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...
DONAHUE AND DUSTED Daytime talk show trendsetter Phil Donahue has died aged 88. In the 60s, he had taken over a talk show hosted by Johnny Gilbert once the future Jeopardy! announcer left Ohio to host a New York-based game show. The programme, now refashioned The Phil Donahue Show, made its hot-button message clear even […]
CIRCLE GET THE SQUARE COFFIN Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall has been Xed out aged 98. He had been active as a Broadway actor and half of a comedy act before being offered the Squares gig, a role he accepted solely as his archrival Dan Rowan would’ve been given hosting duties otherwise. The concept of […]
ANAO’I KICKED Wrestler Afa Anao’i Sr. has died aged 80. A member of the wrestling royalty Anao’i family that also features Roman Reigns, Afa was half of the popular 80s tag team the Wild Samoans with younger brother Sika. The brothers utilised a wildman gimmick that included communicating in grunts and eating raw fish, and […]
GOD DAUM German football coach Christoph Daum has died aged 70. He saw success abroad in Turkey and Austria and at home won the Bundesliga with Stuttgart. His turn with Bayer Leverkusen saw the team nicknamed “Neverkusen” for their repeat bridesmaiding at the Bundesliga, though his work on the team helped pave the way for […]
BRAN FLAKES In March 1907, the first radio broadcast of a musical composition aired, Finland became the first European country to grant women the right to vote, and Maria Branyas Morera was born. Branyas was born in California to Catalonian parents before her family returned to her homeland as a child. She was still traveling […]
SLAY! AWW, JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER The shortest US #1 hit was always going to be something from the 50s or early 60s, and it’s Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs who claimed the distinction in 1960 with the pleading doo-wop hit “Stay” lasting a mere 1:36. Penned by Williams as a teenager in the […]
CHI-CHI SLIDES Golfer Chi-Chi Rodriguez has died aged 88. He was the first Puerto Rican player to join the PGA Tour, where he won eight events. His stats were good but not outstanding, but he cut a memorable figure with on-green antics such as playing with his club like a sword or dancing the salsa […]
GUNNED GRAHAM Actor John Clegg has died aged 90. He was a Britcom regular with spots on Dad’s Army, Are You Being Served?, and Bless This House but was best remembered as Gunner Graham on the dated It Ain’t Half Hot Mum. His erudite Graham could play the piano (albeit Clegg himself couldn’t) and often […]
BEANBALL Baseballer and LGBT trailblazer Billy Bean has died aged 60. His decade-long career saw him play for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers, and San Diego Padres, but his stats weren’t exceptional. It was off the mound he made his greatest impact, coming out as gay in 1999 several years after his partner died […]
MCCALL AND STILL US comic Mitzi McCall has died aged 93 (or 91, depending on which obit you read). She formed the “McCall and Brill” husband-and-wife comedy act with Charlie Brill, and the pair were a common sight on US tubes in the 50s and 60s. Indeed, they were there for one of television’s most […]
