The online competition to guess which famous people won't make it to the end of the current year. If they're elderly, ill, or just live a high-risk lifestyle, stick 'em in your team, and for each one whose death you correctly predict, you'll score points. DDP was dreamt up in Derby, England (hence the name...) by Big Iain back in 1996. Other hosts: Siegfried Baboon and Rude Kid (2003-7), Octopus of Odstock (2008-9), The Man in Black (2010-17), Spade Cooley (2018-19), msc (2020-21), Grim Up North (2020-22), and Reptile (2020-23). Now the Committee of DI (2022), time (2024), and Banana (2023) oversee the biggest deadpool going...

Juli Lynne Charlot

MRS POODLE SKIRT GONE TO THE DOGS As with malt shops, drive-ins, and segregation, poodle skirts were a cornerstone of the innocent culture of 50s America. Its creator, Juli Lynne Charlot, was a popular entertainer in the 40s who performed with Xavier Cugat and the Marx Brothers. She was in need of an outfit for […]

Eleanor Collins

ELEANOR COLLINS DIED AT THE CHURCH AND WAS BURIED ALONG WITH HER NAME Canadian jazz pioneer Eleanor Collins was known as “Canada’s First Lady of Jazz” for her trailblazing career. She worked with Dizzy Gillespie and Oscar Peterson, became the first woman and person of colour to host a national TV programme in 1955, and […]

Richard H. Truly

TRULY DEAD Ex astronaut and NASA administrator Richard H. Truly has died aged 86. He was one of the final astronauts to be hired under the Apollo programme and one of the first to fly on a space shuttle. His missions proved the Columbia shuttle was reusable and pioneered usage of robot arms, but all […]

John Okafor

BOO BOO FOR MR IBU Nollywood comic star John Okafor has died aged 61. Likened as a Nigerian Borat, Nollywood found his roles in the Mr. Ibu series very nice to the point “Mr. Ibu” became his nickname. His final months were marked by amputation-related health issues and family squabbling, with two of his thirteen […]

Paul Vachon

BUTCHER GETS THE CHOP Wrestler Paul “Butcher” Vachon has died aged 86. A member of the popular Vachon family, he followed in more famous brother “Mad Dog” Vachon’s footsteps as a vicious heel and the brothers often performed as a tag team. After leaving the wrestling ring, he clambered into the political ring with three […]

Paolo Taviani

PAOLO BEARER Film director Paolo Taviani has died aged 92. Working in tandem with his late brother Vittorio, the Rossellini-influenced duo were praised for politically charged works like Caesar Must Die and the Cannes-bagging Padre Padrone and The Night of the Shooting Stars. After Vittorio’s death, Paolo directed his first and only solo effort, and […]

Ali Hassan Mwinyi

THAT’S ALI FOLKS Tanzanian president Ali Hassan Mwinyi was a pivotal figure to his country’s history, introducing multiparty democracy and numerous liberalisation reforms for which he was nicknamed “Mzee Rukhsa” (roughly “Mr. Permission” in Swahili). It remains one of the stablest countries in Africa to this day. He was 98 and a unique for Hell […]

Virgil

VIRGIL IN PURGATORY Wrestler Virgil is lonelier than ever, aged 72. Born Michael Jones, Virgil was best noted as Ted DiBiase’s bodyguard and butt monkey before turning on the Million Dollar Man in a heel-to-hero plotline. He was also known for autofellatio, and a “Lonely Virgil” Internet meme consisting of photos of him at autograph […]

Maurice Bembridge

BEMBRIDGE TOO FAR Golfer Maurice Bembridge has died aged 79. He had six European Tour wins to his name and once had to deal with a venomous snake next to his ball on a Masters Tournament. He thwacked the serpent using one of his clubs, then proceeded to use the same club to continue the […]

Chris Nicholl

NICHOLL SPENT Footballer Chris Nicholl has died aged 77. He was a club favourite during his runs with Aston Villa and Southampton, and played in all five of Northern Ireland’s matches during the 1982 World Cup. He later managed Southampton and Walsall. One of the sadly ballooning ranks of dementia-addled footballers, he was picked by […]