The death of Mr Bean and other times the internet was having you on
Mr Bean has died?! Given the track record of 2016 and the passing of David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and Prince you’d be forgiven for believing that another beloved celeb has passed away.
Reports of Rowan Atkinson - famous for playing Mr Bean and Blackadder - were quickly confirmed to be a hoax. Rest assured, Rowan Atkinson is alive and well, but it’s not the first time social media has pulled the wool over the eyes of fans worldwide.
Here are some other actors who have been mourned before their time.
Jeff Goldblum
This one was dramatically incorrect! Jeff Goldblum - most known for his roles in Independence Day and Jurassic Park - was reported as having fallen to his death from a cliff in New Zealand. This hoax made it off of Facebook and onto the TV with Channel 9’s Richard Wilkins reporting it on the evening bulletin. They eventually got a laugh out of it.
Paul McCartney
Did you know Paul McCartney died in 1966 and has been replaced by a look-alike ever since? Not so much a hoax, but an urban legend, the left-handed frontman for the Beatles is meant to have died in a car crash in the late 1960s. ‘Proof’ of this theory includes the numberplate on the car on the album cover for Abbey Road - 28IF - because “if” Paul McCartney was still alive he would have been 28-years-old upon the album’s release. Riiiiight.
Macaulay Culkin
The young star of the Home Alone series was reported as having died in his New York City apartment, aged 34. Macaulay Culkin was in fact on tour with his band - The Pizza Underground - and famously parodied the report pretending to be dead as he fronted the band at their show the next day.
Richard and David Attenborough Mix-Up
Hoax or case of mistaken identity? Richard Attenborough passed away in August 2014. The actor was best known for his role as Dr Hammond in Jurassic Park, but his surname is most known because of his brother Sir David Attenborough - who is the owner of that voice we all put on when we pretend to talk about wild animals. It took no time for reports to come out that the famous documentary maker had passed away instead! He has in fact just celebrated his 90th birthday.
It just goes to show you shouldn't believe everything you see on the internet!
