Evil Grimace

Willie Mays QO from the BBC: Baseball great Willie Mays dies at 93

It was the potassium benzoate!

As above, Bill Spence is for the LotM having been last picked 2023 (sorry @Gooseberry Crumble) https://www.derbydeadpool.co.uk/deadpool2023/celebs_S.html#spenceb022

Robert Pickton is for the List of the Missed, last picked in 2023. https://www.derbydeadpool.co.uk/deadpool2023/celebs_P.html#picktorx19

Pope allegedly used derogatory term for gay people No comment from the Vatican at the moment. For anyone to accept the explanation, if one is even delivered, will require a miracle...

Again, not dead! Recent article covering his work and the writer's attempts to contact him regarding the play being written about him. ‘My songs spread like herpes’: why did satirical genius Tom Lehrer swap worldwide fame for obscurity? | Music | The Guardian

Frank Ifield gets multiple QOs: Frank Ifield, legendary singer, dead aged 86 | Metro News Frank Ifield dead at 86: Music legend who helped give The Beatles their start passes away | The Sun Australian music legend Frank Ifield, a household name in Britain who was once supported by The Beatles, dies aged 86 | Daily Mail Online Date of death given as 18 May. That's another pick gone from the 1998 DDP, and on the day of the update.

4/4 The Dead, the List of the Missed, Bad Choices & Research and the Unknowns Again, this is a big list, so check the spoilers. The Dead You’ll see the usual suspects, with the late ‘90s and early ‘00 being products of their time. The List of the Missed The most recent is Jacob Rothschild. These are again in pink. DI has identified many of them as listed in the archive section. The issue that I’ve seen is that without the 1999 DDP list, there could be more. And there are several who appear to be new additions. These are the red ones on the list. footballer? rugby? Eric Davis 2007 2007 or 2001 Note 22 August Eric Hall (3) 2020 2000 Reginald Kray (RONNIE CRAY) 2000 2000, 1998? Charles Bronson (2) 2003 2002 (5 teams) John Sessions 2020 1998? aka John Marshall widely mentioned on Forums Raine - Countess Spencer 2016 1998? has Guardian QO @Death Impends mentioned Eric Hall before having found out his status when the early '00s lists came to light. The one that shocked me was Charles Bronson - there is a ‘Death Wish’ joke there I am sure! Countess Spencer seems out of place too, as it took no time to locate the QO. Bad Choices & Research These names were dead before the 1998 contest started. George Burns is a bizarre choice as it was a hit two years previous. Chris Farley is understandable as he died only two weeks before the start - a reason there are now subs? And how on earth did you not know Ed Sullivan was dead!?!? Ed Sullivan 1974 Lorne Greene 1987 Doris Speed 1994 George Burns 1996 was a hit in '96 Chris Farley 1997 died 18/12/1997 The Unknowns Ann West and some poor spelling/naming of her would have been listed here too, but as she was a hit in 1999 she appears there. The above name was a pick for @drunkasaskunk and I’m hoping that someone from the era can identify the following names. Cheetah Cheeta Peter O' Sullivan KEVIN CHIN Janette Pink (mentioned in 2010) The first two are probably the same person, again the spelling issue. The next two are a generic nightmare. I can find Janette Pink - she would be a FFBI pick these days. The list has a few HIV/AIDS picks - little did they know about the era of antiretroviral drugs! Okay, that's it. Check the spoilers below for the full list of the Dead from the 1998 DDP.

3/4 The Living from the 1998 DDP Below is the list of the 92 picks that were living as of 18 May 2023. The only death that has occurred since was Jacob Rothschild. The sheer number of survivors from the 1998 DDP just shows how much the game has evolved from the early days. I doubt that 34% (92/268) of the picks from a recent DDP year will have a third of the picks surviving 25 years later. This is a who’s who of the ‘90s. It is ranked by the years the picks have been in the DDP. I started this back in May 2023, and updated it for 2024. It has been on and off, but with the death of Rothschild and the one year anniversary, it was time to get it finished. I’ve left my notes on identification or correct spelling of picks names - ‘show your work’ as they say. The colour code is a follows: pink - LotM, black -living, green - 1998 contenders Enjoy!

2/4 Statistics of the 1998 DDP Total number of teams: 31 Potential number of picks (all unique): 620 Total number of picks: 268 Top picks: Pope John Paul II (21), Ronald Reagan (19), Boris Yeltsin (18), Bob Hope (13), Barbara Cartland (12), Spike Milligan (12), Nelson Mandela (10), Thora Hird (8), Elizabeth Taylor (7), Fidel Castro (6), Kirk Douglas (6), John Gielgud (6), Margaret Thatcher (6) Number of picks dead up to Amis (18 May 2023): 176 Number of picks living after Amis (18 May 2023): 92 Number of picks living as of today (18 May 2024): 91, (dead - Jacob Rothschild)

1/4 Contenders I know these posts could very well go in the 2023 DDP thread, but the history is relevant and hopefully will be enjoyed. It has been a year since Martin Amis died and claimed the title for the longest span from pick to List of the Missed, at 25 years (1998 to 2023). When @YoungWillz pointed this out, I wondered if there were other contenders... and there are. I also have it in my memory that @Gooseberry Crumble said something that instigated this research, so please take that credit too! This is the TL;DR summary. See spoilers for full analysis. There will be a few posts! Beck sarcoidosis Karen Duffy Melissa "Prom Mom" Drexler alaniss morisset ru paul Saul Hudson Slash (Guns 'N Roses) footballer; bomber one L? (2014) Terry Nicholls Carlos Sainz (Sr) All of the above have not been picked since 1998 and would capture the title from Amis if they die before being picked in the DDP again.

Two items that give credit to this information. First, while the initial post is from 25 May 2021, the comment about the care home was written on 18 December 2023 in response to a comment by a former house maid of his who was asking if he was still living in Highgate. More convincing was the fact the comment came from 'The Real Stanley Baxter' page run by Brian Beacom, the same person who wrote the biography on Baxter. Beacom is known to have regular contact with Baxter, one of the few to do so, giving weight to the statements made.

Rhod Gilbert high on life after cancer treatment Update on Rhod Gilbert. Highlights below. his 'new normal' has him grateful for his cancer treatment plans to use the experience in his new tour Over the next two years, Gilbert will be touring his new show Rhod Gilbert and the Giant Grapefruit for form spotting - article also has a link to a full interview this weekend that will also be available later

It is 30 April, day 121 of 366 this year, almost one third through the year (exactly one third is tomorrow). The DDP stands at 121 hits, and has maintained a hit rate of >1 hit/day until today when it is exactly 1 hit/day. This is an impressive first third of the year. Are the May doldrums ahead? All other years have had them, except for 2023.

Lee Grant features prominently in the Netflix series 'Turning Point: The Bomb and the Cold War'. She's in the second episode and discusses the McCarthy trials of Hollywood actors and actresses and its impact on her career and her blacklisting. She's well spoken, sharp and animated. If I didn't know about her age, it would be hard to believe this was someone in their late 90s. The series was released in March 2024. It was clearly filmed earlier as Daniel Ellsberg is in both the second and third episodes, with the third one acknowledging his death in June 2023 the credits. I suspect his parts were filmed prior to diagnosis and disclosure of his illness (pancreatic cancer), making it late 2022 or early 2023. Possibly Lee Grant's parts will filmed around this time.