Dead Pool 4th January 2026

We begin our year with a bang, barely three days in and Paul C correctly predicted that Sir Patrick Duffy would die. Well done that man! 95 points, which includes the ‘first death of the year’ bonus.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

Victoria Jones, 34, American actress.
Ian Balding, 87, British horse trainer, father of Clare Balding.
Sir Patrick Duffy, 105, British politician, and president of the NATO Assembly.
Bret Hanna-Shuford, 46, American actor (Paramour, Amazing Grace, The Wolf of Wall Street), cancer.

In Other News

As you may have seen on the Telegram Messaging Group, Nickie ran the lists through ChatGPT and we found the following: The top tier names for 2026 are; David Attenborough, Dick Van Dyke, Bruce Willis, Mel Brooks, Clint Eastwood, Tom Baker, Esther Rantzen, Chris Hoy, Michael Caine and Billy Connolly. The most popular Dead Certs this year include Dick Van Dyke, David Attenborough and Esther Rantzen. The most popular Women this year are Esther Rantzen, Ethel Caterham and Joan Collins and the most popular Maverick’s are Britney Spears and Katie Price, although I still feel everyone should be listing James Corden for just being a cunt. Attenborough & Van Dyke dominate across all categories however Esther Rantzen is the single strongest crossover name (Top-10 & Dead Cert & Woman). Doesn’t look like a promising future for Rantzen!

Barry Manilow gave fans a health update on Friday. Weeks after revealing that a cancerous spot had been found in his left lung and he was undergoing cancer treatment, the “Copacabana” singer, 82, updated fans through an Instagram post. Sharing a selfie of himself wearing a green gown in a hospital bed, Manilow captioned his post, “Better Today!” In the comments section, Manilow’s backup singer, Melanie Taylor, showed some support, writing: “That’s my boss y’all! He’s making it through the rain! Love you B!” Manilow’s drummer, Matt Sorum, said, “Heal up Barry, much love.” Last month, the “Mandy” musician revealed in a statement on his Facebook page that he’d need to take a break from performing after the cancerous spot was found on his left lung. “As many of you know I recently went through six weeks of bronchitis followed by a relapse of another five weeks,” Manilow said at the time. “Even though I was over the bronchitis and back on stage at the Westgate Las Vegas, my wonderful doctor ordered an MRI to make sure that everything was OK. The MRI discovered a cancerous spot on my left lung that needs to be removed. It’s pure luck (and a great doctor) that it was found so early. That’s the good news.” However, Manilow said the “bad news” was that he needed to have surgery to remove the spot. “The doctors do not believe it was spread and I’m taking tests to confirm their diagnosis. So, that’s it. No chemo. No radiation. Just chicken soup and I Love Lucy reruns,” he explained.

Grey’s Anatomy actor Steven W. Bailey is opening up about his rare health diagnosis. Bailey, 54, who appeared as Joe the bartender in more than 30 episodes of the long-running medical drama, said he has been diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disorder known as congenital myasthenia syndrome, or CMS. CMS is a group of rare hereditary conditions caused by a gene difference that results in muscle weakness, worsening a person’s physical ability. In a lengthy thread on Twitter on Friday, Bailey shared that he had been diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disorder known as congenital myasthenia syndrome. In his “open letter” on Twitter, he wrote that he had “spent years being cautious, private and quiet” about something that has been “shaping his life and work.” “That time is over,” he wrote. “It’s the darnedest thing, but it turns out I have a rather rare genetic neuromuscular disorder. Weird, right? It’s called Congenital Myasthenia Syndrome,” Bailey shared. According to the Flying Monkeys, CMS is a group of rare hereditary conditions caused by a gene difference that results in muscle weakness, worsening a person’s physical ability. “Any muscles used for movement can be affected, including muscles that control speaking, chewing and swallowing, seeing and blinking, breathing, and walking.” According to Bailey, he kept his medical struggles out of the public eye for several years “out of career caution, diagnostic uncertainty, and being private about such things,” but said he decided it was “time to stop” hiding his diagnosis. “CMS is a genetic disease that disrupts the communication between the brain and the muscle at the ‘nerve/muscle junction’… or whatever doctors call it,” he explained. “There are billions of these junction doodads in a body, and an increasing number of mine seem to be on the blink. Troublesome, little buggers — right? The result being that my hands, arms and legs tire quicker than they should, which makes them weaker than, well … anticipated,” he continued. “Sustained repetitive movements are particularly difficult and can cause my muscles to temporarily tighten and shut down.” Bailey joked that while his diagnosis has helped get him out of “doing the dishes and folding laundry in his household,” it has also increasingly hindered his ability to walk.

On This Day

1903 – Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film Electrocuting an Elephant of Topsy’s death.
1959 – Luna 1 becomes the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon.
1972 – Rose Heilbron becomes the first female judge to sit at the Old Bailey in London.
1990 – In Pakistan’s deadliest train accident an overloaded passenger train collides with an empty freight train, resulting in 307 deaths and 700 injuries.
2007 –Nancy Pelosi becomes the first female Speaker of the House in U.S. history.
2010 – The Burj Khalifa, the current tallest building in the world, officially opens in Dubai.

Deaths

1961 – Erwin Schrödinger, Austrian physicist & academic (born 1887).
1965 – T. S. Eliot, American-English poet, playwright, and critic (born 1888).
1967 – Donald Campbell, English racing driver & world speed record holder (born 1921).
2011 – Gerry Rafferty, Scottish singer-songwriter (born 1947).
2024 – Glynis Johns, British actress and singer (born 1923).
2024 – David Soul, American-British actor and singer (born 1943).