Dead Pool 1st February 2015

Sadly no points to award this week, even though a few well known oldies have managed to kick the bucket. Funny thing, I didn’t see any of you rushing out to buy any Demis Roussos albums when he was reported dead, I thought this was one of the things you had to do when a singer dies. We all managed to miss Geraldine McEwan too, maybe a couple of us should have dropped Dame Maggie Smith for her. Oh well, hindsight is a wonderful thing…

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Michael Lambert, 107, Irish centenarian, oldest man in Ireland.
• Demis Roussos, 68, Egyptian-born Greek singer (“Forever and Ever”).
• Bernice Gordon, 101, American crossword writer (The New York Times), heart failure.
• Colleen McCullough, 77, Australian author (The Thorn Birds), renal failure.
• Rod McKuen, 81, American poet, singer and songwriter (“Jean“, “Seasons in the Sun“), respiratory arrest.
• Charles H. Townes, 99, American Nobel Prize-winning physicist (1964), inventor of the laser.
• Geraldine McEwan, 82, English actress (Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Agatha Christie’s Marple), stroke.
• Richard von Weizsäcker, 94, German politician, President (1990–1994), President of West Germany (1984–1990), Governing Mayor of West Berlin (1981–1984).

In Other News

The daughter of late American singer Whitney Houston has been found unresponsive in a bathtub at a home in Georgia. Bobbi Kristina Brown, 21, was found by her husband and a friend. They immediately started resuscitating her until police and medics arrived. She was taken to a hospital in Roswell where she was said to be breathing. Her mother, Whitney Houston was found dead in very similar circumstances on February 2012, aged only 48.

Ted Robbins has collapsed on stage at Peter Kay’s Phoenix Nights on the opening night in Manchester. Reports from the theatre suggest he was in the middle of a solo part of the show and appeared to clutch his chest. The curtains were then drawn and an announcement was made to the crowd and everyone was asked to leave the 20,000-capacity venue. A Manchester Evening News reporter – who was at the show – eloquently described what happened: “Ted Robbins, who plays Den Perry in the hit show, was in the middle of a solo bit. He clutched his chest and stumbled a bit. They then closed the curtain immediately, with people rushing to the stage to the help, with medical equipment”. Robbins, 59, is carrying a bit of lard on him, so it’s no stretch of the imagination to think his heart gave out with the stress of the first night and a lump of adipose floating around. Lets hope he makes a recovery so we can list him next year.

Radio DJ Chris Evans revealed live on air that he’s in the middle of a prostate scare. Evans disclosed that he was currently having tests carried out after showing symptoms since Christmas. The father-of-three, 48, told millions of listeners about his condition on the The Breakfast Show on Radio 2 on Friday. After scaring himself to death self-diagnosing on the internet, he finally went to see a doctor and underwent the ‘finger of truth’ test and is now awaiting the outcome. Watch this space, maybe Terry Wogan will make it back onto Radio 2!!

Harry Potter actor Robbie Coltrane has been admitted to hospital in Orlando, Florida, after falling ill with flu-like symptoms during a flight. Paramedics met him off the flight from London and rushed him to hospital where doctors said he would remain overnight and not once mentioned Ebola. Coltrane’s agent told the BBC the actor was “resting” and would “be fine”, but that more information on his condition was not yet available. Coltrane’s UK agent, Belinda Wright, told the BBC that US reports that an eyewitness had tweeted about the actor drinking heavily in a Heathrow Airport lounge before boarding his flight were “not correct” and “completely untrue”. After all, a Scot drinking heavily is unheard of and hangovers never need hospitalisation…

Brian Blessed has withdrawn from the production of King Lear in which he collapsed on stage shortly after speaking his first lines, yet managed  to return to finish the epic production last week. The 78-year-old actor has admitted that his heart condition ‘is more serious than he was aware’ and has therefore been compelled to withdraw from the production. Sounds like the loudmouth is at deaths door!

On This Day

• 1884 – The first volume (A to Ant) of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
• 1893 – Thomas A. Edison finishes construction of the first motion picture studio, the Black Maria in West Orange, New Jersey.
• 1895 – Fountains Valley, Pretoria, the oldest nature reserve in Africa, is proclaimed by President Paul Kruger.
• 1918 – Russia adopts the Gregorian Calendar.
• 1924 – The United Kingdom recognizes the USSR.
• 1953 – North Sea flood of 1953 (Dutch, Watersnoodramp, literally “flood disaster”) was a major flood caused by a heavy storm, that occurred on the night of Saturday, 31 January 1953 and morning of Sunday, 1 February 1953. The floods struck the Netherlands, Belgium, England and Scotland.
• 1964 – The Beatles have their first number one hit in the United States with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.”
• 1978 – Director Roman Polanski skips bail and flees the United States to France after pleading guilty to charges of having sex with a 13-year-old girl.
• 2003 – Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-107 disintegrates during reentry into the Earth’s atmosphere, killing all seven astronauts aboard.
• 2004 – Janet Jackson‘s breast is exposed during the half-time show of Super Bowl XXXVIII, resulting in US broadcasters adopting a stronger adherence to Federal Communications Commission censorship guidelines.

Deaths

• 1851 – Mary Shelley, English author (b. 1797)
• 1944 – Piet Mondriaan, Dutch painter (b. 1872)
• 1966 – Buster Keaton, American actor (b. 1895)
• 1976 – Werner Heisenberg, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1901)
• 1988 – Heather O’Rourke, American actress (b. 1975)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Alicia Keys (34), Christian Bale (41), Ellen DeGeneres (57), Alan Alda (79), Justin Timberlake (34), Oprah Winfrey (61), Elijah Wood (36), Tom Selleck (70), Heather Graham (45), Phil Collins (64), Gene Hackman (85), Minnie Driver (45), John Lydon (59), Vanessa Redgrave (78), Scott Glenn (74), James Cromwell (75), Carol Channing (94), Eddie Van Halen (60), Dick Cheney (74), Bridget Fonda (51), Mimi Rogers (59), Dexter Fletcher (49), Olivia Coleman (41), Marc Singer (67), Frabk Darabont (56) and Tobe Hooper (72).

Next Week peeps!