Dead Pool 11th October 2020

Afternoon poolers, not many deaths to report this week, but plenty to read and digest on a boring Sunday afternoon. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Clark Middleton, 63, American actor (Sin City, Snowpiercer, Twin Peaks), West Nile virus.   
• Johnny Nash, 80, American singer-songwriter (“I Can See Clearly Now“, “Hold Me Tight“, “Tears on My Pillow“).   
• Eddie Van Halen, 65, Dutch-born musician (Van Halen) and songwriter (“Jump“), throat cancer.

In Other News

The UK’s oldest person with Down’s Syndrome has died aged 78, despite his family being told when he was born that he was only expected to live for 12 years. Robin Smith, from Kettering in Northamptonshire, set a new record as Britain’s oldest living person with Down’s Syndrome when he turned 78 on October 9th last year. He lived life to the full and was a massive fan of both Cliff Richard and Elvis Presley. But he tragically died on September 27 at Northleigh Residential Home in Kettering, where he had lived since 1986. Tributes have flooded in from his friends and family, who have described him as a ‘beautiful soul’ with an unforgettable laugh. Workers at the care home said that Mr Smith, who loved yoga and aerobics, ‘lit up a room with his twinkly eyes and cheeky smile’. People with Down’s Syndrome are expected to live until their 50s but the life expectancy was much lower in the 1940s. A Down’s Syndrome Association spokesperson said: ‘Thanks to medical advances and the care and love of those around them, the average life expectancy for people with Down’s syndrome is now between 50 and 60 years, with a small number of people living into their seventies and beyond.’ When Mr Smith was a child, very little was known about Down’s Syndrome and wide-spread ignorance often resulted in children with the condition being abandoned or even killed. Many were sent to institutions where medical conditions associated with the syndrome – such as heart problems – were not properly treated. For this reason, countless youngsters died in childhood.  

Lucille Ball’s only granddaughter Desiree S. Anzalone has died at the age of 31 following a battle with breast cancer. Desiree had been first diagnosed at the age of 25 and underwent a double mastectomy and chemotherapy treatment. She was in remission but in 2018 learned the cancer had progressed to Stage four and spread to her liver, lungs and bones. Sharing the news of her tragic death, Desiree’s mother Julie paid tribute to her ‘special little girl’ in an emotional statement. Watching her slip away was just, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy. No mother should have to watch that,” she added. Desiree was named after her grandfather Desi Arnaz Sr, who was Lucille’s co-star on I Love Lucy and real life husband. Speaking in 2019, Desiree said she felt her actress grandmother would have been proud of her. She said she believed that ‘Lucy and I share the same gumption in regards to my fight with stage 4 breast cancer.’ Sadly, due to coronavirus social-distancing restrictions, Desiree’s mum Julie wasn’t able to see her poorly daughter as much as she’d like to in her final months this year. “The COVID-19 kept us apart,” explained Julie. “I wasn’t able to see her as much as I usually do because she was compromised and I didn’t want her getting sick in any kind of way. “I mean, I saw her, but not as much; we’d hang out every day practically she was here. Plus, she lived with me for a while.” Lucille Ball died in 1989 at the age of 77 after suffering an abdominal aortic aneurysm.   

The woman who became the world’s oldest female skydiver has died, aged 88. Former teacher Dilys Price, from Cardiff, was scared of heights when she did her first jump in her fifties. But she went on to complete hundreds of parachute jumps all over the world, and set the Guinness World Record for the oldest female solo parachute jump. She also founded the Touch Trust charity championing art and creative movement programmes for disabled people. Learning Disability Wales said she “transformed the lives of thousands of people with profound multiple disabilities and people with autism”. In 2018 Ms Price told BBC Wales: “Skydiving is my passion, there you have the ultimate beauty of the sky… you just feel so free.” After taking up the sport when she was 54, she went on to complete 1,139 solo jumps all over the world. She was no ordinary skydiver – with a background in drama and dance, she specialised in air acrobatics and freestyling. The University of Wales Trinity Saint David, where she was an honorary fellow, said she was a “remarkable, amazing and inspiring” woman. Aged 80, the former Cardiff College of Education lecturer set the Guinness World Record for the oldest solo parachute jump (female). At 86 she sold her parachute, but went on to do a tandem skydive with former Wales rugby star Gareth Thomas. She was awarded an OBE for services to people with special needs in 2003, and was honoured for her work at the Pride of Britain awards in 2017. Back in 2018, Ms Price, who went on to model for Helmut Lang, said she wanted to inspire older people to keep active.  She said: “We only get one shot at life”. 

The Trump is back at the White House after a dramatic nine days in which he tested positive for coronavirus, was flown to hospital, was given experimental drugs and made an impromptu drive-by to meet supporters while still sick. But how ill has Trump been and has he recovered? Mr Trump’s doctors said he had a fever when admitted to hospital on 2nd October but by the time the president left hospital on Monday, they said he hadn’t had a fever for 72 hours. This would mean Mr Trump’s 10-day isolation countdown would have begun on Saturday. But just like Typhoid Mary, he’s been spreading it about like nobody’s business! The second presidential debate, scheduled for 15th October, is well within the infection timeframe and the commission organising the event in Miami has said it would now have to take place remotely. Mr Trump has since pulled out of the event saying he was “not going to waste my time on a virtual debate”, knowing full well that he could kill his opponent by just breathing on him. But while Mr Trump is pushing to get back work and onto the campaign trail, among the wider US population, there is evidence that coronavirus patients – especially those in older age groups – take some time to recover from the disease, so there is a glimmer of hope still! 

On This Day

• 1910 – Theodore Roosevelt becomes the first U.S. president to fly in an airplane.  
• 1984 – Aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, astronaut Kathryn D. Sullivan becomes the first American woman to perform a space walk.  
• 2001 – Polaroid files for federal bankruptcy protection.

Deaths

• 1721 – Edward Colston, English merchant and politician (b. 1636)  
• 1961 – Chico Marx, American comedian (b. 1887)  
• 1967 – Stanley Morison, typographer, known for Times New Roman font (b. 1889)  
• 2019 – Alexei Leonov, Soviet/Russian cosmonaut and first human to conduct a spacewalk (b. 1934)

Last Meals

Mathias Kneißl, known as Robber Kneißl  was a German outlaw, poacher and popular social rebel in the Dachau district, in the Kingdom of Bavaria. Kneißl became famous for having caused the largest manhunt in Bavaria of the time. Chased by the police, Kneißl became a legendary hero with the rural people because of his witful and artful fight against the authorities. 

Mathias Kneißl was the eldest of six children of a poor innkeeper. In 1886 his father purchased the mill at Sulzemoos Schacher. At age 16 he was imprisoned for the first time, because members of his family were suspected of stock rustling. His father died in 1892 while in police custody. Kneissl then began accompanying his brothers on robberies. 

In 1893 he was arrested for the second time. His younger brother Alois had been shot by police while resisting arrest and died of tuberculosis after four years in prison. Mathias Kneißl was sentenced to five years and nine months in prison. After serving his sentence, he was released in February 1899 and worked as a carpenter in Nußdorf am Inn. After six months Kneißl was dismissed by his master, because his colleagues refused to work with him any longer. Due to his bad reputation, he was unable to find another job, therefore a life of crime was all he had to fall back upon.      

For two years, Kneißl was pursued by the police. After his accomplices were arrested, he continued committing armed robberies on his own. An attempt to arrest him occurred on 30 November 1900 in Irchenbrunn Altomünster. In a massive gun battle, two policemen were injured so badly that they subsequently died. Three months later, in March 1901, Kneißl was captured at Geisen Egenhofen by sixty policemen. During the preceding gunfight, Kneißl was seriously injured by a bullet in the abdomen.

In November 1901 Kneißl was placed on trial at Augsburg. He was charged with two murders, attempted murder, as well as armed robbery and extortion. At his trial, which was followed by the media with great attention, Kneißl reportedly said: “I can suffer no wrong. I cannot bend, I would rather kill myself.” Kneißl confessed to most of the charges, but denied an intent to kill against the two policemen who were shot by him. However, the court found him guilty of murder, premeditated bodily harm with fatal consequences, extortion and for aggravated robbery. The Court then sentenced him to receive the death penalty for murder and 15 years imprisonment on the other charges. Sentenced on a Monday, Kneißl allegedly sarcastically remarked: “Well, that’s a good start of a week.” 

Kneißl was awakened shortly after seven o’clock on the morning of 21st February 1902. Somehow he managed six glasses of beer for his last meal before he was executed via  guillotine.

Strangely enough, a small and charming beer garden called Räuber-Kneißl-Garten has been name after him, which is located behind the Maisach brewery in the town of Maisach, 25km north west from the centre of Munich. The Räuber Kneißl Dunkel (dark lager) named in memory of the infamous bandit is brewed according to an original and ancient recipe from the Maisach brewery. 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Michelle Trachtenberg (35), Joan Cusack (58), Emily Deschanel (44), Claudia Black (48), Jane Krakowski (52), Stephen Moyer (51), Lennie James (55), John Nettles (77), Dawn French (63), Dan Stevens (38), Rose McIver (32), Charles Dance (74), Manu Bennett (51), Martin Kemp (59), Guillermo del Toro (56), Scott Bakula (66), Tony Shalhoub (67), Brandon Routh (41), Chris O’Dowd (41), Brian Blessed (84), Sharon Osbourne (68), Matt Damon (50), Sigourney Weaver (71), Kristanna Loken (41), Chevy Chase (77), Paul Hogan (81), Ardal O’Hanlon (55), Bruno Mars (35), R.L. Stine (77), Soon-Yi Previn (50), Shawn & Aaron Ashmore (41), Tim Minchin (45), Simon Cowell (61), Thom Yorke (52), Ioan Gruffudd (47), Britt Ekland (78), Kate Winslet (45), Guy Pearce (53), Jesse Eisenberg (37), Karen Allen (69), Glynis Johns (97), Clive Barker (68), Neil deGrasse Tyson (62), and Stephanie Cole (79).