Althouse: The Rule of 3.

May 29, 2010

The Rule of 3.

After Art Linkletter and Gary Coleman departed, the Rule of 3 demanded one more celebrity move on to the next world. And though he wasn't born to follow...

... Dennis Hopper followed.

17 comments:

Unknown said...: tag: Althouse religion; 5/29/10, 1:45 PM
Amexpat said...: Hard to think of three celebrities with less in common.; 5/29/10, 1:58 PM
Cedarford said...: With Coleman, that only amounts to the Rule of 2 1/2.

I'm sorry, but another celebrity midget must die for the Karma to balance, and truly achieve the Rule of 3.

If that sounds cruel, think of what it would look like in terms of achievement and contribution to the entertainment industry. If Linkletter and Hopper amounted to "2" together for their impact, Coleman would be another 1/200th to getting to a 3 (and that would include his gossip and arrests publicity).; 5/29/10, 2:55 PM
jimbino said...: That brought tears to my eyes. That film inspired me to abandon Amerika and its Vietnam aggression and buy a Honda CB450 in Munich in 1971, with which I got to know Europe from top to bottom, Commie East to Fascist West (Franco & Salazar). Probably the most fun I have ever had.; 5/29/10, 4:16 PM
Unknown said...: danielle, get a clue.

Funny how Linkletter the square had the best life and the best end.

jimbino said...

That brought tears to my eyes. That film inspired me to abandon Amerika and its Vietnam aggression and buy a Honda CB450 in Munich in 1971, with which I got to know Europe from top to bottom, Commie East to Fascist West (Franco & Salazar). Probably the most fun I have ever had.

Sure it did.; 5/29/10, 4:24 PM
RiverRat said...: He may have been a "small time libertarian celebrity" but demonstrated more of a sense of human freedom and personal dignity in his work than most of us ever will. I'll take him over Linkletter and Coleman in heart beat.; 5/29/10, 4:25 PM
dave1310 said...: Coleman was a star?
When Dana Plato died he was quoted as saying "My thoughts were more for her son and the press issues, and whether it would affect my ability to get employment."
A small person in more ways height.; 5/29/10, 4:32 PM
Fred4Pres said...: RIP Dennis. RIP.; 5/29/10, 4:46 PM
traditionalguy said...: If he really rode his bike through the countryside at 60 mph without a helmet and without goggles, then he was determined to be free to learn things the hard way. RIP.; 5/29/10, 4:54 PM
jimbino said...: Well Tradicionalguy,

I always wore a helmet that would be considered substandard today and I had a windshield on my bike so that I didn't need goggles. The modern helmets are heavy, hot and give poor vision, making PC motorcycling hardly worth doing.

Back then in '69 the Commies were our mortal enemies. Now we have met the enemy and it is us.; 5/29/10, 7:38 PM
William said...: In the end, we are all poor, forked creatures, but Gary Coleman most of all. He was dealt a bad hand: betrayals, bad health, financial woes. He did not miss a single unkind cut, including early death. Sadder still, he looked at his most comical when he was most demanding of his own dignity....Well cast a cold eye on life and death and, horseman, pass by. We are all pitiable creatures. Perhaps some bullfrog croaks louder and longer than the other bullfrogs, but by the end of summer they're all gone and the pond evaporates.; 5/29/10, 7:49 PM
Fred4Pres said...: "The idea of less government," Dennis Hopper says, "more individual freedom, is something that I liked. I started believing it. So I started voting. I voted that time for Reagan, and I've voted on the straight Republican ticket ever since. I don't go to meetings, I don't go to things. I just go to the polls and do it."; 5/29/10, 8:32 PM
Penny said...: "In the end, we are all poor, forked creatures, but Gary Coleman most of all."

If only that were true, William. Then we might collectively say,

"See! See! He is worse than me!"

That gives way too many of us a "Shakesperian gift", that we have no right to receive, nor assume.

“In the end”, as you put it, we are ALL quite “common” on the stage of the Globe Theater.; 5/29/10, 9:06 PM
paul a'barge said...: Headed over to Ebay. Bought a copy of Easy Rider.; 5/29/10, 10:12 PM
William said...: Coleman got to strut and fret his brief hour upon the stage. There's that. A perch upon the stage gives added stature, and he got to look down upon the groundlings for a little while. Still, from the bare facts of his life, he seems to have had a hard journey.....Hopper had a life full of excess. Perhaps the reason why he made such a compelling villain is because he he knew so well the joys of deviltry. He would have made a boon companion on a road trip. He would have been less fun in a domestic setting.....That was Linkletter's forte. Linkletter's banality was his greatest strength. He wouldn't be much fun in Vegas, but his squareness and normality is what every kid wants in a parent. I guess that's what made the one tragedy in his life so grating.....For good and bad, Hopper and Linkletter got to be stars in their own dramas. Coleman was a bit player, even in the tragedy of his own life. He absorbed the toxicity of God and man without ever transcending or even understanding the malignity of his fate....Most of my tragedies, I have played out in baggy pants and a big red nose. Of the three deaths, his is the one I found the most haunting.; 5/30/10, 11:12 AM
Phil 314 said...: What the hell is wrong with freedom? That's what it's all about.

I mean I'm... no, I can't... I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's... he's a great man! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas...

Alright, boys, this is the last shot we got! We're gonna run the picket fence at 'em! Jimmy, you're solo right! Everett, Merle should be open on the other side of that fence! Now, boys, don't get caught watchin' the paint dry!

Just looking through IMDb, Hopper did "Blue Velvet", "River's Edge" and "Hoosiers" all in the same year. Wow!

(PS above quotes are from....?); 5/30/10, 12:01 PM
Chris Althouse Cohen said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 5/30/10, 5:06 PM