ElMaruecan82's profile

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Sunday, May 5th, 2024 9:08 PM

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Poll Suggestion: Movie Legends with the Highest Death-Over-Life Years' Differences

These movie stars either died very young, a long time ago, or both, and have now been dead much longer than they were alive.

The Death-Over-Life (DOL) number indicates how much longer they've been gone compared to how long they lived. For example, Humphrey Bogart died at 58 in 1957, and as of 2024, it's been 67 years since his death, making Bogart's DOL number 9 (67 minus 58).

Here are the movie stars with the highest DOL numbers, sorted from highest to lowest. Which one is your favorite?

https://www.imdb.com/list/ls545728995/

Champion

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13 days ago

FYC:

Rudolph Valentino, died at 31 in 1926, so 98 -31 would be 67, he would be first on the list.

Montgomery Clift, died at 45 in 1966, his number would be 13.

Lon Chaney died in 1930 at 47, his number this year would be 47, a coincidence

"Fatty" Arbuckle died in 1933 at 46, his number would be 45

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13 days ago

There would be Errol Flynn at 15

There are also child actors such as Heather O'Rourke at 24 and Judith Barsi at 26. But, somehow, it feels a bit heartless to include them.

And, just for fun. The earliest born person ever filmed was Despina Makai. She was allegedly 114 years old when she appeared in a 1905 film called Baba Despina. Supposing she died in 1905, her DOL number would be only 5. 

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@Maxence_G​ 

there would also be Douglas Fairbanks with a DOL of 29

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@Maxence_G​ 

Thank you! I've incorporated your suggestions (wow, I missed some notable names!) and yeah, I had already decided not to include child actors, as it might seem insensitive.

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@Maxence_G

That's the fascinating aspect of these numbers. Take Charlie Chaplin, one of the earliest film icons—he was a celebrity as far back as 1914, yet his DOL number remains negative and won't reach zero until 2065! Similarly, Stan Laurel won't reach zero until 2040, and Buster Keaton in 2037. It would be interesting to see who the oldest movie star is with the farthest zero point—perhaps James Stewart in 2086.

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@ElMaruecan82​ 

"It would be interesting to see who the oldest movie star is with the farthest zero point—perhaps James Stewart in 2086"

not exactly a star, but Renée Simonot in 2130 (probably the oldest professional actress of all time) 

Norman Lloyd in 2127

Olivia de Havilland in 2124.

Kirk Douglas in 2123

Fun fact, Renee Simonot was the actress dubbing Olivia de Havilland in French.

I named Catherine Deneuve's mother as having a far removed zero-point. But, Catherine Deneuve's sister, Françoise Dorléac, has a very high DOL. And she was on her way to become as popular as her sister before she died in a car crash. Her DOL is 32.

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9 days ago

When reading the Cahiers du Cinéma, I stumbled upon an actress named Ruan Lingyu. She was a star in China before her death by suicide at 24 in 1935. Apparently, she was destroyed by tabloids, and it pushed her to suicide. Her DOL would be 65, second on the list.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0747716/

When I read about her, I also thought about Jean Seberg. Her death was also in all likelihood influenced by tabloids. She was the star of Godard's About de Souffle. She died at 40 in 1979. Her DOL would be 5.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0781029/

F**k tabloids.

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Thank you for the suggestions, I added Seberg and Dorleac.

Regarding the Chinese actress,  I really appreciate learning about lesser-known figures from cinema history and for some weird reason, I have a strange fascination for tragic stories. Is it possible to get one of her photos in her profile's page?

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@ElMaruecan82​ 

Since, I do not have IMDBPro, I cannot add a picture of Ruan to her IMDb page, but this is what she looks like:

Ruan Lingyu - Wikipedia

There are plenty of pictures of her on the internet despite her short career. 

The BBC made an article about her:

https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20171025-ruan-lingyu-the-greta-garbo-of-china

There is a film about her life where she is played by Maggie Cheung. It is because that film is being re-released in France that the Cahiers du Cinéma talked about her

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102816/reference/

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@Maxence_G

Lingyu Ruan(1910-1935)

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@urbanemovies​ 

Thanks, I guess the poll was worthwhile if only because it made us aware of this actress's existence.

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9 days ago

I would have expected to see more "silent film stars who died young on the list." In case, you do the same poll from the opposite perspective, here are couple long-living movie stars who died fairly recently.

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@urbanemovies​ 

I tried to focus on the most widely known faces with a focus on the nominees for AFI Legends (250 for each category of actors and actresses). I know could also add Eric Campbell, the large man who worked with Chaplin, but I know he has little chance on a list featuring such major names. The other perspective is interesting; I'll give it a thought.

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@ElMaruecan82​  I like the idea, I would have thought more big numbers would be available to post. But, alas I couldn't find any either, especially with some of restrictions on the pool. (No kids, no musicians, no TV stars). Well done.

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@ElMaruecan82​ I agree with your approach, I couldn't find anything to add or had any concrete specific suggestions to make in twenty minutes I searched. I guess having a positive life over death number is harder than one would think. The few that I found, you already had listed.

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Champion

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9 days ago

@ElMaruecan82 'Great idea, ElMo! Just as importantly, hi and how have you been? I haven't been on much in the past few years so I've missed you and all of your creativity and wealth of knowledge.

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Hello, ruby!

It's truly wonderful to hear from you after such a long time. I've been well, thank you for asking. Your kind words mean a lot to me, and I've certainly missed our exchanges and the vibrant community here.

The past few months have been quite a whirlwind for me professionally, which unfortunately, left me with little spare time. That rarity of time even extended to one of my favorite pastimes - watching movies and writing reviews, which says a lot.

But there's more: as I've ventured past the 40-year mark, I've found a renewed motivation to pursue my artistic endeavors more fervently. This period of my life has inspired me to get deeper into projects that align with my passions for drawing and (indirectly) for cinema, which required me to reassess how I organize my time.

And so I've come to view my participation on IMDb in a new light: while I still cherish the memories and fun experiences it provided, I'm afraid it doesn't fit as seamlessly into my life as it once did.  Priorities have evolved, and there's an element of 'personal' growth to it, I guess.

Thank you once again for reaching out and I hope this message finds you well.

Looking forward to perhaps crossing paths in the future, here or elsewhere, in one artistic endeavor or another

ElM.

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