Dead Pool 8th December 2024

Three weeks or so to go, I hope you’re all working on your lists for 2025!

Look Who You Could Have Had:

Terry Griffiths, 77, Welsh snooker player, world champion (1979), complications from dementia.
Debbie Mathers, 69, American author (My Son Marshall, My Son Eminem), complications from lung cancer.
Brian Thompson, 50, American insurance executive, CEO of UnitedHealthcare (since 2021), shot.
Thom Christopher, 84, American actor (One Life to Live, Loving, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century).

In Other News

Dick Van Dyke stars in a new music video from Coldplay, as he prepares to celebrate his 99th birthday. The clip for “All My Love” was filmed at the Mary Poppins star’s beachside home in Malibu, and follows him as he reflects on life and aging. “I’m acutely aware that I could go any day now,” Van Dyke says, “but I don’t know why it doesn’t concern me. I’m not afraid of it. I have the feeling that I’m gonna be alright.” During the video, Van Dyke recreates his famous penguin dance from Mary Poppins as well as The Twizzle, from his Sixties TV sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show. It is interspersed with photos of Van Dyke through his decades-long career, revealing a life-size statue of his Mary Poppins character, Bert the chimney sweep. Reflecting on his storied career, Van Dyke says he believes he’s one of those “lucky people” who “got to do for a living what I would have done anyway. I got to do what I love… play and act silly,” he said. The clip ends with Martin improvising a song for Van Dyke, who laughs in astonishment: “Have we got that on film?” he asks, beaming. “Can you believe this man?” A shorter version of the video will be released on Friday 13 December to mark the actor’s 99th birthday.

Neighbours legend Ian Smith is reportedly allowing a camera crew to follow him through his terminal cancer battle. The Harold Bishop actor, 86 – whose portrayal of the beloved Ramsay Street stalwart made him a household name – received a pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma diagnosis earlier this year. ‘I found out a few months back that I have cancer,’ he told the Flying Monkeys. ‘That I have a very aggressive non-fixable cancer and they expect me to… they expect me to die.’ Ian has undergone three rounds of chemotherapy, telling the Flying Monkeys that he ‘put his hands up to be a guinea pig’ because he doesn’t want to die. ‘I want to stay alive with quality as long as I can,’ he said. ‘If they can do that, I’m very happy. But I wake up every morning hoping there’s no pain, because I know that’s the beginning of the bad part.’ Ian has already filmed his final scenes alongside former co-star Anne Charleston, who is not reprising her Madge Bishop role but will be playing a new character. In an emotional video, cast and crew were joined alongside Kevin Harrington who played Harold’s son David to bid an emotional farewell to their friend and colleague, who first appeared on the soap almost four decades ago.

Sum 41 have cancelled their entire Australian tour as frontman Deryck Whibley continues to battle pneumonia. The Canadian singer, 44, has been deemed too unwell to perform by Australian doctors, leading the band to make an announcement about the tour on Wednesday. “It is with deep sadness and regret that we announce our 2024 Australian tour is unable to proceed,” the statement. “We were beyond excited to deliver this tour from 4 December – 12 December, and connect with our Aussie fans once more.” The statement continued: “Now that we’re here though, and under the guidance and direction of multiple Australian doctors, it’s clear that Deryck is too unwell to perform. We understand and appreciate your disappointment – we’re gutted too. The good news is Good Things Festival is still going ahead in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane this weekend with an incredible lineup of local and international acts. We can’t be there, but get along for us and have the best time.” Sum 41 have been touring as part of their farewell run, while supporting their eighth and final album, Heaven :x: Hell, which was released in March this year. The latest cancellation comes after their earlier decision to call off their 4 December show at Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley Music Hall, after Whibley was diagnosed with pneumonia. The band said their frontman was receiving “the best possible care” Back in 2011, Sum 41 also had to cancel their planned appearance at Soundwave Festival after Whibley was admitted to hospital with pneumonia. He was also treated in hospital for the illness last year.

On This Day

1980 – John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.
2004 – Nathan Gale opens fire at the Alrosa Villa nightclub in Columbus, Ohio, killing former Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell and three others before being shot dead by a police officer.
2013 – Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all seven continents.
2019 – First confirmed case of COVID-19 in China.

Deaths

1980 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940).
1983 – Slim Pickens, American actor (b. 1919).
2016 – John Glenn, American astronaut, first American to go into orbit (b. 1921).
2019 – René Auberjonois, American actor (b. 1940).
2023 – Ryan O’Neal, American actor (b. 1941).