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), The Man in Black (2010-17), Spade Cooley (2018-19), msc (2020-21), Grim Up North (2020-22), and Reptile (2020-23). Now the Committee of DI (2022), time (2024), and Banana (2023) oversee the biggest deadpool going...
KINGMAKER MEETS MAKER Republican favourite billionaire Sheldon Adelson has gone downstairs to spend more time with his friends aged 87. Adelson owned several large newspapers, and the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, so had a few pennies (33.5 billion) by time of death. He was heavily involved in politics, funding the anti-cannabis lobby, being a hawk […]
SMITH OUT FOR 97 English cricketer Don Smith has died aged 97. The cricketer, who played for Sussex, played three times for England in 1957. At time of his death, he was the oldest living English cricket international. He was also coach of the Sri Lanka team in the 1960s. Ian Thomson (born 1929) is […]
DOWN THE STRAIN Actress Julie Strain has died after a battle with dementia aged 58. A former Penthouse star, Strain became a cult B-movie actress in the 1990s, with appearances in Double Impact, Beverly Hills Cops III and Heavy Metal 2000. A fall horse riding in her twenties had wiped her childhood memories and given […]
HOW TO SURVIVE: DEATH Trailblazing journalist Katharine Whitehorn has met her final deadline, dying aged 92. Whitehorn had been sub-editor for Womans Own, before she moved to The Picture Post (where she met husband Gavin Lyall the crime novelist), The Spectator and The Observer. She started her Observer column in 1963, becoming the first British […]
LASORDA NO LONGER DODGERS DEATH American baseball legend Tommy Lasorda has died aged 93. Lasorda had a long journeyman stint as a baseball player culminating with two seasons playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in the mid 1950s. However, it was his 20 year stint as manager of the Dodgers, now moved to Los Angeles, which […]
INTO THE BRIGHT SHINING LIGHT Journalist Neil Sheehan has died aged 84 after a battle with Parkinsons. Sheehan was a reporter in the Vietnam War, helping to uncover the truth of both sides claims on the front line, before he moved to cover Pentagon matters n 1966. IN 1971, he got his hands on Pentagon […]
RAMSEY JOINS THE DEATH ACADEMY Actress Marion Ramsey has died aged 73 after a short illness. Ramsey was best known for her role as Officer Laverne Hooks in the Police Academy films. She also appeared in TV series such as MacGyver and Modern Family, as well as the film Lavalantula. Apparently it’s about lava breathing […]
AUROUXVIER Famous chef Albert Roux has died aged 85 after a long illness. Along with his brother Michel (who died last year) he ran Mayfair’s Le Gavroche, the first British restaurant to win three Michelin stars. The restaurant serves French cuisine, was a favourite of the Queen Mum’s, and has a three month reservation list. […]
FINAL FURLONG FOR ZOE Horse racing trainer Zoe Davison has died aged 60 after a battle with cancer. Part of a racing family, Davison had trained a number of winners in the past few years, including Brown Bullet. Perhaps apropos for this pick, she was originally turned down under the new rules before a stewards […]
FERRY CROSS THE STYX English Merseybeat singer Gerry Marsden has died aged 78. Best known as the lead singer of Gerry and the Pacemakers, Gerry was the second most successful Liverpool artist of the 1960s, after the Beatles. With three number hits (oddly none of these were megahit Ferry Cross the Mersey), they were managed […]
