Pop Culture Talking Point: Famous and Dead in Three's

When the first famous person dies, we immediately grab for the quick talking point-

"You know.... famous people die in three's."

"Yeah, I've heard that before."

And so begins your thought process for information regarding the most recent string of deaths. It's standard water-cooler subject matter.

We've been conditioned to assume that famous people die in three's. It's just one of those things that we force into being fact. If the triptych isn't obvious, then we search for a third. A-list, B-list... this coincidence has all-access.

We're obsessed with knowing little factoids about famous people. Any basic cable subscription can confirm this. Check your local listings.

Leni Reifenstahl, John Ritter, Johnny Cash

I wonder if that third person knew the other two people had died? Was Johnny Cash like "Oh man, poor John Ritter. He was awesome on Three's Company."

Dudley Moore, Milton Berle, Billy Wilder

Don Knotts, Darren McGavin, Dennis Weaver

Reggie White, Susan Sontag, Jerry Orbach

Ronald Reagan, Ray Charles, Robert Quine

Johnny Cochran, Terry Schiavo, Pope John Paul II

Saddam Hussein, Gerald Ford, James Brown

Barbaro, Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears (pending)