Celebrity picks for Derby Dead Pool 2006: K

 

Kalashnikov, Mikhail (Died in 2013)
Born 10 November 1919  (Kurya, Siberia)
Military engineer who designed the the AK-47 assault rifle which has become synonymous with his name. In 2004, he began marketing his own brand of vodka; the two products perhaps don't make the best of bedfellows.
[Picture of Mikhail Kalashnikov]

 

Karamanlís, Kóstas
Born 14 September 1956  (Athens, Greece)
Prime Minister of Greece since March 2004.
[Picture of Kóstas Karamanlís]

 

Karcher, Carl (Died in 2008)
Born 16 January 1917  (Sandusky, Ohio, USA)
American restaurateur. Started the Hardee's, Carl's Jr., La Salsa, and Green Burrito restaurant chains.
[Picture of Carl Karcher]

 

Karunakaran, Kannoth (Died in 2010)
Born 5 July 1918  (place of birth unknown)
Former Chief Minister of the province of Kerala in south-west India.
[Picture of Kannoth Karunakaran]

 

Karzai, Hamid
Born 24 December 1957  (Kandahar, Afghanistan)
Pashtun leader whose anti-Soviet, anti-Taliban views persuaded the Americans to install him as leader of Afghanistan's interim government in December 2001. Much more importantly, he has won praise from the Gucci fashion house for his trademark green coat and rather funky ceremonial hat, which he made himself from his own facial hair.
[Picture of Hamid Karzai]

 

Kasparov, Garry
Born 13 April 1963  (Baku, Azerbaijan)
Retired former world chess champion, who has now entered the dangerous world of Russian politics, opposing Vladimir Putin.
[Picture of Garry Kasparov]

 

Katona, Kerry
Born 6 September 1980  (Warrington, Cheshire, England)
Former topless model and member of Atomic Kitten who admitted to never having sung a note on any of the band's hits. Now a divorced mother of two in her mid-20s, the vacuous, talentless bint amazingly has the gall to hold herself up as a role model for young women. Oh, and she urges parents to feed their kids on processed "ADHD in a Box" ready meals from Iceland.
[Picture of Kerry Katona]

 

Keitel, Harvey
Born 13 May 1939  (Brooklyn, New York, USA)
Actor, most notably in "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction".
[Picture of Harvey Keitel]

 

Kelly, David (Died in 2012)
Born 11 July 1929  (Dublin, Republic of Ireland)
Irish actor David Kelly is probably best known to worldwide audiences for his role as Michael O'Sullivan in the 1998 comedy hit Waking Ned (known in the U.S. as Waking Ned Devine) and for several roles in the cult John Cleese TV series Fawlty Towers. However, he has also performed in other major productions, including Ordinary Decent Criminal (2000), starring Kevin Spacey; the TV miniseries Kidnapped (1995), starring Armand Assante; A Man of No Importance (1994), starring Albert Finney; and the TV miniseries Scarlett (1994), starring Timothy Dalton.
[Picture of David Kelly]

 

Kember, Norman
Date and place of birth unknown
British peace activist, born 1931. In November 2005, he went to Iraq with the well-meaning but somewhat naďve idea of showing sympathy and solidarity with the people there, and of gaining an understanding of the current situation in their country. However, the real world swiftly intervened, and he got kidnapped by a bunch of nutters calling themselves the Swords of Righteousness Brigade, who held him until March 2006.
[Picture of Norman Kember]

 

Kemp, Martin
Born 10 October 1961  (Islington, London, England)
Bassist (Spandau Ballet); actor (EastEnders).
[Picture of Martin Kemp]

 

Kendall, Kenneth (Died in 2012)
Born 7 August 1924  (India)
Newsreader and "Treasure Hunt" presenter.
[Picture of Kenneth Kendall]

 

Kennedy, George
Born 18 February 1925  (New York, USA)
Tall, well-built bit-part actor who has been in over 100 films and 50 TV programmes, but, somewhat depressingly for him, remains best known as Leslie Nielsen's police squad sidekick in the three Naked Gun movies.
[Picture of George Kennedy]

 

Kennedy, Ludovic (Died in 2009)
Born 3 November 1919  (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Writer and broadcaster - former presenter of Independent Television News and regular contributor to Newsweek magazine.
[Picture of Ludovic Kennedy]

 

Kennedy, Ray
Born 28 July 1951  (Seaton Delaval, Northumberland, England)
Former Liverpool and England footballer, now suffering from Parkinson's Disease.
[Picture of Ray Kennedy]

 

Kennedy, Senator Edward (Died in 2009)
Born 22 February 1932  (Brookline, Massachusetts, USA)
US Senator - brother of JFK, Eunice, Rosemary and the rest of them.
[Picture of Senator Edward Kennedy]

 

Kennedy Shriver, Eunice (Died in 2009)
Born 10 July 1921  (Brookline, Massachusetts, USA)
Fifth of the nine Kennedy children - sister to John F., Robert F., Edward, etc, wife of Robert Sargent Shriver, and founder of the Special Olympics.
[Picture of Eunice Kennedy Shriver]

 

Kent, Duchess of
Born 22 February 1933  (Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire, England)
Katharine Lucy Mary Windsor - married to (unsurprisingly) the Duke of Kent, who is the Queen's cousin.
[Picture of Duchess of Kent]

 

Kerr, Deborah (Died in 2007)
Born 30 September 1921  (Helensburgh, Scotland)
Stage and screen actress who went from playing prim-and-proper British ladies to an adultress in 'From Here To Eternity'. Another notable role was that of Mrs Anna in 'The King And I'. Quit movies in 1968, apparently appalled at the explicit sex and violence of the day.
[Picture of Deborah Kerr]

 

Kevorkian, Dr Jack (Died in 2011)
Born 26 May 1928  (Pontiac, Michigan, USA)
Leading proponent of voluntary euthanasia. There'd be a certain irony if he got the chance to try it out for himself this year...
[Picture of Dr Jack Kevorkian]

 

Khan, Ghulam Ishaq Ghulam Ishaq Khan is no longer with us
Born 20 January 1915  (North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan)

Died 27 October 2006  (Peshawar, Pakistan)

Age at death: 91  (read death notice)
President of Pakistan from 1988-93.
[Picture of Ghulam Ishaq Khan]

 

Kiel, Richard
Born 13 September 1939  (Detroit, Michigan, USA)
Absurdly tall (7'2") actor who played steel-toothed baddie Jaws in the James Bond films 'The Spy Who Loved Me' and 'Moonraker'.
[Picture of Richard Kiel]

 

Kilminster, Ian
Born 24 December 1945  (Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England)
Warty-faced rocker Lemmy out of Motorhead.
[Picture of Ian Kilminster]

 

King, B. B.
Born 16 September 1925  (Itta Bena, Mississippi, USA)
American blues guitarist and songwriter. One of King's trademarks is naming his guitars "Lucille", a tradition that began in the 1950s.
[Picture of B. B. King]

 

King, Jonathan
Born 9 December 1944  (Godalming, Surrey, England)
Musician and TV presenter who was sentenced to 7 years in jail in 2001 for sexually abusing teenage boys.
[Picture of Jonathan King]

 

Kirchner, Néstor (Died in 2010)
Born 25 February 1950  (Río Gallegos, Argentina)
President of Argentina. Elected in May 2003, after his 5 predecessors had managed to last just 18 months between them.
[Picture of Néstor Kirchner]

 

Kissinger, Henry
Born 23 May 1923  (Fürth, Germany)
Secretary of State in the US government under Presidents Nixon and Ford. Shared the 1973 Nobel Peace Prize for helping to broker a ceasefire in Vietnam - ironic, given that he'd been part of the government that started the war in the first place.
[Picture of Henry Kissinger]

 

Kitt, Eartha (Died in 2008)
Born 26 January 1927  (Columbia, South Carolina, USA)
Singer/actresssssssss.
[Picture of Eartha Kitt]

 

Klugman, Jack (Died in 2012)
Born 27 April 1922  (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA)
TV actor, best known as Oscar Madison in 'The Odd Couple' and the eponymous Dr Quincy in 'Quincy'. Had part of his larynx removed in the mid-1990s as a result of throat cancer.
[Picture of Jack Klugman]

 

Knievel, Evel (Died in 2007)
Born 17 October 1938  (Butte, Montana, USA)
Motorbike stuntman, born Robert Craig Knievel, who is listed in the Guinness Book of Records for having broken the most number of bones in his body. Wisely retired and took up painting after an attempted jump over a tank full of sharks went badly wrong in 1976.
[Picture of Evel Knievel]

 

Knight, Marion 'Suge'
Born 19 April 1965  (Compton, California, USA)
Co-founder of rap & hip-hop label Death Row Records. Once allegedly dangled Vanilla Ice out of a seventh-storey window by his ankles; his only mistake was hauling him back in again.
[Picture of Marion 'Suge' Knight]

 

Knotts, Don Don Knotts is no longer with us
Born 21 July 1924  (Morgantown, West Virginia, USA)

Died 24 February 2006  (Los Angeles, California, USA)

Age at death: 81  (read death notice)
Comic actor who played sidekicks and bit-part roles in numerous American TV shows and films, none of which brought him any fame in the UK. Consequently a risky DDP pick; but when the time came, his death was reported in the UK media, ensuring points aplenty.
[Picture of Don Knotts]

 

Koizumi, Junichiro
Born 8 January 1942  (Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan)
Prime Minister of Japan since 2005.
[Picture of Junichiro Koizumi]

 

Kolessa, Mykola 
Born 6 December 1903  (Ukraine)
Ukranian composer who combined the folk idioms of the Carpathian mountains with 20th century trends from energetic composers like Bartok. Apparently. Winner of this year's prize for the most obscure DDP pick, but the Guardian will probably give him an obit anyway. (EDIT: He died in June 2006, and they didn't. Nor did any other UK source, so nul points awarded.)
[Picture of Mykola Kolessa]

 

Koop, Dr C. Everett (Died in 2013)
Born 14 October 1916  (Brooklyn, New York, USA)
Surgeon General of the United States from 1982-89, under Ronald Reagan's presidency.
[Picture of Dr C. Everett Koop]

 

Korman, Harvey (Died in 2008)
Born 15 February 1927  (Chicago, Illinois, USA)
Gangly American TV comic. Also starred in Mel Brooks' "Blazing Saddles".
[Picture of Harvey Korman]

 

Kowalski, Jochen
Born 30 January 1954  (Wachow, Germany)
German counter-tenor with an unspecified (!) terminal illness.
[Picture of Jochen Kowalski]

 

Kranz, Eugene F.
Born 17 August 1933  (Toledo, Ohio, USA)
Retired NASA manager. Kranz, who served as a flight director during Project Gemini and Project Apollo, was renowned for his trademark buzz-cut hairstyle and the wearing of white vests of different styles and materials whenever his "White Team" was on duty during missions, but best known for his role in saving the crew of Apollo 13.
[Picture of Eugene F. Kranz]

 

Kunitz, Stanley Stanley Kunitz is no longer with us
Born 29 July 1905  (Worcester, Massachusetts, USA)

Died 14 May 2006  (New York, New York, USA)

Age at death: 100  (read death notice)
World-renowned American poet and author of many books over the period of 80 years. Awarded the Chancellor Emeritus of The Academy of American Poets. In 2000 he was named United States Poet Laureate at the age of 95. A founder of the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and Poets' House in New York City.
[Picture of Stanley Kunitz]

 

Kyi, Aung San Suu
Born 19 June 1945  (Rangoon, Burma)
Burmese pro-democracy activist.
[Picture of Aung San Suu Kyi]

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