Afternoon everyone! Another edition hits the stands, alas no points to award this week. We are now on the 10-week countdown and things are still pretty tight at the top of the leader board, one death of a Cert/Woman/Maverick is all that is needed to clinch the top spot for many of you. If you haven’t already, now is a good time to start researching your list for 2018 and also tell your friends, as the more people who take part, the more fun it can be.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Roy Dotrice, 94, British actor (Amadeus, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Game of Thrones), Tony winner (2000).
• Sean Hughes, 51, Irish comedian (Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Sean’s Show) and actor (The Last Detective).
• Gord Downie, 53, Canadian musician (The Tragically Hip) and activist (Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, residential school reconciliation), glioblastoma.
• Brent Briscoe, 56, American actor (Twin Peaks, A Simple Plan, Sling Blade) and screenwriter.
• Umberto Lenzi, 86, Italian film director (Cannibal Ferox, Nightmare City, Ghosthouse).
• Honorine Rondello, 114, French supercentenarian, nation’s oldest living person.
• Rosemary Leach, 81, English actress (A Room with a View, The Roads to Freedom, The Plague Dogs).
• Judith McGrath, 70, Australian actress (Prisoner, A Country Practice, All Saints).

In Other News

Ginger pop star Ed Sheeran has broken his right arm, putting his upcoming tour dates in jeopardy. “I’ve had a bit of a bicycle accident,” wrote the star on his Instagram page, posting a picture of his arm in a cast. “I’m currently waiting on some medical advice, which may affect some of my upcoming shows. Please stay tuned for further news.” The 26-year-old was on a break from his world tour, but was due to resume with a gig in Taipei next week. He has a further 14 dates scheduled this year, including concerts in Japan, South Korea and Thailand, before kicking off the Australian leg of his tour in March 2018.    Sheeran famously plays his concerts solo – using just a guitar and a loop pedal to layer up songs. Losing the use of his right arm would make such a set-up impractical – but, speaking to BBC News earlier this year, Sheeran said he would never consider playing with a backing band because he’s a wanker who wants all the glory for himself. “I don’t feel like there’s anything interesting or new about seeing a singer-songwriter with a band behind them,” he said, sure The Beatles had nothing going for them… “I don’t feel like if I suddenly got a band, everyone would go, ‘Wow!’. I actually feel it’d take away from me.” Yeah, more talented musicians on the stage….

In another bike related event, but a bit more hardcore than falling off your bloody bycycle, Gerard Butler was rushed to hospital after he got run off the road on his motorbike. The Hollywood actor was riding his motorbike on the streets of LA when he got cut up by a woman trying to park her car.  She reversed into his bike and he “did a somersault about 30ft in the air”. The 47-year-old actor revealed he has five fractures in his right foot and a fracture in his left foot, along with a painful knee injury. “The more I think about it I got quite lucky because I went through the air. I did like 30 feet and did a somersault and smashed right down. “I guess I could have landed a lot of ways that it could have gone went worse. I got a few fractures on my feet and I messed up my knee.” Not only this, he actually put himself into anaphylactic shock after injecting himself with the venom of 23 bee stings.  Butler told the ITV chat show Lorraine: “I had heard of this guy injecting bee venom, because apparently it has many anti-inflammatory compounds. So, I’m like: ‘Come, come to New Orleans where we’re filming.’ So, he gives me a shot, and I go: ‘Oh, that’s interesting’ – because it stings. “Then he gives me 10 shots, and then I have the worst reaction. I kind of enter this anaphylactic shock. It’s awful, creepy crawlies all over me, swelled up, heart’s going to explode. But I go through it, and then I find out he gave me 10 times too much.” Butler was immediately taken to hospital, but admitted that four days later he decided to give the remedy another go. “I decide to do it again because, I think: ‘Maybe I just took too much.’ So, he’s on the phone, and this time I have to go to the hospital [again].” Bee stings have been used as a remedy, known as apitherapy, for centuries, initially by placing live bees on inflamed areas and in more modern times by extracting the venom from the living bees and injecting it. Jeff Goldblum, a guest with Butler on BBC1’s The Graham Norton Show, gently mocked the Scot’s use of the remedy. “I’ve done some cockamamie things in my time but that is crazy,” he said.

Wildlife TV presenter and comedian Bill Oddie has been struck with a health condition that makes him hear music in his left ear. The acclaimed conservationist keeps hearing jumbled brass band tunes and bagpipe solos. The phenomenon, a form of tinnitus, is rarely reported because people fear the symptoms are a sign of a psychiatric illness or dementia. Other people with the condition have heard rock music or HMS Pinafore, the Gilbert & Sullivan operetta. The 76-year-old former Goodie and presenter of the BBC’s Springwatch said: “It has been going on for about four months and there is no pattern to when or why it starts. It’s a military-style band of the 1940s but not as nice as a Glenn Miller swing sound. “It varies quite a bit and it is difficult to distinguish a tune but nearly every day it involves a bagpipe solo. “At the moment I can live with it but I’d rather not. I’m intrigued and wonder how many other people have experienced something similar.” Bill first noticed the sounds earlier this year while working in the office at his London home. He added: “I thought someone had left the radio on so I followed the noise but it wascoming with me,  which was weird.”Dr Will Sedley, a lecturer in neurology at Newcastle University, said: “It is more common than you might think although we believe it goes unreported because people are worried that they will be thought of as going mad. But this is a stand-alone condition and not normally a feature of any wider disorder such as dementia.” The true horror of what is actually happening to him is pictured to the right.

On This Day

• 1917 – Lenin calls for the October Revolution.
• 1929 – Wall Street Crash of 1929. After a steady decline in stock market prices since a peak in September, the New York Stock Exchange begins to crash.
• 1958 – The Smurfs, a fictional race of blue dwarves, later popularised in a Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon series, appear for the first time in the story La flute à six schtroumpfs.  
• 2002 – Moscow theater hostage crisis: Chechen terrorists seize the House of Culture theatre in Moscow and take approximately 700 theatre-goers hostage.
• 2012 – After 38 years, the world’s first teletext service (BBC’s Ceefax) ceases broadcast due to Northern Ireland completing the digital switchover.

Deaths

• 1915 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (b. 1848)
• 1950 – Al Jolson, Lithuanian-American actor and singer (b. 1886)
• 1957 – Christian Dior, French fashion designer, founded Christian Dior S.A. (b. 1905)
• 2001 – Josh Kirby, English illustrator (b. 1928)
• 2014 – Alvin Stardust, English singer and actor (b. 1942)
• 2016 – Pete Burns, English singer-songwriter (b. 1959)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Christopher Lloyd (78), Jeff Goldblum (64), Bob Odenkirk (54), Catherine Deneuve (73), Derek Jacobi (78), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (41), Everett McGill (72), Ken Watanabe (58), Kim Kardashian West (37), Viggo Mortensen (59), Danny Boyle (61), Snoop Dogg (46), Michael Gambon (77), John Lithgow (72), John le Carré (86), Zac Efron (30), Jean-Claude Van Damme (57), Pam Dawber (66), Eminem (45), Margot Kidder (69), Mark Gatiss (51), George Wendt (69), Angela Lansbury (92), Tim Robbins (59), Suzanne Somers (71), Peter Bowles (81) and Gary Kemp (58).

Apologies for the lateness of this weeks edition, however, you haven’t missed much, nobody of real note seems to have died. Next week is already shaping up as “a good un” with several good stories and a death of a well known comedian and it’s only Monday!!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Jean Rochefort, 87, French actor (Lost in La Mancha, The Phantom of Liberty, Mr. Bean’s Holiday).
• Bob Schiller, 98, American screenwriter (I Love Lucy, All in the Family, The Carol Burnett Show), Emmy winner (1971, 1978).
• Grape-kun, 20, Humboldt penguin.
• William Lombardy, 79, American chess grandmaster, heart attack.

In Other News

Marilyn Manson has discussed for the first time the “excruciating” stage accident that resulted in a leg injury and nine postponed tour dates. The singer was crushed when a giant prop gun collapsed on him during a concert in New York on 30th September. “It was terrifying,” said the rock star, who needed a plate and 10 screws in his fibula after the accident. He said that, contrary to media reports, he was not responsible for the prop toppling over. “I wasn’t trying to climb it,” said the 48-year-old. “It started to fall and I tried to push back and I didn’t get out the way in time. “I’m not sure what I hit my head on, but it did fall on to my leg and break the fibula in two places. The pain was excruciating.” It took several minutes for the stage crew to free Manson, who appeared limp and unconscious. As well as the injury to his lower leg, the star required a screw through his ankle bone. He has spent the last two weeks recovering at home in Los Angeles.

Moors Murderer Ian Brady’s remains must be disposed of with “no music and no ceremony”, a High Court judge has ruled. Two councils asked the judge to step in to ensure the disposal of the serial killer’s body did not cause “offence and distress” to his victims’ families. Sir Geoffrey Vos said Brady’s executor had failed to make proper arrangements for disposal of his remains. Brady died aged 79, on 15th May, but his remains have not yet been disposed of. Brady and Myra Hindley, who died in prison in 2002, tortured and murdered five children in the 1960s. Sir Geoffrey acted after Oldham and Tameside councils raised concerns that five months after Brady’s death his executor, solicitor Robin Makin, had failed to make proper arrangements for the disposal. In issuing directions about the body’s disposal, Sir Geoffrey said: “I decline to permit the playing of the fifth movement of the Symphony Fantastique at the cremation, as Mr Makin requested.” As of yet the cremation has not taken place and nobody seems to know what to do with the resulting ashes.

And finally, an angler who nearly died when he accidentally swallowed a fish he had just caught said he feels lucky “beyond a lottery win” to have survived. Sam Quilliam, 28, stopped breathing and suffered a cardiac arrest after the Dover sole wriggled out of his hand and “swam down” his throat. He was kissing the fish in celebration of his catch on Boscombe Pier, Bournemouth when the accident happened. Paramedics managed to retrieve the fish from his airway with forceps. Mr Quilliam described how he had caught the 14cm long Dover sole while fishing with friends on 5th October. “I went to give it a kiss before throwing it back and it literally, like a bar of soap, shot out of my hand into my mouth and basically swam down my throat,” he said. “I ran around like a headless chicken and then collapsed.” Members of Boscombe Pier Sea Anglers performed CPR on their friend when he passed out before the arrival of emergency crews. Paramedic Matt Harrison, who took seven attempts to remove the fish from Mr Quilliam’s throat, said it was his “most bizarre” call-out.

On This Day

• 1793 – Queen Marie Antoinette of France is tried and convicted in a swift, pre-determined trial in the Palais de Justice, Paris, and condemned to death the following day.
• 1815 – Emperor Napoleon I begins his exile on Saint Helena in the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1863 – American Civil War: The H. L. Hunley, the first submarine to sink a ship, sinks during a test, killing its inventor, Horace L. Hunley.
• 1888 – The “From Hell” letter allegedly sent by Jack the Ripper is received by investigators.
• 1917 – World War I: At Vincennes outside Paris, Dutch dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for the German Empire.
• 1956 – Fortran, the first modern computer language, is shared with the coding community for the first time.

Deaths

• 1917 – Mata Hari, Dutch dancer and spy (b. 1876)
• 1946 – Hermann Göring, German general and politician (b. 1893)
• 1964 – Cole Porter, American composer and songwriter (b. 1891)
• 2011 – Betty Driver, English actress, singer, and author (b. 1920)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Dominic West (48), Sarah Ferguson (58), Steve Coogan (52), Udo Kier (73), Cliff Richard (77), Sacha Baron Cohen (46), Paul Simon (76), Chris Carter (61), Hugh Jackman (49), Robin Askwith (67), Les Dennis (64), Michelle Trachtenberg (32), Emily Deschanel (41), Stephen Moyer (48), Joan Cusack (55), Jane Krakowski (49), Luke Perry (51), John Nettles (74), Dawn French (60), Rose McIver (29), Charles Dance (71), Larry Lamb (70), Martin Kemp (56), Fiona Fullerton (61), Guillermo del Toro (53), Chris O’Dowd (38), Scott Bakula (63), Brandon Routh (38), Tony Shalhoub (64), Brian Blessed (81), Sharon Osbourne (65), Matt Damon (47), Sigourney Weaver (68), Chevy Chase (74), Kristanna Loken (38), Paul Hogan (78), Karyn Parsons (51), Ardal O’Hanlon (52) and R.L. Stine (74).

Firstly, apologies to Martin, I missed that he had Tony Booth last week, so he’s had points awarded posthumously and now heads the leader board!!! I also took the time to go through everyones lists and found the following misses. Sarai got Jean E. Sammet back in May, 61 points. Laura got Irwin Corey back in February, 48 points. So, we’re pretty much all up to date, even with the most obscure of names.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Tom Petty, 66, American Hall of Fame musician (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys) and voice actor (King of the Hill), heart attack.
• Rodney Bickerstaffe, 72, British trade unionist, General Secretary of NUPE (1982–1993) and UNISON (1996–2001).
• Liam Cosgrave, 97, Irish politician, Taoiseach (1973–1977)
• Terry Downes, 81, British boxer, world champion (1961–1962) and actor (The Fearless Vampire Killers, Caravaggio).
• Ralphie May, 45, American comedian.

In Other News

Swedish model, Arvida Byström, says she’s received rape and death threats after posing for an advert with hairy legs. The 26-year-old featured in an Adidas campaign promoting a new brand of trainers. She received dozens of abusive messages after the advert was released on YouTube. In an Instagram post, which is getting more and more attention, she says she was also threatened with rape in direct messages on social media. She said: “My photo from the @adidasoriginals superstar campaign got a lot of nasty comments last week.” As well as being a model, Arvida is a photographer and is well known for posing with her body hair on show. Adidas says she “questions femininity and gender standards using so-called ‘girly’ aesthetics”. In a statement, Adidas said it’s “honoured to work with creators like Arvida for their creativity, diversity and unique ideas.”

An investigation has been launched by Indiana State Police after an officer shot at a man they believed to be a gunman but was actually an actor in a film. The man in question – Jim Duff – was playing a robber in scenes filming in the city of Crawfordsville. Local police are said to have been responding to a report of a possible robbery at a brewery last week when Sgt. Matt Schroeter encountered the actor wearing a ski mask carrying what they believed to be was a gun. Duff was backing out of the brewery when police ordered him to drop the weapon. However, Duff – caught off guard – turned and an officer fired a shot, missing him. State police confirmed Duff had then dropped the gun, pulled off his mask and told authorities they were on a film set. The film’s production company Montgomery County Movies – who had failed to notify police a robbery scene was being filmed – accepted responsibility for the misunderstanding. Duff was arrested but then released after police could confirm that he was working on the film.

And finally, one for the runners who like to wear Nike apparel. In the 1980s, Nike was locked in an epic war with Reebok for control of the sneaker market. In response, Nike engaged Portland advertising firm Wieden & Kennedy to create a new campaign that would broaden its appeal. The one thing that came to mind was an event that happened around 10 years earlier. A man named Gary Gilmore received mainstream media attention after murdering two men in separate incidents in Utah. Gilmore, then 35, had endured a troubled upbringing and spent half his life in prison for a series of violent crimes including armed robbery. He’d been released from an Indiana prison and moved to live with a distant cousin in Utah in an attempt to turn his life around. But he quickly returned to his previous lifestyle and, in July 1976, robbed and murdered gas station employee Max Jensen, and then killed motel manager Bennie Bushnell the following evening. Gilmore was quickly caught, convicted and sentenced to death. Instead of trying to fight for his life, he appeared to welcome the verdict and chose to be shot by a firing squad instead of being hung. Capital punishment was suspended in the US from 1972 to 1976, so there was high interest in Gilmore’s case. So, after a last meal of steak, potatoes, milk and coffee — of which he only consumed the milk and coffee — Gilmore was put in front of the firing squad on January 17th 1977. When asked if he had any last words, Gilmore famously said: “Let’s do it!” It was a line that stuck with Wieden, and for some reason came to him as he sat trying to finalise the Nike campaign in 1988. “I remember when I read that I was like, ‘That’s amazing — how, in the face of that much uncertainty, do you push through that?’ I didn’t like the ‘let’s’ thing, I just changed that because otherwise I would have to give him credit, now I don’t really have to.” The “Just Do It” tagline first appeared in a 1988 commercial featuring 80-year-old runner Walt Stack and was wildly successful. So, the next time you slip on those trainers, remember you owe it all to a murderer!

On This Day

• 1582 – Because of the implementation of the Gregorian calendar this day does not exist in this year in Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain.
• 1952 – The Harrow and Wealdstone rail crash kills 112 people.
• 2005 – The 7.6 M_w Kashmir earthquake strikes with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe), leaving 86,000–87,351 people dead, 69,000–75,266 injured, and 2.8 million homeless.
• 2014 – First person in US diagnosed with Ebola dies.

Deaths

• 1793 – John Hancock, American merchant and politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts (b. 1737)
• 1967 – Clement Attlee, English soldier, lawyer, and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1883)
• 2015 – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer-songwriter (b. 1951)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Simon Cowell (58), Tim Minchin (42), Alesha Dixon (39), Ioan Gruffudd (44), Elisabeth Shue (54), Britt Ekland (75), Kate Winslet (42), Guy Pearce (50), Jesse Eisenberg (34), Karen Allen (66), Clive Barker (65), Neil deGrasse Tyson (59), Bob Geldof (66), Melissa Benoist (29), Dakota Johnson (28), Liev Schreiber (50), Susan Sarandon (71), Alicia Silverstone (41), Christoph Waltz (61), Sarah Lancashire (52), Denis Villeneuve (50), Lena Headey (44), Neve Campbell (44), Seann William Scott (41), Clive Owen (53), Gwen Stefani (48), Greg Proops (58), Lorraine Bracco (63), Avery Brooks (69), Sting (66), Tiffany (46), Julie Andrews (82), Zach Galifianakis (48) and Randy Quaid (67).

Its been a busy week at Dead Pool Towers, one could argue that the flying monkeys managed to escape. Points!!! With the demise of Liz Dawn, we can award 73 points to John, Nickie & Debbie and with the death of Hugh Hefner, we can award 59 points to Mark, Nickie, Paula, Ashley & Doug. Well done you lot, double bubble for Nickie for getting two deaths in one week! There’s lots to read this week, so best get on with it.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Charles Bradley, 68, American singer (“Changes”), stomach cancer
• Tony Booth, 85, British actor (Till Death Us Do Part, Coronation Street, The Contender).
• Elizabeth Dawn, 77, British actress (Coronation Street, Crown Court, The Wheeltappers and Shunters Social Club), emphysema.
• Eman Ahmed Abd El Aty, 37, Egyptian woman, world’s heaviest, kidney failure and intestinal shock.
• Bobby Knutt, 71, British actor and comedian (Coronation Street, Benidorm, Emmerdale), heart attack.
• Sir Richard Greenbury, 81, British businessman, Chairman of Marks and Spencer (1988–1999).
• Hugh Hefner, 91, American magazine publisher (Playboy), businessman (Playboy Enterprises) and reality television actor (The Girls Next Door).
• Monty Hall, 96, Canadian-American game show host (Let’s Make a Deal), heart failure

In Other News

Rock star Marilyn Manson was injured during a concert in New York when a large piece of stage scenery fell on him on stage. The prop – apparently two large guns held together with metal scaffolding – fell as he was performing at the Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday. An eyewitness told the BBC that the singer lay on stage for up to 15 minutes covered by a sheet before he was carried out on a stretcher and taken to hospital. His condition is not currently known. Eyewitness Anthony  Biscardi told the BBC that fans at the concert “instantly freaked out”. “He was performing the song Sweet Dreams. Towards the middle of the song it seemed as though he tried climbing onto a prop. “The first touch of weight on those poles and it came crashing down onto him.” In videos of the incident posted online, stage crew and band members can be seen lifting the prop off the singer but he does not get back up. “He was pretty limp, almost as though he was unconscious,” Mr Biscardi said. Mr Biscardi said a black sheet was put around him until he could be taken off stage, when an announcement was made that the show was cancelled “due to injury”. The 48-year-old artist was three dates into his The Heaven Upside Down Tour. He was due to perform in Boston on Monday night.

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, the award-winning star of US TV comedy series Veep, has announced she has breast cancer, in a message posted on social media. “1 in 8 women get breast cancer,” she wrote. “Today I’m the one.” “The good news”, she said, was that she had a “glorious group” of family and friends supporting her and “fantastic” insurance through her union. The actress, 56, has also featured in Saturday Night Live, The New Adventures of Old Christine and Seinfeld. Earlier this month, Louis-Dreyfus picked up a record-breaking sixth Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a row for her role in HBO series Veep. Louis-Dreyfus’ announcement was met with an outpouring of support from other actors and celebrities.

Lady Lucan, the 80-year-old widow of Lord Lucan, has been found dead at her home in London, police have confirmed. Strangely enough, it seems that she was not famous enough in her own right to be listed in the Wiki death list, however we believe she merits a mention. Officers found her body after forcing entry to the property in Belgravia on Tuesday, but her death is not believed to be suspicious, the Met Police said. Lady Lucan was one of the last people to see her husband John Bingham, the 7th Earl of Lucan, alive before he disappeared in November 1974. A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police attended an address on Eaton Row in Westminster… following concerns for the welfare of an elderly occupant. “Officers forced entry and found an 80-year-old woman unresponsive. Although we await formal identification we are confident that the deceased is Lady Lucan.” Lord Lucan was officially declared dead by the High Court in 1999, but has reportedly been sighted in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand. A High Court judge granted a death certificate in February last year allowing his son, Lord Bingham, to take over his title.

And finally, a couple arrested after allegedly murdering and eating up to 30 people in Russia may have used dating sites to lure their victims, it has emerged. Dmitry Baksheev and his wife, Natalia Baksheeva, were detained in the southern region of Krasnodar after pictures of a dismembered body were found on a phone, local media reports. The phone, which is said to have contained several images of Mr Baksheev posing with a female victim’s head and hands, was found by a builder who handed it into police earlier in September. Ms Baksheeva told authorities there had been at least 30 victims over the past 18 years. There are fears the 45-year-old has been feeding human meat to student pilots at the military academy where the couple worked. Remains of a woman were later found in a bag in the academy, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported. Seven containers of human body parts, 19 samples of human skin and remains pickled in jars were allegedly also found in the freezer and cellar of the couple’s home. One photograph dated from 1999 was found appearing to show a severed human head on a serving plate alongside fruit. The couple remain in custody on one initial murder charge while the investigation continues.

On This Day

• 1843 – The News of the World tabloid begins publication in London.
• 1861 – Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management is published, going on to sell 60,000 copies in its first year and remaining in print until the present day.
• 1958 – NASA is created.
• 1971 – The first brain-scan using x-ray computed tomography (CT or CAT scan) is performed at Atkinson Morley Hospital in Wimbledon, London.
• 1982 – Sony launches the first consumer compact disc player (model CDP-101).

Deaths

• 1975 – Al Jackson, Jr., American drummer, songwriter, and producer (b. 1935)
• 2013 – Tom Clancy, American author (b. 1947)
• 2014 – Lynsey de Paul, English singer-songwriter, pianist, and actress (b. 1948)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Marion Cotillard (42), Monica Bellucci (53), Eric Stoltz (56), Omid Djalili (52), Al Leong (65), Erika Eleniak (48), Ian McShane (75), Luke & Matt Goss (49), Mackenzie Crook (46), Robert Webb (45), Jerry Lee Lewis (82), Patricia Hodge (71), Naomi Watts (49), Hilary Duff (30), Mira Sorvino (50), Brigitte Bardot (83), Dita Von Teese (45), Gwyneth Paltrow (45), Avril Lavigne (33), Meat Loaf (70), Irvine Welsh (59), Linda Hamilton (61), Olivia Newton-John (69), Lysette Anthony (54), Serena Williams (36), Will Smith (49), Mark Hamill (66), Catherine Zeta-Jones (48), Michael Douglas (73), Heather Locklear (56), Michael Madsen (60), Felicity Kendal (71) and Barbara Walters (88).

More points to be awarded, Debbie, Shan, Martin and Doug all score 55 points with the death of the boxer Jake LaMotta, which has caused something I can’t recall happening before. A tie at the top of the leader board! Both Laura and Martin now have 521 points each. If this happens to be the final score we have no rules to decide the winner! So as we are a democratic dictatorship here, we at Dead Pool Towers will let the masses decide how such an occurrence will be decided should it happen, then ignore it all and make up another rule. So, what do you think?

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Suzan Farmer, 75, British actress (The Scarlet Blade, Doctor in Clover, Coronation Street).
• Bobby Heenan, 72, American professional wrestler, manager and commentator (WWF, AWA, WCW), organ failure.
• Ben Hammer, 92, American actor (The Beastmaster, Law & Order, Sleepers).
• Bernie Casey, 78, American actor (Revenge of the Nerds, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) and football player (San Francisco 49ers).
• Jake LaMotta, 95, American Hall of Fame boxer and comedian, inspiration for Raging Bull, complications from pneumonia.
• Liliane Bettencourt, 94, French cosmetics businesswoman (L’Oréal) and socialite.
• William G. Stewart, 84, British game show host (Fifteen to One) and television producer.

In Other News

Former Olympics Minister Dame Tessa Jowell has been diagnosed with brain cancer, her family have revealed. Her daughter-in-law Ella Woodward posted on social media that the Labour peer was diagnosed in May. Writing on Dame Tessa’s 70th birthday, she described the last few months as “some of the hardest of our lives”. The politician, who stood down as an MP in 2015, responded by tweeting her thanks for the “love and support” she had been shown. Ms Woodward, a food blogger who is married to the politician’s son Matt Mills, wrote on Instagram: “Matt’s Mum was suddenly diagnosed with brain cancer in May. “Her bravery, optimism, love and support for others during this process has inspired us both so much, and today we’re all pledging to try and do everything we can to make people’s lives with cancer better for longer.”

Former England captain Wayne Rooney has appeared in court and admitted drink-driving. He was arrested when police stopped a car in Wilmslow, Cheshire, in the early hours on 1 st September. The 31-year-old was banned from driving for two years and ordered to perform 100 hours of unpaid work as part of a 12-month community order. Rooney was also ordered to pay £170 when he appeared at Stockport Magistrates’ Court. The court heard Rooney was almost three times the legal limit when he was stopped by police at 02:00 BST. A breathalyser test showed his alcohol level was 104 micrograms in 100 millilitres of breath. The drink-drive limit in England and Wales is 35 micrograms per 100 millilitres of breath. In a statement issued after the hearing, the Everton footballer said: “I want publicly to apologise for my unforgivable lack of judgment in driving while over the legal limit. It was completely wrong. “I have already said sorry to my family, my manager and chairman and everyone at Everton FC. Now I want to apologise to all the fans and everyone else who has followed and supported me throughout my career. “Of course I accept the sentence of the court and hope that I can make some amends through my community service.” Are these his first steps as a possible Gazza replacement??

Robbie Williams has been forced to cancel the remaining dates of his European tour due to a mystery illness. The 43-year-old had been due to perform two concerts in Russia this week, with gigs scheduled for St Petersburg and Moscow, and was also set to appear at the closing ceremony of the New Wave singing contest in Sochi. Now though he’s had to pull out because of his health and won’t be resuming his tour until he heads to New Zealand and Australia in February next year. A statement from his publicist reads: ‘Due to illness, the final two dates of the European leg of The Heavy Entertainment Show Tour, St Petersburg and Moscow, have been cancelled. It comes just days after Robbie had opened up about his health struggles with conditions including arthritis and depression. The Take That star also spoke in depth of his mental health issues and confessed he didn’t think he’d have suffered quite as much if he hadn’t have become famous. In July the singer revealed that he’d been suffering from a rare condition called Nocturnal Sleep-Related Eating Disorder, which causes him to eat in the middle of the night whilst totally unaware he’s doing so. Many of us poolers can surely sympathise with this, I know I certainly can..

On This Day

• 1960 – USS Enterprise, the world’s first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched.
• 1979 – CompuServe launches the first consumer internet service, which features the first public electronic mail service.
• 2015 – At least 1,100 people are killed and another 934 wounded after a stampede during the Hajj in Saudi Arabia.

Deaths

• 1863 – William Debenham, English businessman, founded Debenhams (b. 1794)
• 1945 – Hans Geiger, German physicist & academic, co-invented the Geiger counter (b. 1882)
• 1991 – Dr. Seuss, American children’s book writer, poet, and illustrator (b. 1904)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Kevin Sorbo (59), Brad Bird (60), Sven-Ole Thorsen (73), Karl Pilkington (45), Bruce Springsteen (68), Tom Felton (30), Billie Piper (35), John Woo (71), Ruth Jones (51), Joan Jett (59), Sue Perkins (48), Nick Cave (60), Stephen King (70), David Wenham (52), Bill Murray (67), Ricki Lake (49), Alfonso Ribeiro (46), Faith Hill (50), Sophia Loren (83), Asia Argento (42), Moon Bloodgood (42), George R.R. Martin (69), Jeremy Irons (69), David McCallum (84), Jimmy Fallon (43), Victoria Silvstedt (43), Twiggy (68), Jada Pinkett Smith (46), Tim McInnerny (61), Paul Feig (55), Neill Blomkamp (38), Bruce Spence (72) and Baz Luhrmann (55).