Deaths of famous people come in threes…?

Okay, so maybe there's something to this “deaths of famous people come in threes” superstition after all….

I don’t mean to be too funereal, but many of you accused me of coming across like a voodoo priest for even mentioning this phenomenon is my farewell tributes to Wendy Wasserstein, Coretta Scott King and Betty Friedan. But I only mentioned it because their deaths came in quick succession after Ibrahim Ferrer, Peter Jennings and John H. Johnson died according to this superstition last August.

Now comes word that within a 24-hour period this past weekend, the Grim Reaper swooped away Dennis Weaver (81 - L), Don Knotts (81 - C) and Darren McGavin (83 - R) on his chariot of death. (Do ya suppose it's just a coincidence that each of their names begins with “D”?….Oh, alright!)

I appreciate that many of you have probably never heard of these “famous” men. But instead of trying to defend their honorable mention in this journal, I refer you to their comprehensive AP obituaries, which can be read by clicking on each of their names respectively. Nonetheless, on behalf of those of us for whom these men were huge stars, I feel constrained to note that they were to us fortysomethings what Ashton Kutcher, Jaleel (“Urkel”) White and James Van Der Beek are to twentysomethings today.

So, farewell Sheriff McCloud, Deputy Barney Fife and Kolchak: The Night Stalker…

NOTE: It seems my column that was published yesterday at CNN caused many stiff upper lips to quiver with royal indignation. I titled it: “Did the British royal family put a (mafia-style) hit on Diana?” But I invite you to click here to see if you agree with these outraged loyalists that I should hang from London’s Tower Bridge along with Mohammed al-Fayed….

Dennis Weaver, Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, Obituaries