Dead Pool 19th January 2025

Loads of points  to award this week, with the passing of Linda Nolan I can award 85 points to Paula H, Lara U, Paul G, and an amazing 185 points to Mark K, Mark W, Chris A, Martin G, Lee U, as they had her listed as either a Cert or a Woman. I can also award 55 points to Fiona B for correctly guessing that Joan Plowright would die in 2025. Well done everyone! 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

In Other News

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan has been stabbed after an intruder invaded his home in Mumbai. Khan, 54, was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in an auto-rickshaw where he underwent emergency surgery.  A 2.5-inch piece of the blade was removed from his spine after a five-hour-long surgery. Khan’s public representatives also confirmed the incident, calling it an “attempted burglary”, adding that “the rest of the family is doing fine”. Later on Thursday, doctors told reporters Khan was “on the path to complete recovery”. “He sustained a major injury to the thoracic spinal chord due to a lodged knife in the spine,” said Nitin Dange, one of the doctors operating on on the actor. “Surgery was performed to remove the knife and also repair the leaking spinal fluid.” A female employee at their home was also attacked and was being treated, police said. Khan lives in an apartment in the western Mumbai suburb of Bandra, along with his wife Kareena Kapoor-Khan, who is also an actor, and their two children. According to the Flying Monkeys a suspect has been detained in Chhattisgarh and the police have launched an investigation into the attack. Khan is among the country’s most bankable actors, having featured in more than 70 films and television series, in some also as a producer. He is the son of former India cricket captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi and actress Sharmila Tagore.  

James Whale was rushed to hospital over the festive period. The 73-year-old broadcaster, who has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, had to be taken into intensive care after falling ill with the flu. The TV and radio veteran has been diagnosed with stage four kidney cancer that has spread to his brain, spine and lungs. Whale was hospitalised with the flu but he was discharged from the ICU and able to go back home to recover. His wife Nadine updated fans after the hospital dash, admitting he’d had another encounter with the “Grim Reaper”. She wrote: “After a worrying week I am happy to report that @THEJamesWhale is out of ICU and back at home, having batted off the Grim Reaper yet again. This time he tried with a bout of Influenza A, but without success. Our hero is home.” Whale, who was made an MBE for his services to to broadcasting, was first diagnosed with cancer back in 2000 and had one of his kidneys removed. However, in 2020, the presenter revealed the cancer had returned in his kidney, brain, spine and lungs. The Talk TV host admitted he considered euthanasia shortly after his diagnosis so he could “go and get it over with”. He said: “I came home, had a little think about things. I decided I’m just booking myself a trip to Dignitas. You might as well just go and get it over with. I’d looked into it quite some time ago because Melinda died two years ago and it’s been something in the back of my mind. But you have to make the most of it. When you’re my age – and I’ve had a good life – you say maybe you have another year left. Four years ago, we thought I had months.”  

Heart Radio presenter Jamie Theakston has revealed he is cancer-free, four months after being diagnosed with stage one laryngeal cancer. The 54-year-old broadcaster made the emotional announcement during his return to Heart Breakfast on Friday morning, following a period of absence that began in September 2024. Theakston had undergone three separate surgeries after listeners first noticed a change in his voice prior to his diagnosis. Speaking on the show, Theakston said: “Today is the four-month anniversary of my cancer diagnosis. So it’s been four months, and I’ve had enough of hospitals and operations, and it’s just lovely to be back, and I’ve got some news for you. Because I can tell you that as of today, I’m cancer-free.” The diagnosis had come as an overwhelming surprise to the presenter. “When I was told, ‘Oh, it’s probably cancer,’ just, literally, I just didn’t even know what to say. I mean, it just blew my mind,” he revealed. Theakston detailed the challenging series of procedures he underwent, with each surgery causing increased damage to his vocal cords. The presenter revealed the stark statistics he faced. “By the third one, they said, ‘Well, look, you’ve got a one in six chance you might not be able to talk again.’ And so, then you kind of think, ‘Oh, okay, that’s like rolling a dice,'” he shared. The presenter confirmed he will return to Heart Breakfast full-time on Monday, January 20th.

On This Day

  • 1883 – The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires, built by Thomas Edison, begins service at Roselle, New Jersey.
  • 1901 – Queen Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, is stricken with paralysis. She dies three days later at the age of 81.
  • 1978 – The last Volkswagen Beetle made in Germany leaves VW’s plant in Emden. Beetle production in Latin America continues until 2003. 
  • 2012 – The file-sharing website Megaupload is shut down by the FBI.

Deaths

  • 1983 – Ham, chimpanzee and animal astronaut, first hominid in space (b. 1957). 
  • 2000 – Hedy Lamarr, Austrian-American actress, singer, and mathematician (b. 1914). 
  • 2017 – Miguel Ferrer, American actor (b. 1955).

Last Week’s Birthdays

Katey Sagal (71), Rob Delaney (48), Tippi Hedren (95), Dolly Parton (79), Michael Crawford (83), Kevin Costner (70), Dave Bautista (56), Mark Rylance (65), Jim Carrey (63), Zooey Deschanel (45), Lin-Manuel Miranda (45), Caroline Munro (76), FKA twigs (37), James May (62), Natasia Demetriou (41), James Nesbitt (60), Claudia Winkleman (53), Eddie Hall (37), Jason Bateman (56), Emily Watson (58), Kevin Durand (51), Mark Addy (61), Faye Dunaway (84), Dave Grohl (56), Michael Peña (49), Liam Hemsworth (35), Orlando Bloom (48), Natalia Dyer (30), Ruth Wilson (43), and Bill Bailey (60).

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