Celebrity picks for Derby Dead Pool 2011: V

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Born 8 July 1932 (Bronx, New York, USA)

Singer, former barbershop singer, who had a number of hits in the 1950s & 1960s.

You're Dead Now, So Shut Up!

Born in Praxedis G. Guerrero, Chihuahua, Mexico (exact date unknown)

Police chief of the Praxedis G. Guerrero province in Mexico, despite being barely out of her teens. Has now fled the country after a series of threats to her life. Born 1989.

Going Underground

Valli, Frankie

Born 3 May 1934 (Newark, New Jersy, USA)

Singer with the Four Seasons, famous for his falsetto voice on hits such as 'Walk Like a Man' and 'December 1963 (Oh, What a Night)'.

Happy No Year

van Barneveld, Raymond

Born 20 April 1967 (The Hague, Netherlands)

Dutch professional darts player. 4-times BDO World Champion. Also won the PDC World Championship in 2007, beating Phil "The Power" Taylor.

No Coffin When The Other Player Is Throwing Please

Van Buren, Abigail (Died in 2013)

Born 4 July 1918 (Sioux City, Iowa, USA)

Agony aunt (born Pauline Esther Friedman) who wrote the long-running 'Dear Abby' column which was syndicated to a number of US newspapers. Her twin sister, Esther Pauline Friedman (clearly their parents were somewhat short of inspiration when it came to names), was also an agony aunt.

Van Damme, Jean-Claude

Born 18 October 1960 (Sint-Agatha-Berchem, Brussels, Belgium)

The "Muscles from Brussels". Star of many an "after the football on Channel 5" action flick, although recently starred in the film 'JCVD', in which he parodies his own image rather touchingly.

The Caulkhead Coffin Kickers

Van Day, David

Born 28 November 1956 (Brighton, East Sussex, England)

Singer with 80s pop duo Dollar. Now hawks himself to any reality TV show that can be bothered to put up with him.

Wishful Thinking

Van der Bellen, Alexander

Born 18 January 1944 (Vienna, Austria)

Austrian economist and spokesperson for the Green Party

Vienna Calling

van der Sloot, Joran

Born 6 August 1987 (Arnhem, Gelderland, Netherlands)

Dutch national, currrently held in Peru on charges of first degree murder and indicted in the U.S. for wire fraud and extortion.

Van Dyke, Dick

Born 13 December 1925 (West Plains, Missouri, USA)

Actor and TV presenter who is best known in America for 'The Dick Van Dyke Show', and on this side of the pond for his butt-clenchingly awful attempt at a Cockney accent in 'Mary Poppins'.

van Hoogstraten, Nicholas

Born 25 February 1945 (Shoreham, East Sussex, England)

Property tycoon, absolute crook and once Britain's youngest millionaire, born in 1946. Constantly employing less-than-legal "business practices", on one occasion he was convicted of ordering a grenade attack on a business associate, and was subsequently described as a "self-styled emissary of Beelzebub" by a judge. In 1999 business rival Mohammed Raja sued him for fraud, so Mr van Hoogstraten (he invented the "van" bit, incidentally) paid two henchmen to "teach Mr Raja a lesson". This lesson involved shooting Mr Raja in the face and stabbing him, resulting in his death. After spending one year of a ten-year sentence for manslaughter, the devil's landlord got out on a technicality in December 2003 and is probably now a marked man. Just in case you needed any further evidence of his despicable nature, he has described Robert Mugabe as "100% decent and incorruptible".

See You In Hell

van Leer, Thijs

Born 31 March 1948 (Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Lead singer of Dutch progressive rock band Focus.

Died In The Wool

Van Patten, Dick

Born 9 December 1928 (New York, New York, USA)

US actor & dog food promoter. Suffered a major stroke in 2006.

Deadfellas

Vanderbilt, Gloria

Born 20 February 1924 (New York, New York, USA)

Became a multi-millionaire heiress at just 15 months old, and later became an artist, actress & socialite.

Vaughan, Peter

Born 4 April 1923 (Wem, Shropshire, England)

TV actor - played Grouty, the Mr. Big of Slade prison in 'Porridge'.

Vaughn, Robert

Born 22 November 1932 (New York, New York, USA)

Actor, best known for either his role in 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E' or to British audiences nowadays in the TV show 'Hustle'. He is also the only surviving member of The Magnificent Seven.

Vavrik, Elfriede

Born 15 June 1929 (place of birth unknown)

Austrian author. Wrote a best-selling account of her sex life while in her 80s. Just goes to show, you're never too old...

Death Speaks German

Vega, Alan

Born 23 June 1938 (Brooklyn, New York, USA)

Vocalist with influential synth-pop group Suicide.

Gobbing On Life

Veivers, Tom

Born 6 April 1937 (Beenleigh, Queensland, Australia)

Former Australian international cricketer. Bowled the most overs in a single test match by an Australian, against England in 1964.

Ashes To Ashes

Ventura, Viviane

Born 5 December 1947 (London, England)

Actress and socialite, born in London but brought up in Colombia.

DDP it's as easy as AA-BB-CC

Ver Magnússon, Magnús

Born 23 April 1963 (Iceland)

Strongman - four times winner of the World's Strongest Man competition.

Breaking News: Eyjafjallajökull Explodes

Versace, Allegra

Born 30 June 1986 (Milan, Italy)

Daughter of Donatella Versace, who has suffered from anorexia for many years & is often photographed at events looking painfully thin.

Widnes Vikings

Vidal, Gore (Died in 2012)

Born 3 October 1925 (West Point, New York, USA)

Essayist, novelist, playwright and outspoken political commentator. Co-wrote the script for the classic 1959 film 'Ben-Hur', but was denied the credit for it.

Videla, Jorge Rafael (Died in 2013)

Born 21 August 1925 (Mercedes, Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Former President of Argentina between 1976 & 1981, and the man who lead the military junta which specialised inhuman rights abuses, tortures & "disappearances". Now under house arrest.

Viehböck, Franz

Born 24 August 1960 (Vienna, Austria)

Electrical engineer and Austria's first man in space.

Vienna Calling

Viggers, Freddie

Born 29 June 1951 (place of birth unknown)

Former British army officer and Black Rod from 2009-2010.

Going Underground

Vigoda, Abe

Born 24 February 1921 (New York, New York, USA)

Tall, well-built character actor, noted for his roles as mobster Sal Tessio in 'The Godfather' and Det. Sgt. Fish in 'Barney Miller'. Was erroneously declared dead in the early 1980s.

Villaggio, Paolo

Date and place of birth unknown

Italian film actor.

Italian Grim Reaper

Vincent, Jan-Michael

Born 15 July 1944 (Denver, Colorado, USA)

Despite a successful Hollywood career throughout the '60s & '70s, Vincent is more likely to be remembered for his portrayal of the vigilante Stringfellow Hawke who kept the US safe during the '80s using only a state-of-the-art attack helicopter known as Airwolf. America's diminished impunity to the whims of megalomaniacs may be at the root of Vincent's subsequent decline into alcoholism and drug abuse.

Virgo, John

Born 3 March 1946 (Salford, Lancashire, England)

Snooker player, turned TV commentator & presenter.

Optimus Prime's Rusty Nuts

Virilio, Paul

Born 4 January 1932 (Paris, France)

Cultural theorist.

They're Dead, Y'Know!

von Anhalt, Frédéric Prinz

Born in Bad Kreuznach, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany (exact date unknown)

The latest (possibly the last) of the many husbands of ailing filmstar Zsa Zsa Gabor. Born 1944.

(I had a) Gravediggin' Grandaddy!

von Bülow, Claus

Born 11 August 1926 (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Wealthy British-based financier, who hit the headlines when he was convicted in 1982 of attempting to murder his wife, but later had his conviction quashed.