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: 6th May 2017 by The Man in Black

Once again the Daily Mirror comes to Shameless's aid and provides another addition to the The Obituary Vault as the controversial theme team waltzes away with the team of the month prize and into the top 5. Is the double on?

zen and the art of death predictions

A rather slow end to the month, with the hit rate starting to lag behind 2016's monster total. Robert M. Pirsig's 1974 philosophical novel 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance'became a counter-cultural classic, selling over 5 million copies despite being initially rejected by over 100 publishers. In 1992, his sequel novel was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Pirsig was 88 and had been ill for some years. Two teams were rewarded for their patience. Very Zen...
Now here's a peculiar one. Mbah Gotho was an Indonesian gentleman who claimed to be the oldest human of all time. Gotho cliamed to have been born on 31st December 1870 but since there are no records of Indonesian births before 1900 the phrase "chinny reckon" springs to mind. However, Gotho was 146 and a unique hit for DDP veteran Lidders Late Lamentables and unless proof comes otherwise then the measily 3 points will be awarded on that basis...
Leo Baxendale was the cartoonist responsible for two of Britain's most enduring children's comic characters: Minnie the Minx and The Bash Street Kids. Minnie the Mix, concieved as a female equivalent to Dennis the Menace became a regular on The Beano comic from 1953 onwards, with the bizarre antics of the Bash Street Kids arriving a year later. Baxendale was 86 and a unique joker hit for theme team Poisoned Pens in the race for 2nd place behind Shameless...

(Pirsig) (2 teams) = 6pts

(Gotho) + = 6pts

(Baxendale) + + (1 team) = 18pts

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

Seems as if The Obituary Vault has become Shameless's personal fiefdom as they add another hit to the board to pretty much seal the Theme Team League 8 months early and storm into the top ten...

the taking of perham 123

The Right Reverend Michael Perham was the Bishop of Gloucester for ten years, between 2004 and 2014. Towards the end of his ministry he faced allegations of sexual assault dating from the 1980s, enforcing his retirement to come early. He was later cleared. Perham was 69 and was a hit for three teams including David Quantick's Showbiz Pals who cut Golden Slumbers' lead to 7 points, rekindling hopes of a fifth straight title...
Michael Bogdanov was a Welsh theatre director who largely worked on Shakespeare plays. But in 1980 he landed himself in hot water with that warrior of prudeness Mary Whitehouse after his production of Howard Brenton's 'The Romans in Britain'. Whitehouse brought about a private prosecution for gross indecency which was later withdrawn. In 1986, Bogdanov formed the English Shakespeare Company with actor Michael Billington. Bogdanov was 78 and a unique hit for DDP veteran Brown Bananas.
A moment of passing history now. Emma Morano, from Italy was said to be the last person born in the 1800s to have ever lived, although there are a few hanging about who dispute this. (I'm careful not to say last of the 20th Century as that technically ended on 31/12/1900 and there's one or two of those still around). Morano was 117 and was a sizable hit, 28 teams including 4 jokers.

(Perham) (3 teams) = 8pts

(Bogdanov) + = 10pts

(Morano) (28 teams)= 3pts (4 teams) = 10pts

the man with the olden pun

Well it was either that or "Live and Let Die" again! Clifton James was a US actor who spent much of his career playing bungling, smalltown sheriffs, the most famous of which was as JW Pepper in two James Bond films starring Sir Roger Moore in 1973 and 1974. James also featured in 'The Untouchables' in 1987 with another Bond, Sean Connery. James was 96 and a hit for 4 teams.
Bruce Langhorne was a folk singer who collaborated with most of the Greenwich Village scene in the early 1960s. But he was most closely associated with Bob Dylan, playing guitar on several of his most famous songs and was the alleged 'Mr Tambourine Man' which later became a massive hit for folk-rock band The Byrds.
Langhorne died aged 78 after a long illness and was a hit for 10 teams. You can put that tambourine down now, Bruce...
Now a hit from March. Jane Freeman played the battleaxe cafe owner Ivy in 'Last of the Summer Wine' for the whole of its epic 27 year run on BBC. She died on March 9th and it took a little while for obit to turn up and just a long to resolve the debate as to how old she was when she died. Initially down as having been born in 1921, it now looks as if someone in Wikipedialand got their sums wrong and she in fact died aged 81, which means an extra point for the 4 teams that picked her. That's worth a currant bun at Ivy's cafe, Foggy's paying!

(James) (4 teams) = 5pts

(Langhorne) (10 teams) = 7pts

(Freeman) (4 teams) = 6pts

Latest Stiffs: 14th April 2017 by The Man in Black

It's Easter time but there'll be no ressurrection for the latest hits and the new entry into The Obituary Vault, which has pretty much already wrapped up the Theme Team League for Shameless again before we've even taken a bite out of our hot cross buns!

Sounds of the dead 60s

Broadcaster Brian Matthew has passed away. A veteran of BBC radio, Matthew presented Radio 2's 'Sound of the 60s' nostalgia programme from 1990 to 2017. His career at the Beeb started way back in 1957 when Radio 2 was the Light Programme, presenting 'Saturday Club'. Curiously, Matthew suffered a similar fate to another long-running radio presenter Desmond Carrington, who left the BBC shortly before his death in February. Bizarrely, his former employer announced his death somewhat prematurely before he finally signed off aged 88. A hit for 9 teams with two teams cashing in on the joker.
Don Rickles was an American stand-up comedian and actor whose pugnacious style was not to everyone's taste but he nonetheless had a long career in TV and film. He has a memorable role in the Clint Eastwood war comedy 'Kelly's Heroes' in 1970 and later had a recurring voice role as the grumpy Mr Potato Head in the 'Toy Story' series of computer-animated films. Rickles was 90 and a hit for 8 teams with Where's My Damn List? claiming the joker.
Darcus Howe was a Trinidad-born civil rights activist whose association with the British Black Panthers and frequent demonstrations against the police ruffled the feathers of polite society in the 1970s and 1980s, when racial tensions were high. He later involved himself in the media, presenting several programmes on Channel 4 and the like and with columns in the New Statesman and The Voice magazines. Howe died aged 74 and was a hit for two teams.
Denis Bryan Harvey Wildish served as a Vice Admiral in the Royal Navy and had active service in World War 2 (natch) but also in the Spanish Civil War. He retired in 1972. Wildish was 102 and a hit for two theme teams.
Now one from March. Jean Rouverol was the daughter of playwright Aurania Rouverol (creator of Andy Hardy, made famous by Mickey Rooney) and followed her mother into writing. Rouverol's promising Hollywood writing career was stymied by her association with the US Communist party which led to an effective blacklisting lasting until the 1970s. She later contributed to a series of soap operas as well as writing several novels. Rouverol was 100 Obituarynotice getting another unique hit.
Quick note about the actress Janet Freeman. She has the required obit but there seems to be confusing info regarding her actual age (81 or 96!), so I'll wait until there's more solid information on that before adding her onto the list of passings...

(Matthew) (9 teams)= 6pts (2 teams) = 12pts

(Rickles) (8 teams)= 5pts (1 team) = 10pts

(Howe) (2 teams) = 7pts

(Wildish) (2 teams) = 4pts

(Rouverol) + = 7pts

List of the Lost - Latest Entrants

Roy Sievers, Armand Gatti, Sean McEniff, Sasha Lakovic, Ben Suisala, Lorna Gray

List of the Missed - Latest Entrants

Gražbyle Venclauskaite, Florence S. Jacobsen, Nasir Al-Din Nasir Hunzai, Cuthbert Sebastian, Alessandro Alessandroni, Tim Pigott-Smith, Erin Moran, Jonathan Demme

Player of the Month - March

To Kill A Gabor Sister - 23 points

Latest News

Royal news with the ever-tactful Prince Philip announcing his retirement from public life aged 95...
The Theme Team League is updated for April with defending champion Shameless headling for a landslide victory and they're not the only one...

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

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