Good afternoon all, apologies for last week’s email, I was away from my computer and struggled immensely to produce a newsletter from my phone, hopefully all of you were able to visit the website to keep up to date. 

We’re into the last days of the year, things are still fairly tight at the top of the table, so anything could happen between now and the end of the year. The winner will be announced on the 1st January along with the new 2020 lists. I have already received quite a few lists, but many of you are still holding on for that last minute piece of deadly news before submitting them for that ultimate advantage. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Tony Britton, 95, British actor (Operation Amsterdam, Sunday Bloody Sunday, The Day of the Jackal).  
• Allee Willis, 72, American Hall of Fame songwriter (“I’ll Be There for You“, “September“) and lyricist (The Color Purple), cardiac arrest.  
• Jerry Herman, 88, American composer (Hello, Dolly!, Mame, La Cage aux Folles) and lyricist, pulmonary disease.  
• Sue Lyon, 73, American actress (Lolita, The Night of the Iguana, 7 Women).  
• Don Imus, 79, American radio personality (Imus in the Morning).  
• Alasdair Gray, 85, Scottish artist and author (Lanark).

In Other News

Zac Efron was rushed to hospital after suffering a medical emergency, it has been reported. Zac, 32, is thought to have been flown to Australia from Papua New Guinea by a medical evacuation crew after battling ‘a form of typhoid or similar bacterial infection.’ Efron was in a ‘stable’ condition when he admitted to the hospital, believed to be St Andrews War Memorial Hospital where he stayed for seven days. Ironically, Zac had jetted out to Papua New Guinea to film new reality TV show: Killing Zac Efron. The High School Musical star has since been ‘given the all clear’ according to The Sunday Telegraph, which allowed him to fly home to the U.S. on Christmas Eve. Dr Glenn McKay, Director of Medical Rescue, told the newspaper he could not discuss patient information but he did confirm they “retrieved a US citizen in his 30s from PNG to Brisbane for medical attention in Australia.” Efron’s series will see him journeying deep into the jungle of an island and, according to The Hollywood Reporter, ‘falling off the grid for 21 days.’ “I tend to thrive under extreme circumstances and seek out opportunities that challenge me on every level,” Efron said in a statement in November.   

TOWIE star Lauren Goodger has been rushed to hospital. In a series of attention seeking Instagram posts, the 33 year old revealed that paramedics had been round at her house and taken her to the hospital. While she didn’t identify exactly what was wrong, Lauren urged fans never to drink again as she had the worst hangover of her life. “Never drink again,” she penned, “Worst hangover to date I feel like I’m dying.” She added with a picture from the ambulance: “Under a lot of stress lately had paramedics at mine now on way to hospital…really not good way lately…I need a break.” She followed with snaps of her in a hospital bed, hooked up to a drip. Lauren also shared a picture of her legs under a blanket, writing: “Can’t stop shaking.” Later Lauren revealed that she was being kept in the hospital, alongside a breaking heart emoji and a picture of her in a wheelchair. It’s unclear whether she’s still in the hospital, or how long she’ll be there for. Let’s hope she gets charged for wasting NHS resources.  

Since our last newsletter, Prince Philip has been released from the hospital. On Tuesday, the royal was seen leaving King Edward VII hospital in London around 9 a.m. after spending four nights in the facility to undergo precautionary treatment for a “pre-existing condition.” Upon being discharged, Philip took a helicopter to Sandringham House in Norfolk, England, to join his wife, Queen Elizabeth, for the holidays. “The Duke of Edinburgh has today left hospital after being discharged by his Doctor and is now back at Sandringham,” the palace said in a statement. “His Royal Highness would like to thank everyone who sent their good wishes.” Palace officials didn’t give details about the condition the 98-year-old royal needed treatment for. However, his son, Prince Charles, told reporters that it was an age-related issue. “When you get to that age, things don’t work so well,” he said. 

On This Day

• 1170 – Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, is assassinated inside Canterbury Cathedral by followers of King Henry II; he subsequently becomes a saint and martyr in the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church. 
• 1890 – Wounded Knee Massacre on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, 300 Lakota are killed by the United States 7th Cavalry Regiment. 
• 1997 – Hong Kong begins to kill all the city’s 1.25 million chickens to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain.

Deaths

• 1170 – Thomas Becket, English archbishop and saint (b. 1118)  
• 1926 – Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet and author (b. 1875)  
• 1986 – Harold Macmillan, English captain and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1894)  
• 2003 – Bob Monkhouse, English comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1928)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jude Law (47), Charlotte Riley (38), Jon Voight (81), Lilly Wachowski (52), Ted Danson (72), Danny McBride (43), Patrick Fischler (50), Bernard Cribbins (91), Marianne Faithfull (73), Denzel Washington (65), Noomi Rapace (40), Sienna Miller (38), Maggie Smith (85), Joe Manganiello (43), Nichelle Nichols (87), Timothée Chalamet (24), John Amos (80), Gérard Depardieu (71), Jared Leto (48), Kit Harington (33), Temuera Morrison (59), Phil Spector (80), Sissy Spacek (70), Helena Christensen (51), Annie Lennox (65), Shane MacGowan (62), Harry Shearer (76), and Carla Bruni (52).

A quick roundup this week, I’m sure you’re all very busy with your Christmas preparations and compiling your lists. If any of you want to email them in, please send your 13 names to mail@thedeadpool.rip, I shall try to respond as soon as I can to confirm your entry. If you haven’t had a response within 24 hours, I might have died or I didn’t get your email. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Nicky Henson, 74, English actor (EastEnders, Syriana, Shine on Harvey Moon), cancer.   
• Claudine Auger, 78, French actress (Thunderball, Le Masque de fer) and model (Miss France Monde, 1958). 
• Kenny Lynch, 81, English singer (“You Can Never Stop Me Loving You“), actor (Carry On Loving, The Playbirds) and entertainer.  

In Other News

The Duke of Edinburgh has been taken to hospital for treatment for a ‘pre-existing condition’, Buckingham Palace has said. Prince Philip, 98, travelled from Sandringham, where he spends much of his time since retiring, to the King Edward VII Hospital in London on Friday morning as a precautionary measure on advice of his doctor. He was not taken by ambulance and it was a planned admission, right before Christmas, yeah… The palace announcement came as the uncaring Queen arrived at the Norfolk estate for her Christmas break after carrying out her duties at the State of Opening of Parliament on Thursday, telling journalists to ‘Fuck orf! I can’t stand the doddering old twat….’

A Buckingham Palace statement said: “The Duke of Edinburgh travelled from Norfolk this morning to the King Edward VII Hospital in London for observation and treatment in relation to a pre-existing condition. “The admission is a precautionary measure, on the advice of His Royal Highness’ Doctor.” The duke is expected to be in hospital for a few days. “The palace will not give details about the condition he’s being treated for, but the decision to send him to hospital in London may be related to where his consultants are based, the KEVII Hospital is particularly well known for their seamless lizard eye reduction therapy. The prince has suffered quite a few bouts of ill health in recent years: 

• 2008: Philip was admitted to hospital for a chest infection and was discharged three days later.
• 2011: Two days before Christmas, Philip was taken to hospital from Sandringham with chest pains. He had surgery and was discharged four days later. 
• 2012: During the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations Philip was taken to hospital with a bladder infection and discharged five days later. Two months later the infection recurred and he was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.  
• 2013: Philip had an exploratory operation on his abdomen, spending 11 days in hospital.  
• 2014: Philip appeared in public with a bandaged right hand after a “minor procedure”.  
• 2017: The Prince was taken to hospital with an infection.  
• 2018: The Duke of Edinburgh was admitted to hospital for a planned operation on his hip.

Not to mention his recent car crash. If I were a betting man, I’d give you 2/1 on a bucket kicking by the New Year.   

This week saw the attention seeking Jaden Smith forcibly sat down in a TV studio whilst his family addressed concerns over his vegan diet. The 21-year-old admitted he has intense stomach issues and wanted to get to the bottom of it, so the family hired Dr. Mark Hyman and nutritionist Mona Sharma to perform an in-depth analysis. Jaden said he was apprehensive about partaking because of some backlash he got for going vegan, not because this should have been a private intervention, or the good punch in the face he needs. Dr. Hyman explained that Jaden’s nutritional deficiencies were from eating the wrong types of food and his health status can be adjusted by switching up his diet and taking supplements. Specifically, he was told that gluten and dairy were both “big problems” for him. Also, because Jaden doesn’t eat meat, he has vitamin and omega-3 deficiencies. Will and Jada were concerned over his extreme diet after he was hospitalised for nausea and dizziness. “Will and I had a bit of an intervention with Jaden because he’s a vegan now, but we realised he wasn’t getting enough protein,” Jada said at the time. “So he was wasting away. He just looked drained, he was just depleted. He wasn’t getting the nutrients.” “He had the dark circles under his eyes, there was even a little greyness to his skin. And we got really nervous,” Will said. 

Well, stop enabling your son and send him out into the real world to find a job and earn his way through life, perhaps he’ll then spend less time wearing dresses and reciting shit poetry and eating a balanced diet. 

On This Day

• 856 – An earthquake near the Persian city of Damghan kills an estimated 200,000 people, the sixth deadliest earthquake in recorded history.
• 1989 – Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
• 2001 – Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63.

Deaths

• 1880 – George Eliot, English novelist and poet (b. 1819)
• 1943 – Beatrix Potter, English children’s book writer and illustrator (b. 1866)
• 1965 – Richard Dimbleby, English journalist (b. 1913)
• 1989 – Samuel Beckett, Irish author, poet, and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
• 2014 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (b. 1944)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ralph Fiennes (56), Vanessa Paradis (46), Samuel L. Jackson (70), Jane Fonda (81), Kiefer Sutherland (52), Julie Delpy (49), Phil Donahue (83), Jonah Hill (35), Jenny Agutter (66), Nicole de Boer (48), Jake Gyllenhaal (38), Jennifer Beals (55), Kristy Swanson (49), Alyssa Milano (46), Richard Hammond (49), Brad Pitt (55), Steven Spielberg (72), Ray Liotta (64), Katie Holmes (40), Casper Van Dien (50), Billie Eilish (17), Christina Aguilera (38), Steve Austin (54), Robson Green (54), Sia (43), Keith Richards (75), Katheryn Winnick (42), Ernie Hudson (74), Milla Jovovich (44), Bill Pullman (66), Eugene Levy (73), Laurie Holden (50), Bernard Hill (75), Krysten Ritter (38), Miranda Otto (52), Billy Gibbons (70), and Christopher Biggins (71).

A slightly shorter edition this week as we’re only just two weeks away from the 2019 finale. With this in mind I thought it prudent to remind you to get working on your lists and email them in. I’m not bothering with the forms this year, just email 13 names and state which of them is your Cert, Woman and Maverick to mail@thedeadpool.rip. The rules can be seen here. 

As always, try to think of those not-so obscure names and try to balance your list so it’s not full of dodgy Death Row inmates or Supercentenarian’s that might score you small and often but mostly might not score you at all. 

Feel free to ask any questions or if you need any obscure name judgements. 

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• René Auberjonois, 79, American actor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, MASH, Benson), Tony winner (1970), lung cancer.  
• Marie Fredriksson, 61, Swedish singer-songwriter (Roxette) and musician, complications from a brain tumour.
• Nell Gifford, 46, British circus owner (Giffords Circus), cancer.  
• Juice Wrld, 21, American rapper (“All Girls Are the Same“, “Lucid Dreams“, “Bandit“).  
• Caroll Spinney, 85, American puppeteer (Sesame Street, Shalom Sesame, Follow That Bird), cartoonist and author.  
• Natalie Harrowell, 29, English rugby league player (Featherstone Rovers, national team).  
• David Bellamy, 86, English naturalist (Bellamy’s Backyard Safari) and author.  
• Danny Aiello, 86, American actor (Do the Right Thing, The Godfather Part II, Moonstruck).  
• Sheila Mercier, 100, English actress (Emmerdale).  
• Anna Karina, 79, Danish-born French actress (Little Soldier, A Woman Is a Woman, Alphaville), cancer 

In Other News 

Harvey Weinstein has been reduced to releasing a photo of himself in hospital in an attempt to distance himself from rumours he is faking illness ahead of trial. Some have accused the disgraced former film exec of trying to gain sympathy. Weinstein, 67, was in court last week using a walking frame to help him keep his balance – and it didn’t go down well online. The disgraced Hollywood boss is accused of five counts of rape and sexual assault. His trial commences in the New Year but he has moved to publicly cast aside suggestions he is putting it all on. Weinstein’s spokesman said he underwent a three-hour back operation in New York on Thursday. They added he needed to to fix the problem after injuries from a summer a car accident. His spokesman said. ‘Harvey has been in agony and underwent surgery on Thursday. We don’t know if he will need further surgeries. “The idea he is faking his illness is ridiculous.” The movie mogul’s trial is due to start on January 6. He could be jailed for life if convicted on all charges. Last week he reached out-of-court settlements with an unnamed number of people. Lawyer Donna Rotunno said last week that his health is getting worse. “Mr Weinstein’s health has been deteriorating since August when he had the unfortunate accident,” she said. “He had tried to manage the discomfort, but as the pain got worse and the various different courses of treatment failed to remedy the problem, he began to rely on a cane and a walker.  

Something very strange happened in November. You would be forgiven for not having noticed, after all, it was a month during which Prince Andrew, Duke of York ingloriously made royal history after being essentially banished from official duties over his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein. He now has the highly dubious honour of being the first member of the family to walk away from their HRH responsibilities in 83 years when they are still fit and able-bodied. However, while this particular maelstrom was brewing, something else potentially momentous has been going on. Namely, the Queen has quietly taken a huge step back and nearly halved her workload. Like pretty much everything to do with the royal family, this was not by chance or circumstance. Instead, in November, she logged only 30 official events in contrast to November last year when she hit 50. Yes, she is a 93-year-old and has every right to perhaps pop her feet up a bit more and catch Coronation Street once in a while. But for a monarch whose life has been driven by a powerful sense of duty, this carries serious meaning. In recent weeks, with Prince Charles coming to the fore in the Andrew debacle and reportedly playing a decisive role in officially sidelining his little brother, so to have reports that he is preparing to assume the throne in all but name. While Buckingham Palace courtiers were quick to put down their china cups of Earl Grey and quash this rumour fast, it did highlight the issue of how practically the Queen will continue to reign as she pluckily works her way towards 100. 

On This Day

• 1890 – Hunkpapa Lakota leader Sitting Bull is killed on Standing Rock Indian Reservation, leading to the Wounded Knee Massacre.
• 1914 – A gas explosion at Mitsubishi Hōjō coal mine, in Kyushu, Japan, kills 687.
• 1941 – The Holocaust in Ukraine: German troops murder over 15,000 Jews at Drobytsky Yar, a ravine southeast of the city of Kharkiv. Jeremy Corbyn still hasn’t apologised for this.
• 1970 – Soviet spacecraft Venera 7 successfully lands on Venus. It is the first successful soft landing on another planet.

Deaths

• 1890 – Sitting Bull, Hunkpapa Lakota tribal chief (b. 1831)
• 1944 – Glenn Miller, American bandleader and composer (b. 1904)
• 1966 – Walt Disney, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1901)
• 2013 – Joan Fontaine, British-American actress (b. 1917)
• 2017 – Heinz Wolff, scientist and TV presenter (b. 1928)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Don Johnson (69), Helen Slater (55), Charlie Cox (36), Garrett Wang (50), Natascha McElhone (49), Miranda Hart (46), Ted Raimi (53), Vicki Michelle (68), Christopher Plummer (90), Jamie Foxx (52), Taylor Swift (30), Steve Buscemi (62), Dick Van Dyke (94), Robert Lindsay (70), Jennifer Connelly (49), Mädchen Amick (49), Bill Nighy (70), Sarah Douglas (67), Kenneth Cranham (75), Dionne Warwick (79), Connie Francis (81), Kenneth Branagh (59), Susanna Reid (49), Kirk Douglas (103), Judi Dench (85), John Malkovich (66), Michael Dorn (67), Beau Bridges (78), Donny Osmond (62), and Kim Basinger (66).

Well done to me! I finally scored with my list of Star Trek veterans with the sad passing of D.C. Fontana, however I missed out on Robert Walker though… I am a bit surprised that the media haven’t made more of her death as she was a trailblazer in her industry and that it’s the 40th anniversary of Star Trek: The Motion Picture. Anyhow, less nerdiness, on with the show.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• D. C. Fontana, 80, American television writer (Star Trek, The Streets of San Francisco, The Waltons).  
• Robert Walker, 79, American actor (Ensign Pulver, The Ceremony, Star Trek).  
• Rosa Morena, 78, Spanish flamenco pop singer and actress, cancer.

In Other News 

John Barrowman has had a series of spinal injections after he was rushed to hospital with a neck injury. He said before the procedure that he was to have “some small needles then some very big ones put into my neck”. The star of Doctor Who updated fans on social media after he was taken to hospital in Bristol on Saturday. Barrowman, 52, had been due to start his ‘Fabulous Christmas Tour’ at the city’s Hippodrome that day, but the show was cancelled. He posted a short video on Instagram at 02:00am saying he would be having the injections at the base of the neck to help support the head. Obviously his ego has grown out of all proportions. He then posted an update to say the injections were finished and they were “a bit uncomfortable”. Barrowman said the injury had made it “impossible to sing and move” in an Instagram message to fans on Saturday afternoon. Such a shame that the NHS is available to anyone.  

Troubled TV star James ‘Arg’ Argent has reportedly been hospitalised after suffering a second drug overdose in just two months. It has been claimed paramedics rushed to his lavish Essex home on Wednesday evening, after worried pals feared the worst as the ex-TOWIE star has been missing for 48 hours. This health scare comes just months after TOWIE veteran Gemma Collins was forced to call 999 over fears her on/off boyfriend had collapsed while alone in his home. Arg was “disorientated” and “out of it”, but initially refused to get in the ambulance after medics decided he need to be hospitalised. The source told the publication: “Arg was disorientated and looked like he hadn’t eaten in days. “He has been in denial of how bad it’s got and convinced everyone he’s fine but that couldn’t be further from the truth- he’s been suffering with depression and has been in a bad place for years.” After failing to turn up at events booked into his schedule this week, fears for the state of his welfare began to grow. Having spent the night in hospital, Arg discharged himself as he had plans to fly to Belfast for a PA with former Westlife star Brian McFadden.

On This Day

• 1660 – A woman (either Margaret Hughes or Anne Marshall) appears on an English public stage for the first time, in the role of Desdemona in a production of Shakespeare’s play Othello.
• 1963 – Pan Am Flight 214, a Boeing 707, is struck by lightning and crashes near Elkton, Maryland, killing all 81 people on board.
• 1966 – The Greek ship SS Heraklion sinks in a storm in the Aegean Sea, killing over 200.
• 1969 – Olympic Airways Flight 954 strikes a mountain outside of Keratea, Greece, killing 90 people in the worst crash of a Douglas DC-6 in history.
• 1972 – United Airlines Flight 553, a Boeing 737, crashes after aborting its landing attempt at Chicago Midway International Airport, killing 45. This is the first-ever loss of a Boeing 737.
• 1980 – Former Beatle John Lennon is murdered in front of The Dakota in New York City.
• 1988 – A United States Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II crashes into an apartment complex in Remscheid, Germany, killing 5 people and injuring 50 others.
• 2010 – With the second launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 and the first launch of the SpaceX Dragon, SpaceX becomes the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft.
• 2013 – Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all 7 continents.

Deaths

• 1980 – John Lennon, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1940)
• 1983 – Slim Pickens, American actor (b. 1919)
• 2008 – Oliver Postgate, English voice actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1925)
• 2016 – John Glenn, American astronaut and senator, first American to go into orbit (b. 1921)

Last Meals

THE FINAL HOURS OF JOHN LENNON December 8th, 1980. Five gunshots ring out in New York, ending the life of one of the world’s most influential musicians and sending millions of fans into mourning. John Lennon had been living quietly in the city and had just made his comeback after five years away from the studio. “John and I were gloriously happy in the first week of December,” his widow later recalled. “In our minds, we were a team – old soldiers.” So exactly what happened on that fateful day?

In the morning, John and Yoko leave their apartment and have breakfast at the Cafe La Fortuna, on West 71st Street. John eats Eggs Benedict and follows it with a cappuccino and Gitane cigarette. He then decides to get a haircut, after which the couple return to their sprawling 34-room apartment and welcome photographer Annie Leibovitz inside to undertake a photoshoot for Rolling Stone. Lennon wants to be photographed naked, clinging to a clothed Yoko. Leibovitz has no problem with that, and the photos are taken. The resulting picture makes the cover of Rolling Stone magazine weeks later. 

After the shoot, San Francisco radio producer Dave Sholin arrives to conduct what becomes John’s last interview. During the three-hour session, the musician poignantly says: “We’re either going to live or we’re going to die. I consider that my work won’t be finished until I’m dead and buried – and I hope that’s a long time.” Following the interview Sholin offers John and Yoko a lift to the recording studio. 

Outside the apartment, the pavement teems with office workers heading for the subway. Among them is Mark Chapman, 25, determined to kill Lennon, who he sees as a “phony” – a left-wing activist with a millionaire lifestyle. Despite the mild weather, Chapman wears thermal underwear, green trousers, a shirt and  sweater, and a long green overcoat, complete with a fake fur hat, gloves and a green scarf. A Charter Arms .38 snub-nosed revolver is concealed in the inside pocket of his coat. He hands John a copy of “Double Fantasy” to sign. John writes: John Lennon 1980. Handing it back, he looks his killer in the eye and asks: “Here, is that what you want?” before hopping into the car. John and Yoko then spend four-and-a-half hours working at The Record Factory. Before leaving the studio, Lennon enjoyed a corned beef sandwich with the plan to have a larger meal once he got home. 

The couple take a short limousine drive back to their apartment, however there is a vehicle parked directly in front of the entrance to the block, so John’s limo stops outside the building’s gateway and Yoko climbs out, followed by John carrying a tape recorder and cassettes. John stares at Chapman as he passes by and, as he moves off, the killer springs into action. As John walks by, Chapman says, “Mr. Lennon.” John starts to turn just as Chapman, dropping into a combat stance, pulls out the gun. The first two shots hit John in the back, spinning him around, while another two hit him in the shoulder. A fifth misses. Each bullet passes through the body and slams into a wood and glass windbreak behind him. As Chapman looks on in silence, Lennon staggers up the five steps into the building’s office, mumbling “I’m shot” before falling face-down. Night man Jay Hastings had been reading a magazine but, when John stumbles in, he hits the alarm button under the desk, summoning police. Yoko rushes to cradle her dying husband and screams for a doctor. Outside, Chapman removes his coat – so police will see he isn’t armed – and begins flicking through a copy of JD Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. Within two minutes, the street is full of sirens. As Chapman is cuffed, two officers hoist the musician on to their shoulders and place him in the back of a squad car. Jay remembers hearing John’s bones creak as they pick him up. As his partner runs red lights heading to St Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center, Officer James Moran turns and asks John, “Are you John Lennon?” As he slips away, John nods slightly and moans: “Yes.” It is the last thing he ever says.

Last Week’s Birthdays

Teri Hatcher (54), Dominic Monaghan (42), Nicki Minaj (36), David Harewood (53), C. Thomas Howell (53), Jeffrey Wright (54), Ellen Burstyn (87), Kristofer Hivju (41), Tom Hulce (66), Nick Park (61), Frankie Muniz (34), Margaret Cho (51), Marisa Tomei (55), Jeff Bridges (70), Tony Todd (65), Tyra Banks (46), Pamela Stephenson (70), Jay-Z (50), Brendan Fraser (51), Julianne Moore (59), Amanda Seyfried (34), Daryl Hannah (59), Jean-Luc Godard (89), Ozzy Osbourne (71), Paul Nicholas (75), Lucy Liu (51), Britney Spears (38), and Nelly Furtado (41).

With the sad passing of Clive James, quite a few of you have scored; Christine and Martin both had him down as their Cert, so 170 points each, and Debbie, Julie, Ashley, Shan and Julia also had him listed, so 70 points each also. Well done everyone! This has tightened the league table somewhat, who know what will happen in the next four weeks! Anyone at the top end of the table could win if one of their Big Three decide to succumb to the cold weather, it’s that close! And to anyone who’s a bit miffed about being at the bottom end of the table, don’t worry, I’m there too.    

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Nick Clifford, 98, American construction worker, last surviving Mount Rushmore carver.   
• Goo Hara, 28, South Korean singer (Kara) and actress (City Hunter), suicide.  
• Clive James, 80, Australian author (Cultural Amnesia), broadcaster (Fame in the 20th Century) and critic (The Observer), leukaemia.  
• Gary Rhodes, 59, English chef (Rhodes W1) and television personality (MasterChef, Local Food Hero), subdural haematoma.  
• Godfrey Gao, 35, Taiwanese-Canadian model and actor (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones, Love is a Broadway Hit, Legend of the Ancient Sword), cardiac arrest.  
• Brad Gobright, 31, American rock climber, climbing fall.  
• Sir Jonathan Miller, 85, English humourist (Beyond the Fringe), television presenter, and theatre director, Alzheimer’s disease.  
• Lord Burgess, 95, American songwriter (“Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)“, “Jamaica Farewell“, “In Plenty and In Time of Need“).  
• Iain Sutherland, 71, Scottish musician (The Sutherland Brothers) and songwriter (“(I Don’t Want to Love You But) You Got Me Anyway“, “Sailing”, “Arms of Mary“).  
• Terry de Havilland, 81, British shoe designer.

In Other News

Music legend Tina Turner has spoken about turning 80 today, saying: “It’s like having a second chance at life.” The star has had a stellar 60-year career in which she has sold more than 200 million records. But in recent years the Queen of Rock and Roll has been dogged by ill health including a cancer fight and a kidney transplant. Tina said: “I’m 80. What do I think? How did I think I would be at 80? Not like this. “I look great. I feel good. I have gone through some very serious sicknesses that I am overcoming. It’s like having a  second chance at life. “I am happy to be an 80-year-old.” Tina suffered a mild stroke after marrying German music executive Erwin Bach, 63, in 2013 and had to learn to walk again. Three years later she was diagnosed with kidney failure and ­intestinal cancer. Doctors treated the cancer by removing part of her intestine, but her kidney problems got worse and she considered assisted suicide. But then Erwin gave her one of his own kidneys, and Tina had a successful transplant operation in April 2017. She said: “I know that my medical adventure is far from over. There’s always another test, another doctor’s appointment or biopsy to get through. 

Gray O’Brien has revealed on social media that he has been battling stage four tonsil  cancer. The 51-year-old former Coronation Street star posted a video of him finishing his treatment and revealed that he had been “devastated” by the diagnosis. The actor, who played crooked businessman Tony Gordon in Corrie between 2007 and 2010, said he discovered that he had cancer after visiting his doctor with swollen glands. This was in August and since then Gray has had 30 rounds of radiotherapy, which has been done over a six week period. The Glasgow-born actor shared news of his diagnosis on Twitter but there was light at the end of the tunnel as he also announced that he had finished his treatment. Gray said: “When I received the diagnosis of tonsil cancer I was of course devastated – it’s cancer. “My reason for waiting to ring the bell before I mentioned it publicly is because I wasn’t sure how strong I would be in coping with the treatment, indeed could I cope with the treatment? “This is only the treatment finished. I now have a long way to go with my recovery. “I have been advised it will get worse before it gets better, and I have no reason to doubt this. “As long as I take it a day at a time as I have up until this point I am looking forward to coming through the other side.” 

A tree surgeon was killed in a freak accident when he moved to avoid a falling trunk but was hit by a 16-stone branch from a neighbouring tree, an inquest has heard. Charley Purkiss-McEndoo, 27, was working in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park on May 23 this year, when the tragedy occurred. The highly regarded amateur rugby union player had felled a large oak tree before stepping to the side as it fell into what is known as ‘the safety zone.’ But in an unforeseeable tragedy, his textbook safety manoeuvre took him into the path of a falling branch from a neighbouring tree, an inquest heard. The branch belonged to a tree 20ft away which had rotted at its socket and was being held in place by the tree he was was felling as part of a five year forestry clearance plan on the estate. Mr Purkiss-McEndoo- described as a ‘wonderful, humble person’ and the ‘life and soul of his rugby team’ – had sent a text to his mother wishing her a happy birthday minutes before the tragedy. The inquest in Skipton found that he died an accidental death while following ‘correct safety procedures with correct safety equipment.’   

On This Day

• 1919 – Lady Astor becomes the first female Member of Parliament to take her seat in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom.  
• 1952 – The New York Daily News reports the news of Christine Jorgensen, the first notable case of sex reassignment surgery.   
• 1955 – American Civil Rights Movement: In Montgomery, Alabama, seamstress Rosa Parks refuses to give up her bus seat to a white man and is arrested for violating the city’s racial segregation laws, an incident which leads to that city’s bus boycott. 
• 1990 – Channel Tunnel sections started from the United Kingdom and France meet 40 metres beneath the seabed.

Deaths

• 1135 – Henry I, king of England (b. 1068) 
• 1866 – George Everest, Welsh geographer and surveyor (b. 1790)  
• 1947 – Aleister Crowley, English magician, poet, and mountaineer (b. 1875)  
• 2007 – Anton Rodgers, British actor (b. 1933)

Last Meals 

Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was a Russian mystic and self-proclaimed holy man who befriended the family of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and gained considerable influence in late imperial Russia. Born to a peasant family in the Siberian village of Pokrovskoye in the Tobolsk governorate, Rasputin had a religious conversion experience after taking a pilgrimage to a monastery in 1897. He has been described as a monk or as a “strannik” (wanderer, or pilgrim), though he held no official position in the Russian Orthodox Church. 

After traveling to St. Petersburg, either in 1903 or the winter of 1904–05, Rasputin captivated some church and social leaders. He became a society figure, and met the Tsar in November 1905. In late 1906, Rasputin began acting as a healer for Alexei, the Tsar and his wife Alexandra‘s only son, who suffered from hemophilia. At court, he was a divisive figure, seen by some Russians as a mystic, visionary, and prophet, and by others as a religious charlatan. The high point of Rasputin’s power was in 1915, when Nicholas II left St. Petersburg to oversee Russian armies fighting World War I, increasing both Alexandra and Rasputin’s influence. As Russian defeats in the war mounted, however, both Rasputin and Alexandra became increasingly unpopular. 

On 12 July 1914 a 33-year-old peasant woman named Chionya Guseva attempted to assassinate Rasputin by stabbing him in the stomach outside his home in Pokrovskoye. Rasputin was seriously wounded, and for a time it was not clear that he would survive. After surgery and some time in a hospital in Tyumen, however, he did recover. 

Having decided that Rasputin’s influence over the Tsarina had made him a threat to the empire, a group of nobles led by Prince Felix Yusupov, the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich, and the right-wing politician Vladimir Purishkevich concocted a plan to kill Rasputin in December 1916, apparently by luring Rasputin to the Yusupovs’ Moika Palace. Rasputin was murdered during the early morning on 30 December 1916, at the home of Felix Yusupov. He died of three gunshot wounds, one of which was a close-range shot to his forehead. Beyond this, little is certain about his death, and the circumstances of his death have been the subject of considerable speculation.  

According to historian Douglas Smith, “what really happened at the Yusupov home on 17 December will never be known”. The story of Rasputin’s death that Yusupov recounted in his memoirs, however, has become the most frequently told version of events. According to Yusupov, he invited Rasputin to his home shortly after midnight and ushered him into the basement. Yusupov offered Rasputin tea and cakes which had been laced with cyanide. At first, Rasputin refused the cakes, but then began to eat them. To Yusupov’s surprise, Rasputin did not appear to be affected by the poison. Rasputin then asked for some Madeira wine (which had also been poisoned) and drank three glasses, but still showed no sign of distress. At around 2:30 am, Yusupov excused himself to go upstairs, where his fellow conspirators were waiting. Taking a revolver from Dmitry Pavlovich, Yusupov returned to the basement and, referring to a crucifix that was in the room, told Rasputin that he’d “better look at the crucifix and say a prayer”, then shot him once in the chest. Believing him to be dead, they then drove to Rasputin’s apartment, with Sukhotin wearing Rasputin’s coat and hat, in an attempt to make it look as though Rasputin had returned home that night. Upon returning to the Moika Palace, Yusupov went back to the basement to ensure that Rasputin was dead. Suddenly, Rasputin leapt up and attacked Yusupov, who – with some effort – freed himself and fled upstairs. Rasputin followed and made it into the palace’s courtyard before being shot by Purishkevich and collapsing into a snowbank. The conspirators then wrapped Rasputin’s body in cloth, drove it to the Petrovsky Bridge and dropped it into the Malaya Nevka River. 

News of Rasputin’s murder spread quickly, even before his body was found. An investigation was launched the next morning and his body was found under the river ice, approximately 200 meters downstream from the bridge. 

Rasputin was buried on the following day at a small church at Tsarskoye Selo. The funeral was attended only by the royal family and a few of their intimates. Rasputin’s wife, mistress, and children were not invited, although his daughters met with the Royal family at Vyrubova’s home later that day. His body was exhumed and burned by a detachment of soldiers shortly after the Tsar abdicated the throne in March 1917, in order to prevent his burial site from becoming a rallying point for supporters of the old regime. 

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ridley Scott (82), Ben Stiller (54), Mandy Patinkin (67), Billy Idol (64), Chadwick Boseman (42), Gemma Chan (37), Diane Ladd (84), Don Cheadle (55), Jeff Fahey(67), Karen Gillan (32), Ed Harris (69), Aimee Garcia (41), Judd Nelson (60), Martin Clunes (58), Armando Iannucci (56), Jon Stewart (57), Robin Givens (55), Bill Nye (64), Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (31), Tina Turner (80), Rita Ora (29), DJ Khaled (44), Christina Applegate (48), Bruno Tonioli (64), Sarah Hyland (29), Stephen Merchant (45), Conleth Hill (55), Billy Connolly (77), and Denise Crosby (62).