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Cameo seems an excellent place for formspotting. I don't completely know how to use it to search for people , but there's a suprisingly large amount of elderly celebrities and ones with a history of ill health there, here's a list with links to their pages: Barry Corbin (82, oral cancer, decrepit) Bruce Dern (87) George Hamilton (84, some history of ill health I recall) Tommy Chong (85) Jamie Farr (89) Paul Dooley (95) Brian Cox (77) Gianni Russo (79, godfather actor) Sportspeople/"sports"people too: Marv Levy (98) Ronnie Coleman (59, bodybuilder, tons of health issues) Richard Petty (86, stock car racing legend) Baron von Raschke (82, professional wrestler) Peter Shilton OBE (73) Sir Geoff Hurst (81) Harry Carson (69, American football player with a ton of health problems) Larry Bowa (77, old MLB guy) Many more there if you want to go check.

Robert Klane (Weekend at Bernie's) dead, 81.

Reminds me of this "poem":

Afraid that ship sailed a long time ago.

And I’ll be remedying said downvote with my upvote I’m afraid Also, Tax That were always gonna get minus votes from me on account of them being thoroughly shite. This shouldn’t be a game of politics, it’s a game of what the fuck’s the best music. That’s how I score.

Gayle Hunnicutt according to the Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2023/sep/03/gayle-hunnicutt-obituary?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Pet Shop Boys are terrific live. They have an excellent touring band and always put on an imaginative show with dancers etc. Not that it's necessary with their extensive catalogue of superb songs.

Steve Harwell QO: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/steve-harwell-smash-mouth-all-star-death-b2404522.html I wanted a Sun obit but couldn't find one at point of writing. Edit: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/celebrities/23793619/steve-harwell-dead-smash-mouth/

He lasted less than a day since it was announced he was in hospice care and yet immortal Carter has lasted almost 7 months, and the less said about Frank Field the better.

Sky reporting that Chris Pincher has lost his appeal against suspension. BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66707255 Likely recall petition to follow....

This schools story really is astonishing. In 2018, crumbling concrete in schools posed a legitimate critical risk to life. They needed the budget for 400 schools to be repaired/rebuilt. The Tories agreed on 100. Then a certain chancellor going by the name of Rishi Sunak came in and halved the budget to 50, while giving out six-figure sums to Winchester college and seven-figure sums to an IT suite in a US college. Disgusting doesn't even cover it.

Gooseberry, usually I'd say after 3 years of enema you need to get to A&E asap. But in this case, I think you need to beware next year. 2014 - Richard Attenborough, Robin Williams, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eusebio, Rik Mayall, Joe Cocker, Jeremy Thorpe, Jack Bruce, Ian Paisley, Donald Sinden, Jaws, Joan Rivers, James Garner, Elaine Stritch, Bobby Womack, Alfredo di Stefano, Eli Wallach, Elena Baltacha, Bob Hoskins, Tito Vilanova, Kate O'Mara, Sue Townsend, Tony Benn, Harold Ramis, Ariel Sharon 2004 - Yasser Arafat, John Peel, Emlyn Hughes, Ronald Reagan, Christopher Reeve, Janet Leigh, Brian Clough, Johnny Ramone, Ray Charles, Peter Ustinov 1994 - Fanny Craddock, Cab Calloway, Taggart, Peter Cushing, Roy Castle, Kim il Sung, Jessica Tandy, Burt Lancaster, Dennis Potter, Jackie Kennedy, John Smith, Senna, Richard Nixon, Kurt Cobain, John Candy, Bill Hicks, Joe Cotten, Telly Savalas, Matt Busby, Cesar Romero 1984 - Sam Peckinpah, Indira Gandhi, Francois Truffaut, John Hexum, Brighton bombing, Leonard Rossiter, Stan from Corrie, Truman Capote, Richard Burton, James Mason, Foucault, Eric Morecambe, John Betjeman, Andy Kaufman, Diana Dors, Count Basie, Tommy Cooper, Marvin Gaye, Arnold Ridley, Ethel Merman, Yuri Andropov, Luke Kelly (Dubliners), Jackie Wilson, Tarzan 1974 - Jack Benny , PG Wodehouse, Schindler, Charles Lindbergh, Mama Cass, Juan Peron, Pompidou, Bud Abbott, Duke Ellington, Sam Goldwin. 1964 - Sam Cooke, Herbert Hoover, Cole Porter, Harpo Marx, Gracie Allen, Ian Fleming, Flanery O'Connor, Nehru, Nancy Astor, General MacArthur, Alan Ladd, Peter Lorre Obviously my in-depth knowledge of big name celebs dries up a bit but there's a clear trend of years ending in 4 having big A list deaths, and a fair few "where the fuck did that come from?" big name demises too.

Let's start with an easy one. @Kenny

One of the best African players ever, Malian Salif Keita, has died aged 76. Truly a Saint Étienne and Ligue 1 legend. During the 1970-1971 with Saint Étienne he scored 42 goals ! However he wasn’t the top scorer as Yugoslavian Skoblar from Marseille scored 44 times ! Keita and Skoblar are the only two people in the history of Ligue 1 to score 40 goals or more in one season ! He was the first Sub Saharan African to play in France and Spain. In 1973 he was the second player of Africa CAF (after Moroccan Abdallah Ben Barek from 1957 to 1968) to play in La Liga with Valencia.

Reports that Marilyn Lovell has died: Might hasten a certain astronaut's demise, if true.

Patrick Murray having a day out at A&E. Only Fools and Horses star gives up after 10 hour A&E wait amid cancer treatment (msn.com)

The full list of votes for The Crowdsourced Deathlist, 2023. - 1807 points – Jimmy Carter - 1600 points – Rolf Harris - 1410 points – Bob Barker - 1285 points – Henry Kissinger - 1246 points – George Alagiah - 1124 points – Joanne Woodward - 1084 points – Glynis Johns - 1037 points – Roberta Flack - 988 points – Frank Field - 963 points – James Whale - 957 points – Gianluca Vialli - 916 points - Harry Belafonte - 915 points – Rosalynn Carter - 890 points – Tony Bennett - 874 points – Jonnie Irwin - 799 points – Linda Nolan - 769 points – Eva Marie Saint - 736 points – June Spencer - 681 points – Dick van Dyke - 641 points – Ruth Buzzi - 623 points – Nigel Starmer Smith - 614 points – Andy Taylor - 573 points – Mel Brooks - 567 points – Constantine II - 566 points – Milan Kundera - 560 points – Ted Kaczyinski - 552 points – Yoko Ono - 544 points – Sandra Day O’Connor - 536 points – Bobby Charlton - 535 points - Jean Marie le Pen - 534 points – Rob Burrow - 528 points – Shannen Doherty - 526 points – Giorgio Napolitano - 516 points – Norman Tebbitt - 511 points – Jacques Delors - 499 points – David Attenborough - 488 points – Noam Chomsky - 486 points – Ryuichi Sakamoto - 477 points – Marianne Faithful - 457 points – Sonny Rollins - 448 points – Stanley Baxter, Randy Jackson - 443 points – Norman Lear - 409 points – James Earl Jones - 408 points – Topol - 407 points – Francoise Hardy - 397 points – James Watson - 395 points – Vera Miles - 392 points – Duke of Kent - 391 points – David Graham - 390 points – Prunella Scales - 388 points – Imelda Marcos - 386 points – Burt Bacharach - 373 points – Nigel Lawson - 370 points – Violeta Chamorro - 355 points – Pervez Musharraf - 350 points – Joss Ackland - 337 points – William Russell - 335 points – Steve “Mongo” McMichael - 322 points – Cleo Laine - 317 points – Alan Greenspan - 309 points – Clint Eastwood - 308 points – Robert Wagner - 303 points – Dennis Skinner - 296 points – Douglas Hurd - 283 points – Pope Francis - 274 points – Patricia Routledge - 271 points – Linda Ronstadt - 269 points – Liza Minelli - 262 points – Buzz Aldrin - 257 points – Bob Newhart - 238 points – Vanessa Redgrave, Ethel Kennedy - 235 points – Jean Marsh - 231 points – Sandy Gall - 229 points – Janey Godley - 221 points – Gina Lollobrigida - 218 points – Shane McGowan - 199 points – Winnie Ewing - 197 points – Michael Tilson Thomas, Iris Apfel - 195 points – Phyllida Law - 194 points – Tina Turner - 192 points – Stella Stevens - 186 points – Michael Parkinson - 184 points – Willie Nelson, Raul Castro - 181 points – Johnny Ruffo - 180 points – Bernadette Chirac - 175 points – Frank McGarvey - 174 points – Carlos Bilardo, Tom Lehrer - 172 points – Ayatollah Khamenei - 171 points – Fay Weldon - 170 points – Lee Grant - 168 points – Chris Rea - 164 points - Akihito - 161 points – Frederic Forrest - 159 points – Isabel Peron, Gudrun Ure - 156 points – Mohammed Al Fayed - 154 points – Rhod Gilbert - 152 points – Derek Draper - 150 points – Martti Ahtisaari - 148 points – Amanda Bynes - 141 points – Queen Ratna - 139 points – Ozzy Osbourne - 136 points – Kate Keltie - 134 points – Ray Anthony - 133 points – Paul Hogan, Ted Turner, Benjamin Ferencz - 131 points – Phyllida Law - 127 points – Michael Caine - 125 points – Dick Cheney - 124 points – Jeannette Lee - 123 points – Julie Goodyear - 122 points – Desmond Morris - 117 points – Abdullah the Butcher, June Lockhart, Tom Baker - 116 points – Mahathir Mohammad - 115 points – Alice Munro - 112 points – Katherine Jackson - 111 points – Nana Mouskouri - 109 points – Vladimir Putin - 107 points – Dr Ruth - 106 points – Alexander Jodorowsky - 105 points – Pat Robertson - 104 points – Princess Mikasa, Milos Zeman, David Crosby - 101 points – Khamtai Siphandon - 100 points – Betty Boothroyd - 97 points – James L Buckley, Anita Pointer - 96 points – Lynne Reid Banks, Brigitte Bardot - 93 points – Carolyn Bryant Donham - 90 points – Juan Carlos I - 89 points – Gene Hackman, Lucille Randon - 88 points – Don King, Toby Keith, Norman Jewison - 87 points – Tippi Hedren, Edie McClurg - 86 points – John Cannan - 85 points – Richard Franklin, Mary Quant - 84 points – Queen Sirikit - 83 points – Valerie Perrine - 82 points – Julie Andrews - 80 points – Renee Taylor, Rita Moreno, Michiko - 79 points – Rupert Murdoch, Dianne Feinstein, Ray Reardon, - 78 points – Manmohan Singh, Willie Mays - 77 points – Jane Fonda, Jean-Pierre Laboulle - 75 points – Cesar Luis Menotti, Denis Law - 73 points – Sophia Loren, Janis Paige, Joni Mitchell - 72 points – Guidio Gorgatti - 71 points – Philippe de Gaulle, Frankie Valli, Estelle Parsons - 70 points – Phil Collins - 69 points – Ysanne Churchman - 68 points – Malachy McCourt, Stuart Hall, Alain Delon - 67 points – Alberto Fujimori, Sidney Cooke - 66 points – Arthur Scargill, Marla Gibbs, Kat Bjelland - 65 points – Lindsay Buckingham, Zhu Rongii Dikembe Mutombo - 64 points – Gordon Lightfoot - 63 points – William Daniels, Bill Butler, Al Jaffee, Maggie Smith - 62 points – Donald Trump, Lisa Lu, Grace Slick, Valdas Adamkus - 61 points – Tim Curry, John Astin - 60 points – Alan Bennett, Margrethe II - 59 points – Richard M Sherman, Liliana Cavani - 58 points – Edna O’Brien, Hazel McCallion, Tim Lobinger - 57 points – Richard Wilson, Roy Hattersley - 56 points – Eugenia Cooney, Ady Barkan - 55 points – Roy Clarke, Eileen Derbyshire, Bill Wyman, Roger Corman - 54 points – Iron Sheik, Joe Exotic - 53 points – Silvio Berlusconi, Roman Polanski, Ratko Mladic - 52 points – Robert Kuok, Gena Rowlands - 51 poinnts – Julie Walters, Luis Garavito, Malcolm Hebden, Carole Cook, John Fetterman - 50 points – Andrew Tate, Leontyne Price, Bobby Vinton, Ryan O’Neal, Jose Marie Marin, Ion Iliescu, Bas de Gaay Fortman, Cheng-ning Yang, Larry Pressler, Barbara Eden, Hu Jintao - 49 points – Helene Joilot, Thomas Noguchi, Johnny Gilbert, Anastasia Zavortynuk, Jeremiah Green, Neale Adams, Lee Majors - 48 points – Princess Astrid, Emerich Jenei, Wilson Fittipaldi Jr, Shintaro Tsuji, Peter Procter, Arnold Yarrow, Tomichi Murayama, Jim Carter, Wilfred Benitez, Princess Bajrakityabha - 47 points – Edouard Balladur, Vic Seixas, Josip Manolic, Bill Hayden, Joe Biden, Teresa Nervosa, Sofia Gubadiulina - 46 points – William Labov, Tim Keller, Terry Medwin, Lando Buzzanca, Pam St Clement, Martia Camacho Quinos - 45 points – Carmen Silvera, Alan Bergman, Rowshan Ershad, Dick McTaggart, Virginia Halas McCaskey, Florina Piersic, Annette Crosbie, Oscar Wyatt, Dave Marsh, Steve Lawrence - 44 points – John Savident, Anouk Aimee, Gerard Depardieu, Dick Button, Louis Farrakhan, Dennis Lottis, Andres Garcia - 43 points – Freddy Quinn, Fredrich Grade, Chuck Grassley, Margaret Stuart Barry, David Linden, Pierre Richard - 42 points – Jiri Ono, Caren Marsh Doll, Sam Bankman-Fried, Steve Gleason, Tom Stafford, Timothy Dudley-Smith, Robert Solow, Giles Brindley - 41 points – Denny Crum, Bill Tidy, Tammy Slaton, Charles Burrell, Lance Henriksen, Patrick Leahy, Robert Badinter, Volodymyr Zelenskyy - 40 points – Jim Lovell, Joyce Randolph, Song Ping, Teddie Chinnery, George Johnson, George Koonymans, Albert S Ruddy, Nikocado Avocado - 39 points – Gavin Robertson, Takhesi 69, John Boorman, Pauline Kana, Wanda Poltawska, Doyle Brunson, Ion Tiriac, Martin Bashir, Chevy Chase, Walter Mirisch, The Hong Piow, Rodion Amirov, Ray Lawler, Amy Price, Tenryu - 38 points – Claudia Cardinale, Ella Jenkins, Jack Nicholson, Pete Murray, Tiger Mask, Lee Corso - 37 points – Just Fontaine, Clarence Thomas, Brian Wilson - 36 points – Terry Venables, Doreen Mantle, Chubby Checker, Pat Boone, Jessica Alves, Anita Cornwell, Joseph DeAngelo, Saijida Talfah, Billy Dee Williams, Harvey Weinstein - 35 points – Khaleda Zia, Claude Lelouch, Jet Black, Silvia Pinal, Gene Shalit, Pauline Clayden, Kitty Hart-Moxom, Lucille Song, Frank Gehry - 34 points – Saalumarada Thimmakka, Jordan Peterson, Fred Lorenzen, Baroness Jane Campbell, Michael Schaefernaker, Ronald Blythe, Asha Bhosle, Earl of Airlie - 33 points – Charlie Munger, Michael Gambon, John Cruickshank, James Bolam, Jan Svankmaier, David Steel, Franz Beckenbauer, Kazimierz Klimczak, Albert II, Derren Nesbitt, Gloria Deukmejan, Margia Dean - 32 points – Lou Donaldson, Marlene Matthews, Shin jung-hyeon, Rosemary Squires, Dalai Lama, Harriet Anderson, Micheline Presle - 31 points – Jake The Snake Roberts, Chief Buthulezi, Fernanda Montengro, Yoon Jeong-Hee, Steve Way, Kim Novak, Giorgio Moroder, Joan D Vinge - 30 points – June Squibb, Joseph McGrath, Mamie van Doren, Quentin Blake, Juan Ponce Enrile, Lech Walesa, Jan Englert, Hugo Broch, Salman - 29 points – Wee Willie Harris, Jean Malurie, Mike Yarwood, Bobby Caldwell, Adriano Celetano, Salman Rushdie, Miiko Taaka - 28 points – Clint Hill, Mindy Carson, Jimmy Tarbuck, Gwneth Jones, James Ivory, Joe Benton, Sandy Gall, William Shatner, Marilyn Horne, Gordon Pinsent, Connie Francis, Kenneth Cope - 27 points – Marion Ross, Larisa Latvina, Clive Barker, Jane Morgan, John Williams, William Perry, Borie Salming, Tsai Chen - 26 points – Jirinia Bobdalova, John Prescott, John Hemingway, Ronnie Atkins, Leonard Laudier, Rebecca Pan, Elaine May - 25 points – Ram John Holder, Earl Holliman, Ann Blyth, Dick Bottoms, Chas McDevitt, Gheorge Zamfir, Barbara Knox, Shirley Jones, Engelbert Humperdink - 24 points – Peter Max, Derek Jacobi, Lou Gan, Al Roker, Elizabeth Dole, Mihai Sora, Meg Wynn Owen - 23 points – Mario Zagallo, James C Floyd, Jimmy Swaggart, Ibrahim Abi-Ackel, Ronnie Milsan, Boogie2988 - 22 points – Kenneth Anger, Rosemary Harris, Marlyne Barrett, Clive Wearing, Milan Kucan, Michael Epstein, Harold V - 21 points – Joan Collins, Bill Cosby, Gerald Harper, John Ashton, Jose Sarney, Lee Adams, Wilhelm Bueseing, Kim yong-nam, Jose Mujica, Smolashy - 20 points – Um aing-ran, Joe Brown, Val Kilmer, Raoni, Jack Hanna, Suge Knight, Jacqueline White, Rachid Mekhloufi - 19 points – Christiane F, Parnelli Jones, Tony Soper, Frank Miller, Mahmoud Abbas, Ringo Starr, Joe Lieberman, Mick Jagger, Amy Callaghan, Sadaharu Oh, Ed Slater - 18 points – GFOTY, Ugo Mifsud Bonicci, Yang You, Claude Jarman, Dionna Warwick, Clive Revill, Barbara Barrie, Giorgio Forltini - 17 points – John Kander, William Gaunt, Jacques Dutronc, David Oreck, Janet Baker, Donovan, Philippe Bouvard, Prince Michael of Kent - 16 points – Amartya Sen, Ashley Fin, Cher, Dario Argento, Aboulaye Wade, Annette Warren, Farah Pahlavi, Judi Dench, Robert Blake, Angie Dickinson, Ornella Vanoni - 15 points – Jurgen Habermas, Galina Gorokhova, Butch Miller, Harry Whittington, Sian Philips, Kaikala Satyanarayana, Terry Jacks, Michael Dukakis, Theodore McCarrick, Louis Gossett Jr, Young Chop - 14 points – Sepp Blatter, Chief Keef, Morgan Freeman, Peter Ackroyd, Shirley Bassey, Scotty Bowman, Francoise Fabian, Judy Parfitt, Christopher Benjamin - 13 points – Aerek Hersh, Lula a Silva, Warren Buffet, Lois Smith, Nino Benevenuti, Wilfredo Gomez, Masahiro Shinoda - 12 points – David Hope, Tom Oliver, Gary Glitter, Ellen Burstyn, Khuie Sampan, Johnny Mathis, Al Quie, Wei Wei, Sinead O’Connor, Bull Nakano - 11 points - Alison Hammond, Virginia McKenna, Diana Armfield, Menachem Pressler, Mina, Derren Nesbitt, Dump Matsumato - 10 points – Teri Garr, George Soros, Alan Oppenheimer, Hans Blix, Elizabeth Kelly, Thomas Noguchi, Jamilia Boulbired - 9 points – Sonia Gandhi, Cecile Langlois, Koko B Ware, Ivana Knoll, Carl Erskine, Jack Thompson, Greg Lemond, Bernie Sanders, Dick Groat, Paul Dooley, Cheryl Lynn, Julietta Serrano, Boris Spassky, Mel Ribiero, Rachel Ames - 8 points – Fauja Singh, Hwang in shik, Hal Linden, Joe Lieberman, Annette Allard, Antonia Fraser, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vivian Pickles, Carlo Sauga, Valentine Strasser, Sandra Weir, Bobby Kimball, Su Pollard - 7 points – Barry Humphries, Bill Cobbs, Ivy Ling Po, Eckhart Dux, Hunter Biden, Sally Struthers, Vivian Pickles, Dominic Chianese, Victor Orena, Lex Luger, John Standing, Amanda Lear - 6 points – Wendy Williams, Heather Locklear, Agnes Keleti, Woody Woodbury, Tin Oo, Alexandra Stan, Art Shalloc, Lil Pump, John Woodvine, Slyvia Syms - 5 points – Steve Halliwell, Jack Bruce Jr, Lina Medina, Rosey Grier, Dave Whelan, Miso Kovac, Sheldon Harnick, Paul Vachon, Albert Delpy, Rose West - 4 points – Muazzes Cig, John Morris, Jose de la Parra, Cissy Houston, Petula Clark, Vashtai Bunyan, Robert Duvall, Bella Thorne, Gilberto Gil, Elsie Kelly, Billy Connolly, Michael York - 3 points – Constance Towers, Whang-od Oggay, Alan Dean Foster, Jose Sarney, Ida Vitale, Linda Perhac, Bill Clinton, Tila Tequila, Emilio Fede, Arnaldo Forlani, Judith Magre, Maryportfuncity, Wilbur Ross, Mitzi Gaynor - 2 points – Scarlett Moffat, Abigail Kawanakoa, Maria Fux, Bernie Ecclestone, Ted Kotcheff, Alfonso Aaru, Demi Lovato, Rick Davies, Billy Two Rivers, David Hamilton, Ricky Knight, Mary Costa, Lee Ka-Shing, Macha Merill, Christopher Timothy - 1 point – Mavis Staples, Lil Wayne, Dick Pound, Penelope Lively, Vigdis Finnbogadottir, Henry Sandon All spelling typos either mine or the person who voted for them. Any doublers down to ye old "didn't remove one after adding late points", so no "you split someone's points in two" conspiracies round here. DROPPED FROM 2022 Milos Zeman – 104 points, never came close to readmission. Was below 20 points for most of the voting. Douglas Hurd – 296 points – Seemed a cert to make the list until an unexpected deluge of extra lists on Hogmanay left him well adrift. Jake Roberts – 31 points – Very much forgotten. Jean Marsh – 235 points – Miles behind until Christmas. Made a late charge but was too far back, finishing nearly 160 points off the pace. FORMER PICKS NOT PICKED IN 2022 Prunella Scales (390), Imelda Marcos (388), Burt Bacharach (386), Violeta Chamorro (370) – all came very close Sinead O’Connor – 12 points Alberto Fujimori – 67 points Val Kilmer – 20 points Willie Nelson – 184 points None of these came close to qualifying in 2023. Maybe they’ll do better in 2024. Well, not Sinead. DL PICKS NOT ON OURS Michael Parkinson - 186 points Tina Turner - 194 points, a fair way off the pace. Nigel Lawson/Burt Bacharach - As seen above, near misses. Pervez Musharraf - 355 points, so again, someone on the radar but who just missed out. OTHER NOTES The lack of Deathray has hurt the tiny weatherman bandwagon. The vastly increased points tally to get to 50th place meant bandwagons in general suffered a tough time in the voting. Clint Eastwood, Patricias Routledge and the Pope all saw huge swings to towards them, and seem to be gaining momentum as potential future picks. Meanwhile Billy Connolly almost got a clean vote of health, and Michael York and Joan Collins perhaps have surprisingly few voters given their fans on forum. With a little over 120 days till Hogmanay (fecking hell), made sense to finally sort this out before the whole rigmarole starts all over again!

https://www.whatsonstage.com/news/musical-star-chris-peluso-has-died-it-has-been-confirmed_1519125/ Broadway and West End star Chris Peluso has died after a battle with Schizophrenia. Very sad news. Saw him twice in the West End in Miss Saigon and Show Boat.

Schmidt's collaborator, lyricist and librettist Tom Jones reportedly dead aged 95: https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Broadway-Lyricist-and-Librettist-Tom-Jones-Has-Passed-Away-20230812 IDMB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0429368/ IBDB: https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/tom-jones-8906

CZECH MATE 8/50 11th July 2023 The Czech novelist Milan Kundera has died, only five years after we were first told he would imminently die. Next to Zsa Zsa Gabor, a rank amateur in the Grim Reaper avoidance dance, of course. Born in Brno in 1929, Kundera was captivated by music and then Communism, but he couldn’t afford piano lessons and in 1950, the Communist part of Czechoslovakia expelled him, so he turned to writing satirical novels ridiculing the Communist set up. He remained somewhat connected to the Communist party (which un-expelled him, before banning him for life finally in 1970) and actively thought Vaclav Havel’s protests after the Prague Spring were alarmist, up to the point where the new regime banned the books of Milan Kundera! Kundera swiftly emigrated to Paris, via Rennes, where he spent the rest of his life. In 1984, he published the book he is best known for, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, a philosophy heavy book somehow transformed into a Hollywood film starring Daniel Day Lewis. He was a critic of nostalgia, and while his tragi-comedic look at the authoritarianism of the Czech regime was akin to Solzhenitsyn, Kundera himself claimed his books had no political message, in much the same way a speech by Jeremy Corbyn is apolitical. He married his own secretary, had an asteroid named after himself, and in 2020, won the Kafka Prize, having metamorphosed into a lifespan over twice the length of The Trial author. Kundera’s death leaves a clutch of successes for the Crowdsourced Deathlist in the 24-26 spot, which presumably leaves Mel Brooks and Yoko Ono feeling worried.

Or then again ...

Almost a year to the day he announced that his cancer had spread

Possible. He's already survived 8 years, why not 9?

A great actor Boycie was one of the greats, he was pivotal to only fools and Horses success he was superb a sad loss was only watching an old episode of only fools this morning and wondering how John Challis was doing thought he would last a bit longer to be fair.

His fans hope "He Shall Overcome", rather then end up in one of those" Little Boxes" in the hillside