A two part question: Do you recall any dates where two famous people died? And secondly, what famous people who died got little press coverage, perhaps in part to other famous people dying around the same time?

For the first part, I found out that two great people: Ricky Wilson (original guitarist for the B-52's) and Johnny Olsen (long-time original announcer for the Price is Right and Match Game) both died on October 12, 1985.

Another notable one was May 16, 1990 which saw the passings of Muppets creator Jim Henson and Sammy Davis, Jr.

which other ones can you recall?

For the second part, two come to mind:

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, died on December 25, 2006. Little press coverage, probably due to 2 reasons: One being it was Christmas Day, and two, with President Gerald Ford dying the next day.

Also, Robert Palmer, who died on September 26, 2003. The versatile singer found success both as a solo artist and also as a lead singer for the Power Station and was an early MTV icon. Little press coverage, probably due to country music legend Johnny Cash and beloved Three's Company star John Ritter passing in the preceding weeks, as well as the second anniversary of 9/11.

Queen's Freddie Mercury and KISS drummer Eric Carr both died on November 24, 1991.

Needless to say... Mercury's death dominated the news.

Sherman Hemsley and Chad Everett both died on July 24, 2012. And they also both died of lung cancer.

Elvis and Groucho Marx died the same day in August 1977, Elvis of course got more coverage than Groucho.

Elvis and Groucho Marx died the same day in August 1977, Elvis of course got more coverage than Groucho.

Groucho Marx died on August 19, 1977, 3 days after Elvis Presley, but it was the same week:

http://www.radiodiscussions.com/showthread.php?512292-30-Years-Ago-Today-(August-19-1977)-Groucho-Marx-s-Death

Russell Johnson (The Professor from Gilligan's Island) and Dave Madden (Reuben Kincaid from The Partridge Family) both died on January 16, 2014:

http://extratv.com/2014/01/16/classic-tv-losses-gilligans-island-professor-russell-johnson-dave-madden-of-partridge-family/

In another bit of trivia about them, both men were left-handed.

Not the same day, but Mother Teresa died a few days after Princess Diana, in 1997. IIRC, Mother Teresa's death was further overshadowed by coverage of Princess Di's funeral...

Screen legends Yul Brynner & Orson Welles both died Oct 10, 1985.

Margaret Thatcher and Annette Funicello died the same day; April 8, 2013. Not surprisingly, the former got more coverage.

Your mileage may vary on Thatcher. She was called the "most divisive figure in recent British political history" for a reason.

Screen legends Yul Brynner & Orson Welles both died Oct 10, 1985.

Interesting, also just 2 days before the Ricky Wilson/Johnny Olsen deaths. Wilson was probably the first famous person to die from AIDS. Certainly was a busy week.

This was before my time. Author Aldous Huxley (wrote Brave New World) died November 22, 1963. His death being totally overshadowed by the assassination of President John Kennedy the same day.

A sad personal connection, my mother's father also died that day.

Ed. ETA: I'd forgotten about this. But author C.S. Lewis (writer of the Chronicles Of Narnia series) also died on November 22nd 1963. So three famous people died that day.

The 2nd and 3rd presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both passed away on July 4, 1826 - Independence Day and the 50th anniversary of the United States.

March 3, 1966:

William Frawley & Alice Pearce

From Winnie the Pooh, Paul Winchell (Tigger) died June 24, 2005, and then John Fiedler (Piglet) died the next day, June 25, 2005.

While reading this, I didn't realized half the people mentioned HAD died.

I was watching a docu. online on the Our Gang shorts (The Little Rascals) and it was mentioned that Carl Switzer (Alfalfa) was killed on the same day that Cecil B. DeMille died, January 21, 1959.

DeMille's death dominated the press with Switzer just getting brief mentions.

Farrah Fawcett died the same day as Michael Jackson.Also, Ed McMahon died 2 days before both of them. While Farrah Fawcett was way overshadowed by Michael Jackson, Ed McMahon got hardly any coverage.

May 16, 1990:

Jim Henson
Sammy Davis Jr.

March 27, 2002:

Milton Berle
Dudley Moore
Billy Wilder

Dec 31, 2015:

Natalie Cole
Beth Howland
Wayne Rogers

James Brown, the Godfather of Soul and the Hardest Working Man in Show Business, died on December 25, 2006. Little press coverage, probably due to 2 reasons: One being it was Christmas Day, and two, with President Gerald Ford dying the next day.

Simply not true. There was not only coverage when he died, but for some time afterward when a family feud broke out, causing his body to be put on ice for weeks (ew) until he was finally buried.

Farrah Fawcett died the same day as Michael Jackson.

That was the year that EVERYBODY seemed to be dying! Anyone remember 2009, how freaky that was?

MOVIE STARS:
Farrah Fawcett
Patrick Swayze
Natasha Richardson
Jennifer Jones
Brittany Murphy
Ricardo Montalbán
Ron Silver
David Carradine
Karl Malden
James Whitmore
Pat Hingle

HOLLYWOOD BEHIND THE SCENES:
John Hughes
Larry Gelbart

TV STARS AND PERSONALITIES:
Bea Arthur
Patrick McGoohan
Ed McMahon
Gale Storm
Wendy Richard (her co-star was Mollie Sugden, who died the same year!)
Mollie Sugden
Billy Mays
Lou Albano
Oral Roberts

COMEDY:
Henry Gibson
Soupy Sales
Dom DeLuise

IMPRESSIONISTS:
Fred Travalena
Danny Gans

MUSIC WORLD:
Michael Jackson
Dan Seals
Les Paul
Mary Travers (of Peter, Paul and Mary)

POLITICAL WORLD:
Ted Kennedy
Robert McNamara
Corazon Aquino
Eunice Kennedy Shriver

JOURNALISM AND RADIO:
Walter Cronkite
Paul Harvey
Dominick Dunne
William Safire

ART, FASHION AND LITERARY WORLD:
Andrew Wyeth
Naomi Sims
John Updike
Frank McCourt
Jim Carroll
Robert Novak

ACADEMIC:
Claude Lévi-Strauss

PORN:
Marilyn Chambers

I thought Gilligan dying would be HUGE national news and almost a national day of mourning!

But he died at the SAME time Hurricane Katrina hit so Bob Denver's death was barely even mentioned!