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...
CRISIS OVER ON FINITE EARTH The ink well has run dry for comic book artist George Perez at the age of 67. Joining Marvel in his late teens, he gained recognition in the 70s for his work on staples such as The Avengers and Fantastic Four and honing his own heritage into co-creating the first […]
ANDERTON SWIRLS IN A CESSPIT OF HIS OWN MAKING In this obit batch, we’ve seen, with Tony Brooks, a man’s devout faith have a humbling effect on his life and career. Now, time for the other side of the coin. James Anderton served as the chief constable of Greater Manchester Police for about 15 years. […]
SHUSH, KEVICH! Sound the alarms, deadpoolers, it’s the first time Not Gone Yet, But Still Forgotten has gotten a hit since 2017. The chap who has stepped up to the mantle, one Stanislav Shushkevich, might not be a BBC breaking “you remember where you were when you found out” death, but as the first post-USSR […]
WINNING FORMULA A cavity has been left in the world of Formula 1 with the death of the “racing dentist”. Tony Brooks was preparing for his dentistry final when entering the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix at the last minute, which he went on to win. He established himself from there as one of the star […]
WEEKEND AT BIRNEY’S Actor David Birney has died aged shortly after his 83rd birthday after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. A regular US TV presence in the 70s, his title role in Bridget Loves Bernie was his most prominent. The show featured the husband-and-wife duo of Birney’s Jewish cab driver and Meredith Baxter’s Catholic teacher, and […]
CHANGE OF HEART (TO STOPPED) Country singer Naomi Judd has died aged 76, a day before the induction ceremony for the Country Music Hall of Fame Class of 2021, which includes her group The Judds and Ray Charles. The Country Music Hall of Fame inducted Ray Stevens before it inducted Ray Charles. The Judds, composed […]
NUMB AND COCA-COLA The writers of “world’s oldest person” obituaries will never again be able to recycle the old “they were this old when the Wright brothers made their first flight” cliche. Kane Tanaka, who has died at a staggering 119, was the last known person alive to be born before that fateful day at […]
MORSE CODE CRACKED Broadway star and Mad Men actor Robert Morse has died aged 90. Noted for his wily, gap-toothed smile, his stage career began in the mid-50s. A Tony-winning go as ambitious window washer J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying launched him into stardom, a defining role that […]
EXTERMINATED Actress Ann Davies has died aged 87. The widow of Richard Briers, she occasionally acted alongside him. An early role of note was in Doctor Who as Dalek-fighting rebel Jenny in the second Dalek story, The Dalek Invasion of Earth (Davies’s daughter Lucy reprised the character in an audio story last year). Later appearances […]
DOWN THE HATCH If you ever wanted a perfect encapsulation of US politics, look no further than the career of Orrin Hatch. The Utah Senator first won his seat in 1976, as a fresh face campaigning against three-term incumbent Frank Moss. Crucial to the victory was Hatch’s message on term limits: “What do you call […]
