This person died in 2023, age 56. As a child she said her mother physically abused her. As a teen she was arrested for shoplifting and sent to reform school. She would later convert to Islam, adopting a new name while still answering to the one the world knew. She never shrank from controversy—most famously tearing up a photo of Pope John Paul II on Saturday Night Live to protest Catholic Church abuse. Today’s dead celebrity is Sinead O’Connor.

If you liked this episode, you might also like Episode 120 Crazy Sane (Waylon Jennings) or Episode 87 Simply the Best (Tina Turner).

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14th Street Studios

Hustling Around Town, with Rachel Huss

Better Call Daddy, with Reena Friedman Watts, Apple Podcasts

You Mic, with Freddy Crus, Apple Podcast

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Transcript of this episode

NYT Obituary for Sinead O’Connor

Sinead O’Connor 1992 SNL appearance

Nothing Compares 2 U official video

Fearless Documentary

Sinéad O'Connor aka Shuhada’ Sadaqat on The Tommy Tiernan Show in 2020

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

Famous & Gravy official website

Sinead O’Connor was an Irish singer and activist whose haunting voice made Nothing Compares 2 U a global anthem. Known for tearing up a photo of the Pope on Saturday Night Live, she became a rebel icon who challenged the Catholic Church scandal long before others dared. A Dublin musician shaped by pain and conviction, O’Connor mixed mental health and faith, art and protest, earning both exile and admiration as one of pop’s most fearless truth-tellers.

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This person died in 2016, age 89. Her father was a prominent lawyer with a lofty sense of civic duty. At one point, she transferred to the University of Alabama to study law and go into the family business. In 1949 she moved to New York City, working as a reservations agent for Eastern Airlines and later BOAC. At night, she wrote at a desk made from a door. She won a Pulitzer Prize in 1960, but her public appearances were so rare that each counted as important news. Today’s dead celebrity is Harper Lee.

If you liked this episode, you might also like Episode 117 Resonant Dignity (Gregory Peck), 102 Magical Thinker (Joan Didion), or Episode 097 Time Pilgrim (Kurt Vonnegut).

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Transcript of this episode

Harper Lee rare interview To Kill a Mockingbird 1964

Gregory Peck Harper Lee Atticus Finch Oscar speech

Obama farewell speech Atticus Finch quote

Truman Capote Harper Lee In Cold Blood Kansas interviews

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

Famous & Gravy official website

Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Monroeville Alabama, Truman Capote, Atticus Finch, Go Set a Watchman, Pulitzer Prize, southern literature, Scout Finch, American novel. Harper Lee’s story combines small-town roots and big-city ambition, friendship and rivalry, and the lasting cultural debates around justice, empathy, and the power of a single book.

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This person died 2011, age of 56. He dropped out of Reed College in 1972 and once said that taking LSD was among the most important things he ever did. In the early years of his career, his obsession with detail drove colleagues crazy, but later he inspired extraordinary loyalty. In the 1990s he bought a small computer graphics spinoff from George Lucas and built it into Pixar. He told the world he would step down as Apple’s CEO if he could no longer meet expectations — and then he did. Today’s dead celebrity is Steve Jobs.

If you liked this episode, you might also like Episode 98 Pleasure Activists (Julia Child) or Episode 42 Game Changer (John Madden).

LINKS

Transcript of this episode

Steve Jobs Stanford commencement 2005 full speech

iPhone launch 2007 keynote

Steve Jobs Pixar Toy Story interview 1995 on Charlie Rose

Steve Jobs Noah Wyle Macworld 1999 impersonation

Steve Jobs Simpsons parody Steve Mobbs MyPods and Boomsticks

Dead or Alive quiz game

Famous & Gravy on Facebook, LinkedIn, Threads

Famous & Gravy official website

Steve Jobs was an entrepreneur who transformed Apple and Pixar into global icons, creating the iPhone and reshaping Silicon Valley with his visionary leadership. Known for his reality distortion field, his partnership with Steve Wozniak, and his relentless drive for innovation

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.