2008 Deaths in Threes

By Tony Mazur

In recent years, I've gotten a kick out of finding celebrity deaths in threes. I find it fascinating and somewhat amusing when three completely different celebrities pass on around the same time.

For those who are unaware of this "game", it's fairly simple. Find the date of death of a celebrity, and see if there are any other celebrities who have passed on around that date as well. For example, February 12, 2000 was infamous for having three well-known celebrities pass away on the same day. Peanuts creator Charles Schulz died, followed by hall-of-fame coach Tom Landry and "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins. In fact, Jim Varney died two days earlier and Derrick Thomas left the planet four days prior. The amusing part is to find three that differ completely in their respective occupations.

2008, though, was tough. Quite a few public figures died this year, but not in threes. Here's what I came up with:

January 2008

*Sir Edmund Hillary, explorer
*Bobby Fischer, chess player
*Heath Ledger, actor

December 2008

*Bettie Page, model
*Sammy Baugh, quarterback
*W. Mark Felt, "Deep Throat"

There were plenty of twos (Bernie Mac & Isaac Hayes, Charlton Heston & John Archibald Wheeler, Tim Russert & George Carlin, and Jesse Helms & Tony Snow), but there weren't as many threes as I thought.

I'm starting a new campaign entitled: "Kick the Bucket 2009", for my sick enjoyment only.