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 from 2010 to 2017 by The Man In Black...

Latest Stiffs: 7th September 2017 by The Man in Black

August roundup: du cann canned

After such frenetic activity early on, a gentle end to the month...
Sir Edward Du Cann was a veteran of Conservative Party politics for thirty years and was chairman of the party's influential 1922 Committee of backbench MPs from 1972-84 as well as chairman of the party itself in the mid 1960s. However, his post-parliamentary career in business was an unhappy one. He resigned as chairman of the Lonrho conglomerate shortly before it's collapse in 1993 and was all but declared bankrupt by the mid-90s. Du Cann was 93 and a hit for three teams.
Richard Anderson lent his voice to one of the most famous quotes in 1970s televison, with the quotation "We can rebuild him. We have the technology" from the opening credits of the hit fantasy series 'The Six Million Dollar Man' which starred Lee Majors as rebuilt astronaut Steve Austin. Anderson played the boss of both Austin and 'The Bionic Woman', played by Lindsay Wagner in two series, which were oddly enough broadcast by two different US networks! It was the high point of a prolific career in film and TV, which included roles in Kubrick's 'Paths of Glory' (1957) and Frankenheimer's political thriller 'Seven Days in May' (1964). Anderson was 91 and a unique hit for theme team Christina Grimmie Memorial Death Squad.
Mireille Darc was a popular French actress and model who worked with "Nouvelle Vague" director Jean-Luc Godard and had a long-standing relationship with iconic actor Alain Delon. Darc had numerous heath problems following a car accident in the 1980s.
Darc died aged 79 and was a hit for three teams.
Bea Wain was a big band singer in the 1930s and 1940s, whose number 1 hit 'Deep Purple', later inspired the name of the heavy rock legends. In 1938 she married French-born radio announcer André Baruch and the two later co-hosted "Mr & Mrs Music" for New York radio station WMCA. Wain was 100 and a unique hit for Manuel's Stiffs.
Now one from June. Skip Homeier was an American actor who as a child gained favourable reviews for his depiction of a Nazi-obsessed youth in 'Tomorrow, the World! in 1944. Despite memorable apperances in 'Star Trek' (with more Nazi playing in 'Patterns of Force'), Homeier retired from acting in 1982. He died in June aged 86 but it took an Other Lives obituary from the Guardian for theme team All Quiet on the Westerns Front to nab a unique hit.

(Du Cann) (3 teams) = 5pts

(Anderson) + = 8pts

(Darc) (3 teams) = 7pts

(Wain) + = 7pts

(Homeier) + = 9pts

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

[Pictures of Jerry Lewis and Bruce Forsyth]

No laughing matter for Jerry as the DDP contingent play their cards right...

the day the clown died

August is proving to be an unexpectedly fruitful month for the Grim Reaper as we'll see...
Comedian Jerry Lewis has died. Lewis became a star thanks to his symbiotic partnership with Rat Pack luminary Dean Martin (who bit the dust just days before the first ever DDP competiton started). When the partnership dissolved in acrimony, Lewis struck out on his own in a series of slapstick movies, most notably 'The Bellboy' (1960) and most famously 'The Nutty Professor' (1963). When his fame faded, Lewis concentrated on teaching film, with George Lucas and Steven Speilberg his notable students. The ill-fated Holocaust movie 'The Day the Clown Cried', directed by Lewis was never released. However, Lewis bounced back with a superb turn as chatshow host Jerry Langford in Martin Scorsese's cult classic 'The King of Comedy' in 1983 and he helped raise billions of dollars for muscular dystrophy research with his annual telethon from 1966-2010. Lewis was 91 and a hit for 45 teams but ironically no jokers...

+ (45 teams) = 8pts

Bruce Forsyth: Nice to see him, to see him nice!

Legendary UK entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth has died. Forsyth first appeared on British television when there was only one channel, in 1939 but wasn't until the 1950s on ITV that he became a star as host of 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium', with the "Beat the Clock" part of the show an indicator of where Forsyth's career was heading. For although he saw himself as a singing, dancing, all-round entertainer, it was as a game show host for which "Brucie" was to be best remembered. From 1971-77, Forsyth hosted 'The Generation Game' which became arguably the crown jewel of the BBC's legendary Saturday night output, with Forsyth, assisted by his then-wife Anthea Redfern helping the British public fumble through various games and try to remember what was on the conveyor belt. There was a few setbacks (most notably 'Big Night' in 1978) but Brucie always bounced back, usually with a game show ('Play Your Cards Right', 'You Bet!', 'The Price is Right' etc) and he was as popular as ever when he co-hosted 'Strictly Cone Dancing' from 2004-2013.
Mr Saturday Night was 89 and at #2 in the Drop Forty, with 149 teams scoring and 22 teams getting a Brucie joker bonus. Good game, good game...
And there was yet another Drop Forty hit with Sir Colin Meads. Meads played at Lock for the legendary All Blacks New Zealand Rugby team from 1957-1971. He also captained the national side on 11 occasions, with his final match against the British Lions in their only series win on New Zealand soil. Despite that setback, Meads was voted the greatest All Black of the century in 1999. Meads later managed the All Blacks to runner-up spot in the 1995 World Cup in South Africa. Meads was 81 and a hit for 42 teams. That means the total Drop Forty casualties is at 12, just 1 short of last year's record.

(Forsyth) + (149 teams)= 9pts (22 teams) = 18pts

(Meads) + (42 teams)= 9pts (2 teams) = 18pts

Aldiss and heaven too!

With typical DDP symmetry, here are three unique hits following the three big scorers.
Brian Aldiss was one of Britain's leading science fiction writers. His 1969 short story 'Supertoys Last All Summer Long' was the inspiration for the Stanley Kubrick film project 'A.I. Artificial Intelligence', which was completed by Steven Spielberg after Kubrick's death in 1999. Aldiss later created the 'Helliconia Trilogy' of books concerning an Earth-like planet covering over a thousand years. Aldiss was 92 and a unique hit for Ain't It Grand To Be Bloomin' Well Dead.
Sonny Burgess was a Rockabilly guitarist and singer who with his band The Pacers, recorded with the legendary Sam Phillips and his Sun Records label. Burgess was 88 and a unique hit for theme team All The Good Country Singers Are Already Dead. Ding dang doo...
David Somerset was the 11th Duke of Beaufort and owner of the Badminton estate, home of the famous horse trials. He died aged 89 and here is his obit which seems to be more about gossip surrounding his son, now the new Duke of Beaufort than about the man himself! Still, it's a unique hit for DDP veteran Dr Shipman's Waiting Room.
After this flurry of hits big and small, the leadership picture is looking increasingly like a straight fight between reigning champion David Quantick's Showbiz Pals and Golden Slumbers, who has led the 2017 competition for the last six months.

(Aldiss) + = 8pts

(Burgess) + = 9pts

(Somerset) + = 9pts

Latest Stiffs: 15th August 2017 by The Man in Black

[Picture of Robert Hardy as Winston Churchill]

Hardy heads for the wilderness

all corpses great and small

Death takes no holiday as we will see with this latest selection....
Actor Robert Hardy balanced popular success in Sunday teatime classic 'All Creatures Great and Small' with acclaim on stage and screen. Hardy had a particular fancy for the role of Winston Churchill, whom he played on several occasions, winning a BAFTA TV award in 1981 for 'Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years'. His film credits include 'Mary Shelley's Frankenstein' and the Harry Potter franchise.
Hardy was 91 and was a hit for 5 teams who have probably never had their hand up a cow's arse in the name of art...
Country singer Glen Campbell scored a massive hit single in 1975 with 'Rhinestone Cowboy', which was a US number 1. He had a pretty healthy career up to that point, with hits such as 'Wichita Lineman', his own TV series (which ran from 1969-72) and even an acclaimed role in the film 'True Grit' in 1969, starring John Wayne. Campbell later got mired in the usual drugs/drink problems, like so many other performers of that era. Campbell died from Alzheimer's disease aged 81 and was a popular hit, the 9th Drop 40 entrant to fall. Just the two teams had him as their joker. Adios...

(Hardy) (5 teams) = 5pts

(Campbell) (92 teams)= 9pts (2 teams) = 18pts

A bit of fry for laurie

Laurie Brokenshire was Royal Navy Commodore turned puzzle addict who last year was diagnosed with inoperable cancer. Brokenshire died aged 64 and a hit for two teams, another hit for defending champion David Quantick's Showbiz Pals who move back into the top three...
In the past we've announced the deaths of Holocaust survivors and the the World's Oldest people. Yisrael Kristal is I think, the first combination of the two! Kristal was sent to Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 and became the only survivor from his family. He later moved to Israel. In 2016, he was officialy recognised as the World's Oldest Man and held the title until his death aged 113, a hit for ten teams.
Barbara Cook became a Broadway star in the 1950s, winning a Tony award in 1957 for 'The Music Man'. After a decline in her fortunes accompanied by alcoholism, Cook re-invented herself on the carbaret circuit in the 1970s, gaining a cult following and was considered one of the finest singers of the great American songbook. Cook was 89 and a unique hit for theme team hit for Lullabye-bye of Broadway.
Our next hit is the very last celebrity listed in the Derby Dead Pool for 2017.
Jorge Zorreguieta served in General Videla's military regime in Argentina in the 1970s. This association with the dictatorship was to cause controversy when his daughter Maxima married the future King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, in 2002, so much so he wasn't invited to either the wedding or his son-in-law's coronation. Zorreguieta was 89 and a hit for 2 teams, with I'm Fed Up With This World getting joker points.
Kevin "flat cap" Murray was an Irish dissident republican, connected with a shooting at the Regency hotel in Dublin in 2016 and was seen at the scene of the crime in his familiar (to those who knew him of course) flat-cap, hence the nickname "flat-cap". Curiously, Murray was then diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease and has died aged 47. Hmmmm. Still there you have it and The B-Team continue it's unexpectedly good season with a unique hit and a place in the top 5.

(Brokenshire) (2 teams) = 8pts

(Kristal) (10 teams) = 3pts

(Cook) + = 9pts

(Zorreguieta) (2 teams)= 6pts (1 team) = 12pts

(Kevin Murray) + = 13pts

And now the sport...

Sticking with Murrays, Bryan Murray was a Canadian ice hockey coach, most notably with the Ottawa Senators, whom he guided to the 2007 Stanley Cup finals, where they lost to his former club Anaheim Ducks. Murray died of cancer aged 74 and was a hit for 9 teams.
Betty Cuthbert was just 18 when she starred for Australia at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956. Cuthbert won the Womens 100m/200m double as well as gold in the 4x100m relay to become Australia's "Golden Girl". After a disappointing time defending her titles in Rome in 1960, Cuthbert switched to 400m for Tokyo in 1964 and struck gold once again. Cuthbert was 79 and a hit for four teams, with ZZ Topped avoiding the wooden spoon once again!
Former Essex batsman Doug Insole played 9 times for the England international cricket team but served a much greater time as chairman of the selectors. Insole infamously dropped Geoffrey Boycott in 1967 and controversially omitted Basil D'Oliveira for the South Africa tour of 1968, the whole imbroglio ultimately leading to South Africa's exile from international sport over apartheid. Insole was 91 and a hit for three teams.
Darren Daulton was a catcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Florida Marlins Major League Baseball teams in the 1980s and 90s. Daulton won the World Series with the Marlins in 1997 and thereafter retired. Daulton died of brain cancer aged 55 and is a unique hit for Wanky Yankee.
Ara Parseghian was an American college football coach who guided Notre Dame to two national championships (1966 and 1973) before retiring the following year. Parseghian was 94 and a unique joker for YOUREOUT.
Just as I was finishing the preparations for this update, an obit came in for another of our sensitive picks so they can reside in The Obituary Vault...

(Bryan Murray) (9 teams) = 7pts

(Cuthbert) (4 teams) = 7pts

(Insole) (3 teams) = 5pts

(Daulton) + = 12pts

(Parseghian) + = 8pts = 16pts

List of the Lost - Latest Entrants

Giovanni Benedetti, Ronald Hines, Aundrea Bannatyne, Susanne Cameron-Blackie, Terri Roberts, Karl Otto Gotz, Margot Hielscher, Cyril Frankel

List of the Missed - Latest Entrants

Ian Graham, Haruo Nakajima, Richard Gordon, Victor Pemberton, Don Shepherd, Margaret Turner-Warwick, Melissa Bell, Karoly Makk, Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor

Player of the Month - July

Chemo Sabee - 22 points

Latest News

In the week of the 20th anniversary of her rockiest week on the throne, The Queen gets news of another great-grandchild on the way to distract Joe Public once more...
The Theme Team League is updated for September with defending champion Shameless counting down the days...

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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