Celebrity is a Mass Media Phenomenon

With the sad passing of icons Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson this week, I realized the millions of people globally that are touched by each one of these celebrities. I remember watching the Tonight Show as a little girl and mimicking McMahon’s “Heeeeeeeeeeeeere’s Johnny” to my little brother John just to annoy him. When I was ten, I watched re-runs of Charlie’s Angels and wanted to feather my hair just like Farrah, which, by the way, I still have yet to do.

 As far as Michael Jackson goes, he truly was/is the reigning King of Pop in my eyes...my brother Paul and I dressed up like the “walking dead” from his 14-minute Thriller video by tearing our clothes and getting into my mom’s make-up; shortly after, our MTV access was taken away J I remember staying late after school with my classmates just to watch the first single, “Black or White”, on the Dangerous album. I never could get the moonwalk just right and I thought of Jackson as a neighbor when I lived in Santa Barbara since Neverland Ranch seemed only a stone’s throw away.

Rather than delving into how these icons leveraged their “celebrity-ism” in the mass media, I thought it more appropriate that I simply pay tribute to their lives for touching so many millions worldwide.

Wikipedia provided me with the following tidbits:

Edward Leo Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. (March 6, 1923 – June 23, 2009) was an American comedian, game show host, announcer, and television personality. Most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992, also as the host of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995, also co-hosting with Dick Clark on TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes from 1982 to 1986, he also became well-known as the presenter of the now-defunct American Family Publishers sweepstakes.

Farrah Fawcett (February 2, 1947 – June 25, 2009) was an American actress. A multiple Golden Globe and Emmy Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she first appeared as private investigator Jill Munroe in the TV series Charlie's Angels in 1976. Fawcett later appeared off-Broadway to the approval of critics and in highly rated television movies in roles often challenging (The Burning Bed, Nazi Hunter: The Beate Klarsfeld Story, Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story, Margaret Bourke-White) and sometimes unsympathetic (Small Sacrifices). Fawcett was also a pop culture figure whose hairstyle was emulated by millions of young women and whose poster sales broke records, making her an international sex symbol in the 1970s and 1980s. While her impact was particularly strong on the teens of the 1970s (Generation Jones), her appeal spreads over multiple generations

Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958– June 25, 2009) was an American recording artist, entertainer and businessman. The seventh child of the Jackson family, he made his début to the professional music scene at the age of 11 as a member of The Jackson 5 in 1969, and began a solo career in 1971 while still a member of the group. Referred to as the "King of Pop" in subsequent years, his 1982 album Thriller is the world's best-selling record of all time and four other solo studio albums are also among the world's best-selling records: Off the Wall (1979), Bad (1987), Dangerous (1991) and HIStory (1995).

In the early 1980s, he became a dominant figure in popular music and the first African-American entertainer to amass a strong crossover following on MTV. The popularity of his music videos airing on MTV, such as "Beat It", "Billie Jean" and Thriller— widely credited with transforming the music video from a promotional tool into an art form— helped bring the relatively new channel to fame. Videos such as "Black or White" and "Scream" made Jackson an enduring staple on MTV in the 1990s. With stage performances and music videos, Jackson popularized a number of physically complicated dance techniques, such as the robot and the moonwalk. His distinctive musical sound and vocal style influenced many hip hop, pop and contemporary R&B artists. While Jackson was a member of Generation Jones, he had an impact on multiple generations.