Seriously. Don't you think it was better this way? It would have broke my heart to watch him playing out his days to half filled halls across the american south. Droning on and on about the impending Hawaiin Kenyan bogeyman that was coming to sap the will of the righteous.
A bunch..... Kurt Cobain, Layne Stayley, Jim Morrison, John Lennon, Buddy Holly, Brandon Lee, Heath Ledger (never get see that Joker movie I'm sure they were planning).
I would have to agree with River Phoenix. Even as a kid his acting was superb.
The reason why people like to discuss it when young people die is because you always wonder what could have been. "Imagine the great songs or the great roles they would have done" is what people usually say. I remember when Ledger died people were comparing him to Brando and the likes. Why? Because he did a daring role in Brokeback Mountain or did great in Batman? Those were really the only two parts he was known for, at least for me.
You know as much as I loved the work by Lennon I don't think his best artistic stuff laid ahead of him when he died,if he had died in say 1962 that would have been true but not when he died as tragic as that was.
Same goes for the rock great Elvis.His best years were IMO 1956 into 1957 then he went in the army, after that it was almost all down hill,not that I didn't enjoy some of his trashy 60s movies and some of his music cause I did, but they were not on a par with his earlier music or movies IMO.