Do you ever become obsessed with famous dead people? (1 Viewer)

[Todd1960]

Yeah, I am obsessed with Anissa Jones and I think I know why.

First, Anissa was two years older than myself, and the show, "Family Affair" was really big in my day. Anissa's character was so innocent and adorable that the thought of her OD was incomprehensible to many of us. We didn't want to believe that she was gone from us forever.

I always seem to return back to her after several years of going about my day-to-day job. I return to her because human behavior has a way of forgetting about important events and I never want to forget her.

I choose to be obsessed with Anissa because it has been close to 31 years since her demise and I never want to forget the feeling I had watching her on TV. She was so lovely.

I have read many blogs and many people have the same thoughts and saddness but others are cold and brutal. One person stated "So what? She was just a drug addict."

I disagree. She was a human life and needed to be helped regardless of her circumstances. I don't believe in casting people aside and not forgiving them, especially when their sickness is drugs and alcohol.

Another reason for my obsession with Anissa is because I am growing older and she should have grown older with us. She missed out on having kids, maybe grandkids, and who knows...Maybe she would have gotten back into television.

Life is so precious and my obsession is just an extention of my feelings of just how much she missed out on. She could have had the world. This is truly sad.

God Bless Anissa and she can be certain that I will return my thoughts back to her periodically or until the good Lord takes me home.

Michael Todd Willoughby

 

[Mike Heenan]

I wouldn't call it an obsession but since Bob Crane was murdered in Scottsdale (where i live) it's always been in the back of my mind... a few years before Auto focus was released I found the yahoo group of the murder, which has a lot of great info about the trial and police investigations etc, and Richard Dawsons son, Mark, posts there; he was at the trial every day, intending to produce a documentary of it, so he posted quite a lot of interesting info not available elsewhere. It was fascinating for a while (because I live here and all and pass the murder site almost every day to work etc) but since there's really no new news available my interest has kind of waned on it.

 

[Egbert Souse]

Obviously many people have this obsession,how else would you explain the popularity of Marilyn Monroe,Elvis,James Dean,etc.I was a huge Marilyn fanatic when I was younger,a lot of it having to do with the fact that she died young and beautiful,which makes her timeless.All of my favorite actors are dead too,except for a few.History is good,whether it be prophetic or mediocre,or whatever,in my opinion.

 

[Todd1960]

I see your points Egbert/Mike. Actually, the more I think about it, the obsession word might be a little much. The words that can truly describe my feelings for the loss of Anissa is like a combination of missing a great friend, sadness, and loss of a loved one. I don't mean to over psycho-analyse this thread but I can go years without thinking about poor Anissa until I see her image somewhere. It is at this point that I get this flood of emotion at the loss and never being able to see her again. I know this might sound silly but as a child, these shows like "Family Affair," "The Avengers," etc. were a big part of growing up. Sure I did a lot of playing outside but in the evenings after the homework, TV was a pure joy. It is unfortunate that there are some people that take it to a higher level and become stalkers. This is when the fine line between fantasy and reality cross borders. Those people need help. However, the first post regarding, Do you ever become obsessed with famous dead people can really be anyone that has touched your heart and has passed away. Like I stated in my last post, Anissa, will come and go in my thoughts. It will be interesting to see the posts of future generations, when I am 70 years old.

Todd1960

 

[Thane101]

I became interested in Ernie Kovaks after finding out the details of his short life, but I wouldn't say I was obsessed.

 

[bobbyg2]

nope

 

[scorpiovike]

What's today? Wednesday. I am completely obsessed since Monday 7/12/10 with Anissa Jones. I found a couple tribute song/videos on You tube by accident when showing a younger employee a video on the Courtship of Eddie's Father. While looking a couple videos of the old show I saw a thumbnail for a vid on Anissa and I had never seen pics of Anissa other than as a tiny kid. I remembered hearing about her death and my mother didn't tell me much and I never looked into it at the time as I was 10. But it was one of the first child or young person deaths I knew about or heard about when I was young and I remember it hurt then for some reason. I watched these tribute videos and was moved almost to tears. I am a guy and fought off the outward feelings but I had to keep looking into it more and more. I read so much and watched Johnny Whittaker talk about it on Geraldo from sometime in the 80's. It was just so sad and those 70's pics of her as a teen reminded me of my family members and how she could so easily have been one of them from the looks of those pics. I noticed she rarely seemed happy even on Family Affair. It was like she had just been dragged to the studio, been spanked or scolded and thrown on set.

Her voice was sweet and melancholy almost all the time. I heard how often she worked and how she couldn't escape being Buffy and how her career was basically over from the beginning as she was type-cast. She went from being told she was extremely special to being burdened with that role and all at such a young age. I have looked at her images, of her, her haunts, friends, family. Fuck I know her now. It is soooo weird that I want to save her from a fate she fell to so many years ago. There are forums on her that have her old friends and acquaintances and fans basically arguing about what happened, who's to blame and who is lying about who they are to this day. A ten year old running forum. I am considering writing a book! I think when I hear people say "who cares", "she's a dumb drug addict" that it's too hard for many people to think about and they don't want to feel bad so its' better to just dismiss subjects like this right away. For me relating to people is powerful even if they are long gone. Goodbye for now Anissa. Hope to meet you one day on the otherside.

 

[Jack Briggs]

You know, it's threads with titles like this one's that made my early days at Home Theater Forum so much fun. I have absolutely nothing to say about the subject matter, however, other than to say I've been sort-of obsessed by certain people, though they could be alive as well as those who are dead. They just happen to be people I've liked (or seriously disliked). And they can be writers, directors, musicians, politicians, world leaders, astroanauts, scientists, and (attractive) women (who can also be of any of the professions rattled off here).

 

[Cees Alons]

Hello, Jack!
(Long time no read. /img/vbsmilies/htf/smile.gif )

For me "obsessed" is too strong a word, and the intense interest may also be of a limited period. But of some historical persons I know much more than of others, and some of that interest appears to stay, sort of sleeping.


Cees

 

[Nick Martin]

Obsessed is about the worst word to describe, but I've always been interested in learning about (which I have now over the past several years) Rebecca Schaeffer, who died 21 years ago this upcoming Sunday at the age of , well, 21. I first heard the details about that whole circumstance (don't want to get into it) back in 1998 and it's just stuck with me. Not in some odd all-encompassing way, but it's just there, like a strong memory you carry with you. That's the one famous person whose death has always affected me, and made me strongly emotional.

If you know anything about her and the end of her life, you'll understand what I mean by saying 'obsessed' is the worst word to use here.

 

[Edwin-S]

I can't say I get obsessed with the lives of celebrities. Most of the time my interest in the lives of celebrities goes only so far as what is printed about them in The National Enquirer. And even then I only read a rag like that if it doesn't cost me any money. Once in awhile, someone brings up the name of a celebrity that I have never heard of: case in point, Anissa Jones. I looked her up to see who she was and what caused her demise. That is as far as my interest goes. I could never get obsessed over somebody who might as well be on Mars in terms of my ever knowing them personally.

I can never understand how people can go up to these celebrities and start pestering them for autographs when they show up at public venues such as restaurants. I know that I'd never have the gall to do something like that. After all, celebrity or not, they are still people who would like to be able go out on a dinner date and enjoy themselves, without being harassed while eating a meal.

 

[Nick Martin]

^^ especially nowadays where you might be on the receiving end of a Mel Gibson/Christian Bale/Michael Richards type of brush-off!

No one's gonna mess with those guys.

I used to watch "Entertainment Tonight" often because it was a good chance to see behind-the-scenes previews of upcoming movies and on-set interviews.

Now it's nothing more than a television version of those gossip magazines like the Enquirer. Haven't watched it in years because of that.

 

[Ockeghem]

Originally Posted by Nicholas Martin
Obsessed is about the worst word to describe, but I've always been interested in learning about (which I have now over the past several years) Rebecca Schaeffer, who died 21 years ago this upcoming Sunday at the age of , well, 21. I first heard the details about that whole circumstance (don't want to get into it) back in 1998 and it's just stuck with me. Not in some odd all-encompassing way, but it's just there, like a strong memory you carry with you. That's the one famous person whose death has always affected me, and made me strongly emotional.

If you know anything about her and the end of her life, you'll understand what I mean by saying 'obsessed' is the worst word to use here.

I've wondered about this one on and off for many years as well.

 

[Nick Martin]

Originally Posted by Ockeghem
I've wondered about this one on and off for many years as well.

There was something of a coda to this, many years later:

In 2007, her killer Robert Bardo was stabbed 11 times in prison by another inmate.

Unfortunately, he survived the attack.

 

[Ockeghem]

^^^

Bizarre. And Ms. Schaeffer just going about her business, and was kind enough to open her apartment door when this occurred, if memory serves.

Okay, your comments have piqued my curiosity. I just looked some of this information up. Coincidentally, she was murdered on this date(!) back in 1989. I couldn't believe it when I saw the date and checked it against today's date.

Here's something a bit serendipitous. The man that killed her was apparently obsessed with Samantha Smith prior to his obsession with Ms. Schaeffer. Samantha Smith was the young girl who back around 1985 visited the (then) Soviet Union. You'll probably recall that she was dubbed one of America's youngest ambassadors for peace at the time. The odd part? Back around the time of Samantha Smith's popularity and she and her father's then untimely death, my wife and I had visited her home state (Maine) every now and then. We didn't live too far from her, and usually made this visit a part of our annual camping trip up north to Acadia National Park.

Here's where I read of this info. on Ms. Schaeffer:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_Schaeffer

And for those who might not remember (or were too young when this occurred), here's a pic of Samantha Smith, before she got the role on Lime Street (with Robert Wagner):

And who could forget this picture, which graced numerous newspapers at the time? I always loved the line she wrote to Andropov, "Congratulations on your new job."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samantha_Smith

 

[Nick Martin]

I was too young to know anything about Samantha Smith since I was only 4 at the time, and only learned about her long after the fact and was very surprised to learn about the plane crash. I had no idea.

In 1989, I did remember watching reruns of "My Sister Sam" with my mother, and then suddenly it wasn't on television anymore. My mother didn't let me watch the news or entertainment shows at that time suddenly, which only annoyed me because being a 7 year-old boy in the summer of 1989 meant all in life that mattered to me was Michael Keaton in a big black Batsuit, and I couldn't watch those entertainment shows which obviously focused on the event of that film. I suppose my mother didn't want me to know that a show we enjoyed together wasn't being rerun anymore because its young star was gone.

Anyway, I clicked on this thread originally because of how close it was to the 21st 'anniversary' and thought that was why it was here in the first place. It wasn't until I saw the original date it was started and how it was about Anissa Jones - the original Buffy, that it ended up being a complete coincidence, the timing.


If you ever saw the 2002 film 'Moonlight Mile', it was loosely based on this whole event. The film's writer/director Brad Silberling (Casper, City of Angels, most recently Land of the Lost and others) was involved with Schaeffer at the time and took the core events of his life during that moment and constructed a fictional surrounding, giving himself some distance from it to not make it literally autobiographical.

 

[jimmypluskatt9]

i am completely obsessed with jimmy "the rev" sullivan. if you asked me any question about him at all i could probably give you the answer... :/
my friend harmony is the exact same way, her nickname is revy because she loves him so much! is that a bad thing?

 

[diem shay]

I searched this topic on the internet and found this forum with your question. I, too have been interested - to - obsessed with a dead celebrity. Two of them. I remember being about 10 years old and at a friends house. Her 16 year old sister would lay on her bed and stare at her walls COVERED in James Dean posters and pictures. She was fully in a day dream, most of the time I saw her in her room. It disturbed me how IN TO James Dean she was, it was creepy. She dressed like she was in Rebel Without A Cause and only listened to 50's music. It was kinda cool but kinda NOT. It was 1983. This girl had no mental disability at all. When I turned 15 I discovered Jim Morrison and The Doors. I loved him so much, to a unhealthy point. I was totally obsessed. Now, I remember thinking, why the hell am I giving so much attention to a dead dude? But, it was like I couldn't help it. I couldn't wait to get up and finish books about him, any information, teachers talking about having seen him live at The Whiskey A Go Go in L.A., made me pay attention to them more. I began to sneek into shows and met Robbie Krieger and Ray Manzerick. They brought me back down to reality pretty quickly. You see, all these celebrities are human. Not magic, not immortal. Celebrities are privy to many things and sometimes those things make them seem more amazing than you are. My second obession, Steve Prefontaine (dead by the time I was 4) showed me that being focused on ONE goal, ALWAYS made you better than most, immediately. A human who centers all their time on one cause seems amazing because they excel and that's all they do. Therefore they are incredible. Because IT is all THEY do! Be it music, athletics, art, acting, dance, whatever! Is it that drive to excel? Is it the fact that they are or were what we want or wanted to be? It simply has to be MORE than..."They are the most beautiful human ever!" or " He is so good looking I'm going to fall in love with these pictures of him, even though HE is actually DEAD!" Feed back would be great. What makes humans latch onto dead celebrities? A lot of the time upon the first hearing of them. Thanks!

 

[Aaron Silverman]

A buddy of mine in middle school/ high school used to think he was the reincarnation of Jim Morrison (we were both born shortly after he died). Today my friend is a musician.

 

[andrew markworthy]

A buddy of mine in middle school/ high school used to think he was the reincarnation of Jim Morrison (we were both born shortly after he died). Today my friend is a musician.

I was born in, as far as we can tell, the same minute that Albert Ketelbey (the composer - best known pieces were 'In a Monastery Garden' and 'In a Persian Market') died. Today, I'm not a composer.