Two celebrities kicked the bucket today, both rather early in life. One was a surprise, the other wasn't so much.
Marie Fredriksson was part of the Swedish group Roxette, which found a lot of success in the late '80s and early '90s. Their biggest hit was "Listen to Your Heart", which was featured prominently in Pretty Woman, but they also had various other hits around the time, such as "The Look", "Joyride", "Dangerous", and "Dressed for Success".
Unfortunately for Fredriksson, she was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2002, and she toughed out 17 years with it, including a portion of time when it appeared she was cured. The disease ultimately ended up killing her, but it's pretty impressive she lasted so long. She was 61 years old, and was well regarded within the industry as both talented and a nice person.
Philip McKeon played Tommy on the '70s/'80s TV show "Alice". He was the slightly older brother of "Facts of Life" star Nancy McKeon.
He died at age 55. It is unclear what killed him, and he was not publicly known to be sick, but his family said he had a "long illness". Only two of the original cast of "Alice" remain, with Linda Lavin (Alice) and Polly Holliday (Flo) both being 82. McKeon actually wasn't the first choice. The original Tommy was the same kid who played the character in the movie from which the show was loosely based (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore), but network brass didn't care for that kid, so he was replaced after the pilot with McKeon.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Tyde
