Welcome to the Easter Weekend tardiness edition of The Dead Pool. Apologies for the lateness of this issue, life got in the way. But what have we here? Points? With the death of the last known person born in the 1800’s, we have the following to congratulate: Julie, Paul C. and Dave listed her as a Cert, 133 points each. Laura and Lee both had her as their Woman, 133 points each and Stu just had her listed and got a pitiful 33 points.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• J. Geils, 71, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band).
• Charlie Murphy, 57, American comedian, actor and screenwriter (Chappelle’s Show, Norbit, The Boondocks), leukemia.
• Toby Smith, 46, British keyboardist (Jamiroquai).
• Bruce Langhorne, 78, American folk musician (Bob Dylan) and film scorer (The Hired Hand), inspiration for “Mr. Tambourine Man“, complications from a stroke.
• Emma Morano, 117, Italian supercentenarian, verified World’s oldest-living person, last-known person born in the 1800s.
• Clifton James, 96, American actor (Live and Let Die, Cool Hand Luke, Eight Men Out), complications from diabetes.

 In Other News

Buck up folks, it looks like you should have listed a few Death Row inmates on your lists as Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson is defending his decision to put to death seven prisoners over an 11-day period starting on Monday! The executions have drawn international attention and have been condemned by rights groups as an “assembly line” and a violation of the US legal process, but this is the New American Way. The unprecedented pace is due to one of the drugs used expiring later this month and they surely don’t want to waste that shit. Midazolam – one part of the three-drug lethal injection “cocktail” – is set to expire at the end of April, and has been criticised as contributing to several botched executions in other states. Governor Hutchinson says he is confident that the drugs will work as expected, and that he is satisfied the prison staff can handle the executions, six of which are happening over only three days.

The Only Way Is Essex star Amber Dowding has returned home from hospital after worrying fans with an announcement that she had fallen ill. But taking to Instagram after the ordeal, the 23-year-old ensured fans that she’s back at home after battling the mystery illness. Sharing a ‘stunning’ selfie, Amber looked healthy while posing for the camera with a full face of makeup and her long blonde locks worn in a stylish up-do. And after worrying her followers with the news that she was in hospital earlier this week, the reality star made sure to confirm that she’s now returned home. Earlier this week the blonde bombshell shared a photo of herself, revealing she’d been taken to hospital in her glamorous get-up. Hopefully the NHS are sending a bill.

“I’ll do whatever it takes to be a better momma and a better woman,” fallen UK soap star Danniella Westbrook posted on Instagram ahead of yet another stint in rehab in the hope of “battling her demons” once and for all. The 43-year-old former child actor who became a star in the UK thanks to hit soap EastEnders announced that she was checking herself into rehab for “all of her addictions”. It’s the latest chapter in a two-decade slide which included a cocaine habit so bad her septum collapsed. The return to rehab comes after Westbrook appeared on UK TV show In Therapy last year, spilling details of her history of sexual abuse, the breakdown of her relationships, and her battles to get clean.

On This Day

• 1457 BC – Likely date of the Battle of Megiddo between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Kadesh, the first battle to have been recorded in what is accepted as relatively reliable detail.
• 1746 – The Battle of Culloden is fought between the French-supported Jacobites and the British Hanoverian forces commanded by William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, in Scotland. After the battle many highland traditions were banned and the Highlands of Scotland were cleared of inhabitants.
• 1943 – Albert Hofmann accidentally discovers the hallucinogenic effects of the research drug LSD. He intentionally takes the drug three days later.
• 1990 – “Doctor Death”, Jack Kevorkian, participates in his first assisted suicide.
• 2007 – Virginia Tech shooting: Seung-Hui Cho guns down 32 people and injures 17 before committing suicide.

Deaths

• 1828 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and illustrator (b. 1746)
• 1850 – Marie Tussaud, French-English sculptor, founded the Madame Tussauds Wax Museum (b. 1761)
• 1947 – Rudolf Höss, German SS officer (b. 1900)
• 1991 – David Lean, English director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1908)
• 2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Ellen Barkin (63), Emma Watson (27), Emma Thompson (58), Maisie Williams (20), Seth Rogen (35), Sarah Michelle Gellar (40), Adrien Brody (44), Robert Carlyle (56), Peter Capaldi (59), Julie Christie (77), Ron Perlman (67), Peter Davison (66), Claire Danes (38), Ed O’Neill (71), Andy Garcia (61), Shannen Doherty (46), David Cassidy (67), Joss Stone (30), Jeremy Clarkson (57), John Milius (73), Daisy Ridley (25), Haley Joel Osment (29), Steven Seagal (65) and Max von Sydow (88).

Another strange pointless week, so another run of the mill newsletter. So, let’s ask our little community to contribute. If you feel you have an article for the newsletter within you, please forward it and it shall appear. We’ve had quite a few successful contributions over the years, some people even producing a series of articles, all of which were amazing. Another thing you could do to help out is to forward any interesting stories about death you might stumble upon, even though I do trawl through five different news RSS feeds a week, I do miss a lot. Anyhow….

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Brenda Jones, 62, American R&B singer (The Jones Girls), traffic collision.
• Don Rickles, 90, American comedian (Dean Martin Celebrity Roast) and actor (Toy Story, Kelly’s Heroes), kidney failure.
• Tim Pigott-Smith, 70, English actor (The Jewel in the Crown, Clash of the Titans, V for Vendetta). 
• Paul O’Neill, 61, American producer, composer and songwriter (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra).
• Georgy Grechko, 85, Russian cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, heart failure.
• Brian Matthew, 88, English TV and radio presenter (BBC).

In Other News

Former England hooker Brian Moore has announced he is recovering in hospital after suffering a heart attack. The 55-year-old, whose international career spanned eight years between 1987 and 1995, revealed the news on his Twitter account on Saturday morning. He wrote: “As this is starting to get out – I’m in ICU of St George’s having suffered heart attack. Thanks to the professionals who saved my life.” Moore made 64 appearances in an England shirt and has since gone on to become a television pundit. The RFU was among those offering best wishes to Moore. Former team-mates and others associated with the sport were also among the well-wishers, while Moore himself later responded to the many messages of support with a light-hearted quip. “I’m trying to work out whether nearly 5K of likes over the news I’ve had a heart attack is sympathy or schadenfreude,” he wrote on Twitter.

The BBC faced criticism on Wednesday after it mistakenly reported that the DJ Brian Matthew, who hosted its long-running Sounds of the 60s programme, had died. The broadcaster had been told by his family that he was critically ill. Less than three hours after announcing the veteran DJ’s death on air, with tributes led by the BBC’s director-general, Tony Hall, the corporation issued an embarrassing clarification. “We were informed by close family and friends that Brian had passed away in the night. They have since been in contact to say that he remains critically ill,” a statement said. But the statement did not include an apology for the earlier error, and a spokeswoman for Radio 2 said: “The family have their privacy and we respect that, and we support them at this time, but there isn’t anything to add to the statement.” For the record, Brian Matthew died yesterday, we’re pretty sure of it this time.

Michael Gambon has not travelled to Dublin to receive a special award at IFTAs ceremony after coming down with an illness. The Irish Film and Television Academy announced today that the legendary actor was taken into hospital earlier this week. According to a statement by the organisation he “has now been discharged, however, medical advice is that he is not well enough to travel to Dublin to receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at the IFTA Award Ceremony this weekend”. It continued: ” Michael had been determined to come to Dublin to receive his IFTA Lifetime Achievement Award. “Naturally, he is devastated not to be able to travel to be part of the Awards Ceremony. “The Irish Film and Television Academy has confirmed to Michael that he will receive his Lifetime Achievement Award at a special event to be held in his honour later this year. The Irish actor, who replaced the late Richard Harris in the role of Professor Albus Dumbledore, was to be recognised for a career spanning more than 50 years. Gambon, 76, is best known for his roles in TV drama The Singing Detective, cult movie The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover and Gosford Park.

On This Day

• 1413 – Henry V is crowned King of England.
• 1860 – On his phonautograph machine, Édouard-Léon Scott de Martinville makes the oldest known recording of an audible human voice.
• 1969 – The first British-built Concorde 002 makes its maiden flight from Filton to RAF Fairford.

Deaths

• 1926 – Zip the Pinhead, American freak show performer (b. 1857)
• 1959 – Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect, designed the Price Tower and Fallingwater (b. 1867)
• 1978 – Clough Williams-Ellis, English-Welsh architect, designed Portmeirion (b. 1883) 
• 2011 – Sidney Lumet, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1924)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Kristen Stewart (27), Elle Fanning (19), Dennis Quaid (63), Hugh M. Hefner (91), Robin Wright (51), Patricia Arquette (49), Emma Caulfield (44), Dean Norris (54), Russell Crowe (53), Jackie Chan (63), Francis Ford Coppola (78), Paul Rudd (48), Zach Braff (42), John Ratzenberger (70), Billy Dee Williams (80), Mitch Pileggi (65), Roger Corman (91), Pharrell Williams (44), Robert Downey Jr. (52), Hugo Weaving (57), Eddie Murphy (56), Alec Baldwin (59), Amanda Bynes (31), Paris Jackson (19) and Michael Fassbender (40).

Yet another week lacking of celebrity news, and let’s be honest, the celebrity deaths are pretty much names you may have heard in passing at best. Shall we unleash the evil flying monkeys?

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Donald Harvey, 64, American serial killer, beaten.
• Clem Curtis, 76, Trinidadian-born British singer (The Foundations), lung cancer.
• Gilbert Baker, 65, American gay activist, created the rainbow flag. 
• James Rosenquist, 83, American artist.
• Ikutaro Kakehashi, 87, Japanese engineer and entrepreneur, founder of Ace Tone and Roland Corporation.

In Other News 

Linda Nolan has opened about about her fears following her secondary breast cancer diagnosis. The 58-year-old star recently confirmed the devastating news that she had breast cancer for the second time and that the disease was incurable. Speaking about the diagnosis, Linda admitted: “I am really scared, I don’t want to die. All my little nieces and nephews, my step-children and step-grandchildren, they are my life now because I never had children. “I want to grow old with my family. There is so much I want to do. I have to be positive and make sure I do.” Linda revealed that, although doctors had told her that the cancer was incurable, some people living with the same disease can live for up to 20 years. “I’m not going to be dying from cancer,” she insisted. “I’m going to be living with cancer if that’s what I have to do.” This is Linda’s second battle with breast cancer after she was first diagnosed with the disease back in 2007. While she was fighting the shattering illness, her husband of 27 years, Brian Hudson, lost his battle with skin cancer.

A missing Indonesian man was found  dead inside the body of a python, according to local police. Akbar went missing on Sunday on the island of Sulawesi, after leaving to harvest palm oil. In the search for the 25-year-old, police told BBC Indonesian that they had found a huge snake they suspected had swallowed the man. The reticulated python, reported to be 7m (23ft)-long, was cut open and the man’s body was found. Video shot by police showed the snake being cut open with a long knife, slowly revealing the man’s clothed body. Reticulated pythons are among the world’s longest reptiles and suffocate their victims before swallowing them whole. Pythons rarely kill and eat humans, although there are occasional reports of them swallowing young children or pets.

On This Day

• 1902 – “Electric Theatre”, the first full-time movie theater in the United States, opens in Los Angeles.
• 1972 – Actor Charlie Chaplin returns to the United States for the first time since being labeled a communist during the Red Scare in the early 1950s.
• 1982 – Falklands War: Argentina invades the Falkland Islands.

Deaths

• 1502 – Arthur, Prince of Wales (b. 1486)
• 1966 – C. S. Forester, English novelist (b. 1899)
• 1974 – Georges Pompidou, French banker & politician, 19th President of France (b. 1911)
• 2005 – Pope John Paul II (b. 1920)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Mackenzie Davis (30), Ali MacGraw (78), Ewan McGregor (46), Christopher Walken (74), Rhea Perlman (69), Richard Chamberlain (83), Warren Beatty (80), Robbie Coltrane (67), Céline Dion (49), Kenneth Welsh (75), Eric Clapton (72), Lucy Lawless (49), Brendan Gleeson (62), Marina Sirtis (62), Christopher Lambert (60), Elle Macpherson (53), Eric Idle (74), Nick Frost (45), Julia Stiles (36), Vince Vaughn (47), Lady Gaga (31), Dianne Wiest (72), Chris Barrie (57), Quentin Tarantino (54), Nathan Fillion (46), Mariah Carey (48), Jessie J (29), Julian Glover (82), Fergie (42), Michael York (75), Keira Knightley (32), Jennifer Grey (57), James Caan (77), Diana Ross (73), Steven Tyler (69) and Martin Short (67).

Next week peeps!

Welcome all, another week  goes by and we have a few  points to dispense. Luke scores 49  points with the demise of the man who not so secretly ruled the world, David Rockefeller and Sylvia scores 84 points with the welcomed death of ‘former’ terrorist Martin McGuinness. There’s not much in the way of news this week, but we do have a new points leader and some fun stories.

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• David Rockefeller, 101, American banker (Chase Manhattan), globalist (Trilateral Commission) and philanthropist (Rockefeller Brothers Fund), heart failure.
• Colin Dexter, 86, English author (Inspector Morse series).
• Martin McGuinness, 66, Northern Irish PIRA commander and politician; deputy First Minister of the Northern Ireland Legislative Assembly (2007–2017), MLA (1998–2017), and abstentionist MP (1997–2013), complications from amyloidosis.
• Pete Hamilton, 74, American racecar driver, winner of the 1970 Daytona 500.
• Sib Hashian, 67, American drummer (Boston).

In Other News

In what we would all call a non-news event, headlined “Prince William’s air ambulance in near-miss with drone”, an air ambulance regularly piloted by the Duke of Cambridge ‘narrowly avoided’ a mid-air crash with a drone, a report by the BBC said. UK Airprox Board investigators said the Eurocopter 145, used by the East Anglian Air Ambulance, missed the remote-controlled machine “by chance”. There had been “high risk” of a crash, “endangering the EC145 and its crew” over a busy area, the report said. Prince William was not in the aircraft at the time but the East Anglian Air Ambulance (EAAA) said it had been flown repeatedly by the royal during his work for the service. So, in conclusion, a helicopter that didn’t contain Prince William, didn’t crash into a drone. I would also imagine that a drone made of plastic weighing around 2lbs wouldn’t cause much damage to a two ton helicopter with enough downdraft to shift nearly 8 tons. Think of a fly hitting your windscreen on the motorway if said fly wasn’t blown off course to begin with. Thank goodness that William survived!!!

The Mirror tried to shock readers with A MORBID website that has correctly predicted three celebrity deaths in 2017 – with 47 other famous faces remaining on the list for the next nine months. The death of world-renowned banker David Rockefeller is the third correctly predicted by a chilling website. He joins rugby legend Joost van der Westhuizen and American actress Mary Tyler Moore among the celebs to leave this year. A host of much-loved names make up the rest of the list – including Bruce Forsyth, Vera Lynn and even the Queen. But it is not just the famous faces we love and admire who make up the list no one wants to be on. “The Death List 2017” also predicts that Zimbabwe’s dictator Robert Mugabe and Moors murderer Ian Brady won’t make it until the end of the year. It seems to have picked its list based on celebrities who are either in their 80s or 90s or known to be suffering from ill health. The site has since been slammed by MediaWatch-UK. A spokesman said: “The idea of an annual Deathlist is not only morose and insensitive but I imagine deeply upsetting for the individuals named in it and their families. “While an awareness of our mortality can have the positive effect of helping us to live each day to its fullest; this list seems to delight in making accurate predictions about another human’s demise. In some cases, forum comments openly welcome certain celebrity deaths. Only three correct predictions? Phhht! They should have covered us!

On This Day

• 1934 – The United Kingdom driving test is introduced.
• 1997 – Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate mass suicides.
• 2005 – The BBC broadcasts “Rose” (starring Christopher Eccleston), the first returning episode Doctor Who, after its cancellation in 1989. It is now the world’s longest running science fiction drama.

Deaths

• 1726 – John Vanbrugh, English playwright and architect, designed Blenheim Palace and Castle Howard (b. 1664)
• 1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German pianist and composer (b. 1770)
• 1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress and screenwriter (b. 1844)
• 1945 – David Lloyd George, English-Welsh lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1863)
• 1959 – Raymond Chandler, American crime novelist and screenwriter (b. 1888)
• 1973 – Noël Coward, English playwright, actor, and composer (b. 1899)
• 2005 – James Callaghan, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1912)
• 2011 – Diana Wynne Jones, English author (b. 1934)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Lee Pace (38), Sarah Jessica Parker (52), Elton John (70), Jessica Chastain (40), Lara Flynn Boyle (46), Jim Parsons (43), Alyson Hannigan (42), Kelly LeBrock (56), Mary BerryBrad Dourif(82), Amanda Plummer (60), Reese Witherspoon (41), William Shatner (86), Gary Oldman (59), Matthew Broderick (55), Jaye Davidson (49), Timothy Dalton (73), Holly Hunter (59), David Thewlis (54), William Hurt (67), Spike Lee (60), Carl Reiner (95), Freema Agyeman (37), Jane March (44), Theresa Russell (60), John de Lancie (69), Bruce Willis (62), Glenn Close (70), Ursula Andress (81) and Brad Dourif (67).

Next week peeps!

Well! What can I say! A late showing by Chuck Berry last night saved us from another boring round up as we now have points to dispense!! Congratulations to Sylvia who gets 160 points for having him as a Cert and a well done to Mark, Nick and Debby, 60 points each for just listing him. Awesome job guys, let’s keep the momentum going, somehow…

Look Who You Could Have Had:

• Ann Beach, 78, British actress (Fresh Fields).
• Skip Williamson, 72, American underground comix cartoonist (Snappy Sammy Smoot), renal failure, complications from heart disease and diabetes.
• Ed Whitlock, 86, English-born Canadian long distance runner, prostate cancer.
• James Bigby, 61, American convicted murderer and Eighth Amendment plaintiff (Bigby v. Dretke), executed by lethal injection.
• James Cotton, 81, American blues harmonica player (“Hard Again“), pneumonia.
• Sir Derek Walcott, 87, Saint Lucian poet and playwright, laureate of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1992).
• Lawrence Montaigne, 86, American actor (The Great Escape, Star Trek, Escape to Witch Mountain).
• Bernie Wrightson, 68, American illustrator.
• Chuck Berry, 90, American rock and roll musician (“Johnny B. Goode“, “Maybellene“, “Roll Over Beethoven“). 

In Other News

Sir Michael Caine has dropped two stone amid growing fears that he might one day develop cancer. Caine84, has cut back on drinking and has thrown himself into a new healthy living regime as he wants to be around to see his grandchildren reach their late teens. He told the media: ‘I know my days are numbered and that’s the main worry.’ He continued: ‘I’ve had to cut back on the drinking and I’m always looking up what’s the best thing against cancer, so I’ll eat that or do this or not do that.’ The Oscar-winner – who has shed 30lbs on his health kick – admitted that he hopes to live at least another two years so he can be around for his grandchildren, six-year-old twins and a seven-year-old grandson. Sir Michael also credited his wife Shakira, 70, for keeping him going, as he admitted he would have been ‘dead long ago’ without her. He added: ‘Without her, I’d have been dead long ago. I used to drink a bottle of vodka a day and smoke several packs of cigarettes.’

Scottish comedian Billy Connolly has made a rare public appearance looking vastly different in a new charity video, after stepping back from the spotlight to battle both cancer and Parkinson’s Disease. The 74-year-old funnyman appeared pale, gaunt and subdued in a video calling for donations to Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day, in support of Alzheimer’s and dementia research. “Hello, Billy Connolly here asking for your cash,” he says to the camera. “Not for me obviously. I’ve got cancer and Parkinson’s and I definitely need a hair cut, but no,” he added, proving he had retained the sense of humour that made him famous. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2013 after an Australian fan who happened to be a doctor spotted him in a hotel lobby and advised him to seek medical advice for his “strange gait”. Just hours after Connolly was diagnosed with the degenerative disease he was told he had prostate cancer. He received treatment for the cancer soon after and was given the all-clear later that year. In an April 2016 interview, the comedian admitted he’d had suicidal thoughts since the Parkinson’s diagnosis.

And finally, Ben Affleck has said he has completed treatment for alcohol addiction. In a Facebook post, the Batman and Argo actor admitted that alcoholism was “something I’ve dealt with in the past and will continue to confront”. He said the latest course of treatment was “the first of many steps being taken towards a positive recovery”. His battles with drink problems stretch back more than 15 years, with his first reported stint in an alcohol treatment clinic taking place in 2001. In his new statement, he wrote: “I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be. “I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step.” Sadly, with his recovery comes more bad news, he will star as Batman in the new upcoming film.

On This Day

• 1649 – The House of Commons of England passes an act abolishing the House of Lords, declaring it “useless and dangerous to the people of England”.
• 1895 – Auguste and Louis Lumière record their first footage using their newly patented cinematograph.
• 1932 – The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened.
• 1982 – Falklands War: Argentinian forces land on South Georgia Island, precipitating war with the United Kingdom.

Deaths

• 1930 – Arthur Balfour, Scottish-English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1848)
• 1950 – Edgar Rice Burroughs, American soldier and author (b. 1875)
• 1982 – Randy Rhoads, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1956)
• 2008 – Arthur C. Clarke, British science fiction writer (b. 1917)

Last Week’s Birthdays

Brad Dourif (67), Luc Besson (58), Kurt Russell (66), Rob Lowe (53), Gary Sinise (62), John Boyega (25), Lesley-Anne Down (63), Patrick Duffy (68), Alan Tudyk (46), Erik Estrada (68),  Judah Friedlander (48), Eva Longoria (42), David Cronenberg (74), Will.i.am (42), Michael Caine (84), Sasha Grey (29), Billy Crystal (69), William H. Macy (67), Annabeth Gish (46), Jaimie Alexander (33), Aaron Eckhart (49), Liza Minnelli (71) and Ron Jeremy (64).

Next week peeps!