Celebrity picks for Derby Dead Pool 2009: V

 

Vajpayee, Atal Bihari
Born 25 December 1924  (Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India)
Prime Minister of India, first for a brief spell in 1996, and then again from 1998-2004.
[Picture of Atal Bihari Vajpayee]

 

Valance, Ricky
Born 10 April 1939  (Ynysddu, Monmouthshire, Wales)
Pop/rock singer, easily best known for his 1960 hit, "Tell Laura I Love Her".
[Picture of Ricky Valance]

 

Vale, Jerry
Born 8 July 1932  (Bronx, New York, USA)
Singer, fomer barbershop singer, who had a number of hits in the 1950's & 1960's.
[Picture of Jerry Vale]

 

Van Buren, Abigail (Died in 2013)
Born 4 July 1918  (Sioux City, Iowa, USA)
Agony aunt (born Pauline Esther Friedman) who wrote the long-running "Dear Abby" column which was syndicated to a number of US newspapers. Her twin sister, Esther Pauline Friedman (clearly their parents were somewhat short of inspiration when it came to names), was also an agony aunt.
[Picture of Abigail Van Buren]

 

Van Doren, Mamie
Born 6 February 1931  (Rowena, South Dakota, USA)
Actress & former sex symbol.
[Picture of Mamie Van Doren]

 

Van Dyke, Dick
Born 13 December 1925  (West Plains, Missouri, USA)
Actor and TV presenter who is best known in America for "The Dick Van Dyke Show", and on this side of the pond for his butt-clenchingly awful attempt at a Cockney accent in "Mary Poppins".
[Picture of Dick Van Dyke]

 

Van Halen, Eddie
Born 26 January 1955  (Nijmegen, Netherlands)
Dutch guitarist, co-founder of the rock group Van Halen. Has suffered health problems in the last few years, which have affected his output somewhat.
[Picture of Eddie Van Halen]

 

van Hoogstraten, Nicholas
Born 25 February 1945  (Shoreham, East Sussex, England)
Property tycoon, absolute crook and once Britain's youngest millionaire, born in 1946. Constantly employing less-than-legal "business practices", on one occasion he was convicted of ordering a grenade attack on a business associate, and was subsequently described as a "self-styled emissary of Beelzebub" by a judge. In 1999 business rival Mohammed Raja sued him for fraud, so Mr van Hoogstraten (he invented the "van" bit, incidentally) paid two henchmen to "teach Mr Raja a lesson". This lesson involved shooting Mr Raja in the face and stabbing him, resulting in his death. After spending one year of a ten-year sentence for manslaughter, the devil's landlord got out on a technicality in December 2003 and is probably now a marked man. Just in case you needed any further evidence of his despicable nature, he has described Robert Mugabe (but not his swingtime band) as "100% decent and incorruptible".
[Picture of Nicholas van Hoogstraten]

 

Vance, Jack (Died in 2013)
Born 28 August 1916  (San Francisco, California, USA)
Author of fantasy & science fiction.
[Picture of Jack Vance]

 

Vanderbilt, Gloria
Born 20 February 1924  (New York City, New York, USA)
Became a multi-millionaire heiress at just 15 months old, and later became an artist, actress & socialite.
[Picture of Gloria Vanderbilt]

 

Varallo, Francisco (Died in 2010)
Born 5 February 1910  (La Plata, Argentina)
The only surviving player from the first football World Cup Final in 1930, when he played for Argentina in their 4-2 defeat against Uruguay.
[Picture of Francisco Varallo]

 

Vaughan, Peter
Born 4 April 1923  (Wem, Shropshire, England)
TV actor - played Grouty, the Mr. Big of Slade prison in "Porridge".
[Picture of Peter Vaughan]

 

Vaughn, Robert
Born 22 November 1932  (New York City, New York, USA)
Actor, best known for either his role in The Man from U.N.C.L.E or to British audiences nowadays in the TV show Hustle. He is also the only surviving member of The Magnificent Seven.
[Picture of Robert Vaughn]

 

Vejjajiva, Abhisit
Born 3 August 1964  (Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England)
The new Prime Minister (at least for now) of troubled Thailand.
[Picture of Abhisit Vejjajiva]

 

Velasquez, Ramon Jose
Born 28 November 1916  (San Juan de Colon, Tachira, Venezuela)
Former President of Venezuela between 1993 & 1994.
[Picture of Ramon Jose Velasquez]

 

Venkataraman, Ramaswamy Ramaswamy Venkataraman is no longer with us
Born 4 December 1910  (Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India)

Died 27 January 2009  (Delhi, India)

Age at death: 98  (read death notice)
Former President of India, between 1987 & 1992.
[Picture of Ramaswamy Venkataraman]

 

Versace, Allegra
Born 30 June 1986  (Milan, Italy)
Daughter of Donatella Versace, who has suffered from anorexia for many years & is often photographed at events looking painfully thin.
[Picture of Allegra Versace]

 

Versace, Donatella
Born 2 May 1955  (Reggio di Calabria, Italy)
Fashion designer, head of the Versace clothing empire.
[Picture of Donatella Versace]

 

Vidal, Gore (Died in 2012)
Born 3 October 1925  (West Point, New York, USA)
Essayist, novelist, playwright and outspoken political commentator. Co-wrote the script for the classic 1959 film "Ben-Hur", but was denied the credit for it.
[Picture of Gore Vidal]

 

Videla, Jorge Rafael (Died in 2013)
Born 21 August 1925  (Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina)
Former President of Argentina between 1976 & 1981, and the man who lead the military junta which specialised inhuman rights abuses, tortures & "disappearances". Now under house arrest.
[Picture of Jorge Rafael Videla]

 

Vigoda, Abe
Born 24 February 1921  (New York City, New York, USA)
Tall, well-built character actor, noted for his roles as mobster Sal Tessio in "The Godfather" and Det. Sgt. Fish in "Barney Miller". Was erroneously declared dead in the early 1980s.
[Picture of Abe Vigoda]

 

Villanueva, Armando (Died in 2013)
Born 25 November 1915  (Lima, Peru)
Former Peruvian dissident, politician & writer.
[Picture of Armando Villanueva]

 

Vincent, Jan-Michael
Born 15 July 1944  (Denver, Colorado, USA)
Despite a successful Hollywood career throughout the '60s & '70s, Vincent is more likely to be remembered for his portrayal of the vigilante Stringfellow Hawke who kept the US safe during the '80s using only a state-of-the-art attack helicopter known as Airwolf. America's diminished impunity to the whims of megalomaniacs may be at the root of Vincent's subsequent decline into alcoholism and drug abuse.
[Picture of Jan-Michael Vincent]

 

Vine, David David Vine is no longer with us
Born 3 January 1936  (Newton Abbott, Devon, England)

Died 11 January 2009  (nr.Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England)

Age at death: 73  (read death notice)
Sports commentator & presenter, a regular voice on the Olympics, snooker, tennis, and Ski Sunday. Also was the first presenter of "A Question of Sport".
[Picture of David Vine]

 

Virgo, John
Born 3 March 1946  (Salford, Lancashire, England)
Snooker player, turned TV commentator & presenter.
[Picture of John Virgo]

 

Vishnevskaya, Galina (Died in 2012)
Born 25 October 1926  (Leningrad, Russia)
Opera singer & widow of cellist Mstislav Rostropovich.
[Picture of Galina Vishnevskaya]

 

von Bulow, Vicco (Died in 2011)
Born 12 November 1923  (Brandenburg an der Havel, Germany)
AKA Loriot, German cartoonist, satirist, humorist & writer.
[Picture of Vicco von Bulow]

 

Von Daniken, Erich
Born 14 April 1935  (Zofingen, Aargau, Switzerland)
Author & UFO/alien fan.
[Picture of Erich Von Daniken]

 

von Habsburg, Otto (Died in 2011)
Born 20 November 1912  (Reichenau, Austria)
Crown Prince of Austria.
[Picture of Otto von Habsburg]

 

von Sydow, Max
Born 10 April 1929  (Lund, Skane, Sweden)
Swedish actor, who has achieved fame both at home and abroad.
[Picture of Max von Sydow]

 

Von Teese, Dita
Born 28 September 1972  (West Branch, Michigan, USA)
Burlesque model & former wife of Marilyn Manson.
[Picture of Dita Von Teese]

 

Von Trapp, Agathe (Died in 2010)
Born 12 March 1913  (Pola, Istria, Austria)
The oldest Von Trapp child still alive, a former member of the von Trapp family famously portrayed in "The Sound of Music". Now lives in the USA.
[Picture of Agathe Von Trapp]

 

Vorderman, Carol
Born 24 December 1960  (Bedford, England)
TV presenter & the former "numbers girl" in "Countdown". Has the most awful nauseating laugh, made worse when she laughs to just about anything anybody says.
[Picture of Carol Vorderman]

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