Three American Celebrities Dead: It's Been a Big Week

This has been a big week for celebrity obituaries. Ed McMahon died on Tuesday, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died today, Thursday, June 25, 2009.

What all three of these people had in common was the position they had in American culture. Ed McMahon was one of the best known 'second bananas' of the 20th century, Farrah Fawcett's 1976 poster is still a cultural marker for the mid-seventies, and Michael Jackson's music and dancing may last longer than his nickname of "Wacko Jacko." For the sake of Mr. Jackson's fans, I hope so.

Each of them was highly recognizable, and very much a part of their era's popular culture.

• "Michael Jackson, Entertainer and Eccentric Celebrity, is Dead"
  (June 25, 2009)
• "Farrah Fawcett: Poster Girl; Actress; Dead"
  (June 25, 2009)
• "Ed McMahon: 'Tonight Show' Sidekick; Budweiser Pitchman; and Cultural Icon"
  (June 23, 2009)

Finally: Let's remember that each of these people is more than their recorded images and voices. They were people with their own lives, family, and friends. A few more words about that in another blog: "A Prayer for the Dead," A Catholic Citizen in America (June 25, 2009)