj-trifecta-complete-i). So I can see how you took my update as an "I told you so." Well, sorry again to sound pretentious or smug, because I don’t intend to come off that way. But if nothing else comes out of this, will you back down from your belief in the trifecta as anything beyond selective perception?
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June 28th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Ah, Sean, I see your "trifecta" post now (http://friendfeed.com/txsean/eaadd5fa/ed-mcmahon-farrah-mj-trifecta-complete-i). So I can see how you took my update as an "I told you so." Well, sorry again to sound pretentious or smug, because I don’t intend to come off that way. But if nothing else comes out of this, will you back down from you belief in the trifecta as anything beyind selective perception?
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June 28th, 2009 at 6:33 pm
Nah, Stephen. Let me illustrate my position with a question: do all people who enjoy hearing and telling Ghost Stories believe in Ghosts?
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June 28th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
No. But someone who likes ghost stories wouldn’t necessarily jump to talk about a celebrity’s ghost right after that celebrity passed away. That would make me suspect they believed in ghosts.
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June 28th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
No. But someone who likes ghost stories wouldn’t necessarily jump to talk about a celebrity’s ghost right after that celebrity passed away.
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