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...
NO, I AM A GONER 2024 may remain a slow slog of the year, but it’s still claimed some legends, and now we’ve got the booming timbre of James Earl Jones to narrate the necrology. From a leading Shakespearean actor of the 50s (in the face of an environment where opportunities for black actors were […]
UNDER THE CANDELABRA As I wind down my hosting stint, it is poetic I get to send off my archnemesis in a final showdown like some sort of samurai film. Scott Thorson’s troubled life is best remembered for a relationship with Liberace marked by lavish gifts, undergoing plastic surgery to more closely resemble his bf, […]
ROCCO’S MODERN DEATH French cinema icon Alain Delon has died aged 88. Known for his heartthrob looks and icy gaze, he epitomised cool and proved equally adept at warm romantic roles and chilling villains. Among his most acclaimed roles include con man Mr. Ripley in thriller Purple Noon, a noble reluctant boxer in sports drama […]
A WOMAN UNDER THE GROUND Actress Gena Rowlands has died aged 94. She was noted for her many collaborations with husband John Cassavetes across a string of acclaimed independent films, including two Oscar-nominated roles as a struggling wife and mother in A Woman Under the Influence and a woman who helps a boy escape the […]
DONAHUE AND DUSTED Daytime talk show trendsetter Phil Donahue has died aged 88. In the 60s, he had taken over a talk show hosted by Johnny Gilbert once the future Jeopardy! announcer left Ohio to host a New York-based game show. The programme, now refashioned The Phil Donahue Show, made its hot-button message clear even […]
CIRCLE GET THE SQUARE COFFIN Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall has been Xed out aged 98. He had been active as a Broadway actor and half of a comedy act before being offered the Squares gig, a role he accepted solely as his archrival Dan Rowan would’ve been given hosting duties otherwise. The concept of […]
ANAO’I KICKED Wrestler Afa Anao’i Sr. has died aged 80. A member of the wrestling royalty Anao’i family that also features Roman Reigns, Afa was half of the popular 80s tag team the Wild Samoans with younger brother Sika. The brothers utilised a wildman gimmick that included communicating in grunts and eating raw fish, and […]
GOD DAUM German football coach Christoph Daum has died aged 70. He saw success abroad in Turkey and Austria and at home won the Bundesliga with Stuttgart. His turn with Bayer Leverkusen saw the team nicknamed “Neverkusen” for their repeat bridesmaiding at the Bundesliga, though his work on the team helped pave the way for […]
BRAN FLAKES In March 1907, the first radio broadcast of a musical composition aired, Finland became the first European country to grant women the right to vote, and Maria Branyas Morera was born. Branyas was born in California to Catalonian parents before her family returned to her homeland as a child. She was still traveling […]
SLAY! AWW, JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER The shortest US #1 hit was always going to be something from the 50s or early 60s, and it’s Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs who claimed the distinction in 1960 with the pleading doo-wop hit “Stay” lasting a mere 1:36. Penned by Williams as a teenager in the […]
