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...

Frank Williams

THE SICKER In the first year where deadpoolers no longer have to worry about disambiguating him from the F1 chap, penultimate Dad’s Army remnant Frank Williams has died aged 90. Ian Lavender is now the very last regular among the Walmington-on-Sea denizens. Williams began his career working in a theatre troupe ran by Jimmy Perry, […]

Joe Turkel

COLD TURKEL Actor Joe Turkel has mixed his last drink aged 94. Highly active from the 50s on, he initially toiled about in B-movies when a role in one caught the eye of Stanley Kubrick. He appeared twice in 50s Kubrick films – a bit part in The Killing, and a more substantial role in […]

Hugh McElhenny

THE KING IS DEAD 50s NFL star Hugh McElhenny has died aged 93. Nicknamed “The King”, he played most prominently for the San Francisco 49ers. His allrounder playstyle, which was noted for his elusive running, led to five Pro Bowl appearances with the 49ers and one with the Minnesota Vikings. He was inducted into the […]

Alec Head

HEADSTONE French racehorse trainer Alec Head has died aged 97. Belonging to an esteemed horseracing dynasty, Head was noted for winning the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe four times and the Derby once. In the late 50s, he transformed the abandoned Haras du Quesnay breeding farm into an epicentre of French horseracing. His children have […]

Sophie Freud

FREUDIAN SLIPPED Psychosociologist Sophie Freud has died aged 97. The last surviving grandchild of Sigmund Freud and one of his last living relatives to know him on a personal level, she fled from Europe to the USA in 1939 amidst the Nazi onslaught. Her own psychological beliefs, which were sharply critical of her grandpa’s androcentric […]

Carol Raye

THE TICKET-OF-LEAVE WOMAN British-Australian actress and producer Carol Raye has died aged 99. Born in England, she acted in various film and theatre roles before moving Down Under in the early 60s. One of Australia’s first female media executives, she created and starred in the popular satirical programme The Mavis Bramston Show, which was heavily […]

Jean-Louis Trintignant

AMORTE Dependable cinéma français star and less dependable DDP bedblocker Jean-Louis Trintignant has made his exit aged 91. Born into a well-off family, Trintignant considered racecar driving and law as career paths before being enamoured by the stage. His role as Brigitte Bardot’s squeeze, both on screen and off, in And God Created Woman garnered […]

Peter Scott-Morgan

HUMAN CYBORG MALFUNCTIONS Last month in the DDP we had George Perez among the cadavers, whose many superhero creations included one Cyborg. Now for a man who tried to make himself one. Computer scientist Peter Scott-Morgan was the first in England to earn a Ph.D. in robotics, a fascination that began after watching Star Trek […]

Billy Bingham

BADA BINGHAM BADA BOOM Norn Iron football miracle worker Billy Bingham has died aged 90. As a player in the 50s, he was most prolifically associated with Sunderland and was on the Northern Ireland national team when they made their World Cup debut in 1958. After a broken leg curtailed his playing career, he remained […]

Paula Rego

LISBON ANTIQUE Prolific Portuguese-British artist Paula Rego has died aged 87. An associate of the London Group, she initially worked in abstract collages before turning to representational pastel works. Folk tales were a frequent inspiration behind her striking paintings, as were feminism and support of abortion/criticism of the pro-foetus movement. She was a unique pick […]