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...
SOUL-DAMN-O Credit to Evil Grimace for the pun, and you can’t spell “Sodano” without “sod”… 26 May was a sad triple whammy in celebrity death, with Ray Liotta, Andy Fletcher, and Alan White all having sound pop cultural legacies in Goodfellas, Depeche Mode, and Yes, respectively. A day later, balance has already been restored with […]
JIM PARKED Cricketer Jim Parks has died aged 90. Considered one of Sussex’s greatest players, his father also played for the club. Initially a batsman, he switched ably to wicketkeeping by chance after his team’s regular wicketkeeper was injured and unable to play. He retired in the 70s and was England’s oldest surviving male test […]
FROM SWINGING HANDBAG TO IN A BODYBAG Peer Pamela Sharples has died aged 99. The widow of Governor of Bermuda Richard Sharples, she ascended to his peerage following his assassination by militants. She remarried twice and outlived both husbands (the second to pancan and the third to heart issues), but she forged through her tragedies […]
CHARIOTS OF PYRE Greek electronic composer Vangelis has slooowly ran into the great beyond, presumably with an inspirational piano melody in the background, aged 79. Musically curious from childhood, he eschewed proper musical education as he felt it would impede his identity as an artist. He formed his first band, which largely performed covers, in […]
ANGELL OF THE MOURNING Stalwart The New Yorker essayist Roger Angell has died aged 101. Seemingly predisposed to his career (his mother was the magazine’s first fiction editor and his stepfather was E. B. White), he stood firm through nepotism mutterings to prove his own merits as a writer and editor. He particularly flourished as […]
AS CORONER I MUST AVERBAKH Go me, I came up with a pun that wasn’t checkmate. Yuri Averbakh was the first chess grandmaster to live to 100, a milestone he probably wouldn’t have accomplished without his shoe size. As the German army marched into Moscow in 1941, Averbakh escaped conscription because his feet were too […]
THIRD STRIKE In a year where a 50something D. West with brain cancer could be pivotal to the title race, a more low-key one beats him to the punch. Baseball player David West debuted for the Mets before being traded to the Minnesota Twins, where he remained when the team won the 1991 World Series. […]
BERGANZA BONANZA OF POINTS Opera mezzo-soprano Teresa Berganza has died aged 89. Born in Spain, she sang in five different languages and was noted for her interpretation of Carmen. She was among the participants in the opening ceremony for the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Opera theme The Fat Lady’s singing… gets the points in a […]
MONSIEUR LECARK UK comedy actor Robin Parkinson has died aged 92. His best known role was as doddery forger Monsieur Ernest LeClerc in the latter series of ‘Allo ‘Allo! He hurriedly took over the role from Derek Royle, who died after one year of playing the character. Amidst bit parts in numerous other popular sitcoms, […]
YOU LOCHHEAD! It’s not the DDP without some guy who died and QOed months ago only coming to our attention now. The March mulch that belatedly comes to our notice is footballer Andy Lochhead, who has died aged 81. Amidst stints with other teams (such as over 100 appearances for Aston Villa), his greatest success […]
