Shannon KeoughThis summer, Hollywood was not about the glamour or who was hooking up with who. Instead, Hollywood experienced a different trend by mourning the deaths of pop culture icons.
The month of July seemed to have the largest loss of the icons that have left a mark on the hills of Hollywood and even around the world.
The most recent death in Hollywood is beloved ’80s director John Hughes. The man that brought you some of your favorite classic movies such as, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” and “The Breakfast Club.”
“His movies relate to the audience and those normal everyday problems are common among people all over the world,” Lisa Somers, junior social work major, said.
Somers considers ‘The Breakfast Club,’ her favorite movie. The classic film was made in 1985 and Hughes not only directed it, but wrote the film.
“‘The Breakfast Club,’ is a bunch of kids from different social groups in high school and over the course of a day, they find that they all have something in common, even though they come from different backgrounds,” Somers said.
Hughes film relates to different generations. Younger generations continue to fall in love with all of his movies.
The first icon to pass away this summer was someone who may have not been a full-out Hollywood icon, but was an icon of the television world, Ed McMahon. He coined the famous saying that we all love to hear, “Here’s Johnny,” while a correspondent with Johnny Carson on the “Tonight Show.”
“When Carson left the ‘Tonight Show,’ McMahon did some hosting not terribly successfully and lots of commercial work. He was, for a time, the spokesman for the ‘Reader’s Digest Sweepstakes,'” Dr. Thomas Stretton, Director of Cabrini College’s Theater said. “Ultimately, he fell on some hard financial times and some difficult medical problems.”
McMahon was part of a time in television where networks only broadcast for part of the day and everything that was broadcasted was live. According to Stretton, McMahon was helpful to a lot of young performers getting started.
“He reflected a time when the world was slower and gentler. He was really not a Hollywood figure, but a television one,” Stretton said. “I was sorry that he died, but sorrier that the end of his life was so difficult and didn’t match the success he had had.”
There were other stars taken from the world of entertainment. Including Billy Mays, who everyone remembers as the man who would get customers to buy Oxyclean.
Mays, who died from a heart attack, has recently been suspected of abusing cocaine in his lifetime.
Out of all of the deaths that have occurred this summer people can’t forget June 25.
That morning news networks around the country reported that “Charlie Angel’s” actress Farrah Fawcett passed away that morning.
Fighting a tough battle of cancer for three years, Fawcett passed away at the age of 62.
Fawcett was not only a famous actress, but also a sex symbol to many who remember her from her television work, but her work as a model as well.
Later that day, all over the country one of the biggest deaths of this generation would have to be none other than the “King of Pop,” Michael Jackson.
The afternoon of June 25, Jackson went into cardiac arrest. The breaking news hit every major media outlet.
By the time Jackson arrived at the hospital the world lost a legendary icon who was respected in the music industry globally.
Jackson was huge in the form of dance. Jackson was a huge inspiration to dancers and entertainers
“When I first heard the news, I was in absolute disbelief,” Dr. Michelle Filling, assistant professor of English said. “I actually was having dinner that night with two friends and the three of us could not believe the news.”
Filling, besides being a professor here at Cabrini College, is also a dancer. Filling also works as a faculty adviser, coach of the Cabrini College dance team and as choreographer for the Cabrini College theater.
Filling remembers her time at West Chester University, where the university’s dance troupe performed “Thiller” in Walt Disney World. Even now as an advisor and coach she has been inspired by Jackson’s iconic way of moving and has used a few of the “King of Pop” dance moves for the Cabrini’s dance team when they had a dance competition last winter.
“Michael Jackson revolutionized the world of dance just as much as he did the music industry,” Filling said. “Much like George Balanchine or Bob Fosse, Michael Jackson created innovative, stylized movements that have been replicated by dancers all over the world.”
Hollywood will never forget the mark that these entertainers have left here. Whether it was as a sex symbol, a man and his revolutionizing dance moves, selling you an item to clean your bathroom and clothing and even a man who changed the sidekick aspect of late talk show, these pop culture icons leave a mark for the many generations to come.
