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Chen Man Hin dead at 97.

Julian Fellowes, the talented British novelist and screenwriter known for creating, producing and writing the critically acclaimed television series "Downton Abbey", is 73 today. He wrote romance novels under the pseudonym of Rebecca Greville. Julian Fellowes won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for "Gosford Park". Jiang Zemin, the Chinese politician who served as General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party from 1989 to 2002 and as the President of the People's Republic of China from 1993 to 2003, is 96 today.

He may have written Downton Abbey, but he is Kilwillie to me. Intriguing Fact: The above mentioned Academy Award that he won for Gosford Park makes a cameo in Monarch of the Glen, disguised as a lamp.

Updated "The Comedians" list following the death of Duggie Brown.

You might have started something there Book. My 2023 LOTL theme team is under consctruction, just getting the name of the old guy who walks his dog in the wood opposite and tends to cough quite a lot!

I've never been a huge fan of his Hollywood blockbusters, but there's one movie that really hit me personally and emotionally when I watched it as a young guy in the mid-nineties: Die Konsequenz (The Consequence) (1977). The original version of the film was censored due to its perceived incendiary content (homosexuality, two men planning to live together, a kiss between them) in the first television broadcast on ARD and regional affiliate Bayerischer Rundfunk refused to relay the transmission signal. The film was very well received by the critics and received several awards, but once again conveyed the image that gay life cannot be happy, that society is not ready for it and that outside pressure is difficult to bear. That in turn made me very sad and I am grateful to have grown up in different times.

Frederick the Great died on this day 236 years ago, aged 74. Frederick became the king of Prussia following the death of his father, Frederick William I, in 1740. Early in his reign, Frederick led several wars to capture the Austrian province of Silesia, citing hereditary reasons- achieving this in 1745, establishing him as a military power (and where he earned his epithet). In 1756, Frederick launched an invasion of Saxony, an event that is considered to have caused the European front of the Seven Years' War, forming an alliance with Great Britain (which ended up leading to the American Revolution 20 years later), and at the war's end, further strengthening his military prowess. From there, he annexed western Poland in its first partition in 1772. Frederick died while seated in his armchair in 1786. Frederick had no children, and his nephew Frederick William II became king. Frederick was very likely a closeted homosexual. Contemporaneous sources showed that he had intimate relationships with males. Frederick was also known to collect homoerotic art from ancient Greece. Despite having a wife, Frederick reportedly "had a physical disgust of women", and claimed that he was impotent so he did not have to have sex with her.

That wouldn't have lasted her much longer, with the price of ciggies now.

Retired British professional figure skater Robin Cousins, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1980 and has won numerous other medals in his sport, celebrates turning 65 today. Award winning American novelist Jonathan Franzen, whose novels include Purity (2015), The Corrections(2001) and Freedom (2010) , celebrates his 63rd birthday today. He had a much publicised feud with Oprah Winfrey after publicly expressing mixed feelings about the value of Oprah selecting his novel for her book club.

Carl Erskine is in a wheelchair but doesn't look that bad for a man who is 95 years old

On this day 30 years ago in 1992, British tailor and fashion designer Tommy Nutter died of complications from AIDS aged 49. He combined traditional tailoring skills with innovative designs making for very unique looks He was quite popular among celebrity circles with Elton John, Mick Jagger as clients and dressing three of the four Beatles for their Abbey Road album cover -something he especially regarded as a feather in his cap. Earlier in his career he and his business partner were financially supported by none other than Cilla Black and her husband Bobby Willis. He designed the clothing worn by Jack Nicholsons The Joker in the 1989 Batman movie. Tommys main look or design are known as bell bottom pants.

A bit early for this conversation, no? We still have people alive from the 1900-1910 time period.... *granted all known dead before 1904* Spanish Civil War participants will die out first. That's more interesting to me currently IMO

Agreed but at some point there will have to be a distinction made between uniformed veterans vs partisans/resistance fighters. There will claimants to the latter long after the last verifiable veteran dies.

Former Finnish Minister of Defence Elisabeth Rehn, born 1935, was a member of the youth wing of auxiliary paramilitary Lotta Svärd from 1943 to 1944 at age 8-9. Similar cases some people will call "veterans" from around the world will probably still be around in the 2040s.

Seems a trend for Hollywood directors to go in their early 80s recently. Someone might want to pick Brian De Palma!

Arthur Goddard dead at 101.

Updated list...up to 1932, and I've dug out a lot of new names. Nguyễn Quyết (1922-2024) Former VP 1987-1997 and General, last living person to have held the title when it was named Deputy Chairman of the Council of State. Will be 100 in a week and seems to be in amazing health for someone his age, able to walk without aid. Nguyễn Thọ Chân (1922-2023) Labor minister 1974-1981, former ambassador to the Soviet Union and Sweden. Huỳnh Đắc Hương (1922) Major general, former Deputy Minister of Invalids and Social Affairs who has been a party member for 80 years and participates or participated in events frequently, called a "historical witness". Vũ Xuân Vinh (1923) Lt. Gen and seemingly a minor name in politics. Seems to be alive. Vũ Oanh (1924-2022) Former Politburo member. Nguyễn Quốc Thước (1926) Lt. Gen and old politburo member. Bùi Phan Kỳ (1926) Another elderly Lt. Gen Đặng Quốc Bảo (1927-2024) Minor name once hugged by Fidel Castro. Nguyễn Thị Bình (1927) VP 1992-2002, legendary head of the Viet Cong delegation at the Paris Peace Conference. Slowly grown frailer and seems to have spent time in hospital during the last years. Trần Phương (1927) Deputy Prime Minister 1982-1987. Last of Phạm Văn Đồng's (1906-2000) Deputy Prime Ministers, wheelchairbound in April 2021, leads Hanoi's University of Business and Technology. Lê Phước Thọ (1927-2023) Old Central Committee member. Nguyễn Khánh (1928-2023) Deputy Prime Minister 1987-1997. On the original list as Nguyen Kahn. As far as I know has not made appearances in a while. Đặng Quân Thụy (1928) Former National Assembly member. Đặng Bích Hà (1928-2024) Historian, wife of late Võ Nguyên Giáp (1911-2013) Đoàn Duy Thành (1929) Deputy Prime Minister 1987-1988, seems to be doing fine? Nguyễn Mạnh Cầm (1929) Deputy Prime Minister 1997-2002, apparently born on the same day as Doan Duy Thanh. Nguyễn Trọng Tháp (1929) Ancient minor politician and military figure. Chu Duy Kính (1930) Former National Assembly member. Frail. Phan Văn Lai (1930) Minor name. Vũ Ngọc Hải (1931) Old Central Committee member, former Energy minister. Trần Hanh (1932-2024) Former Deputy Minister of Defence and central committee member. Đặng Văn Thân (1932-2023) Former Central Committee member. Suffered what seems to have been a severe stroke years ago. Alive?-section Cổ Kim Thành (1918-2016) Major Quang Binh local politician. Hoàng Trà (1922-2010) Soldier, politician Trương Như Tảng (1923-2005) Once Minister of Justice in the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam, seems to have lived in Paris later. English wikipedia says he died 2005. Nguyễn Hữu Hanh (1923) South Vietnamese minister, not to be confused with Nguyễn Hữu Hạnh (1924-2019) who only had one leg. Trần Hiếu Tâm (1925) Minor name. I won't add pictures, but there's lots of most of them on the internet. Here's Huỳnh looking dapper in his uniform:

I haven't seen this - don't think it's out yet, but it looks promising. I loved these two in In Bruges.

And With Oliva Newton-John now passing, that's another major miss and yes i do count Cribbins as a miss.

I know him best for his role as Chancellor Gorkon in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. One of the finest Trek films, Warner and Plummer both did a great job in that one. We'll not mention his small role in Star Trek V.

They are either Gibraltarian carrots or relocated East End gangster carrots, I’d say.

Anyways, look how adorable my new dog is and stop the hate. We're all on the right side here really, yes?

England 2 - 1 Denmark

Former high school football coach Herman Boone, known for coaching football at T.C. Williams High School, dead at 84 years: https://wtop.com/alexandria/2019/12/herman-boone-alexandria-football-coach-immortalized-in-remember-the-titans-dies-at-84/ He was immortalized in the movie Remember the Titans.

Italian Writer and masters athlete Ugo Sansonetti dead at 100 years: https://www.viviwebtv.it/news/cronaca/832806/mottola-piange-sansonetti-addio-allatleta-uomo-infinito