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...
GONE FOR EVERTON Former Everton manager Gordon Lee has died aged 87, likely of embarrassment after the club’s humiliating defeat the night before. A right-back with Aston Villa for a decade, his managerial career saw him helm Blackburn and Newcastle before his turn at Everton. His tenure was seen as pivotal to its dazzling 80s […]
CONRAD BANISHED US film and TV regular Conrad Janis has died aged 94. After a number of bit parts, his best-recognised role came as Mindy’s old-fashioned father Frederick McConnell on popular Robin Williams launchpad Mork & Mindy. Janis’s musical background – he was a trad jazz aficionado who played the trombone and led his own […]
TARAR-A BOOM-DE-AD Pakistani jurist and former president Muhammad Rafiq Tarar has died aged 92. A justice on the Supreme Court of Pakistan in the early 90s, he later was elected president in 1997 off the back of the endorsement of close friend and then-PM Nawaz Sharif. His presidency was marked by weakening the power of […]
FAREWELL O’FARRELL Irish footballer and Manchester United manager Frank O’Farrell has died at 94. He played as a wing half for Cork, West Ham, Preston, and Weymouth before an injury forced him into retirement and he shifted tack to managing. After leading Leicester to the 1969 FA Cup final, he was tapped to succeed Matt […]
DISMEMBERED Punk musician Nicky Tesco has died aged 66. A founding member and longtime frontman of the Members, their biggest hit “The Sound of the Suburbs” captured youth frustrations with stifled lifestyles and was seen as a new wave anthem. After leaving the band in the early 80s, he took up music journalism and acting […]
AL-QURASHI QUASHED ISIS’s heyday of their grisly killings dominating the news feels a distant memory, with most of us barely remembering they exist nowadays. Look no further than the contrast between Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and his successor Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurashi. al-Baghdadi had perhaps the highest name recognition of a terrorist since the days of […]
EASY VEASEY SHE’S DECEASEDSY The fat lady sings for mezzo-soprano Josephine Veasey. A familiar presence at the Royal Opera House for several decades, she gained acclaim for her vocal technique and her interpretations of Wagner and Berlioz roles. Her solo career ended the way it began – in Salome at Covent Garden (as the Page […]
THE RIGHT STIFF In an alternate universe far far away, Star Wars would have never been a thing if Alan Ladd Jr. didn’t have faith in the project. The then-president of 20th Century Fox didn’t even understand the movie, but he liked George Lucas’ prior effort on American Graffiti and stood firm when greenlighting it […]
BOOKMAN CLOSED US sitcom regular Johnny Brown’s career was inspired by a meeting with Sammy Davis Jr., who inspired Brown to pursue a multifaceted path (he sang in addition to acting). Davis repaid in kind by recommending Brown for a spot in sketch comedy juggernaut Laugh-In, where he ended up a routine presence in its […]
JPP MORGUE IN French newsreader Jean-Pierre Pernault has signed off aged 71 following a lung cancer diagnosis. As host of lunchtime news programme the 13 Heures, his kindly-yet-confident presentation style and frequent emphasis on trivia drew a peak audience of 7-8 million. You can never fully discount a national treasure getting some sort of “nation […]
