Reactions when watching passed actors on TV or moviescreen

[JesterFace]

I didn't know which would be the correct place for this, here or Miscallenius but this has something to do with TV and movies.
Here goes....

How do you react when an actor you know has passed away appears on screen? I've been thinking about this lately and again today when Lisa Robin Kelly was on That '70s Show. She played Laurie Forman.

It's sad to know that this actor is no longer with us. At the same time I try to remember that when acting in that particular scene that person was very much alive.

Does it make sense thinking that we have all been ”given” certain amount of time?

Is it weird thinking that eventually nobody lives forever?

I'm not exacly sure why I'm wondering this.
Is this too "deep" for this forum?

 

[Jayson1]

I think about it a great deal. Sometimes it can be even hard. Like knowing how Abramsverse Chekov died and knowing the person your watching has the moment coming up in their life does sometimes enter my mind. Also my OCD when it was bad I would feel the need to make a prayer anytime you someone who has died while watching tv, which is time consuming and drives you crazy. Praying is not always a good thing with people who have OCD because it's more of a ritual than a real prayer.


Jason

 

[RandyS]

If its somebody who has recently passed like say, Rene Aberjonos, if I was watching my DS9 DVD's, I might give it a seconds worth of thought, but if it was an older show featuring an actor who has been dead twenty years or more, I give it no thought at all.

 

[Spot's Meow]

For me it depends on the manner of death. An older actor passing away of natural causes is not something I'd really think about when watching their work. But tragic deaths hit harder, and it's sometimes difficult for me not to think about. Examples are Robin Williams, Anton Yelchin, and John Ritter. I feel a tinge of sadness when I watch their work now, not the entire time but at least when I first see them on screen. In fact, I even think about it when I see John's son Jason Ritter in something.

 

[Greg Cox]

Obviously, it depends, but I watch lots of old movies and always have, even as a kid, so the idea that Bela Lugosi or Humphrey Bogart or Marilyn Monroe or whomever was long dead before I ever watched them on screen was something I grew up with. I'm used to watching movies full of dead people.

Heck, just last night, I was watching THE GLASS KEY, a fun old detective movie from 1942. Pretty sure most of the cast is dead now, but that didn't keep from enjoying the movie. (Although I'll cop to a slight pang when I recalled Veronica Lake's sad later years.)

 

[Jayson1]

Obviously, it depends, but I watch lots of old movies and always have, even as a kid, so the idea that Bela Lugosi or Humphrey Bogart or Marilyn Monroe or whomever was long dead before I ever watched them on screen was something I grew up with. I'm used to watching movies full of dead people.

Heck, just last night, I was watching THE GLASS KEY, a fun old detective movie from 1942. Pretty sure most of the cast is dead now, but that didn't keep from enjoying the movie. (Although I'll cop to a slight pang when I recalled Veronica Lake's sad later years.)

To me their is something different though from watching dead people from very old movies and then watching something more modern and seeing lots of dead people. Though you do get use to for the most part. Kind of on par with seeing actors who have done terrible things and then seeing them like Kevin Spacey,O,J Simpson etc. I mean you can't help but not think about it and it does change the experience but it doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the stuff. Of course it also has to be taken account that anytime we watch a rerun you always watch in a different way each time since we and the world are constantly growing and changing. Just watch "Buffy." Giles goes from old guy who needs to lighten up to logical leveled headed guy the youngsters need to listen to depending on what age your watching the show.

Jason

 

[Push The Button]

This sort of thing usually doesn’t bother me, but seeing Anton Yelchin in Beyond bothered me a little bit. He died so young, and had his whole life and career ahead of him. I miss Kelley, Nimoy and Doohan, but they all had long successful careers and lived to see retirement.

 

[StarCruiser]

Usually just enjoy the work they did. I love older movies (all the way back to Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Humphrey Bogart, Marx Brothers....and on and on) so, I'm often viewing the work of someone long gone from this world.

Yes, those who have recently left us leave a hole for a while but, their work lives on for them...

 

[valkyrie013]

Depends on the actor, if I was a fan like say Nimoy, I might pause for a second. Or someone diying young and think.. I won't see him/her/they again.
But I watch alot of old movies, 50s so I know most are ded.

 

[Greg Cox]

To me their is something different though from watching dead people from very old movies and then watching something more modern and seeing lots of dead people. Though you do get use to for the most part. Kind of on par with seeing actors who have done terrible things and then seeing them like Kevin Spacey,O,J Simpson etc. I mean you can't help but not think about it and it does change the experience but it doesn't mean you can't still enjoy the stuff. Of course it also has to be taken account that anytime we watch a rerun you always watch in a different way each time since we and the world are constantly growing and changing. Just watch "Buffy." Giles goes from old guy who needs to lighten up to logical leveled headed guy the youngsters need to listen to depending on what age your watching the show.

Jason

I suppose there's a difference between actors who died before you were born and actors who died over the course of your lifetime, but, honestly except for maybe the immediate period shortly after their deaths, I don't tend to think about them being dead when I watch a movie starring Katherine Hepburn or Peter O'Toole or Gene Wilder or whomever, even though I can remember when enjoying their films when they were still alive.

Although I'll cop to a pang when rewatching WHAT'S UP DOC? recently, and the opening credits read "Introducing Madeleine Kahn"; it was somewhat bittersweet to see her at the very beginning of her career, long before her eventual demise. And I still remember reading being shocked to read in the paper that Boris Karloff had died. That was maybe my first experience of a favorite actor dying, but it was hardly the last. Like you said, you get used to it.

Then again, I'm at an age where I can't send out Christmas cards without having to cross out the people in my address book who aren't with us anymore. Sadly, it comes with the territory.

 

[JesterFace]

Usually just enjoy the work they did.

I think this is good way to think about it.
And perhaps they also enjoyed their own performances.

Yes, those who have recently left us leave a hole for a while but, their work lives on for them...

Another good way to think about this.
They are not forgotten.

 

[Alexander Corrino]

I watch a LOT of Dallas (my fave) and I always get a little sad when I see Larry Hagman as JR. He defined that show. He WAS that show. I know he left a huge legacy with it and he was proud of it and all, but I can't help but miss him. Same goes for a lot of the other actors and actresses on the show - Barbara Bel Geddes, Jim Davis, etc. We recently lost Ken Kercheval aka Cliff Barnes, and I'm still so very sad.

 

[Forbin]

Seems like an odd question to me. Like Christopher said, we've always watched movies and shows from the past. Knowing the actors I'm watching are long gone doesn't really even register - it's not a point I even thought about until just now - I'm just enjoying the show.

 

[captainkirk]

For me, it varies. When I watch something like Are You Being Served? it feels strange knowing that it's a show from not that many decades ago, and the entire cast is gone, or Babylon 5 where you look back fondly on the performances of the actors who have died and worry about who we might lose next.

 

[JirinPanthosa]

Doesn’t bother me too much. When I’m watching fiction I see the character, not the actor.

Though when I see an old Celtics game with Reggie Lewis it’s weird.

 

[Greg Cox]

Speaking of which, I see that Natalie Trundy, who appeared in all but one of the original PLANET OF THE APES movies, playing three different characters, just passed away. Occurs to me that most of those stars in those films are gone, but I can't say I've ever thought of that when rewatching them.

 

[FPAlpha]

I tend to separate entertainment from real life, which is why i may be sad if a singer or actor i like dies but then again this impact is limited to my life as harsh as that may sound.

I never met them and don't have a personal connection to them apart from liking them on the screen but it's not like the death of relatives or close friends which i would feel directly.

 

[captainkirk]

Here's a question that might be better suited to its own thread, what about when there's an actor, living or dead, who is really problematic in real life? Someone like Kevin Spacey or Bill Cosby, can you still enjoy their work knowing what we know now?

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

I tend to watch a lot of late 70's-early 80's moivies. Like Cannonball Run or Blues Brothers. Most of those people are gone and yes, I do think about it.

It doesn't alter my enjoyment of those movies, but I sure do miss the actors.

 

[RandyS]

Here's a question that might be better suited to its own thread, what about when there's an actor, living or dead, who is really problematic in real life? Someone like Kevin Spacey or Bill Cosby, can you still enjoy their work knowing what we know now?

Speaking only for myself, yes. The actor is not the same as the character they play. If they were, I would have had to give up on TOS decades ago when the stories about Shatner started coming out. When I watch TOS, I see Kirk and Spock. Not Shatner and Nimoy.