Monday, December 28, 2020

ululate! 2020 celebrity deaths I didn't know about

I love actor Irrfan Khan, and it was while I was watching a Watch Mojo video on YouTube that I learned Khan had died this year of "a rare neuroendocrine tumor" that appeared two years ago, followed by a serious infection this year.  I saw Khan's performances in "Slumdog Millionaire" and "Jurassic World," but for my money, his strongest and sweetest performance was in "The Lunchbox," an understated romantic dramedy about a lonely man who, through an accident, begins a note-passing relationship with the woman who prepares his delivered lunch.  I still haven't reviewed this movie, for some reason; I ought to rewatch the film and write a review so as to pay tribute to Khan, who was taken from this world far too soon.

Another shocker was the news that young, talented, and sexy actress Naya Rivera, notable for her role as Santana López in "Glee," had died this past July in what appeared to be a case of accidental drowning.  Rivera had been out boating and swimming with her son when something caused her to urge her boy (age 4) back onto the boat.  Police hypothesize that Rivera had felt a rip current, and while she managed to get her son aboard the boat, she was unable to save herself.  Her body was recovered sometime later.  The show "Glee" seems to have a curse on it:  three of its young cast members have now died.  Corey Monteith, who played Finn, died of a drug overdose; Mark Salling, who played Puck, committed suicide in the wake of a scandal involving a child-pornography collection.  Rivera was a fantastic singer and actress; she'd had her whole life ahead of her.

The above-linked Watch Mojo video notes a ton of other 2020 celebrity deaths; one other shock was the lovely Kelly Preston—John Travolta's wife—who died of breast cancer after having kept her illness out of the public eye.  I remember Preston best as Marnie in 1988's "Twins," starring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger.



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