Clive James

On a busy day for the Grim Reaper in the UK, Clive James claimed top billing – and was the 12th name to go on this year’s Drop 40. James was the last of his kind – an intellectual who traded in his literary aspirations for the glamour of the cheapest kind of television. Part […]

Michael J. Pollard

Michael J. Pollard was one of Hollywood’s great sidekicks, an actor who could always be called upon to use his goofy mannerisms or chubby babycheeks in contrast to a film’s A-lister main star. He was alongside Steve Martin in Roxanne, Bill Murray in Scrooged, Oliver Reed in Hannibal Brooks and, perhaps most famously, Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde. His […]

Harrison Dillard

The 2018 DDP was mildly marred by the lack of a qualifying obituary for 1950s athlete and former “fastest man in the world” Lindy Remigino. No such issues this time out, however, as Harrison Dillard bursts through that final tape and is met by a gaggle of obituary writers. Serving in the all-black 92nd Infantry […]

Colin Skipp

COLIN’S HEART SKIPPS A BEAT British actor Colin Skipp has died aged 80 after a long period of ill health. Skipp was a voice actor best known for playing the role of Tony Archer in never-ending BBC radio soap The Archers. Skipp first took on the role of the farmer in 1967 and held it […]

Jean Fergusson

Just a month or so after the death of Juliette Kaplan, who played her rival Pearl in Last of the Summer Wine, Jean Fergusson has followed her in that great bathtub down the hill. Fergusson had a 50+-year career on both the stage and screen: Olivier-nominated for her depiction of Hylda Baker in She Knows You Know […]

Niall Toibin

The comedian and actor Niall Toibin was born in 1929 to an Irish-speaking family, a trait that secured him work in his later career (including 1978’s Poitin, the first feature film to be filmed entirely in the language). But he was no slouch in English, and after a brief spell in the Irish civil service […]

Gay Byrne

Few people outside of the world of politics did as much to reshape their country during the 20th century as Gay Byrne. He was an unlikely revolutionary: soft-spoken, politically conservative and unremarkable of appearance. But in his 37 years as producer and presenter of The Late Late Show he brought issues like abortion, gay rights, racism […]

Walter Mercado

Walter Mercado got his break as a tap-dancer in his native Puerto Rico, before a staff shortage at a local TV station gave him a role in the world of astrology.  His camp, Liberace-but-embalmed demeanour and appearance made him an instant sensation, and his popularity soon exploded out of Puerto Rico and across the rest […]

Rudy Boesch

Rudy Boesch dropped out of high school in 1945 to join the US Navy. World War II finished before his training was complete, but he went on to serve in China, Vietnam and Cuba for 45-years, becoming a SEAL and the longest-serving member of the Navy still on active duty. He reached a greater degree […]

John Conyers

John Conyers was the sixth longest-serving member member of the U.S. Congress in history, and the longest-serving African American. He even started off his political career as aide to the man who went on to become the longest-serving Congressman in history, 2019 DDP graduate John Dingell. Conyers represented Michigan and was one of the more […]