We have all read about the last words of some famous people. For example, drummer Buddy Rich died after surgery in 1987. As he was being prepped for the operation, a nurse asked him, “Is there anything you can’t take?” And he said, “Yeah, country music.”
Or the composer Gustav Mahler who died in bed. He was reportedly conducting an imaginary orchestra. The last word from him was: “Mozart!”
Basketball great “Pistol” Pete Maravich collapsed during a casual basketball game. His last words were: “I feel good.”
John Wayne, who died in Los Angeles at age 72, turned to his wife and said, “Of course I know who you are. You’re my girl. I love you.”
Joe DiMaggio reportedly said, “I finally get to see Marilyn.”
Then there’s my favourite, Steve Jobs. According to his sister Mona, the Apple founder’s last words were: “Oh wow! Oh wow! Oh wow!”
But famous endings go beyond the last words. My favorite ending to a TV show is from The sopranoswhen the screen goes black.
You probably remember Mary Tyler Moore, who was fired along with her family from television, said goodbye, then turned off the studio lights and left.
Or Ted Danson, aka Sam Malone, turning down a customer on Cheers and saying, “Sorry, we’re closed.”
My favorite last line from movies is from the coming-of-age drama. stay by me. The story is told as a flashback, and at the end, Richard Dreyfuss, now an adult, sits at his desk and slowly writes, “I never had any friends later like I did when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?” “
There are many other famous last lines, such as Humphrey Bogart in White Houseat the airport telling Louis, “I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”
Or the classics. judy wreath on The Wizard of Oz says, “There’s no place like home.”
Of king kong: “Oh no. It wasn’t the planes. It was beauty killed the beast.”
Scarlett O’Hara in both the movie and the book gone With the Wind says: “After all, tomorrow will be another day.”
Another famous last line of a novel comes from the unforgettable catcher in the rye when Holden Caulfield says, “Never tell anyone anything. If you do, you’ll start to miss everyone.”
Or how about this The corrections by Jonathan Franzen: “He was seventy-five years old and was going to make some changes in his life.”
But my favorite last line in a novel is from The Great Gatsby, which I reread last winter. F. Scott Fitzgerald concludes: “So we sail, ships against the current, carried endlessly into the past.”