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, first tenure), The Man in Black (2010-17), Spade Cooley (2018-19), msc (2020-21), Grim Up North (2020-22), Reptile (2020-23), and Death Impends (2022-2025). Now the Committee of Banana (2023), time (2024), the returning Octopus of Odstock (2026) and the deadpooling equivalent of a gap year temp Marlfox (2026) oversee the biggest deadpool going...
PARKINSON’S DECEASED! In perhaps the most “shame they didn’t die of Parkinson’s” missed opportunity since Jerry Lee Lewis, don of interviewers Michael Parkinson has gone upstairs for another chat with Ali. As a youth, Parky was smitten by Hollywood and played club cricket with Dickie Bird and Geoffrey Boycott. He remained lifelong friends with Bird, […]
WHAT AN EXCELLENT DAY FOR AN EXORCISM! New Hollywood director William Friedkin nourished his love of film with repeat viewings of Citizen Kane and Psycho, though cut his craft with TV and documentaries for years before hitting the big screen. After an inauspicious start with a Sonny & Cher vehicle, Friedkin established himself as a […]
TAKE A LOAD OFF, ROBBIE It’s not been the easiest past few weeks for bands named after a bird of prey – Robbie Robertson got his start with the Hawks, the backing group for rockabilly singer and pancan miracle Ronnie Hawkins. Robertson and his bandmates – Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, and Levon Helm […]
SEARCH CALLED OFF FOR SUGAR MAN Of all the Jerry Lewis phenomena where an entertainer achieves their greatest renown outside of their home country, Sixto Rodriguez perhaps took it to the greatest extreme. Detroit-based Rodriguez released several folk rock albums in the early 70s that made all the splash of a raindrop in the Great […]
BOTH FEET IN THE GRAVE Actress Doreen Mantle has died aged 97. After an extensive stage career that won her an Olivier Award, wider recognition came in her late 60s in the shape of Jean Warboys on One Foot in the Grave. The naïve friend of Margaret was a surprise savant at board games and […]
GOD SAVE JAMIE Graphic designer and anarchist Jamie Reid helped shape the rebellious look of punk rock with his pulpy collage style evocative of ransom notes. He most famously collaborated with the Sex Pistols, and was the brains behind their album and single covers. His vandalised Queen Elizabeth II portrait for God Save the Queen […]
THE BLACK GODFATHER SLEEPS WITH THE FISHES Clarence Avant was known as “the Black Godfather” for his stature in the music industry, and he had the history to back it up. Active since the 50s, he guided the careers of everyone from Sarah Vaughan to Snoop Dogg, and his Sussex label launched an unknown Bill […]
LAST DRINK FOR THIS AL QUIE Al Quie is the second Republican politician born in 1923 to die in recent days. Everything come in threes, Henry? Quie was elected to Minnesota’s 1st congressional district in 1958, and gained a reputation as a moderate Republican who voted for LBJ-era landmarks such as the Civil Rights Act […]
UNBUCKLED Given its reputation as a dinosaur exhibit, the US Senate rather surprisingly only boasts four centenarians from its former ranks. The fourth, James L. Buckley, was the first to hit 100 in over 20 years. Buckley belonged to a prominent conservative family (his younger brother was National Review founder William F. Buckley) and won […]
ALL OR NOTHING Eurovision’s first British (and English language) contestant, Patricia Bredin was an unknown office worker when offered the gig in 1957 with string-laden ballad “All”. She thought it was a “terrible little song” but agreed as she liked the prospect of being on television. Though the song finished seventh (out of ten songs), […]
