The Derby Dead Pool

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, then was run from 2003 to 2007 by Siegfried Baboon and Rude Kid From 2008 to 2009, it was run by Octopus of Odstock , and since 2010 by The Man In Black...

Latest Stiffs: 3rd April 2017 by The Man in Black

A round-up of March + 1 late February obit), a relatively quiet month compared to recent periods. The pics/bios have now been completed so my thanks to the following teams who have contributed: Drunkasaskunk, The Love Boat, Thomas Jefferson Survives, Day In The Death, 12 Lords A-Leaving, 8 Ladies Dying, Bibliogryphon's Bookworm Food and Wep 2.0 - World's Eternity Prophet Reloaded.

Pop goes the rosenquist!

American artist James Rosenquist has died. A "Pop Art" contemporary of Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein et al, Rosenquist was known for his large painted images, influenced by his former job as a billboard painter. 'F-111' (1965), an 86ft long painting of the US fighter jet, interspersed with both apocaylptic and everyday images, was his most famous work. Rosenquist died aged 83 after a long illness, a unique hit for Tarkinator.
Ahmed Kathrada was a South African-Indian political acitvist whose membership of the then-outlawed ANC in apartheid-era South Africa led to a life sentence in 1964 alongside Nelson Mandela. Like Madiba, Kathrada spent most of his sentence at Robben Island and was eventually released from Pollmoor prison in October 1989. In 1994, Kathrada was elected to parliament in the first free elections and served for five years before retiring from politics in 1999. Kathrada was 87 and a unique hit for theme team Death is International.
Now a couple of old birds. Well, we call her Princess Alicia of Bourbon-Palma but she is also known as Infanta Alicia, Duchess of Calabria. Either way she was the Vienna-born Great Aunt of current Spanish King, Felipe whose royal bloodline goes back to Edward the Confessor! She died aged 99 and was a hit for two teams.
Ingeborg Rapoport had a somewhat different life to Princess Alicia. Part Jewish, Rapoport fleed Germany in 1938 after being denied her doctorate. After a spell in the US, Rapaprt returned to Communist East Germany in the 1950s and was big supporter of the regime, even after the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 2015, at the age of 102, she finally received her doctorate. She was 104 and a hit for 2 teams, with Nosoup4U! getting joker points.
Now a belated obit. Alice Ludes was a singer who perfomred on radio and film during the 1940s (with singing group the Music Maids) and worked with the likes of Bing Crosby and Judy Garland. She retired in 1945 to raise a family. Ludes died on February 12th aged 104 but there was a wait for the obit until, The Telegraph came up with the goods. Obituarynotice get a unique hit.

(Rosenquist) + = 9pts

(Kathrada) + = 9pts

(Princess Alicia) (2 teams) = 5pts

(Rapoport) (2 teams)= 4pts (1 team) = 8pts

(Ludes) + = 7pts

Latest Stiffs: 22nd March 2017 by The Man in Black

Roll over the grave, Beethoven!

Johnny b. gone

Rock and Roll pioneer Chuck Berry has died. Berry's souped-up combination of blues and country was to lay the blueprint for Rock and Roll in the 1950s, his guitar riffs influencing practically every rock band worth its salt for decades after. Berry's first hit was 'Maybellene' in 1955 and he enjoyed a string of hits in the late 50s, including 'Johnny B. Goode', 'Rock and Roll Music' and 'Roll Over Beethoven', all self-penned, a rarity in an age of songwriting factories such as the Brill Building. Berry had his brushes with the law, with stints in jail in the 1960s and 70s, but he would always bounce back, trusty Gibson guitar in hand. Berry enjoyed his biggest international success in 1972, with the innuendo-laden 'My Ding-a-Ling'. Berry continued playing well into his 80s, often pitching up at clubs with local bands, knowing that they'll know at least a few of his famous riffs.
Berry was 90 and was bubbling under the Drop 40 with 36 teams (including yours truly's new team) hoovering up the points. Come On!

(36 teams)= 5pts (4 teams) = 10pts

The latest entry in The Obituary Vault puts To Kill A Gabor Sister into contention at joint-2nd place...

the rest in peace process

Martin McGuinness's rise from terrorist to respected politician is one of the stranger stories in British politics in the last 30 years. Reputedly the Commander-in-Chief of the Provisional IRA, he would presumably been involved in some of the worst terrorist actrocities in the UK in the 1970s and 80s. He had a parallel career as a top level member of the republican Sinn Fein. At some point in the 1990s however, the focus shifted dramatically towards a political solution to "the troubles" in Northern Ireland, with McGuiness at the forefront of the IRA's ceasefire in 1994, the "Good Friday Agreement" to share power with the protestants four years later and his eventual rise to the position of deputy First Minister in 2007, a remarkable transformation. Early this year, McGuinness stepped down and rumours had been swirling over his health.
These proved founded with his death aged 66. One team though, Lived So Let's Die had the nous to select him and this must go down as one of the best picks of the year...
Ronnie Moran enjoyed a near 50-year association with Liverpool FC, first as a player, then as first team coach. A member of the famous "boot room", Moran's martinet style ensured the players had feet on the ground and eyes on the prize as the Reds won a succession of trophies in the 1970s and 80s. As a player, Moran made over 300 appearances, winning two league championships under the legendary Bill Shankly. Nickmamed 'Bugsy' Moran was in temporary charge in 1991, after Kenny Dalglish's dramatic resignation which signalled the end of the Mersey club's dominance in English football (yes, it did exist before 1992!). "Mr Liverpool" was 83 and a hit for theme team ...and Its Goodnight From Him.

(McGuinness) + = 11pts

(Moran) + = 9pts

the remorseful day

Crime writer Colin Dexter has died. Dexter introduced the intelligent, refined if somewhat prickly Oxford-based detective Inspector Morse in 1975 with 'Last Bus to Woodstock'. The novels were later adapted into a hugely successful TV series in 1987 starring the late John Thaw as Morse and Kevin Whately as his trusty sidekick, Lewis. Dexter would often appear in the show himself in a series of Hitchcockesque cameo appearances. Dexter was 86 and a hit for 5 teams with Moribold Krakatoa's Playhour cashing in on the joker.
And the hits continue for Moribold, who's on a roll. Filmmaker Robert Day directed British comedy greats Alasdair Sim ('The Green Man'), Peter Sellers ('Two Way Stretch') and Tony Hancock ('The Rebel') before relocating to Hollywood, aminly to work on televison shows such as 'Dallas' and 'Matlock' among others. Day was 94 with Moribold Krakatoa's Playhour picking up unique points. I'd go straight down the betting shop now, mate...
John Derrick was a Welsh cricketer who played for and coached Glamorgan, leading the Dragons to two National League Pro40 titles and gaining promotion to the County Championship top tier. Derrick died from a brain tumour aged 54. Chemo Sabee get a unique hit...

(Dexter) (5 teams)= 6pts (1 team) = 12pts

(Day) + = 8pts

(Derrick) + = 12pts

rockedeadfeller

Billionaire businessman and philanthropist David Rockefeller has died. Rockefeller was the youngest member of the oil-rich family and worked mainly at their banking arm, Chase National Bank (which became Chase Manhatten in 1955). Rockefeller was naturally involved in US politics and was a lifelong sponsor of the Republican Party and with his position amongst the financial elite, dealed with many influential figures such as Henry Kissinger, Presidents Carter and Eisenhower and Mikhail Gorbachev among many others. Rockefeller was 101 and a hit for 23 teams with C. A. Daver winning joker points. You can't take it with you, David...
Chuck Barris was a US TV producer, creating the game shows 'The Dating Game' (which was the 1960s US version of 'Blind Date') and 'The Newlywed Game'. But it was as the host of 'The Gong Show' in 1976 where Barris achieved cult status. The spoof show was a sort of 'New Faces' on acid, with various bizarre and often just plain awful variety acts trying their best to avoid the dreaded gong. Later Barris published his memoir 'Confessions of a Dangerous Mind' in which he claimed he was a hitman for the CIA! This was later turned into a film starring Sam Rockwell as Barris.
Barris was 87 and hit for 2 teams.
Finally we have the actress Ann Beach. Beach was a character actress, best known for her role as the dotty neighbour Sonia in the ITV hit 1980s sitcom 'Fresh Fields', which starred Julia McKenzie. Beach's two daughters, Charlotte and Lisa Coleman followed Ann into the acting business. Beach was 78 and a unique hit for them team M6 Toll(ed).

(Rockefeller) (23 teams)= 4pts (1 team) = 8pts

(Barris) (2 teams) = 5pts

(Beach) + = 10pts

Latest Stiffs: 13th March 2017 by The Man in Black

First update of March and again The Obituary Vault latest entrants have an impact with early leader Golden Slumbers soaring past the 100 point mark a mere 72 days into the competition...

drever's a leaver

Ronald Drever was a Scottish physicist who along with R. V. Pound and John L. Hall developed a laser technique which led to the discovery of gravitational waves (as If I know what I'm bloody talking about!). He was 85 and was a unique joker hit for space race theme team Decaying Orbit-uaries.
Another scientist to bite the stardust was George Andrew Olah. Olah won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1994 for (wait for it) "for his contribution to carbocation chemistry" - there you have it. Olah was 89 and a unique hit for theme team YES, I got the Nobel, but NO, I cannot sing! No prizes for guessing what that team is about...
Next is a pick where patience pays its reward. Lynne Stewart was an American defense attorney who was jailed in 2010 for passing information to terrorists when representing Omar Abdel-Rahman, who also passed away earlier this year. Stewart was released in 2013 on compassionate grounds and was a prime target for the leading contenders in 2014. By the following year, she was threatening to break into the Drop 40. However by the time she did finally croak, aged 77, a mere 17 teams held their nerve and bagged the points, leaving one or two teams cursing their luck!

(Drever) + = 18pts

(Olah) + = 9pts

(Stewart) (17 teams) = 7pts

A pain the in the colon

Latino actress Miriam Colon has died. Puerto Rico born Colon trained at the famous Actor's Studio in New York and later appeared alongside Marlon Brando in 'One-Eyed Jacks' in 1961 and with Al Pacino in 'Scarface' in 1983. Colon formed The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in Manhatten. She died aged 80, a unique hit for Most Unique Picks 2017 (who didn't quite get to their stated target thanks to another team picking Can bassist Holger Czukay!). Still, well done to them anyway...
Before the emergence of Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane, Raymond Kopa was considered France's finest footballer. A star of the 1958 World Cup (when the national side finished 3rd), Kopa played for Real Madrid after impressing for Stade de Reims in the 1956 European Cup final against Los Blancos. He later won 3 European Cups and two La liga titles before returning to Reims. Kopa was 85 and is a unique hit for theme team Kicking Buckets Instead Of Balls.
Cricketer John Hampshire made a spectacular start to his England test career in 1969 with a century on his debut at Lords against the West Indies. That was as good as it got for Hampshire who only appeared seven more times for the national team. Hampshire had a long club career with Yorkshire, later becoming captain. On retirement from playing, Hampshire became an umpire. He died aged 76 and was suitably a unique hit for theme team A Good Captain's Innings...

(Colon) + = 9pts

(Kopa) + = 9pts

(Hampshire) + = 10pts

List of the Lost - Latest Entrants

Hans Georg Dehmelt, Darren Sawchuk, Betty Kennedy

List of the Missed - Latest Entrants

John Surtees, Jimmy Breslin, Lola Albright, Cuthbert Sebastian, Alessandro Alessandroni

Player of the Month - February

Golden Slumbers - 49 points

Latest News

Rock legend Bob Dylan finally collects his Nobel Prize...
The Theme Team League is updated for March with defending champion Shameless back into the lead...

Further Information

Rules & Scoring

E-mail The Man In Black with any questions/comments about the DDP: ddp2017@derbydeadpool.co.uk

Links

Derby Dead Pool is hosted by The Man In Black with contributions from Big-Iain, Rude Kid, Siegfried Baboon, Octopus of Odstock, WEP 2.0 - World's Eternity Prophet Reloaded, The Grey Horde, Thomas Jefferson Survives, Bibliogryphon, David Quantick's Showbiz Pals, Dickie's Gone the Way of the Dinosaurs & The End Of The World As We Know It

December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012