Apologies for the lateness of this weeks edition, life got in the way. I’ll try not to let that happen again. Without further ado…

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Stevie Ryan, 33, American actress and comedian (Stevie TV), suicide by hanging.
• Joe Robinson, 90, British actor (A Kid for Two Farthings, The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, Thor and the Amazon Women)
• Carol Lee Scott, 74, English actress (Grotbags).
• Ji-Tu Cumbuka, 77, American actor (Roots, Blacula, Mandingo)
• Joan Boocock Lee, 95, British-born American voice actress (Spider-Man, Fantastic Four) and model, complications from a stroke
• Nelsan Ellis, 39, American actor (True Blood, Get on Up, Elementary), complications from heart failure.

In Other News

Oscar-winning actress Olivia de Havilland is very much alive and well as she is suing the makers of a television show which she says portrayed her as a “petty gossip”. De Havilland, who turns 101 on Saturday, filed a lawsuit against FX Networks and producer Ryan Murphy over the miniseries Feud: Bette and Joan. The drama explored the bad blood between the Hollywood screen legends Joan Crawford and Bette Davis. The actress, who appeared in 50 films, was played by Catherine Zeta-Jones. In papers filed at the Los Angeles Superior Court, de Havilland – who was made a dame in the Queen’s birthday honours in June – said the show’s characterisation of her damaged her “professional reputation for integrity, honesty, generosity, self-sacrifice and dignity”. The Gone With The Wind star is asking a jury to consider the emotional distress caused by the show, as well as potential financial losses and the profits made from using her identity. De Havilland – the only person depicted in the series who is still alive – also said she was not consulted.

Sheila Michaels, an American feminist who brought the honorific “Ms” into mainstream use, has died aged 78. Ms Michaels did not invent the term, but is credited with rescuing it from obscurity after she saw it used in an address, thinking it was a typo. “Ms” did not convey a woman’s marital status, unlike the traditional options “Mrs” or “Miss”. “I had never seen it before: It was kind of arcane knowledge,” she said. Speaking to the New York Times in an interview last year for her own obituary, she said the honorific resonated with her, both as a feminist and as the child of unmarried parents. Years later, she brought it up casually, during a lull in conversation on broadcast radio – where it was heard by others, and began to attract attention, from there there was no stopping it. Ms Michaels leaves a legacy both minute and momentous: two consonants and a small dot – three characters that forever changed English discourse.

And finally, a story that could be classed as a mountainous molehill, a woman who shared a video of herself urinating on an American flag has asked that people stop targeting her family, saying they do not support her actions. Emily Lance received online threats of murder and rape after posting the video during Independence Day celebrations. Her account is no longer on Facebook but she previously posted that her father and his workplace had also been “targeted”, reports say. However, desecrating the US flag is not illegal due to strong freedom of speech laws. In the video, Ms Lance is seen standing over a toilet on which a US flag is draped, and urinating on it with the aid of a she-wee. She captioned it with: “F*** your nationalism. F*** your country. F*** your stupid f****** flag”. Later she made a plea for her opponents not to “take your anger out on the wrong people”, saying no-one in her family “agrees with my shenanigans”. “What don’t you people understand? You’re celebrating freedom while damning me for doing the same. You can’t have it both ways,” she said. President Trump declined to comment, even though we all know he is partial to a bit of female wee.

On This Day

• 1540 – King Henry VIII of England annuls his marriage to his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves.
• 1864 – Franz Muller commits the first known murder on a British train.
• 1922 – Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meters freestyle in 58.6 seconds breaking the world swimming record and the ‘minute barrier’.

Deaths

• 1932 – King Camp Gillette, U.S. businessman, founded the Gillette Company (b. 1855)
• 2002 – Rod Steiger, American actor (b. 1925)
• 2011 – Würzel, English guitarist (b. 1949)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Tom Hanks (61), Kelly McGillis (60), Fred Savage (41), Brian Dennehy (79), Courtney Love (53), O.J. Simpson (70), Kevin Bacon (59), Jaden Smith (19), Anjelica Huston (66), Jeffrey Tambor (73), Shelley Duvall (68), Jack Whitehall (29), Ringo Starr (77), Kate Nash (30), Eva Green (37), Sylvester Stallone (71), Geoffrey Rush (66), Kevin Hart (38), Burt Ward (72), Jennifer Saunders (59), 50 Cent (42), Edie Falco (54), RZA (48), Huey Lewis (67), Gina Lollobrigida (90), Neil Morrissey (55), Ronni Ancona (49), Tom Cruise (55), Kurtwood Smith (74), Yeardley Smith (53), Lindsay Lohan (31), Larry David (70), Jerry Hall (61) and Peter Kay (44).

Halfway through the year!!!! Sadly no points to be awarded on this momentous point in the game, but as you all know, ’tis a fickle game we play and it can go any way very quickly. We were surprised that nobody had good old Barry Norman, he’s been listed quite a few times in the past, but nobody deemed him worthy this year.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Michael Bond, 91, British children’s author (Paddington Bear).
• Michael Nyqvist, 56, Swedish actor (Millennium, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, John Wick), lung cancer.
• Ruth Pearson, 70, British dancer (Pan’s People), cancer.
• Toytown, 24, British event horse.
• Barry Norman, 83, British film critic and television presenter (Film…).

In Other News

Ronnie O’Sullivan has revealed he suffered a breakdown which almost forced him to pull out of the 2016 World Snooker Championship. O’Sullivan, who has battled a number of personal issues throughout his career, said he was in hospital for “four or five days” during last year’s tournament. The five-time World Champion had defeated David Gilbert 10-7 in the opening round at The Crucible but refused to attend his post-match press conference and reportedly smashed up his dressing room. Speaking on the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme, O’Sullivan admitted: “I didn’t intentionally smash it up. Not many people know this, but I was suffering. I’d had a massive workload, probably too much – I’d worked myself to the bone. The pressure of that tournament was too much and straight after that match I was driven straight down to London and I was in a hospital for four or five days. I was physically exhausted and just on a low. They helped me out, I had a few days in there, had some medication to try and keep me going and it was touch and go whether I was going to play in the Second Round.” O’Sullivan was declared fit to return to action but exited the competition in the Second Round after a narrow 13-12 defeat to Barry Hawkins. Widely regarded as snooker’s most naturally gifted star, ‘The Rocket’s’ personal problems have been well-publicised over the past three decades. He has previously admitted to suffering from clinical depression and has had drug-related problems.

US tennis star Venus Williams has been involved in a car crash that led to the death of a 78-year-old man. A spokesman for Palm Beach Gardens police in Florida confirmed to the media they were investigating a fatal crash involving the Grand Slam champion. A man was taken to hospital after the accident on 9th June and died two weeks later from his injuries, he said. Police believe she was at fault but her lawyer says it was an accident. She has not been cited or charged. The man who died, Jerome Barson, was travelling with his wife who was driving their vehicle through an intersection when the collision happened. Ms Williams’ car suddenly darted into their path and was unable to clear the junction in time due to traffic jams, according to witness statements in a police report obtained by US media. Mrs Barson was also taken to hospital but survived. “[Ms Williams] is at fault for violating the right of way of [the other driver],” the report said, adding that there were no other factors like drugs, alcohol or mobile phone distractions. The 37-year-old, seven-time Grand Slam champion reportedly told police she did not see the couple’s car and she was driving slowly.  Ms Williams’ lawyer Malcolm Cunningham told CNN in a statement: “Ms Williams entered the intersection on a green light. The police report estimates that Ms Williams was travelling at 5mph when Mrs Barson crashed into her. “Authorities did not issue Ms Williams with any citations or traffic violations. This is an unfortunate accident and Venus expresses her deepest condolences to the family who lost a loved one.”

A playboy who tried to blackmail the Royal Family over a gay sex scandal killed himself by taking a lethal cocktail of drugs, an inquest heard today. Ian Strachan, 40, tried to extort £50,000 after claiming he had video of an unnamed man performing a sex act on a male aide and taking cocaine. But he was branded a fantasist and jailed for five years in 2008, serving 2½ years. Strachan, whose real name was Paul Adalsteinsson, used different names — including Paul Stein — to obtain a variety of prescription drugs which he popped “like sweets,” the inquest heard. He had registered to three separate practices, two GPs and a private clinic. His left leg was amputated following a 30ft fall from a balcony in 2013, and he was visiting numerous hospitals — including Chelsea and Westminster and St Thomas’ — for surgery. Last year he suffered two heart attacks and became violent towards his mother, Westminster Coroner’s Court heard. In the hours before his death he had become aggressive and sent texts at 1am to his mum Elizabeth Stratton, who had been for lunch with him the day before. The text messages read: “You want a body, you have got one. It will be a different day tomorrow, I won’t be here.” He was found collapsed on Christmas Eve after taking codeine, maxicodone, xopicone and other prescription drugs mixed with milk. Toxicology reports also found cocaine in his system. Strachan was described at the 2008 Old Bailey blackmail trial as a fantasist who had a wild party lifestyle. He concocted the elaborate plot with fellow blackmailer Sean McGuigan, who also got five years. The pair demanded the cash for sex and drugs recordings said to be of an unnamed, married royal.

On This Day

• 1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
• 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.
• 1937 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
• 1962 – The first Wal-Mart store opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.

Deaths

• 1566 – Nostradamus, French astrologer and author (b. 1503)
• 1850 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1788)
• 1961 – Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
• 1973 – Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1916)
• 1991 – Lee Remick, American actress (b. 1935)
• 1993 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (b. 1926)
• 1997 – James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
• 2013 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (b. 1925)
• 2016 – Caroline Aherne, English actress and comedian (b. 1963)
• 2016 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Pamela Anderson (50), Olivia de Havilland (101), Liv Tyler (40), Dan Aykroyd (65), Geneviève Bujold (75), Debbie Harry (72), David Prowse (82), Vincent D’Onofrio (58), Mike Tyson (51), Gary Busey (73), Amanda Donohoe (55), John Cusack (51), Mel Brooks (91), Felicia Day (38), Kathy Bates (69), Alice Krige (63), Elon Musk (46), Tobey Maguire (42), J.J. Abrams (51), Ariana Grande (24), Ricky Gervais (56) and Carly Simon (72).

Afternoon Poolers, another week passes but no more points awarded. You’d have thought that with these record breaking heatwaves we’ve been experiencing that someone of note would have kicked the bucket, but our bucket is empty yet again this week. We’re just about half way through the year and to be fair, most of us have scored, which is unusual in itself. But don’t worry if you have yet to score, a good Cert will get you at least halfway up the table.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Tim Hague, 34, Canadian mixed martial artist (UFC, WSOF, KOTC), brain haemorrhage from boxing match.
• Brian Cant, 83, British actor (Dappledown Farm) and television presenter (Play School), complications of Parkinson’s disease.
• Zoltan Sarosy, 110, Hungarian-born Canadian chess master.
• Virginia Moyano, 113, Argentine supercentenarian, nation’s oldest person, cardiac arrest.
• Prodigy, 42, American rapper (Mobb Deep), complications from sickle cell anemia.

In Other News

The Duke of Edinburgh has left hospital after being admitted as “a precautionary measure”. Prince Philip was treated at the private King Edward VII Hospital, in central London, for an infection arising from a pre-existing condition. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman had said on Wednesday that the 96-year-old was in good spirits. We understands his condition is “not a cause for serious concern”. He had been with the Queen at Trooping the Colour on Saturday and the opening day of Royal Ascot on Tuesday. However, after being admitted to hospital on Tuesday evening, he missed Wednesday’s State Opening of Parliament, where his place was taken by the Prince of Wales, and a second day at Ascot. BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said that, given the duke was treated for a pre-existing condition, it is safe to assume he has been suffering from the recurrence of the bladder infection he suffered twice in 2012. Prince Philip has spent much of his life in good health, but he was treated for a blocked coronary artery in 2011 and the bladder infection the following year.

For the first time in 23 years, Ant and Dec could go their separate ways in the wake of Ant McPartlin’s battle with alcohol and prescription drugs – at least temporarily. With Ant currently getting treatment for his addictions at a rehab facility, ITV are thought to be giving him a year off work to recover fully – meaning the other half of the famous presenting duo, Declan Donnelly, could end up going solo for huge projects like I’m A Celebrity in November. An insider said that no decision has yet been taken about Ant’s work schedule for the next few months and that no-one at the broadcaster wants to rush him before he’s well again. Ant released a shock statement last weekend admitting to substance abuse as a result of a botched knee operation two years ago. The injury had left him hooked on the prescription painkiller Tramadol and using alcohol to numb the pain.

In another addiction story, Tiger Woods’s manager has confirmed the golfer has checked into rehabilitation as he seeks to handle medication issues linked to his recent arrest for driving under the influence. Woods was taken into custody by police in Florida on 29 May, having been found asleep at the wheel of his car by the side of the road. Police officials confirmed a breathalyser test as taken by Woods – who was disorientated and unsure of where he was – for alcohol consumption was blank, with the 14-time major champion later insisting upon an “unexpected reaction” to prescription medication. On Monday, Woods issued an update which read as follows: “I’m currently receiving professional help to manage my medications and the ways that I deal with back pain and a sleep disorder. I want to thank everyone for the amazing outpouring of support and understanding, especially the fans and players on tour.”

And finally, a Brazilian pilot who crash-landed into an Amazon river, saving the life of his passenger, has died after falling from a rescue helicopter. The single-engine plane managed to land on the river after an electrical fault. It submerged within seconds. Both pilot and passenger managed to escape and waited hours to be rescued in a hard to reach area in the jungle. When rescuers threw a rope for them to climb up, the pilot lost his grip, fell into the river and was dragged away. The 64-year-old pilot, Elcides Rodrigues Pereira, has been hailed as a hero after footage emerged of the dramatic crash landing, last Wednesday, in the northern state of Roraima. Mr Pereira and Ednilson Cardoso, a 28-year-old nursing technician, were on a health mission to visit a remote indigenous tribe. Mr Cardoso told local media that he had tied the rope around the pilot, who was tired, but he fell into the Catrimani river. The failed rescue operation was organised by the owners of the aircraft, and not by the authorities. Fire-fighters only managed to find the body of the pilot on Saturday.

On This Day

• 1876 – Battle of the Little Bighorn and the death of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer.
• 1947 – The Diary of a Young Girl (better known as The Diary of Anne Frank) is published.
• 1950 – The Korean War begins with the invasion of South Korea by North Korea.
• 1978 – The rainbow flag representing gay pride is flown for the first time during the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Parade.

Deaths

• 1976 – Johnny Mercer, American singer-songwriter, co-founded Capitol Records (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Jacques Cousteau, French oceanographer and explorer (b. 1910)
• 2009 – Farrah Fawcett, American actress and producer (b. 1947)
• 2009 – Michael Jackson, American singer-songwriter, producer, dancer, & actor (b. 1958)
• 2015 – Patrick Macnee, English actor (b. 1922)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Iain Glen (56), Peter Weller (70), Nancy Allen (67), Selma Blair (45), Joss Whedon (53), Frances McDormand (60), Duffy (33), Meryl Streep (68), Bruce Campbell (59), Kris Kristofferson (81), Lindsay Wagner (68), Stephen Chow (55), Tim Russ (61), Cyndi Lauper (64), Chris Pratt (38), Juliette Lewis (44), Lana Wachowski (52), Lana Del Rey (32), Nicole Kidman (50), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (28), John Goodman (65), Robert Rodriguez (49), Martin Landau (89), Danny Aiello (84), Olympia Dukakis (86), Miles O’Keeffe (63), Zoe Saldana (39), Aidan Turner (34), Kathleen Turner (63), Gena Rowlands (87), Sadie Frost (52), Paula Abdul (55), Richard Madden (31), Isabella Rossellini (65) and Paul McCartney (75).

Welcome all, a quiet week this week, no points scored and a dire lack of celebrity news. However we’ve managed to cobble together a little something worth reading, don’t ask how, we’re just brilliant here at Dead Pool Towers.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Sam Beazley, 101, British actor (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Johnny English).
• John G. Avildsen, 81, American film director (Rocky, The Karate Kid, Save the Tiger), Oscar winner (1977), pancreatic cancer.
• Anita Pallenberg, 75, Italian actress (Barbarella, Performance, A Degree of Murder).
• Helmut Kohl, 87, German politician, Chancellor (1982–1998), Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate (1969–1976).
• Stephen Furst, 63, American actor (Babylon 5, Animal House, St. Elsewhere), complications from diabetes.

In Other News

Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher died from sleep apnoea and “other factors”, the Los Angeles  County coroner says. Her death certificate said in January that the 60-year-old, best known for her role as Princess Leia, had suffered a cardiac arrest. But in a statement the LA coroner said the exact cause was unknown. Sleep apnoea is a common condition in which a person stops breathing during sleep, either for a few seconds or minutes. As well as listing sleep apnoea as a cause of death, the coroner’s statement cited other factors, including heart disease and drug use. In a statement released to People magazine after the coroner’s ruling, Fisher’s daughter Lourd said: “My mom battled drug addiction and mental illness her entire life. She ultimately died of it. “She was purposefully open in all of her work about the social stigmas surrounding these diseases.” Her manner of death would be listed as undetermined, the coroner’s statement said. Fisher had been on tour promoting her book The Princess Diarist when she was taken ill on a flight from London to Los Angeles on 23rd December. She never regained consciousness and died on 27 December at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre.

A Spanish bullfighter has died after being gored during a festival in southwest France. Ivan Fandino, 36, caught his feet in his cloak and fell to the floor, where he was gored by the bull. He suffered a lung injury and died on his way to hospital from a heart attack on Saturday, French media say. Fandino, who was taking part in the Aire-sur-l’Adour bullfighting festival near Pau, is reportedly the first matador to die in France in a century. The Basque-born matador had already taken part in a competition earlier in the day before he was injured. Photographs showed he was conscious, but bleeding heavily, as he was led away from the ring. Last July, bullfighter Victor Barrio, 29, became the first matador to die in Spain in 30 years after he was gored during an event being aired live on television. Fandino had been injured at least twice in previous events – once in 2015, when thrown into the air by a bull in Pamplona, Spain, but more seriously the year before when he was knocked unconscious in Bayonne, France.

A man who became the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls without a protective device has died after apparently trying the stunt again in an inflatable ball, police say. The body of American Kirk Jones was found 12 miles (19km) downriver weeks after the ball was found empty and spinning at the bottom of the falls. In 2003 he suffered only cuts and bruises after plunging over the falls. Mr Jones, 53, said afterwards that he would never try such a thing again. New York State Park Police told the Syracuse Post-Standard that Mr Jones’s body had been found on 2nd June in the Niagara River near the village of Youngstown at the mouth of Lake Ontario. Police confirmed it was the same man who had survived the falls 14 years previously. Det Sgt Brian Nisbet told the newspaper it was believed Mr Jones had tried to go over the falls in a large inflatable ball on 19th April. The ball was recovered, empty, by the Maid of the Mist boat near the foot of the falls. In 2003 Mr Jones was fined by a Canadian court for performing an illegal stunt and banned from the country. Although his family said he had jumped as a daredevil act, Mr Jones later said he had been trying to kill himself. He told reporters afterwards that he felt “very happy to be alive”. “I understand what I did was wrong,” he said at the time. “You will never see an action in Niagara waters with my name written on it again.” In an interview with ABC television he described going over the falls and being “sucked inside… the curtain of the falls and enveloped in it”. He said he remembered spiralling at great speed with “unbelievable” pressure on his head and then feeling pain as he hit a slab of granite at the bottom. He said he briefly lost consciousness but came to under water, swam to the surface and took his first breath.

On This Day

• 1429 – French forces under the leadership of Joan of Arc defeat the main English army under Sir John Fastolf at the Battle of Patay. This turns the tide of the Hundred Years’ War.
• 1812 – The United States declaration of war upon the United Kingdom is signed by President James Madison, we’ve hated each other since. 
• 1815 – Napoleonic Wars: The Battle of Waterloo results in the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte by the Duke of Wellington and Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher forcing him to abdicate the throne of France for the second and last time.
• 1858 – Charles Darwin receives a paper from Alfred Russel Wallace that includes nearly identical conclusions about evolution as Darwin’s own, prompting Darwin to publish his theory.
• 1873 – Susan B. Anthony is fined $100 for attempting to vote in the 1872 presidential election.
• 1900 – Empress Dowager Cixi of China orders all foreigners killed, including foreign diplomats and their families. 117 years later, Theresa May will attempt the same feat. 
• 1928 – Aviator Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly in an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean (she is a passenger; Wilmer Stultz is the pilot and Lou Gordon the mechanic).
• 1940 – “Finest Hour” speech by Winston Churchill.
• 1983 – Space Shuttle program: STS-7, Astronaut Sally Ride becomes the first American woman in space.

Deaths

• 1928 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (b. 1872)
• 1980 – Terence Fisher, English director and screenwriter (b. 1904)
• 2007 – Bernard Manning, English comedian and actor (b. 1930)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Jason Patric (51), Ken Loach (81), Arnold Vosloo (55), Courteney Cox (53), Ice Cube (48), Helen Hunt (54), Neil Patrick Harris (44), Jim Belushi (63), Yasmine Bleeth (49), Donald J. Trump (71), Boy George (56), Chris Evans (36), Stellan Skarsgård (66), Ally Sheedy (55), Tim Allen (64), Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen (31), Malcolm McDowell (74), Richard Thomas (66), Simon Callow (68), Kathy Burke (53), Steve-O (43), Richard Ayoade (40), Shia LaBeouf (31), Peter Dinklage (48), Hugh Laurie (58), Adrienne Barbeau (72) and Jane Goldman (47).

Welcome all to yet another  deadly points extravaganza!! With the sad death of Peter Sallis, we can award the following people 54 points, Abi, Doug, Gwyn, Paul G, Louise, Martin and Vic. Sarai was the only one to get Adam West, so 62 points to her. Well done all of us! We’ve passed the halfway point now and things are certainly looking like this year might break all point scoring records.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Peter Sallis, 96, English actor (Last of the Summer Wine, Wallace and Gromit, The Wind in the Willows).
• Andy Cunningham, 67, British magician, puppeteer and actor (Bodger & Badger), cancer.
• Cheick Tioté, 30, Ivorian footballer (Twente, Newcastle United, national team), heart attack.
• Glenne Headly, 62, American actress (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Mr. Holland’s Opus, Dick Tracy), complications from pulmonary embolism.
• Sam Panopoulos, 82, Greek-born Canadian cook, inventor of Hawaiian pizza.
• Adam West, 88, American actor (Batman, Family Guy, Robinson Crusoe on Mars), leukemia.

In Other News

Richard Hammond, the former star of Top Gear, has been airlifted to hospital after being involved in a serious car crash in a Swiss mountain race, according to reports. Swiss media 20 Minuten reported that the 47-year-old Grand Tour co-host crashed the car on a road that was closed for the Bergrennen Hemberg race. It’s now been confirmed that Hammond suffered a fractured knee but no serious injuries. Photos from the scene show a wrecked car in flames, which were later extinguished by firefighters. Hammond – who was in Switzerland filming scenes of Amazon series The Grand Tour alongside Jeremy Clarkson – was seriously injured in a car crash in September 2006, many of us think he’s never been quite right since. The latest incident comes less than three months after Hammond was injured falling off a motorbike while filming in a remote part of Mozambique. A spokesperson for The Grand Tour stated: “Richard was conscious and talking, and climbed out of the car himself before the vehicle burst into flames. Clarkson described it as the “biggest” and “most frightening” crash he had ever seen, commenting in a Twitter post: “Thankfully, Richard seems to be mostly OK.”

Former child star Amanda Bynes has confirmed she’s returning to acting during her first interview in four years. The 31-year-old has been out of the limelight in recent times after going through a difficult period that saw erratic behaviour and social media postings, as well as brushes with the law. But now Amanda is happy, healthy and loving life and  the star said she’s three years sober and looking forward to a bright future. The biggest revelation was Amanda’s declaration that she’s returning to Hollywood, despite quitting the industry in 2010. For now, the actress is enrolled at Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles, and is also hoping to release her own clothing line in the future. A stark change from being he actress who was released from a psychiatric facility in October 2014 after less than a month of treatment, and was then arrested for DUI in 2012, but avoided jail time by completing inpatient treatment and was placed on three years’ probation in early 2014. She was placed under the conservatorship of her mother Lynn in August 2013 after she set fire to a driveway, how.. what??

It has been confirmed that Stacy Keach suffered a heart attack onstage during the opening night performance of Pamplona at the Goodman Theatre, prompting a cancellation of the rest of the show’s run to allow him to recover. Keach took a moment to describe the experience “I felt like this great fog had come over me. It was the most bizarre moment of my entire career,” he said. He continued: “I was feeling no pain. The whole time, I was hoping that I was just in the middle of an actor’s nightmare, and then I would soon wake up and find myself back in the position where I knew what I was doing again.” It was originally reported that during the opening performance, Keach was getting lost in his monologue, “repeating large swaths of text three or four times and appearing confused and, for certain, far from his usual on-stage self.” Keach remains in the hospital, but is expected to be released from hospital on Tuesday and make a full recovery.

On This Day

• 1509 – Henry VIII of England marries Catherine of Aragon.
• 1955 – Eighty-three spectators are killed and at least 100 are injured after an Austin-Healey and a Mercedes-Benz collide at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the deadliest ever accident in motorsports.
• 1962 – Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin allegedly become the only prisoners to escape from the prison on Alcatraz Island.
• 1963 – Buddhist monk Thích Quảng Đức burns himself with gasoline in a busy Saigon intersection to protest the lack of religious freedom in South Vietnam.

Deaths

• 323 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (b. 356 BC)
• 1936 – Robert E. Howard, American author and poet (b. 1906)
• 1979 – John Wayne, American actor, director, and producer (b. 1907)
• 1998 – Catherine Cookson, English author (b. 1906)
• 1999 – DeForest Kelley, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1920)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Elizabeth Hurley (52), Jürgen Prochnow (76), Johnny Depp (54), Natalie Portman (36), Michael J. Fox (56), Eddie Marsan (49), Griffin Dunne (62), Nancy Sinatra (77), Kanye West (40), Liam Neeson (65), Karl Urban (45), Michael Cera (29), Helen Baxendale (47), Bear Grylls (43), Paul Giamatti (50), Robert Englund (70), Sandra Bernhard (62), Gianna Michaels (34), Mark Wahlberg (46), Mel Giedroyc (49), Angelina Jolie (42), Noah Wyle (46), Bruce Dern (81), Russell Brand (42) and Sean Pertwee (53).