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...

Antonio Carbajal

TOTA TOTALLED 50s/60s World Cup everpresent Antonio Carbajal has died aged 93. The Mexican goalkeeper was a long-standing player with Club León, but it was as “El Cinco Copas” (“The Five Cups”) he became best remembered. He made his Cup debut in 1950, of which he was the last surviving player, and followed suit with […]

Denny Crum

CRUMBLED College basketball coach Denny Crum has died aged 86. First a player under the tutelage of basketball behemoth John Wooden, Crum’s turn to coaching saw him rebuild the struggling Louisville Cardinals into a Final Four perennial with two NCAA victories to his name. He notched his 500th win in 1993, and the next year […]

Grace Bumbry

BLIGHT OF THE BUMBRYBEE Opera star Grace Bumbry has died aged 86. The mezzo-soprano idolised Marian Anderson, and as a teen won a radio talent contest where first prize was a scholarship to a college that she couldn’t actually attend due to segregation. Undeterred, she performed on Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts as a successful launchpad […]

Don January

JANUARY WINTERED Golfer Don January has died aged 93. He had 10 PGA Tour wins to his name, won the 1967 PGA Championship, and prompted a quirky change in the golf rulebook when he waited seven minutes for his ball to drop in the hole as it stood still on the edge (the time limit […]

Menahem Pressler

NO MO’ BEAUX Classical pianist Menahem Pressler has died aged 99. After debuting at Carnegie Hall in 1947, he saw his most lasting success as the bedrock of the Beaux Arts Trio, a piano trio that cycled through various cellists and violinists whilst Pressler remained the only constant. A German-born Jew who fled the country […]

Linda Lewis

ROCK A DOODLE DOOM Singer Linda Lewis has shoop shooped off aged 72. Linda Fredericks dabbled in both acting (she was an extra in A Taste of Honey and A Hard Day’s Night) and singing; the latter ultimately won out and John Lee Hooker’s endorsement took her to a recording career. She took the stage […]

Barbara Young

LOSING AGRIPP ON LIFE Veteran actress Barbara Young has died aged 92. Long active on West End and as a TV character actress, she left a lasting impression working with screenwriter hubby Jack Pullman when playing Emperor Nero’s domineering mother Agrippina in I, Claudius. In older age she became prominent as a soaps actress, most […]

Maria Charles

OUT OF AGONY It’s shalom for the go-to Jewish mum of the 70s. Pint-sized redhead Maria Charles made her stage debut in the 40s, coming into her own as as Dulcie in 1953 musical The Boy Friend. Her West End career continued for decades (such as partaking in the West End debut of Sondheim’s Follies), […]

John Sainty

SAINTY NOW SAINT Footballer John Sainty has died aged 77. His playing career included stints with Reading, AFC Bournemouth, Mansfield Town, and Aldershot, and a turn to managing saw him helm Chester for a year. The Yahoo lifeline spares THE FINAL WHISTLE from waiting patiently for the BBC Sports Personality of the Year In Memoriam. John Sainty24 March 1946 […]

Harry Belafonte

KAAAAAAAAAY-O! He said “dead.” He said “dead.” He said “dead.” So described the scene when the coroner checked into the Belafonte residence. Yep, the Banana Boat has set sail for the great Harry Belafonte at a ripe old 96. Belafonte first set his sights on the theatre, befriending a young Sidney Potter Poitier as the […]