Dead Pool 9th August 2020

A fairly average week; not a lot going on and you might be hard pressed to picture the faces of those who have died. However it does give me the opportunity to apologise profusely to Nickie for missing that she had Olivia De Havilland last week!! Obviously I have awarded her the missed points and took penance in the form of self-flagellation and tea without sugar. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• John Hume, 83, Irish politician, MP (1983–2005), MEP (1979–2004) and Foyle MLA (1998–2000), Nobel laureate (1998).  
• Tony Morris, 57, British newsreader  for ITV Granada, kidney cancer.  
• Billy Goldenberg, 84, American composer (Kojak, Rhoda, Play It Again, Sam) and songwriter.  
• Frances E. Allen, 88, American computer scientist.  
• Daisy Coleman, 23, American documentary subject (Audrie & Daisy) and sexual assault survivor, suicide.  
• Willie Hunter, 80, Scottish football player/manager (Motherwell & Queen of the South).

In Other News

Simon Cowell has broken his back falling off his new electric bike in the courtyard of his Los Angeles home. The 60-year-old music mogul was taken to hospital and is undergoing surgery, his spokeswoman said. “He’s doing fine, he’s under observation and is in the best possible hands,” she said earlier. Cowell, best known for hit shows The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent, is spending lockdown in the US, where he now lives. Cowell, who has a six-year-old son Eric with his partner Lauren Silverman, was reportedly testing his new bike when the accident occurred. Piers Morgan was among those who wished Cowell “a full and speedy recovery” on social media.  

Former Pope Benedict XVI, 93, was seriously ill after a visit to Germany, it has been reported. German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse reported on Monday that Benedict had become frail and his voice was barely audible, according to his biographer Peter Seewald. But the Vatican has responded to the report saying Benedict’s condition “was not particularly worrying” and reassured the public he was overcoming a painful but not grave ailment. Mr Seewald told the newspaper that the ex-pontiff was suffering from shingles, a viral infection that causes painful rashes. “The health conditions of the Pope Emeritus are not particularly worrying, apart from being those of an old man of 93 who is overcoming the most acute phase of a painful but not grave illness,” said the Vatican in a statement. Benedict resides in a former convent in the Vatican gardens. He left Italy for the first time since his resignation in 2013 for a farewell visit to his older brother Georg in Bavaria, where they were born. Georg Ratzinger died on 1 July aged 96. Both brothers were ordained priests on the same day in 1951. While on his four-day visit to the Bavarian city of Regensburg, Benedict was visited by Mr Seewald, who said the former pope told him he might pick up writing again if he regains his strength.     

Linda and Anne Nolan, members of Irish pop group The Nolans, have revealed they have both been undergoing treatment for cancer during lockdown. The sisters, who are aged 61 and 69 respectively, shared the news on the official Twitter account for the band. The tweet, which included a picture taken recently of Linda and Anne together, stated: “For the past few months during lockdown, Linda and Anne have been battling cancer and chemotherapy together.” The announcement concluded with a message of hope, which read: “We will get through this together, as a family.” The sisters spoke about undergoing chemotherapy together at Blackpool’s Victoria Hospital after receiving their cancer diagnoses days apart. Seven years ago, their sister Bernie Nolan, lead vocalist of The Nolans, died of breast cancer at the age of 52. Looking back at the moment she and Anne told their siblings of their cancer diagnoses, Linda said the family “laughed and cried”. “Forget the Chemical Brothers, we’ve become the Chemo Sisters,” she said. Anne, the eldest of the Nolan sisters, said that she is “scared of dying”, stating: “I love my life so much. I love my daughters, my grandchildren, my friends, all my family. I want to live for as long as I possibly can.” Linda added: “It’s just really hard and I’m scared of dying. I don’t want to die. I want to be around and see my great nieces and nephews grow up, and that’s why I’m putting everything I’ve got into trying to get well.” Linda has incurable cancer in her liver, the third time she has experienced a recurrence from breast cancer, which she was diagnosed with in 2006. She developed cellulitis (a bacterial skin infection) and lymphedema (a chronic condition that causes swelling in the body’s tissues) in her arm in 2007 and secondary cancer on her pelvis three years ago. Anne has been diagnosed with stage three breast cancer, 20 years after being diagnosed with breast cancer for the first time in 2000. 

Will Young is said to be devastated following the death of his twin brother Rupert, who has battled with mental health issues. 41-year-old Rupert, who was born ten minutes after Will, spoke previously about his struggles with depression and alcoholism. Circumstances surrounding Rupert’s death remain unclear, though a spokesperson for the Young family said they have been left wracked by grief over their loss. “Will’s relationship with Rupert had been tough over the years at times, and they had both spoken about the mental health problems which had made it challenging. “But there were hopes he had turned a corner and they are a very loving family – and utterly devastated by his passing.” Rupert had been diagnosed with dysthymia – a depressive mood disorder – in 2005. He previously admitted he struggled with living his famous brother’s shadow. Speaking in a 2008 interview, Rupert said: “I woke up one morning and turned on the TV. There was William on Richard & Judy, giving the most amazing performance of one of his songs. “I had spent the night before drinking with tramps in a car park and cutting myself. “It seemed bizarre to me that two people who are genetically the same could behave in such different ways. “I realised that something had gone very wrong. But I didn’t know what, or why, and nor did anyone else.” Troubled Rupert said he was then in and out of hospital ‘more than ten times’. “I saw the top doctors and psychiatrists in the country, but the mental health system here is overloaded…I was never actually properly assessed.” They just told me I was an addict and that was why I was the way I was,” he said. 

UB40 singer Duncan Campbell is recovering in hospital after suffering a stroke. A statement from the band said the 62-year-old, from Birmingham, is ‘up and about’ and doing well, and there is hope for a ‘speedy’ recovery. Campbell replaced his brother Ali as lead singer of the British reggae group in 2008, after Ali quit over a disagreement about management. A statement on Tuesday said: ‘We can confirm that our lead singer and brother Duncan Campbell was taken to hospital after suffering a stroke. ‘While we can report that he is already up and about, we ask fans to respect Duncan and the family’s privacy as he works his way back to what we all hope will be a strong and speedy recovery. ‘We look forward to seeing you all on the road next spring.’ The news follows the band’s announcement last week that their UK tour dates due to take place in December had been rescheduled to March next year because of the Covid-19 outbreak. Ali has been highly critical of his replacement and said watching his brother perform the band’s songs ‘makes my skin crawl’. He has since toured as part of the breakaway group UB40 Featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey, and the two groups regularly hit out at each other in public. Duncan sang in a harmony group with his brothers when they were children as well as performing with their father, folk singer Ian Campbell. Last year UB40 saxophonist Brian Travers, a founding member of the band, was forced to miss the group’s 40th anniversary tour after suffering a seizure at home. He was later diagnosed with a brain tumour, undergoing surgery on the day he was due to begin the tour. 

On This Day

• 1173 – Construction of the campanile of the Cathedral of Pisa (now known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa) begins; it will take two centuries to complete.  
• 1930 – Betty Boop makes her cartoon debut in Dizzy Dishes.  
• 1945 – World War II: Nagasaki is devastated when an atomic bomb, Fat Man, is dropped by the United States B-29 Bockscar. Thirty-five thousand people are killed outright.
• 1969 – Followers of Charles Manson murder pregnant actress Sharon Tate (wife of Roman Polanski), coffee heiress Abigail Folger, Polish actor Wojciech Frykowski, men’s hairstylist Jay Sebring and recent high-school graduate Steven Parent.  
• 1974 – As a direct result of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, becomes president.

Deaths

• 1516 – Hieronymus Bosch, Early Netherlandish painter (b. circa 1450)  
• 1948 – Hugo Boss, German fashion designer, founded Hugo Boss (b. 1885)  
• 1969 – Sharon Tate, American model and actress (b. 1943)  
• 2008 – Bernie Mac, American comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer (b. 1957)  
• 2016 – Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, third-richest British citizen. (b. 1951

Last Meals

Karla Faye Tucker was an American woman sentenced to death for killing two people with a pickaxe during a burglary. She was the first woman to be executed in the United States since Velma Barfield in 1984, and the first in Texas since Chipita Rodriguez in 1863. 

Tucker was born and raised in Houston, Texas, the youngest of three sisters. Her father Larry was a longshoreman. The marriage of her parents was troubled, and Tucker started smoking cigarettes with her sisters when she was eight years old. During her parents’ divorce proceedings when she was 10 years old, Tucker learned that her birth was the result of an extramarital affair. By age 12, she had begun taking drugs and having sex. She dropped out of school at age 14 and followed her mother Carolyn, a rock groupie, into prostitution. In her early 20’s she began hanging out with bikers and met a woman named Shawn Dean and her husband Jerry Lynn Dean, they introduced her to Daniel Ryan Garrett who was almost twice her age and began dating. On June 12 1983, after spending the weekend using drugs with Garrett and their friends, Tucker and Garrett entered Jerry Dean’s apartment, intending to steal a motorcycle that Dean was restoring there. During the burglary, Tucker and Garrett entered Dean’s bedroom, where Tucker sat on him. In an effort to protect himself, Dean grabbed Tucker above the elbows, whereupon Garrett intervened. Garrett struck Dean numerous times in the back of the head with a ball-peen hammer that he found on the floor. After hitting Dean, Garrett left the room to carry motorcycle parts out of the apartment. Tucker remained in the bedroom. The blows Garrett had dealt Dean caused him to begin making a “gurgling” sound. Tucker wanted to “stop him from making that noise” and she then picked up a three-foot pickaxe that was laying against the wall and began hitting Dean. Garrett then re-entered the room and dealt Dean a final blow in the chest. Garrett left the bedroom again to continue loading Dean’s motorcycle parts into his car. Tucker was once again left in the room and only then noticed a woman who had hidden under the bed covers against the wall. The woman, Deborah Ruth Thornton, had argued with her husband the day before, went to a party and ended up spending the night in Dean’s bed. Upon discovering Thornton, Tucker grazed her shoulder with the pickaxe. Thornton and Tucker began to struggle, but Garrett returned and separated them. Tucker proceeded to hit Thornton repeatedly with the pickaxe and then embedded the axe in her heart. Tucker would later tell people and testify that she experienced intense multiple orgasms with each blow of the pickaxe. The next morning, one of Dean’s co-workers who had been waiting for a ride entered the apartment and discovered the victims’ bodies. Police investigation led to the arrests of Tucker and Garrett, five weeks after the killings.  

In September 1983, Tucker and Garrett were indicted for murder and tried separately for the crimes. Tucker was charged with the murders of both Dean and Thornton, but after she testified against Garrett at his trial, the charge for the murder of Thornton was dropped. Though the death penalty was hardly ever sought for female killers, Tucker, along with Garrett, was sentenced to death in late 1984. Garrett died of liver disease in 1993 while awaiting execution. Although Tucker as a model prisoner and that, after 14  years on death row, she likely had been reformed, The board rejected her appeals and hours before her execution, Texas Governor George W. Bush refused the final 11th-hour appeal to block her execution. 

On February 2nd, 1998, state authorities took Tucker from the unit in Gatesville and flew her on a TDCJ aircraft, transporting her to the Huntsville Unit. For her last meal, Tucker requested a banana, a peach, and a garden salad with ranch dressing. She was executed by lethal injection on February 3rd, 1998. As the deadly chemicals were being administered, she praised Jesus Christ, licked her lips, looked at the ceiling, and hummed. She was pronounced dead at 6:45 p.m. C.S.T., eight minutes after receiving the injection.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Anna Kendrick (35), Gillian Anderson (52), Rhona Mitra (44), Sam Elliott (76), Eric Bana (51), Melanie Griffith (63), Audrey Tautou (44), Jes Macallan (38), Jes Macallan (36), Dustin Hoffman (83), Keith Carradine (71), Katie Leung (33), Connie Stevens (82), Charlize Theron (45), Abbie Cornish (38), Michael Shannon (46), David Duchovny (60), Tobin Bell (78), Leslie Odom Jr. (39), M. Night Shyamalan (50), Michelle Yeoh (58), Barbara Windsor (83), Geri Horner (48), Mark Strong (57), Tawny Kitaen (59), Loni Anderson (75), Kara Tointon (37), Meghan Markle (39), Billy Bob Thornton (65), Barack Obama (59), Carol Arthur (85), Evangeline Lilly (41), Stephen Graham (47), Martin Sheen (80), John C. McGinley (61), Michael Ealy (47), John Landis (70), Steven Berkoff (83), Mamie Gummer (37), and Martha Stewart (79).