Dead Pool 10th November 2024

We have points to award!!! With the passing of June Spencer at the ripe old age of 105, Ceri  gets 145 points as she had her down as her Woman. Well done her! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Jonathan Haze, 95, American actor (The Little Shop of Horrors, The Terror, It Conquered the World). 
• Alan Rachins, 82, American actor (L.A. Law, Dharma & Greg, Showgirls), heart failure. 
• Quincy Jones, 91, American record producer (Thriller, “We Are the World“), composer (“Soul Bossa Nova“), and arranger, 28-time Grammy winner. 
• Elwood Edwards, 74, American voice actor (AOL ‘You’ve got mail’), complications from a stroke. 
• Sir John Nott, 92, British politician, MP (1966–1983) and defence secretary (1981–1983). 
• Tony Todd, 69, American actor (Candyman, Platoon, Final Destination).  
• Trevor Sorbie, 75, British celebrity hairdresser, bowel cancer. 
• June Spencer, 105, English actress (The Archers). 

In Other News

Bhad Bhabie has seemingly revealed she’s been diagnosed with cancer after hitting back at fans for commenting on her appearance. The 21-year-old rapper, whose real name is Danielle Bregoli, took to her Instagram Story on Thursday in response to fans’ concerns about her health, after she appeared to lose significant weight in recent weeks. “I’m sorry my cancer medicine made me loose weight,” she wrote on her Story. “I’m slowly gaining it back. So stop running with the worst narratives.” Bregoli, who rose to internet stardom for her “Cash me outside, how ‘bout that?” catchphrase during a Dr Phil appearance in 2016, didn’t disclose any further information about her cancer medicine or diagnosis. While the OnlyFans model hasn’t shared further details about her health, many fans posted their well wishes for Bregoli following her Instagram post. In 2022, the “Gucci Flip Flops” rapper revealed she had earned $52m on OnlyFans. She later shared a screenshot to Instagram as proof of her OnlyFans income. Just one year prior, Bregoli had broken an OnlyFans record; she racked up $1m in just six hours after joining the subscription-based video-sharing platform. 

James Van Der Beek has been diagnosed with cancer. The actor, 47, shot to fame playing the lead role in teen drama Dawson’s Creek, which ran between 1998 and 2003. In a statement to the Flying Monkeys, Van Der Beek said: “I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family.” He added: “There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.” Colorectal cancer is a type of cancer which starts in either the colon or the rectum, which are both part of the large intestine in the body’s digestive system. Van Der Beek starred in multiple popular shows and films in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He played Dawson Leery in the hit TV show Dawson’s Creek, which ran from 1998 to 2003. He also played a fictionalised version of himself in the cult television show Don’t Trust the B—- in Apartment 23, and he performed on the 28th US season of Dancing with the Stars. So far, Van Der Beek has continued working through his diagnosis.  

Janey Godley is to go on a ‘final tour’ before her funeral. The funeral of comedian Godley will take place over two days across two cities as part of a “final tour” of Scotland. A hearse will travel through Edinburgh on 29th November in tribute to her “beloved festival home” before returning to Glasgow on 30th November for the ceremony. The funeral for the comic, who died on 2nd November aged 63 after receiving palliative care for terminal cancer, will take place at St Mary’s Cathedral in the city’s west end. Her daughter, Ashley Storrie, confirmed the arrangements on social media. Godley, who found viral fame with her dubbed parodies of then Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon’s coronavirus news briefings during the pandemic, revealed she had ovarian cancer in November 2021. She had been due to embark on a tour entitled “Not Dead Yet,” but was forced to cancel it after her condition worsened. Godley was given the all-clear in 2022 but later that year announced another scan had shown signs of the disease in her abdomen. In the social media post her daughter said: “Here’s the details of Janey’s final tour, thank you for all the love and kindness in this past week. For the past few years of Ma’s life, it was important to her that she shared her journey with everyone, to offer support for others on the same path and to highlight the symptoms of Ovarian Cancer – all of course in her very singular Janey style, with laughter and candour. So many of you who have travelled with us on this journey wish to bid her a final farewell, so here’s the details of my mum’s final tour, in the two cities she loved with all her heart.” The hearse will travel along the Royal Mile and Lawnmarket in Edinburgh with a “pause for reflection” at St Giles’ Cathedral before travelling along Cockburn Street, Market Street and on to Glasgow. After the funeral on Saturday there will be a private service at a crematorium. Ms Storrie said her mother asked that instead of traditional funeral attire, those who wish to do so should wear bright colours to celebrate her life. She also asked that no flowers be sent but said people were invited to contribute to the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice or any charity of their choice.

On This Day

• 1871 – Henry Morton Stanley locates missing explorer and missionary, David Livingstone in Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika, famously greeting him with the words, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
• 1944 – The ammunition ship USS Mount Hood explodes at Seeadler Harbour, Manus, Admiralty Islands, killing at least 432 and wounding 371.
• 1983 – Bill Gates introduces Windows 1.0.
• 1989 – Germans begin to tear down the Berlin Wall.

Deaths

• 1982 – Leonid Brezhnev, Ukrainian-Russian, 4th Head of State of the U.S.S.R. (b. 1906).
• 2006 – Jack Palance, American boxer and actor (b. 1919).
• 2010 – Dino De Laurentiis, Italian-American actor, producer (b. 1919).
• 2015 – Helmut Schmidt, German soldier, economist, and politician, 5th Chancellor of Germany (b. 1918).

The Lead Coffins of Notre-Dame

Following the devastating Notre-Dame cathedral fire of 2019, Paris authorities were intrigued when they uncovered two lead-lined coffins 65 feet below the church floor.

One skeleton was quickly identified as a local cleric born in the 17th century, but the experts were left perplexed by the second, simply describing him as an ‘unknown nobleman’.

Now, they announce that it was the body of Joachim du Bellay, a celebrated French Renaissance poet and critic, born in Liré, western France in 1522.

Dubbed ‘the Horseman‘ due to his penchant for riding horses, du Bellay died of chronic meningitis due to tuberculosis in 1560, at the age of just 37.

Following his death, his remains were thought to be buried at Notre-Dame but were never identified – until now.

The new findings were revealed by University of Toulouse III and France’s National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP). Dr Éric Crubézy, professor of anthropology at University of Toulouse III, said he died of ‘chronic tuberculous meningitis in the 16th century’. ‘This age is rarely represented among the burials of important people in the cathedral,’ the professor added.

Following the Notre-Dame cathedral fire of April 2019, two lead-lined coffins were found under paving stones in a spot where the ‘nave’ and the ‘transept’ meet. In a cross-shaped cathedral like Notre-Dame, the nave and the transept are the two straight parts that are at right angles to each other. The coffins were first uncovered in March 2022, but the opening of the tombs only occurred eight months later that November.

Although burials in cathedrals were practiced throughout the medieval and modern periods, a burial in a lead coffin was special – an act ‘reserved for an elite’ – and the men were deemed to be once wealthy.

One of the coffins was identified as containing Antoine de la Porte – a cleric of the cathedral who died in 1710 at the age of 87 – largely thanks to an identification plate with his name on the coffin. Born in 1627, Antoine de la Porte provided financial support to the redevelopment of the enclosure of the choir of Notre Dame in fulfilment of the Vow of Louis XIII.

Although no organic tissue was left on the bones, the remains were still well-preserved – including his hair and beard. Examination of the bones revealed he was between 25 and 40 years of at death and spent much of his early life riding horses, giving him the nickname ‘le Cavalier’ (the Horseman). There are several markings associated with horse-riding on his  upper limbs.

Forensic experts have been able to link such physical evidence from his remains to the life and death of Joachim du Bellay as detailed in the literature. Traces of bone tuberculosis and chronic meningitis were found on the skeleton, of which the poet showed symptoms in the last years of his life.

“He matches all the criteria of the portrait.’ Dr Crubézy said at a news conference last week, as quoted by La Croix and Live Science. ‘He is an accomplished horseman, suffers from both conditions mentioned in some of his poems, like in ‘The Complaint of the Despairing’. He describes “this storm that blurs his mind” and his family belonged to the royal court and the pope’s close entourage.’

However, Christophe Besnier, an INRAP archaeologist and excavation leader, suggested that some doubts remain. ‘Certain elements do not support this hypothesis,’ Besnier said. ‘Isotope analysis of the teeth indicates that the individual lived in the Paris region or Rhône-Alpes until he was 10 years old.  However, we know that Joachim du Bellay grew up in Anjou.’

It’s thought that without the cathedral fire five years ago the sarcophagi would be still lying undiscovered.

On April 15, 2019, millions worldwide watched in horror as firefighters battled through the night to save the cathedral as a fire tore through its roof and toppled the steeple. The 300-foot-tall Gothic spire collapsed into the embers early in the blaze to pained cries of locals transfixed by the unfolding scene.

One of one of Europe’s most-visited landmarks, the fierce blaze broke out just before 7pm local time in a roof area undergoing renovations.

‘Notre-Dame survived all the wars, all the bombardments. We never thought it could burn. I feel incredibly sad and empty,’ Stephane Seigneurie, a consultant who joined other shocked onlookers in a solemn rendition of ‘Ave Maria’ as they watched the fire from a nearby bridge.

Firefighters bravely worked to stop the flames and French authorities said the holy building was within ’15 to 30 minutes’ of complete destruction.

In September 2021, the French government announced the cathedral was finally stable and secure enough to start work to rebuild it. Following restoration work largely funded by €840 million from donors, Notre-Dame cathedral is due to reopen December 8 this year.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Taron Egerton (35), Walton Goggins (53), Hugh Bonneville (61), Neil Gaiman 64), Robert Duncan McNeill (60), Lou Ferrigno (73), Parker Posey (56), Matthew Rhys (50), Gretchen Mol (52), Alfre Woodard (72), Richard Curtis (68), Gordon Ramsay (58), Adam Devine (41),  Emma Stone (36), Ethan Hawke (54), Rebecca Romijn (52), Thandiwe Newton (52), Sally Field (78), Nigel Havers (73), Maria Shriver (69), Famke Janssen (60), Sam Rockwell (56), Tilda Swinton (64), Robert Patrick (66), Armin Shimerman (75), Matthew McConaughey (55), Ralph Macchio (63), Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs (55), Tanya Reynolds (33), Loretta Swit (87), and Olivia Taylor Dudley (39).