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...
ROYAL FLUSH A great example of turning lemons into lemonade, Jeannette Charles struggled to gain roles as a fledgling actress as she looked too much like Queen Elizabeth II. After she commissioned a portrait of herself for her husband’s birthday, the resemblance attracted media attention, and a light bulb went off – she could still […]
KEEPING UP DISAPPEARANCES UK sitcom veteran Harold Snoad has died aged 88. Active in the industry since the late 50s, he cut his teeth with Dad’s Army, selecting the Norfolk filming location, directing multiple episodes, and helming a radio adaptation. Along the way he worked on Ever Decreasing Circles and Don’t Wait Up, and his […]
IT’S A SMALL COFFIN AFTER ALL Disney songwriting engine Richard M. Sherman has chim chim cher-eed out of here aged 95, coincidentally the same amount of time “It’s a Small World After All” lasts. He and his elder brother Robert were encouraged by their father, Tin Pan Alley songwriter Al Sherman (not the Hello Mudduh […]
TIN CANNED Tin Oo could easily have settled on a cozy life as part of Myanmar’s top military brass, but became one of the country’s leading voices for democracy. He co-founded the National League for Democracy alongside Aung San Suu Kyi and experienced multiple house arrests at the hands of the junta. The 2010s flickers […]
FAREWELL TO YOU MRS ROBINSON The second mother of a US First Lady to die this year, Marian Shields Robinson was Michelle Obama’s mum. She was resident of the White House during all eight years of the O administration, mostly keeping low key and raising Malia and Sasha. She was 86 and picked by MAGA […]
ANGEL OF DIEN BIEN PHIEU FALLS Nurse Geneviève de Galard was the only French woman on the ground during the 1954 Battle of Dien Bien Phiu, the decisive climax to the First Indochina War. She tended to the over 15,000 French soldiers at the battle and was nicknamed l’ange de Dien Bien Phu (“the Angel […]
RUDDY WATERS Up until Albert Ruddy’s death, I had no clue there was still a living co-creator of Hogan’s Heroes. Ruddy had been working in both film and TV before landing his first major success with the WWII POW sitcom. His fortunes would only rise from there, with him being offered a deal he couldn’t […]
GRAPES OF DEATH Actor Darryl Hickman has died aged 92. One of the premier child actors of the 30s and 40s, he was noted for roles in films like Dust Bowl drama The Grapes of Wrath and sometimes acted alongside younger brother Dwayne “Dobie Gillis” Hickman. As on-screen opportunities dried up, he remained active behind-the-scenes […]
FOUND NEVERLAND Polish composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek has died aged 71. He lent his talents to films including Total Eclipse, Unfaithful, and Finding Neverland, the last of which won him an Oscar. It was announced last year he had multiple system atrophy, and delivers unique points to Reptile’s B-Team. And yes, the AP did cover […]
SMELLINGER Footballer Karl-Heinz Schnellinger has died aged 85. He was nicknamed “the Volkswagen” for his durability and versatility, being adept as a full-back, centre-back, sweeper, and defensive midfielder. He played for West Germany in four World Cups and scored his solitary Cup goal in 1970, in the legendary “Game of the Century” against Italy. Commentator […]
