In a striking case of "you KNEW it had to happen eventually", "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin was killed on a shoot for an underwater documentary. He was killed when a stingray barb punctured his chest.
Da_bang80
A few sectors short of an Empire
Member # 528
posted
Wow, god, I was just thinking about his show a few days ago. I used to watch the Crocodile Hunter on discovery.
He was quite the guy...
-------------------- Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change. The courage to change the things I cannot accept. And the wisdom to hide the bodies of all the people I had to kill today because they pissed me off.
posted
Yes, respect. Inside and outside the industry. Before he came along, most documentaries would put you to sleep in 2.6 seconds, and most people in the film industry probably wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot cattleprod. That's been severely changed.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
Well, opinions differ. Anyway, the only people doing that stuff before Steve that I can name are Marty Stauffer and Jacques Cousteau. And while I acknowledge the significance of their work, neither is particularly exciting to the common person. I think they were about the only people doing that stuff at the time. I might be wrong, but I believe that Steve was directly responsible for the creation of Animal Planet.
So anyway, I know we've all thought it in the past and joked about it, but who isn't suprised this happened?
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted
It's very sad, especially with him having a young family. I think you could debate his merits - as in raising the public consciousness to conservation etc. - against his, er, anti-merits? Demerits? Anyway, the fact that his own personality and the need to provide a 'show' would conflict with the message. Like that trip to Antarctica.
Anyway, Death Of Being Wrestled To Death By Steve is now out of a job, whereas Death By Stingray is probably feeling pretty smug.
posted
I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news. I think the difference too with Steve Irwin is that he was such a LIVELY person, sort of in your face when on camera, that indeared him to a lot of people. So to think that that lively character is now... dead - is a shock. When you think of others when you hear 'such and such' has died - you probably only had seen their photograph etc.
Plus, he was young - 44. Young Family - youngest 3 y.o.
He DID do a lot in the way of raising the awareness of conservation of animals and their habitats and living in harmony with even the fiercest of creatures.
Registered: Mar 1999
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Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
I hope his children remember him, but at that age they might not have much memory of him when they grow up. I bet he made pretty much the coolest Dad in the world.
It did seem pretty inevitable, though. He seemed to tempt fate on a daily basis.
posted
I don't know, with all that footage, it might be fairly easy for Bindi (who's about 7 or 8 now, I think) to remember her dad. It's going to be a lot harder for his son.
Registered: Jul 2002
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quote:Originally posted by B.J.: Yes, respect. Inside and outside the industry. Before he came along, most documentaries would put you to sleep in 2.6 seconds, and most people in the film industry probably wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot cattleprod. That's been severely changed.
Perhaps. But the very first time I watched the Crocodile Hunter, I thought, "Can this guy really be so stupid?" I think the guy had it coming, regardless of what his message or his goals were. If you spend so much time hanging around dangerous, poisonous animals and handling them in such ways, your luck is bound to run out sooner or later.
For me, the perfect picture to sum up my thoughts about him is the one where he's feeding a dead chicken to a huge crocodile with one hand, and holding his baby son in his other. You've probably already seen it, it's been the most popular picture for the obits this morning.
Registered: Nov 2000
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