Dead celebrities, living icons
Subtitle: tragedy and fame in the age of the multimedia superstar
By: John David Ebert.
Publisher: Praeger
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Santa Barbara, Calif
Language: eng
ISBN-13: 9780313377648; 9780313377655
Subjects: Celebrities -- United States -- Death; Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Popular culture -- United States -- History -- 21st century; Tragedy -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Tragedy -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 21st century; Fame -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 20th century; Fame -- Social aspects -- United States -- History -- 21st century; Tabloid newspapers -- Social aspects -- United States -- History; United States -- Civilization -- 1945-; United States -- Civilization -- 1918-1945
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: Saints in the age of electronic stained glass; title: pt. 1. Birth and rise (the 1930s); title: Howard Hughes, the world's first serial crash artist; title: Walt Disney builds the cosmos electric; title: pt. 2. Classics (the 1950s); title: The weird and fantastic tale of the pixellation and disintegration of Elvis Presley; title: James Dean's death by car crash : an autopsy; title: The strange tale of the wondrous life and curious death of Marilyn Monroe; title: pt. 3. Tribes (the 1960s); title: The assassination of J.F.K. considered as a case of media warfare; title: Andy Warhol's cult of the dead celebrity; title: The Beatles, their muse, a car crash, five bullets, and some flowers from the dead; title: Jim Morrison awoke one morning to find himself transformed; title: pt. 4. Sunset (the 1980s); title: Ronald Reagan : the celluloid man who nearly died; title: The passion of Gianni Versace; title: Princess Diana's media metamorphoses; title: pt. 5. The myth today (2008); title: The multiple selves of Heath Ledger; title: Michael Jackson's macrosphere : genesis, evolution, disintegration; title: Afterword: On the otherworldly nature of electronic culture.