VSBfromH

Gordon Tootoosis The Canadian actor has died aged 69. I was trying to recall where I knew him from (his name is not easily forgotten!) and realised it would probably be from his appearance in "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" (the 2002 version). He was of Cree and Stoney descent, his great-grandfather being Yellow Mud Blanket, brother of the Cree chief Poundmaker "who played a pivotal role in the Northwest resistance of 1885".

Barry Hines Author of "A Kestrel for a Knave" on which the film "Kes" was based "is now an in-patient at The Woodlands older person’s unit at Rotherham Hospital after a spell at a nursing home ended because staff were unable to cope with his challenging behaviour".

Will this do?

Shelagh Milligan Spike's widow, last of his 3 wives, has died aged 67.

Yelena Bonner "Soviet dissident Yelena Bonner, the widow of Nobel Peace Prize winner Andrei Sakharov, has died after a long illness at the age of 88". Her nephew, former Republic of Ireland keeper Pat, is said to be very sad at the passing of the woman he knew as "aunty Nellie".

Esmond Kentish "Esmond Kentish, who was West Indies' oldest living cricket international [2 tests against England in 1948 and 1954], has died at age 94 in Kingston, Jamaica". He later went on to manage the international side for a spell in the 70s. He was also the first black General Manager of the Bank of Jamaica.

Goodbye Mr. Mackenzie! No link yet, but it was reported on the radio tonight that John Mackenzie, director of "The Long Good Friday" and "The Fourth Protocol" has died aged 83. Update: Still no confirmation, other than this. Wikipedia has him born May 22 1928, but IMDB has Aug 16 1932, which would make him 78. "The Scotsman" has now provided an obit. They go with him being 83, but have him born in 1932 - erm?

Zippy and the Daleks - I'd never made the connection before, but now I come to think about it, they do sound very similar!

Shrek the Sheep has died. "Shrek shot to fame in 2004, when he was found on Bendigo sheep station [after going missing for 6 years] with a huge 27kg fleece that was so thick he could barely see".

Gordon Lorenz Prepare for a major national outpouring of grief at the news that the man who wrote and produced one of the seminal UK Christmas No.1s is off to be reunited with his own Grandma. According to his Wikipedia entry, he produced over 800 albums, which is believed to be a world record. Artistes he worked with include Larry Adler, Shirley Bassey, Max Boyce, Charlotte Church, Claudia Ciesla, Petula Clark, John Dankworth, Ken Dodd, Richard Fleeshman, Gloria Gaynor, George Hamilton IV, Ruthie Henshall, Paul Jones, Howard Keel, Atomic Kitten, DL fave Joe Longthorne, Lorna Luft, Humphrey Lyttleton, George Melly, Anthony Newley, Cliff Richard, David Soul, Claire Sweeney, Bill Tarmey, Marti Webb, Roger Whittaker and Toyah Wilcox.

Mr Pickle "Jonathan Ross' beloved pet dog Mr Pickle has died while he was filming a new TV show with his owner, forcing all production on the programme to come to an immediate halt ... Jonathan and his dog were travelling across Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway as part of a new travel series ... Mr Pickle, who had become something of a national treasure after being talked about regularly on Ross' Friday-night talk show, is said to have died on the train itself"

I've heard that as well. I guess he slipped away. I hope you thanked him for being a friend. Your obit. Had a heart attack, he didn't re-cov-er. He did say he was a little bit dizzy.

Giorgio Tozzi The Chicago-born New York Met regular has died aged 88. His bass voice was can be heard in the film "South Pacific" where he dubbed Rossano Brazzi’s singing parts.

Drifters manager Faye Treadwell, one of the first African-American female managers in show business, has died aged 84.

Sergei Bagapsh The president of the disputed Republic of Abkhazia has died aged 62 following lung surgery in Moscow.

Dame Barbara Mills The former DPP (Director of Public Prosecutions) has died aged 70. She is so far the only woman ever to hold the post.

Glad to hear him back in his Saturday morning slot on Radio 5. I hope he appreciates that by including him in my DDP picks I have probably increased his chances of survival.

Hearse is the word.

No! No! No! Please can we have a one-click button on the site that we can use to post that she's back in rehab? It'll save effort and keep things simpler.

Windsor will be interested to know they've got Ratko Mladic

His death is any early example of American's weird litigation culture: "Near exit 40 in Jericho he put on his emergency flashers, presumably because of either a mechanical or medical problem (possibly a heart attack). He then slowed to about 15 miles (24 km) per hour and veered into the center lane, nearly colliding with another car. He swerved left, then to the right again, ending up directly in the path of a tractor-trailer truck. The truck could not brake in time and rammed the rear of Chapin's blue 1975 Volkswagen Rabbit, rupturing the fuel tank by climbing its back and causing it to burst into flames ... Even though Chapin was driving without a license, his driver's license having previously been revoked for a long string of traffic violations, his widow Sandy won a $12 million decision in a negligence lawsuit against Supermarkets General, the owners of the truck".

I went to the Rare Breeds Centre back in June and saw the Tamworth Two and managed to stroke them both - this was shortly before I was nibbled at by a pygmy goat - so it's rather sad news that one of them has now gone. RIP sweet porker. Sundance reunited with Butch (Paul O'Grady still breathes though!)

Terry Jenner The former Aussie international (9 tests in the early 70s) and mentor to Shane Warne has died aged 66.

Suzanne Mizzi The former page 3 stunnah has died from ovarian cancer at the age of 43.

A "bicycle crash" thread would probably be less visited, although there have been Gary Mason and Pietro Ferrero Jr. recently as well as professionals such as Wouter Weylandt (though they have their own thread anyway).