We
lcome to the first newsletter of 2025!! Embarrassingly I have to declare myself the winner of 2024 and award myself the coveted trophy!
There was a run of late-declared deaths in the final days of 2024 (which did not have any effect of 2024’s result), but half of our poolers had to choose new names for 2025, causing no end of paperwork and frustration for everyone as a lot of points went up the swanny, but the DRAMA! Anyhow, here’s a lovely picture of 2024’s Dead Pool winner with his well earned trophy, quite a handsome chap indeed!
The donations page is now up, so if you feel that you are receiving some value from participating, please donate towards the running costs of the website etc. Thank you everyone in advance. Good luck for 2025!
Look Who You Could Have Had:
2024
- Tomiko Itooka, 116, Japanese supercentenarian, world’s oldest person (since 2024).
- Jimmy Carter, 100, American politician and humanitarian, U.S. president (1977–1981).
- Johnnie Walker, 79, English disc jockey (Radio Caroline, BBC Radio 1, BBC Radio 2), idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis
- Frances Wessells, 105, American dancer
2025
- Wayne Osmond, 73, American singer (The Osmonds) and songwriter (“Crazy Horses“, “Let Me In“), stroke.
- Noreen Riols, 98, British novelist and SOE agent during World War II.
- Russ North, 59, English heavy metal singer (Cloven Hoof).
- Jeff Baena, 47, American film director and screenwriter (The Little Hours, Horse Girl, Spin Me Round), suicide by hanging.
In Other News
This weeks big news is that Tomiko Itooka, the Japanese woman who was the world’s oldest person according to Guinness World Records, has died at the age of 116. Alas for our purposes, she passed away on the 29th December 2024. So as the benevolent and award winning Dead Pool Master that I am, Is have ruled that those affected by her early demise are allowed to choose another name. Itooka, who loved bananas and a yogurt-flavored Japanese drink called Calpis, was born on 23 May 1908. She became the oldest person last year following the death of 117-year-old Maria Branyas, according to the Gerontology Research Group. When she was told she was at the top of the World Supercentenarian Rankings List, she simply replied, “Thank you.” When Itooka celebrated her birthday last year, she received flowers, a cake and a card from the mayor. Born in Osaka, Itooka was a volleyball player in high school, and long had a reputation for a sprightly spirit, Nagata said. She climbed the 3,067m (10,062ft) Mount Ontake twice. She married at 20, and had two daughters and two sons, according to Guinness. Itooka managed the office of her husband’s textile factory during World War II. She lived alone in Nara after her husband died in 1979. She is survived by one son and one daughter, and five grandchildren. A funeral service was held with family and friends, according to Nagata. According to the Gerontology Research Group, the world’s oldest person is now 116-year-old Brazilian nun Inah Canabarro Lucas, who was born 16 days after Itooka.
Sara Sharif’s father had his neck and face cut in prison as he begins a life sentence for her murder, according to reports. Urfan Sharif was allegedly jumped by two inmates in his cell at HMP Belmarsh armed with the lid of a tuna tin on New Year’s Day. The child killer, 43, is not believed to have needed hospital treatment. Sources told The Flying Monkeys: “Urfan was sliced up badly in his cell by two others who rushed in. It was planned and they used a makeshift weapon – made from the lid of a tin of tuna. “He was sliced in the neck and face, and is still in healthcare and in a very bad way. He was lucky to survive, has had to have stitches and will have scars as a permanent reminder of the attack. The guards tried to keep him safe because he obviously had a target on his back after the case was such big news. Sharif has tried to keep his head down since coming into the jail, but word quickly got round about who he was.” A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Police are investigating an assault on a prisoner at HMP Belmarsh on January 1st. It would be inappropriate to comment further while they investigate.” A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said officers are probing “an allegation that a prisoner was assaulted at Belmarsh”, adding that “the 43-year-old suffered non life-threatening injuries”. Sharif and Sara’s stepmother, Beinash Batool, were jailed for life in December for years of horrific “torture” and “despicable” abuse that culminated in the 10-year-old’s murder.
Radio presenter DJ Spoony has thanked the NHS and his family after being treated in hospital for a “small bleed to the brain”. The BBC Radio 2 presenter, whose real name is Johnathan Joseph, held back tears as he told listeners on Monday he had been dealing with headaches for a few weeks, but had “put off” seeing a doctor until 21st December, when he decided to go to A&E. The 54-year-old went to Bedford Hospital where staff ran tests and did a CT scan before sending him to see a specialist at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. He said his illness was caused by a subdural haematoma, a condition where there is bleeding in the brain. At Addenbrooke’s, Spoony was told doctors “need to operate”, and ended up spending Christmas Day in hospital. He said: “The amazing doctors and nurses at Addenbrooke’s had done the operation, they had flushed me out. I was feeling fine, 10 minutes after the operation. I was talking, looking forward to being back on the ward, eating a banana and having a ginger shot.” Breaking down, he added: “Thank you to everybody at Addenbrooke’s for looking after me; you were amazing. So, again thanks to our amazing National Health Service.”
Annoyingly, Neighbours icon Ian Smith has shared an encouraging update on his health and treatment following his recent terminal cancer diagnosis. Smith, best known for his role as Harold Bishop on the soap, has been diagnosed with a rare form of lung cancer called pulmonary pleomorphic carcinoma. In an interview just before Christmas, the actor had some “extremely good news” to share, explaining his recent PET scan had shown a shrinking in the size of the tumour. “I did a PET scan and the words, I believe, were ‘significant metabolic change, significant shrinkage of tumour’,” Smith told the Flying Monkeys. “I’ve gone from a threat of dying this coming March to maybe a few more months… and now, God, who knows? It’s not a cure and it won’t be a cure, but I certainly have got a year, maybe two,” he added. “That’s amazing. It really is.” After receiving his diagnosis, Smith contacted Neighbours executive producer Jason Herbison to see if he could return as Harold to say goodbye to the cast and fans. “I asked Jason if I could get Harold to say goodbye and he kindly said yes,” Smith explained. “I liked Harold. There’s not enough of his type in the world. I wouldn’t like to live next to him, I’ve got to be honest, but he’s good. He’s a nice man.” Herbison also agreed for Anne Charleston, who played Harold’s late wife Madge, to return to the soap in a new role. “That would have been hard for her to do, and she did it so successfully,” Smith said. “It was so good.” The scenes with Smith as Harold and Charleston in her new Neighbours role are set to air early next year.
A donkey said to have provided the inspiration for the famous Shrek character, Donkey, has died aged 30. Perry – short for Pericles – a miniature donkey born in New York City in 1994, achieved fame when he apparently modelled for animators working on the Oscar-winning 2001 comedy. Voiced by Eddie Murphy, the talkative Donkey served as the sidekick to Shrek (Mike Myers) in the original film and three sequels, the most recent of which was released in 2010. “It’s evident if you know Perry and watch the movie that it’s him,” his lead handler at the time, Jenny Kiratli, told SFGate in a 2021 interview. “It’s amazing how much of our donkey is in Donkey, the way he flips his head when he’s mad at Shrek, the way he trots.” Perry was five years old when he modelled for the Shrek animators and was apparently paid $75 (£60) for his work. It was revealed that Perry had been suffering from an incurable condition called laminitis, which affects the hooves of horses, ponies and donkeys. Donkeys typically live to be between 25 and 40 years old. “In Perry’s last weeks, all of the handlers spent many hours at the pasture with him, petting him, cradling him, singing to him, and telling him that he was and always will be loved,” the statement continued. “We will miss you Perry. You were a special Donkey. We were lucky to have known you and we will never forget you.”
On This Day
- 1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, who becomes the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering (the traditional form of capital punishment used for regicides).
- 1941 – Amy Johnson, a 37-year-old pilot and the first woman to fly solo from London to
- Australia, disappears after bailing out of her plane over the River Thames, and is presumed dead.
- 1972 – US President Richard Nixon announces the Space Shuttle program.
Deaths
- 1922 – Ernest Shackleton, Anglo-Irish sailor and explorer (b. 1874).
- 1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American politician, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872).
- 1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935).
- 2004 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (b. 1911).
Last Week’s Birthdays
January Jones (47), Bradley Cooper (50), Clancy Brown (66), Diane Keaton (79), Robert Duvall (94), Vinnie Jones (60), Marilyn Manson (56), Emma Mackey (29), Julia Ormond (60), Graham McTavish (64), Matt Frewer (67), Florence Pugh (29), Mel Gibson (69), Victoria Principal (75), Tia Carrere (58), Cuba Gooding Jr. (57), Frank Langella (87), Val Kilmer (66), Anthony Hopkins (88), Ben Kingsley (82), Eliza Dushku (45), Tracey Ullman (66), and Caity Lotz (39).
A quiet week this week, barely any famous deaths and hardly any news to talk about. 
Pauline Quirke has been diagnosed with dementia, her husband Steve Sheen has announced. The Birds of a Feather star, 65, is best known for playing Sharon Theodopolopodous in the much-loved sitcom alongside Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph from 1988 to 1999. Quirke, who has also had roles in Emmerdale and Broadchurch, was first diagnosed with the disease in 2021. She will now “step away from all commercial and professional duties”. The BAFTA-nominated actor’s last public appearance came in February 2023, when she was awarded an MBE by Prince William for service to young people, entertainment and charity. In his statement, Quirke’s husband Sheen said: “It is with a heavy heart that I announce my wife Pauline’s decision to step back from all professional and commercial duties due to her diagnosis of Dementia in 2021. Pauline has been an inspiration through her work in the film and TV industry, her charity endeavours and as the founder of the very successful Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts (PQA). Her talent, dedication, and vision have touched countless lives and will continue to do so through the legacy of her work and through PQA where her vision and guidance has facilitated many young peoples’ progression and interest in the Arts and enhanced their self-confidence.” Dementia is an umbrella term for progressive conditions associated with an ongoing decline of brain functioning. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common, and a timely diagnosis is vital. On average, people live between eight to ten years after an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. However, some live for a further twenty years or more. 
Music legend Sting has been forced to cancel four gigs just 24 hours before being back on stage. The singer, 73, has fallen ill with a statement from his Instagram page reading: “On advisement from his doctor, due to illness, it is with sincere regret that Sting must cancel his appearance at the Bass Magazine Awards this Thursday.” It added he would also “postpone his STING 3.0 concerts in Phoenix, AZ and Wheatland, CA as well as his performance at the Cherrytree Music Company’s 20th anniversary”. The statement went on to say: “Fans should retain their tickets for the postponed shows, as they will be honoured on the new dates. Sting sincerely apologises for any inconvenience and extends his gratitude to the fans for their understanding.” Sting last cancelled a string of gigs back in 2019 due to a mystery illness. He was forced to pull of performances in Belgium, Germany, Stuttgart, and the Czech Republic. A source insisted the illness was not serious, saying: “He’s just resting up. Everyone is expecting him to be back up and running very soon. He’ll be going straight into the rest of his scheduled tour dates.” Later that year, Sting had made a full recovery but took to the stage in a sling.
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