Dead Pool 29th December 2019

Good afternoon all, apologies for last week’s email, I was away from my computer and struggled immensely to produce a newsletter from my phone, hopefully all of you were able to visit the website to keep up to date. 

We’re into the last days of the year, things are still fairly tight at the top of the table, so anything could happen between now and the end of the year. The winner will be announced on the 1st January along with the new 2020 lists. I have already received quite a few lists, but many of you are still holding on for that last minute piece of deadly news before submitting them for that ultimate advantage. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Tony Britton, 95, British actor (Operation Amsterdam, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Day of the Jackal).  
• Allee Willis, 72, American Hall of Fame songwriter (“I’ll Be There for You“, “September“) and lyricist (The Color Purple), cardiac arrest.  
• Jerry Herman, 88, American composer (Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles) and lyricist, pulmonary disease.  
• Sue Lyon, 73, American actress (Lolita, The Night of the Iguana, 7 Women).  
• Don Imus, 79, American radio personality (Imus in the Morning).  
• Alasdair Gray, 85, Scottish artist and author (Lanark).

In Other News

Zac Efron was rushed to hospital after suffering a medical emergency, it has been reported. Zac, 32, is thought to have been flown to Australia from Papua New Guinea by a medical evacuation crew after battling ‘a form of typhoid or similar bacterial infection.’ Efron was in a ‘stable’ condition when he admitted to the hospital, believed to be St Andrews War Memorial Hospital where he stayed for seven days. Ironically, Zac had jetted out to Papua New Guinea to film new reality TV show: Killing Zac Efron. The High School Musical star has since been ‘given the all clear’ according to The Sunday Telegraph, which allowed him to fly home to the U.S. on Christmas Eve. Dr Glenn McKay, Director of Medical Rescue, told the newspaper he could not discuss patient information but he did confirm they “retrieved a US citizen in his 30s from PNG to Brisbane for medical attention in Australia.” Efron’s series will see him journeying deep into the jungle of an island and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, ‘falling off the grid for 21 days.’ “I tend to thrive under extreme circumstances and seek out opportunities that challenge me on every level,” Efron said in a statement in November.   

TOWIE star Lauren Goodger has been rushed to hospital. In a series of attention seeking Instagram posts, the 33 year old revealed that paramedics had been round at her house and taken her to the hospital. While she didn’t identify exactly what was wrong, Lauren urged fans never to drink again as she had the worst hangover of her life. “Never drink again,” she penned, “Worst hangover to date I feel like I’m dying.” She added with a picture from the ambulance: “Under a lot of stress lately had paramedics at mine now on way to hospital…really not good way lately…I need a break.” She followed with snaps of her in a hospital bed, hooked up to a drip. Lauren also shared a picture of her legs under a blanket, writing: “Can’t stop shaking.” Later Lauren revealed that she was being kept in the hospital, alongside a breaking heart emoji and a picture of her in a wheelchair. It’s unclear whether she’s still in the hospital, or how long she’ll be there for. Let’s hope she gets charged for wasting NHS resources.  

Since our last newsletter, Prince Philip has been released from the hospital. On Tuesday, the royal was seen leaving King Edward VII hospital in London around 9 a.m. after spending four nights in the facility to undergo precautionary treatment for a “pre-existing condition.” Upon being discharged, Philip took a helicopter to Sandringham House in Norfolk, England, to join his wife, Queen Elizabeth, for the holidays. “The Duke of Edinburgh has today left hospital after being discharged by his Doctor and is now back at Sandringham,” the palace said in a statement. “His Royal Highness would like to thank everyone who sent their good wishes.” Palace officials didn’t give details about the condition the 98-year-old royal needed treatment for. However, his son, Prince Charles, told reporters that it was an age-related issue. “When you get to that age, things don’t work so well,” he said. 

On This Day

• 1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. 
• 1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment. 
• 1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the city’s 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

Deaths

• 1170 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop and saint (b. 1118)  
• 1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet and author (b. 1875)  
• 1986 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)  
• 2003 – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1928)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jude Law (47), Charlotte Riley (38), Jon Voight (81), Lilly Wachowski (52), Ted Danson (72), Danny McBride (43), Patrick Fischler (50), Bernard Cribbins (91), Marianne Faithfull (73), Denzel Washington (65), Noomi Rapace (40), Sienna Miller (38), Maggie Smith (85), Joe Manganiello (43), Nichelle Nichols (87), Timothée Chalamet (24), John Amos (80), Gérard Depardieu (71), Jared Leto (48), Kit Harington (33), Temuera Morrison (59), Phil Spector (80), Sissy Spacek (70), Helena Christensen (51), Annie Lennox (65), Shane MacGowan (62), Harry Shearer (76), and Carla Bruni (52).