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 VITOL SIGNS Ian Taylor, the CEO of energy giants Vitol, has died after a battle with cancer. Among the trustees of the Royal Opera House, Taylor bankrolled the Better Together campaign in the Scottish Independence Referendum, and the Remain campaign in the Brexit Referendum. He turned down a knighthood from David Cameron, and with […]
HE GOT KNOCKED DOWN, BUT HE GOT UP AGAIN, THE REAPERS GONNA KEEP HIM DOWN Boxer Pete Rademacher has died. He won the 1956 Olympic boxing heavyweight gold, and swiftly became a challenger for Floyd Patterson’s world title. This was the first time a professional boxer made their professional debut in a world title […]
BLOCKBUSTED Steve Priest has died after a period of ill health. He was best known as the bassist in The Sweet, the glam rock band behind 70s hits such as Blockbuster. Steve Priest had a flamboyant on stage personality full of make up and deliberate campness, a 180 turn from his preference for a quiet […]
I JUST MET A DEATH CALLED MY REA Nicolas Rea has died five days before his 92nd birthday. He was a unique hit for theme team House of Soon to be with the Lord. A practicing Doctor, he succeeded to the hereditary peerdom of Rea on the death of his uncle in 1981. In 1999 […]
IT’S A KIND OF MAJEK Singer-songwriter Majek Fashek has died aged 57 after a battle with cancer. The Nigerian guitarist was a prime exponent of African reggae music, and had worked with Beyonce and Snoop Dogg. He was picked in the DDP by Wormfarmer and the nefarious Pelican in the Wilderness. Majek FashekMarch 1963 – […]
GRIM WEIGHS IN ON BOB The world’s oldest man has joined every former recipient of that honour, by dying aged 112. Bob Weighton worked in a factory making aeroplanes, before settling down to become a teacher in the United States. He moved back to Hampshire in 1973 and outlived his wife and a son. Weighton […]
KRAMER vs CREMA Playwright Larry Kramer has died of pneumonia a month before his 85th birthday. Already a well regarded writer after his adaptation of Women in Love (with Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestling naked) and other such works in the 1970s. However he became far wider known and respected as an ardent […]
RORYS FINAL FURLONG Well, here’s a curious one. Rory Gilsenan was a horse racing trainer who won the Horse of the Year Show trophy in 2018. However, also in 2018, he began to suffer from the effects of glioblastoma, which has killed him aged 50. He died in April, and got sod all in the […]
IMMORTALITY THEORY DISPROVED The Wolves of Cernogratz were clearly howling during the night, as Indian sporting legend Balbir Singh has actually died. Back in the pre-colour TV days, Singh was part of the Indian field hockey team which won the Olympic Gold at three straight Olympic Games, in 1948, 1952 and 1956. The team also […]
HOHOHEARSE Stanley Ho was the King of Gambling in Eastern Asia. As founder of SJM Holdings he ran 19 casinos in Macau for 75 years and operated casinos throughout that part of the world, even in China. His opinion on real state and the financial markets were considered sacrosanct even into his old age. Stanley […]
