Dead Pool 1st May 2016
Not a lot to report upon this week, after all, we have been spoiled recently with deaths so it’s impossible to keep the ball rolling unless one of us cheats and decides to kill off some names. So a quick and easy newsletter for you to digest.
Look Who You Could Have Had:
- Billy Paul, 81, American R&B singer (“Me and Mrs. Jones“), pancreatic cancer.
- Papa Wemba, 66, Congolese singer, seizure.
- Mark Farmer, 53, British actor (Grange Hill, Minder, Johnny Jarvis), cancer.
- Jenny Diski, 68, English writer (Nothing Natural, Rainforest, London Review of Books), lung cancer.
- Barry Howard, 78, English actor (Hi-de-Hi!), blood cancer.
In Other News
The wildlife presenter Chris Packham has spoken of having twice been on the brink of trying to take his own life during severe bouts of depression. Packham, 54, revealed he had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome in his 20s, and described his thoughts as a “great, hopeless vacuum”. The naturalist, who presents the BBC’s Springwatch, Autumnwatch and Winterwatch programmes, unsurprisingly spoke of his difficulties in an interview with the Times marking the release of his memoir, Fingers in the Sparkle Jar. He said: “I have been severely depressed, yes. I nearly killed myself twice.” One crisis came in 2003, he said, but he “didn’t have enough drugs to be sure it would work. I wouldn’t want to make a bad job of suicide”. He chose not to go through with it because he did not want to leave behind his two dogs or hurt his family, he said. Packham, who lives in the New Forest and is in a relationship with the owner of Isle of Wight zoo, Charlotte Corney, said he had no friends but was close to an ex-partner and her daughter.
Glenn Close, the Hollywood actress, has battled back from a severe chest infection which saw her hospitalised to make a triumphant return to Sunset Boulevard. Close, who had to pull out of four shows last week, spent three days in hospital and was placed on an intravenous drip after falling ill, it has emerged. Fans had been told she was “indisposed”, leading to fears for her health after nearly a month in the gruelling stage role. A spokesman for the English National Opera (ENO) later clarified Close was “unwell”, as fans who had already bought tickets seeing her alternate, Ria Jones, instead. It has now been confirmed the actress was in fact struck down by a severe chest infection which saw her hospitalised. Close, who is making her West End debut in the role at the age of 69, was finally compelled to rest under doctors order last Thursday.
On This Day
- 1707 – The Act of Union joins the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain.
- 1759 – Josiah Wedgwood founds the Wedgwood pottery company in Great Britain.
- 1840 – The Penny Black, the first official adhesive postage stamp, is issued in the United Kingdom.
- 1930 – The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.
- 1948 – The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as leader.
- 1956 – The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.
- 1961 – The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.
- 1994 – Three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna is killed in an accident during the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola.
- 1999 – The body of British climber George Mallory is found on Mount Everest, 75 years after his disappearance in 1924.
- 2011 – Barack Obama announces that Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks has been killed by United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Due to the time difference between the United States and Pakistan, bin Laden was actually killed on May 2nd.
Deaths
- 1873 – David Livingstone, Scottish-English missionary and explorer (b. 1813)
- 1904 – Antonín Dvořák, Czech composer and academic (b. 1841)
- 1945 – Joseph Goebbels, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of Germany (b. 1897)
- 1994 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian race car driver (b. 1960)
- 2011 – Henry Cooper, English soldier and boxer (b. 1934)
Last Week’s Birthdays
Shirley MacLaine (82), Djimon Hounsou (52), Al Pacino (76), Bjorn Ulvaeus (71), Hank Azaria (52), Renee Zellweger (47), Joan Chen (55), Jet Li (53), Kevin James (51), Channing Tatum (36), Jay Leno (66), Jessica Alba (35), Mary McDonnell (64), Penelope Cruz (42), Jerry Seinfeld (62), Daniel Day-Lewis (59), Michelle Pfeiffer (58), Uma Thurman (46), Willie Nelson (83), Burt Young (76) and Kirsten Dunst (34).
The Last Word
I’d hate to die twice. It’s so boring. – Richard Feynman, physicist, d. 1988
Next week peeps!
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