Death happens. Why not make it interesting?
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...
KENZABORU OWIE Now to pay homage to the man whose death was far too much of a technical headache for the DDP system. Japanese author Kenzaburō Ōe was influenced by French and American literature (Mark Twain was a particular favourite) as well as his upbringing during WWII. Recurring themes included a harkening to his WWII […]
IN TIME IT COULD’VE BEEN SO MUCH MORE Boy George’s mum, Dinah O’Dowd, has come and gone aged 84. Though her fame was near-entirely tethered to her androgynous progeny, she was also a best-selling author and so just about scrapes by on our fame criteria. Her colour (blue) is now like the dreams of Living […]
OUT OF ORDER! Time’s up for Betty Boothroyd, the first female Speaker of the House of Commons, aged 93. Her candidacy for the chair was the first contested election for the role in decades, and was cumulative of a career she had to fight for every step of the way – she grew up the […]
REVENGE OF THE CREATURE The last surviving Universal Classic Monster actor has sunk into the murky deep, aged 93. Ricou Browning was active in water shows throughout the 40s and 50s when offered the part of the Gill-man for horror classic Creature from the Black Lagoon. His underwater prowess caught the eye of the crew, […]
IN A SILENT WAY Jazz giant Wayne Shorter has put down his saxophone aged 89. Shorter’s first childhood hero was Captain Marvel, and though his superhero love would never leave him, a new idol would inspire his career path – Charlie Parker. He joined a local bebop band alongside his brother, where their eccentric Columbo-ish […]
JUST IN TIME! Old-school France football great Just Fontaine has died aged 89. His sole World Cup appearance in 1958 was the stuff of legend – in synergy with Raymond Kopa, Fontaine was a goalscoring machine in match after match before France ran into the Brazil brick wall in the semis. Fontaine had four more […]
ARCHITECT OF HIS OWN DEMISE Architect Rafael Viñoly has died aged 78, or 20 in architect years. The Uruguayan-born Viñoly designed north of 600 edifices across the globe ranging from hotels to airports. He was perhaps best known for the cartoony-looking “Walkie-Talkie” skyscraper in London, which has been a point of controversy throughout the years […]
NO HARM NO FOWLER Detective novelist Christopher Fowler has cracked his last case aged 69. Fowler first worked as a film marketer and coined the “In space, no one can hear you scream” tagline for Alien. He embarked on a literary career in the 80s, penning many a thriller such as Roofworld and Rune. His […]
RICHARDS: BREAKFAST OF WORMS The DDP isn’t exactly replete with pole vaulter obits, yet this February has delivered a second. Bob Richards was the first to win two Olympic gold medals in the sport, becoming a 50s American hero in the process. “The Vaulting Vicar” took up the cloth while he was still pole vaulting, […]
TOM ENDRY Longtime Labour MP Tom Pendry has died aged 88. As MP for Stalybridge and Hyde, he became known for his distinctive bright shirts and a love of sport, particularly football and boxing. He had hoped this passion would secure him the sports ministry when Tony Blair swept Labour back into power, only for […]
