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...
POP-UP BLOCKED Children’s author and illustrator Jan Pienkowski, best known for the Meg and Mog series, has died aged 85. Born in Poland a few years before WWII, scary stories a neighbour told him as a child instilled in him a flair for the macabre. What Pienkowski witnessed after the invasion cemented his belief that […]
CHARLEY HOARSE As the DDP front page showrunner changes hands, the personal perspectives and tastes that seep into the obits also change. But even with an American now writing them, you’re talking to an American so sport-apathetic that she didn’t really realise this year’s Super Bowl was about to happen until the Friday of that […]
HELLO REAPER, HELLO GOD, I’M YOUR CA-CA-CA-CA-CA-CA-CANDY BOMBER The lady who co-wrote “Lollipop” wasn’t a DDP pick (or a QO, as it stands), so this obit will have to satisfy deadpoolers’ sweet tooths… A few years after WWII, the Soviet blockade of land routes to West Berlin forced the Western Allies to embark on “Operation […]
HOLY VERTUE Beryl Vertue’s accomplished and pioneering career in British television began during the industry’s nascency, and she remained an active influence as a producer well into her 80s. It began thanks to her friendship with Alan Simpson, who secured her secretarial work for Galton and Simpson. It was soon realised that she had a […]
SMET-HEARSE UK film and TV regular Jack Smethurst has died aged 89. His career began with a bit part in the first Carry On movie, and acted in various films and sitcoms before assuming his best-known part as racist union leader Eddie Booth in sitcom Love Thy Neighbour. The basic premise featured Eddie Booth struggling […]
END OF HERRERA Cuban-American painter Carmen Herrera, who has died aged 106, waited even longer than Grandma Moses to gain widespread recognition. Unlike Moses, who hadn’t painted at all until she was 78, Herrera was 11 years older and deep into a decades-long career when she sold her first piece. Both her gender and Hispanic […]
HAGEDORN AND DUSTED Until the death aged 59 of incumbent Representative Jim Hagedorn a few days ago, you would have to go back to early 1958 to be in a time where the then-seat holder of Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District has since died. Hagedorn first won election in 2018, a rare Republican House flip amidst […]
BALLET SLIPPED The post on the DeathList forums announcing this guy’s death got a lot of likes, for some reason, so I figured he deserved a lengthy obit. Unfortunately, I don’t care enough about ballet to do so. Henry Danton was a fixture of the London dance scene during WWII, and toured internationally after the […]
YOUR DEPARTER FOR TEN To succeed as a game show host, one must match the nature of the programme. More simplistic concepts call for a more easygoing host, whereas ones with an intellectual bent call for someone respectfully erudite with a touch of humour who can convincingly convey knowing all the answers. Someone that even […]
ISABEL TOLLS Singer and trans pioneer La Veneno, who died in 2016, was an icon among Spain’s LGBT community. One of the first public transgender figures in her homeland, her scrappy personality with a flair for the tall tale endeared her to many and led to routine appearances on popular talk shows of the late […]
