Dead Pool 21st May 2017

Welcome all to a points extravaganza! With the death of that lovely gentleman, Ian Brady at the age of 79, we can award the following people 71 points. Myself, Paul G, Julia, Martin, Nicola, Abi, Julie & Gaz. Well done all of us.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Jimmy Copley, 63, English drummer (Jeff Beck, Graham Parker, Tears for Fears), leukaemia.
• Powers Boothe, 68, American actor (Tombstone, Deadwood, Red Dawn), Emmy winner (1980).
• Ian Brady, 79, British serial killer (Moors murders), COPD.
• Chris Cornell, 52, American musician and songwriter (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog), suicide by hanging.
• Rhodri Morgan, 77, Welsh politician, MP for Cardiff West (1987–2001), Leader of Welsh Labour (2000–2009) and First Minister (2000–2009).
• Roger Ailes, 77, American television executive, Chairman and CEO of Fox News (1996–2016), subdural hematoma.
• Reema Lagoo, 58, Indian actress (Hum Aapke Hain Koun..!, Maine Pyar Kiya, Kal Ho Na Ho), heart attack.

In Other News

Rolf Harris has been released from prison after serving almost three years. The 87-year-old left Stafford Prison early on Friday morning and was seen arriving at his home near Maidenhead in Berkshire. Harris was jailed in 2014 after being convicted of a number of kiddie-fiddling offences. He was driven away from the prison in a blue Ford Focus and arrived at his home shortly after 9am. He was accompanied by a security man and was helped from his car by a friend. Harris was wearing blue jeans and a denim jacket and appeared frail as he arrived at his house. The shamed former entertainer is currently standing trial at Southwark Crown Court and will have to appear in person when the case resumes on Monday. Harris, who denies four charges of indecent assault against three women between 1971 and 1983, had previously appeared via video link.

A hoax conspiracy theory that Canadian singer-songwriter Avril Lavigne is dead has resurfaced on the 15th anniversary of the release of her hit single Complicated. A Twitter user who claims to be a 17-year-old high school student and has more than 13,000 followers detailed the claim in a thread which has since been liked and retweeted nearly a quarter-of-a-million times in total. In the thread, they allege that the singer took her own life in late 2003 after her grandfather’s death. The theory says because her supposed “death” occurred at the peak of her career, Ms Lavigne’s record company hired a lookalike known as Melissa Vandella to impersonate her. Vandella was reportedly recruited beforehand to pose as the Canadian singer for paparazzi, the theory continues. This death hoax has surfaced several times in the last few years. Ms Lavigne was also the victim of another rumour, which said that she’d been killed in a snowboarding accident. Those who support the theory on Twitter back their claim with inconsistencies over the years in the appearance of the star’s skin, jawline, eye corners and fashion style as well as handwriting. Others cite a promo picture of the singer with the word Melissa written on her hand. Which gives us a slight issue at Dead Pool Towers, if the conspiracy is true and Melissa/Avril dies again, how many points will she score?

Sinead O’Connor has threatened to commit suicide if she doesn’t get her younger children back. The singer said child and family agency Tusla they will have a celebrity “death on their hands” if they continue to keep them from her. The mum of four took to Facebook on Friday night threatening she would attempt to take her life if the State body does not allow her access. The Nothing Compares 2 U star, 50, had been based in Chicago for most of last year following a reported suicide bid in Ireland days before Christmas 2015. Sinead sparked more concern earlier last year when she went missing for 24 hours on a bike ride around Chicago city but was later found safe and well. She now lives in New York. One would believe that such outbursts are reason enough to take her kids away from her.

On This Day

• 1894 – The Manchester Ship Canal in the United Kingdom is officially opened by Queen Victoria.
• 1904 – The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is founded in Paris.
• 1927 – Charles Lindbergh touches down at Le Bourget Field in Paris, completing the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1932 – Bad weather forces Amelia Earhart to land in a pasture in Derry, Northern Ireland, and she thereby becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
• 1980 – Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back is released in theaters.
• 1991 – Former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by a female suicide bomber near Madras.
• 2011 – Radio broadcaster Harold Camping predicted that the world would end on this date.

Deaths

• 1991 – Rajiv Gandhi, Indian politician, 6th Prime Minister of India (b. 1944)
• 2000 – Barbara Cartland, English author (b. 1901)
• 2000 – John Gielgud, English actor (b. 1904)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jack Gleeson (25), Cher (71), Louis Theroux (47), Peter Mayhew (73), Grace Jones (69), Tina Fey (47), Yun-Fat Chow (62), Miriam Margolyes (76), Megan Fox (31), Pierce Brosnan (64), Debra Winger (62), David Boreanaz (48), Danny Trejo (73), Tori Spelling (44), Janet Jackson (51), Cate Blanchett (48), Sofia Coppola (46), Tim Roth (56), George Lucas (73), Robert Zemeckis (65), Martine McCutcheon (41), Francesca Annis (72), Danny Huston (55), Siân Phillips (84) and Greg Davies (49).