Understanding the grief and health concerns behind celebrity deaths
The death of a celebrity often triggers collective mourning and, for some, serious health concerns. Here’s why it happens and how to take care of yourself.
Comedian Alex Duong has passed away after a year-long battle with a rare and aggressive form of cancer. He was 42 years old.
“It is with very heavy hearts that we share that our dear Alex passed away peacefully this morning surrounded by love and dear friends,” friend Hilary Steele said in a March 28 update shared on Duong’s GoFundMe page. “He is comfortable and thankfully the pain is gone.”
Steele said the day before that Duong had gone into septic shock at the hospital and was “fighting for his life.”
Duong started having headaches in early 2025 and was diagnosed with alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma after someone else noticed that his left eye was bulging one day, Duong told the Los Angeles Times last year. He lost vision in the affected eye and had to pay $400,000 in medical bills within a few months. Duong’s cancer required extensive radiation and chemotherapy, and eventually spread to her spine, leaving her “bedridden” in February.
According to a 2019 report in the International Journal of Applied and Basic Medical Research, alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma is an “aggressive” soft tissue tumor that typically affects children, but in adults it has “a high propensity for local recurrence and metastasis” and “has the poorest prognosis” of rhabdomyosarcoma diagnoses.
The cause of rhabdomyosarcoma is still unknown, and its prevalence is low, with “only a few hundred new cases per year in the United States,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
Duong has numerous television credits, from season 3 of Dexter to 2011’s The Young and the Restless, season 4 of Pretty Little Liars, and Blue Bloods (he had several appearances as Sonny Lee in seasons 12-14). Until his diagnosis, he worked at the Comedy Store in West Hollywood, California, performing stand-up sets.
In August, friends including comedians Ronnie Cheng, Atsuko Okatsuka, Andrea Jing, and Fumi Abe held a benefit comedy show that ultimately raised $10,000 to support Duong and her family.
“Comedians always support each other when the time is right (to be explicit),” Duong told the LA Times about the support he receives. “We know how hard it is to suffer and struggle and scrape by in this lifestyle. That’s why we’re able to do these jokes and keep getting better. It’s a beautiful thing to see in this world, it really is.”
Mr. Duong’s GoFundMe will be used to fund his memorial service, care for his daughter Everest, and other living expenses for a future celebration of life.
Duong leaves behind his wife, Christina, and their 5-year-old daughter, Everest.
