Can you name the Notable Deaths of 2008?

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In Memoriam: 2008 Quiz

Rating:	Report a mistake
Published: January 1st, 2009
Category: History
Plays: 63,871

Tags: Death Quizzes, notable, 2008, Notable Deaths, image, Image Quiz

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	dknights411:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 04:22 GMT	24 points
	We've lost a lot of good people in 2008. May they all rest in peace. :-(

	chillicothe20:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 04:33 GMT	4 points
	Firstly, Odetta should be acceptable for Odetta Holmes. She was like Cher or Bono, just known by one name. Great quiz. Probably could have a second one, at least 12 or 15 more or so deaths this year.

	John Lambeth:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 04:38 GMT	6 points
	Really cool quiz.

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	estivator:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 05:13 GMT	3 points
	also would like to have seen Levi Stubbs, the dynamo voice of the Four Tops. Wouldn't have known Odetta's last name to save my life.

	DandN:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 05:47 GMT	12 points
	Where in blazes is Arthur C. Clarke? The man was only one of of the most brilliant authots and minds of the century and all. Gary Gygax should also get a mention here.

	Lenard:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 06:01 GMT	5 points
	@DandN: Totally, he's one of the three I would have gotten.

	marpocky:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 07:01 GMT	8 points
	Would have liked to see Majel Barrett-Roddenberry make the cut.

	alexielrieth:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 07:52 GMT	12 points
	erm... Steve Fossett died in 2007. I know he was declared dead this year and his remains were found a few months ago, but it doesn't change that he died in 2007.

	jaspa:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 08:42 GMT	2 points
	@shane: well said, man. I think these names should be listed in alphabetical order, as to not give the impression that some names are more important than others.

	Spancreas:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 09:29 GMT	-1 points
	I only got Bernie Mac and Heath Ledger. Deep Throat?

	davidr:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 10:09 GMT	-4 points
	Hmm. Massive American bias, here (31/42 by my count). Not including Alexander Solzhenitsyn and Harold Pinter, both winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature? Suharto (president of Indonesia 1967-98), Alexei II (Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church), Arthur C. Clarke (as suggested by DandN)?

	Chris156:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 10:16 GMT	-1 points
	I've never even heard of 3/4 of these people!

	davidr:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 10:20 GMT	1 point
	@Spancreas: Deep Throat was the name given to the Washinton Post's source on Watergate, later revealed to be then Associate FBI Director Mark Felt. Co-incidentally, Gerard Damiano, who directed the porn movie _Deep Throat_, from which the alias was taken, also died this year.

	davidr:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 10:21 GMT	2 points
	@Jaspa: or in the order they died in.

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	Massagraf:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 12:21 GMT	1 point
	I knew that guys face looked familiar... how on earth could I forget Isaac Hayes? I love South Park!

	Eleanor:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 12:42 GMT	5 points
	I just knew the Maharishi as Maharishi!!

	debbiedoesnothin:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 12:55 GMT	3 points
	I loved Bernie Mac but I went totally blank on his name. Similar problem with some of the others - "that guy's a writer, darn it, what's his name." Still, I got 21 right.

	Kicking222:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 14:14 GMT	1 point
	Great, great quiz (even though I sucked on it). It really is sad to see all the great people (plus Charlton Heston) who were lost. While I agree with davidr on the American bias, I'm still very happy with the people included- nice to see some love for Tim Russert and Bo Diddley.

	SillyStokey92:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 14:21 GMT	2 points
	I only got 8... they were the only faces I recognized... I knew a lot of the names though.

	Joe_Ball:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 14:31 GMT	2 points
	I have to agree with davidr and others... we need to add Arthur C. Clarke, Harold Pinter and Gary Gygax. Incidentally, that's a terrible photo of Heath Ledger.

	Statto2:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 16:12 GMT	1 point
	I can't be the only one who missed the film actor from Jaws, the French Connection etc because I was trying to put an 'n' in his surname that isn't actually there! I'm surprised such a large minority didn't get Paul Newman.

	Tim Allen:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 16:49 GMT	4 points
	American bias...blah blah blah...don't you guys have anything better to complain about? That one is getting really old...

	dakaraja:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 17:15 GMT	7 points
	I think you should accept Maharishi...if I can spell that, I obviously know who he was.

	Chiaprofessor:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 17:45 GMT	3 points
	The choice of photos is what gets me. Paul Newman as a young man, so he can be easily recognized. Richard Widmark as an old man, luckily he didn't change much in later years. And, Suzanne Pleshette, I could barely recognize her with such a small facial photo. For an old man like me, I need a magnifier to make some of them out (Bobby Fischer). And, I agree that's a bad shot of Heath Ledger.

	hbcrayons:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 18:21 GMT	1 point
	Ted Rogers... head of Rogers Communications... Could be only a Canadian thing though.

	sevorak:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 18:22 GMT	6 points
	Solzhenitsyn is a pretty glaring oversight. And why list Felt as Deep Throat? I would list his real name and accept Deep Throat.

	Lyn_Marie:	Jan 1st, 2009 at 20:37 GMT	4 points
	Thank you for including Brad Renfro. He got snubbed last year at the Oscars. Very good quiz!

	danzam:	Jan 2nd, 2009 at 05:35 GMT	4 points
	Ledger will continue to be honored through February when he (deservedly) wins the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role as the Joker. It was easily the best villain since Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. Probably put it as top 5 movie villians of all time. (with Lecter, Darth Vader, Norman Bates, and Jack Torrance)

	Demitel:	Jan 2nd, 2009 at 07:16 GMT	2 points
	Weird, I would think Don LaFontaine would be here as well.

	Bob:	Jan 2nd, 2009 at 13:16 GMT	2 points
	Would it be possible to get more of these quizzes only on past years from maybe 2000-present?

	Wordnerd:	Jan 3rd, 2009 at 18:34 GMT	2 points
	Van Johnson?

	jereboam:	Jan 4th, 2009 at 00:35 GMT	2 points
	Good quiz, but some truly awful pictures - I only read Eartha Kitt's obituary a couple of days ago and I couldn't recognise her from the picture here.

	ntnon:	Jan 4th, 2009 at 16:02 GMT	0 points
	IS that a picture of Eartha Kitt...?

	ntnon:	Jan 4th, 2009 at 16:07 GMT	1 point
	I would suggest switching Fosset for Clarke for sure, and if there's three more people to compliment Solzhenitsyn, Gygax and Pinter, add them as well. (Or swap them for the lesser-known of those listed, perhaps.)

	karinaedge:	Jan 7th, 2009 at 00:32 GMT	-1 points
	@ Tim Allen, maybe there would be something else to complain about if this annoyance was fixed, but then you would still complain about our complaining.

	karinaedge:	Jan 7th, 2009 at 00:35 GMT	1 point
	michael crichton died?!? i didn't even hear. and damn, i knew yves st. laurent had died, completely slipped my mind. also, i only got 3! heath ledger, bernie mac and bettie page... is my age showing yet? though i like how theyre all in black and white pictures, makes it harder.

	N_Bomb1242:	Jan 24th, 2009 at 01:59 GMT	4 points
	only 8% got hillary! the only sir on the list and a true hero in nz.

	SporcleFan:	Jan 25th, 2009 at 22:04 GMT	1 point
	Why is Tasha Tudor not on this list. She was an astounding children's book author. May she rest in peace.p.s (I only know her because we had to do research on a notable death of 2008 in class).