Don Cornelius Headshot - P 2012
Getty Images- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Tumblr
News of Don Cornelius’ tragic death rocked Hollywood on Wednesday, Feb. 1, but it also prompted fond memories of the iconic variety show he created back in 1971.
“I don’t really know very many people of a certain age who don’t remember Soul Train,” said Whoopi Goldberg during The View. “I know that everybody danced in the room.”
PHOTOS: Hollywood’s Notable Deaths of 2012
“Soul Train was like, this was the show for black people when you wanted to learn how to dance, they had the Soul Train line,” co-host Sherri Shepherd added. “ When he created it, it was in Chicago. My aunts danced on Soul Train.”
“It’s a huge loss,” said Goldberg.
Cornelius’ body was discovered by a family member at around 4 a.m. in his Encino home on Mulholland Drive. He was pronounced dead at 4:56 a.m. at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of “an apparent suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot wound,” Los Angeles County assistant chief coroner Ed Winter told The Hollywood Reporter. Winter said the department is investigating.
Watch the clip from The View below.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day