Dead Pool 8th September 2024

Short and sweet this week, also considering making next years list full of American rappers! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Brian Trueman, 92, English broadcaster (Screen Test), writer (Danger Mouse) and voice actor (Count Duckula). 
• Danielle Moore, 52, English musician (Crazy P). 
• Rebecca Cheptegei, 33, Ugandan Olympic long-distance runner (2024), burned. 
• James Darren, 88, American singer (“Goodbye Cruel World“) and actor (Star Trek: DS9, T. J. Hooker). 
• Herbie Flowers, 86, English musician (Blue Mink, T. Rex, Sky). 
• Rich Homie Quan, 33, American rapper (“Type of Way“, “Flex (Ooh, Ooh, Ooh)“, “Ride Out“).  
• Will Jennings, 80, American lyricist (“My Heart Will Go On“, “Tears in Heaven“, “Up Where We Belong“), Oscar & Grammy winner. 
• Ron Yeats, 86, Scottish football player (Liverpool, national team) and manager (Tranmere Rovers), complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

In Other News

Queen rocker Brian May has revealed that he was rushed to hospital after suffering a minor stroke and temporarily losing control of his left arm. The British musician, 77, shared the health update with fans in a video posted to his website as he addressed the events of the past week. May referred to a “little health hiccup” that saw him rushed to hospital in an ambulance: “The good news is I can play guitar,” he said. “They called it a minor stroke, and all of a sudden out of the blue, I didn’t have any control of this arm,” he said, moving his left arm and flexing his fingers to show the movement had returned. “It was a little scary, I have to say. I had the most fantastic care and attention from the hospital where I went, blue lights flashing, the lot, it was very exciting. I might post a video if you like.” He continued: “I didn’t wanna say anything at the time because I didn’t want anything surrounding it, I really don’t want sympathy. Please don’t do that, because it’ll clutter up my inbox, and I hate that. The good news is I’m OK.” The musician appeared slightly disgruntled as he explained he’s “grounded” and not allowed to drive, get on a plane or do anything that might risk raising his heart rate. “Not allowed to have planes flying over, which will stress me,” he said, glancing up at a plane flying noisily overhead, before concluding: “But I’m good.” May has suffered health issues in the past, including a heart attack that turned out to be a symptom of an arterial disease. The guitarist told fans he was “very near death” after being admitted to hospital in May 2020, where doctors discovered that three of his arteries were blocked and in danger of stopping the blood supply to his heart. He admitted he was baffled by the heart attack: “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t have high cholesterol and I was exercising through the tour, so why did it happen?” he questioned. “At least I now have a heart that is working far better than it was.” His doctors advised him to undergo heart surgery, but he instead chose the alternative to have three stents put inside his heart.  

Elle Macpherson has revealed she has been secretly battling breast cancer, but is now in remission despite refusing chemotherapy against the advice of “32 doctors and experts”. The supermodel was diagnosed seven years ago and underwent a lumpectomy but opted against further treatment which went against her “belief system”, instead relying on an “intuitive, heart-led holistic approach”. “It was a shock, it was unexpected, it was confusing, it was daunting in so many ways and it really gave me an opportunity to dig deep in my inner sense to find a solution that worked for me,” she said in an interview with The Flying Monkeys. Macpherson, 60, underwent the procedure to remove a tumour at the time before being diagnosed with HER2 positive oestrogen receptive intraductal carcinoma. Her doctor recommended she undergo a mastectomy with radiation, chemotherapy, hormone therapy and breast reconstruction. However, she decided against the advice. “I realised I was going to need my own truth, my belief system to support me through it,” she said. She described her decision to go against traditional medicine as “a wonderful exercise in being true to myself, trusting myself and trusting the nature of my body and the course of action that I had chosen”. In 2022, medical researchers at Yale found that those who used homeopathy and alternative remedies to treat cancer, were twice as likely to die from the disease. The businesswoman who owns her own wellness brand, WelleCo, says she did not take the decision to decline chemotherapy lightly. However, she has been known to be vocal within the anti-vaccination community, having previously dated disgraced British doctor Andrew Wakefield. “Saying no to standard medical solutions was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. But saying no to my own inner sense would have been even harder,” she said. She later describes feeling that chemotherapy and surgery were “extreme”. Her family were divided over her decision. She said her “more conventional” 19-year-old son “wasn’t comfortable with my choice at all”, meanwhile her 14-year-old son “thought that chemo kills you”. Their father, and her ex-husband Arki Busson had a mixed reaction, being “supportive” but Macpherson admits, “he didn’t agree with what I was doing” 

On This Day

• 1727 – A barn fire during a puppet show in the village of Burwell in Cambridgeshire, England kills 78 people, many of whom are children. 
• 1888 – In London, the body of Jack the Ripper’s second murder victim, Annie Chapman, is found.
• 1900 – Galveston hurricane: A powerful hurricane hits Galveston, Texas killing about 8,000 people.
• 1966 – The landmark American science fiction television series Star Trek premieres with its first-aired episode, “The Man Trap“. 
• 2022 – Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom dies at Balmoral Castle in Scotland after reigning for 70 years.

Deaths

• 1970 – Percy Spencer, American engineer, invented the microwave oven (b. 1894).
• 2017 – Don Williams, American musician (b. 1939).
• 2022 – Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom (b. 1926). 
• 2022 – Gwyneth Powell, English actress (b. 1946).

Last Week’s Birthdays

Heather Thomas (67), Martin Freeman (53), Gaten Matarazzo (22), P!nk (45), Miles Jupp (45), Jodie Turner-Smith (38), Michael Emerson (70), Evan Rachel Wood (37), Jonathan Majors (35), Toby Jones (58), Julie Kavner (74), Doug Bradley (70), Freya Allan (23), Idris Elba (52), Mathew Horne (46), Michael Keaton (73), Carice van Houten (48), Rose McGowan (51), Paddy Considine (51), Michael Berryman (76), Beyoncé (43), Charlie Sheen (59), Keanu Reeves (60), and Salma Hayek (58).