Dead Pool 10th May 2020

Welcome all, surprisingly no points to award this week, even with the demise of the Grandfather of Rock’n’Roll and a man who was mauled by a tiger. Is it worth sending out the flying monkeys? 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Dave Greenfield, 71, English keyboardist (The Stranglers), COVID-19.  
• Brian Howe, 66, English rock singer (Bad Company), heart attack.  
• Florian Schneider, 73, German electronic musician (Kraftwerk), cancer.  
• Ty, 47, British rapper, complications of COVID-19.  
• Millie Small, 72, Jamaican singer (“My Boy Lollipop“), stroke.   
• Eelke Bakker, 109, Dutch centenarian, oldest man in Benelux.  
• Roy Horn, 75, German-American magician (Siegfried & Roy), complications from COVID-19.  
• Little Richard, 87, American Hall of Fame rock and roll singer (“Tutti Frutti“, “Long Tall Sally“, “Lucille“), pianist and songwriter, bone cancer.

In Other News

Brian May has been hospitalised after “ripping his Gluteus Maximus to shreds” in a mystery gardening accident, he has revealed. The Queen guitarist shared to Instagram an image of himself wearing a face mask, before clarifying to fans that he hadn’t experienced anything coronavirus-related. “The Virus didn’t get me yet – thank God,” the 72-year-old wrote in his caption. “I managed to rip my Gluteus Maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening. So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve actually damaged myself. He continued: “Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while … or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.” May did not specify what had occurred in his garden that had led to his injuries. May said that he was sent home after being looked at by doctors, and that he was asked to “go dark for a while” and “get some complete rest”. He added that he didn’t need sympathy, but rather some “healing silence for a while”. May, who is also an astrophysicist, said in April that he believed coronavirus was caused by too many people eating meat. “I think it’s time to re-examine our world in a way that doesn’t abuse other species,” he said.   

Radio 1Xtra DJ Yasmin Evans was hospitalised following her brutal involvement on Channel 4 reality show Celebrity SAS: Who Dares Wins. The 29-year-old watched her toenails turn black and her feet bleed after she caught trench foot following her involvement on the show. Yasmin – who was booted from the armed forces themed reality show on Monday night – was physically ravaged by the intense trials she was put though, and her feet were infected after enduring tasks that left her drenched in rain and water. After filming the show in the Scottish wilds, Yasmin was rushed to hospital and says she couldn’t walk for days as her feet swelled up and were left seeping. She explained how she began to feel unwell while taking part in a task on the show – and gave a graphic description of the effect on her body. She said: “I looked down at my feet and I just thought, ‘This is not OK’. My toenails were almost hanging off.” “I really suffered from having two major infections in my feet,” she said – revealing she was diagnosed with trench foot, an infection that was prevalent among soldiers in World War I after they were left standing around in waterlogged trenches. She explained: “Your socks are constantly wet. It’s a World War injury. The boots are really hard. Basically my toenail was black and one of them was split in the middle and was constantly bleeding.” She also said she would do the show again – but: “I would rip off my toenails before I went in there. They’re going to fall out anyway.” What a trooper!  

A woman was killed by an alligator as she attempted to touch the animal after spotting it in a nearby pond, authorities have said. Cynthia Covert, 58, was at her friend’s home on Kiawah Island, South Carolina, painting her nails. According to the police report, the friend said Ms Covert was “very talkative and strange”. “She was very relaxed and excited that her boyfriend was coming from Tennessee to visit,” the friend said. Ms Covert had one glass of wine during the interaction but the friend did not know if she was on other substances. After doing the woman’s nails, Ms Covert reportedly spotted the alligator in the pond and was “fascinated” by the animal. Ms Covert walked over to the pond and started taking pictures of the animal, at which point the friend warned about how she saw a deer getting attacked by the alligator at that same location. “I don’t look like a deer.” Ms Covert responded before she reportedly reached out to touch the animal. It then attacked and grabbed the woman’s leg, pulling her into the water. “I guess I won’t do this again,” Ms Covert was heard saying after the alligator grabbed her, according to the police report. The friend’s husband and a nearby neighbour ran out and attempted to pull Ms Covert back to shore by tossing her a rope. But then the alligator rolled over onto Ms Covert and she disappeared into the water. Deputies and firefighters arrived on the scene and searched for Ms Covert for 10 to 15 minutes before her body resurfaced. But the alligator was still holding onto the woman’s leg. A deputy shot at the animal with a 9 mm handgun so it would release the woman’s leg. The alligator was shot several times before it died. Ms Covert’s leg was severely damaged after her body was brought to shore, but it was determined by the Charleston County Coroner’s office she died by drowning. She is the third person to die in the state from an alligator encounter, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.    

The Newly Infected

• Piers Morgan said he would not host Good Morning Britain on Monday 4th May because he was presenting mild symptoms of coronavirus. Turns out he tested negative, no surprise for such a cry baby. 

On This Day

• 1849 – Astor Place Riot: A riot breaks out at the Astor Opera House in Manhattan, New York City over a dispute between actors Edwin Forrest and William Charles Macready, killing at least 22 and injuring over 120. 
• 1908 – Mother’s Day is observed for the first time in the United States, in Grafton, West Virginia. Billions of flowering plants have died for the cause.  
• 1941 – World War II: Rudolf Hess parachutes into Scotland to try to negotiate a peace deal between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany.  
• 1960 – The nuclear submarine USS Triton completes Operation Sandblast, the first underwater circumnavigation of the earth.  
• 1962 – Marvel Comics publishes the first issue of The Incredible Hulk.  
• 1967 – The Northrop M2-F2 crashes on landing, becoming the inspiration for the novel Cyborg and TV series The Six Million Dollar Man.  
• 1975 – Sony introduces the Betamax videocassette recorder in Japan.

Deaths

• 1863 – Stonewall Jackson, American general (b. 1824) 
• 1977 – Joan Crawford, American actress (year of birth disputed)  
• 1994 – John Wayne Gacy, American serial killer (b. 1942)  
• 2010 – Frank Frazetta, American illustrator and painter (b. 1928)

Last Meals

Liberace was an American pianist, singer and actor. ultimately becoming better known for his lavish lifestyle and extravagant wardrobe than for his not-inconsiderable prowess on the keyboard. At the height of his fame, from the 1950s to the 1970s, Liberace was the highest-paid entertainer in the world, however in 1987 Liberace — whose real name was Władziu Valentino Liberace — passed away at the age of 67. 

A devout Roman Catholic to the end, he had a priest administer the last rites to him the day before his death. His death was initially attributed variously to anaemia (due to a diet of watermelon), emphysema, and heart disease, the last of which was attested to by Liberace’s personal physician, Dr. Ronald Daniels. However, the Riverside County coroner – against the advice of Dr. Daniels – performed an autopsy and later stated that “a deliberate attempt” had been made to hide the actual cause of Liberace’s death by his doctors, his manager, and Liberace’s entire immediate family. The post mortem discovered that Liberace had emphysema and coronary artery disease from years of chain smoking, but the real cause was pneumonia due to complications from AIDS. Liberace was secretly diagnosed HIV positive in August 1985 by his private physician in Las Vegas, 18 months before his death. 

Gladys Luckie was arguably one of the people who knew him best, working for the entertainer for 40 years in a loosely defined role Liberace jokingly described as “a second mother.” Following Liberace’s death, Luckie told the Las Vegas Sun about Liberace’s final days, recalling that few weeks before his death that she thought his condition was improving “because he was eating so well.”

On his final day, Luckie served him a porridge-like breakfast cereal that was a Liberace favourite. “That last day I made him Cream of Wheat. He gave me a smile and a wink,” she told the newspaper. “And that was the last thing. He died.” According to Luckie, Liberace “always said I was the only one who made Cream of Wheat the way he liked it — with sugar and lots of butter.” 

Liberace was said to be worth over $110 million at the time of his death, and to have bequeathed $88 million to the Liberace Foundation. Only in 2015 did Liberace Foundation Chairman Jonathan Warren reveal in a lecture at the Mob Museum in Las Vegas that these figures were all part of the showmanship of Liberace, and that the real figures were closer to one tenth those amounts. Liberace’s body is entombed with those of his mother and brother, at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Maureen Lipman (73), Marion Ramsey (72), Rosario Dawson (40), Glenda Jackson (83), Billy Joel (70), Alan Bennett (85), Matthew Kelly (69), Stephen Amell (38), David Attenborough (93), Enrique Iglesias (44), Alexander Ludwig (27), Richard O’Sullivan (75), Naomi Scott (26), Adrianne Palicki (36), George Clooney (58), Henry Cavill (37), Zach McGowan (40), John Rhys-Davies (76), Lance Henriksen (80), Richard E. Grant (63), Michael Palin (77), and Will Arnett (50).