5 thoughts on “The Boy Next Door: Jonathan Crombie (1966-2015)

  1. I adored Anne Of Green Gables as a girl. As a child with a profoundly over-active imagination and sense of theatricality, I identified with her in many ways. Some parts feel a little rose-tinted watching it now as an adult, but it still brings back so many memories that I can’t help but love it.
    When I first saw the film, I had no interest in the romance aspect. I just wanted Anne to win at everything and maybe slap Josie Pye right in her prissy face. But when I hit my teens, suddenly Gilbert transformed. I think what made him so dreamy in my eyes was that he was a guy who saw an odd, opinionated, and accident prone girl, and thought ‘That’s the one for me!’ Gilbert was a cute boy who preferred smart, unique girls- a mythical creature during my youth.
    The later films I think I saw once each during my early 20s, but I have almost no memory of them. Didn’t she steal an orphan from some nuns or something?
    Occasionally when I’m depressed I gather some comfort food and a cute teacup, and watch the original film. It always makes me feel content with the world.
    Except for when Mathew dies. I fast-forward through that part.

  2. I didn’t read the books until I was 30+, so I just found them depressing. The Gilbert thing bugged me, too. I was SO bullied in school but my bullies grew up to be jerk adults with drug problems, not handsome fellas who would bend over backwards for a girl…

    1. But maybe it’s so rosy and sweet because the author had a HORRIBLE life? Can’t blame her for wanting to pretend fairy tale romances happened.

  3. I loooved Anne of Green Gables, that played here as a TV series in the 90’s and Megan Follows will always be Anne for me. After that I bought the books and loved them even more. Honestly I don’t care if Gilbert was too dreamy to be true, although maybe the boys in Europe weren’t so much jerks as across the pond, but it’s a shame to hear about Crombie’s death… he surely was cute!

  4. Anne of Green Gables was my first childhood love (well, next to Black Beauty and The Black Stallion), and Gilbert was so dreamy… Handsome, kind–except for the teasing, but he changed his tune pretty quickly; funny what kids will do to get attention–prefers the smart, imaginative outsider to anyone else. Why wouldn’t you love Gilbert?! He was the ideal boy friend and boyfriend. A unicorn of sorts, it’s true, but what’s wrong with a little rosy-colored dreaming?
    It’s so sad that Jonathan Crombie has died. No matter what other films he did in his career, he’ll always be Gilbert Blythe to me.

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