VSBfromH

Nawang Gombu "Gombu was the youngest member of Sir Edmund Hillary's climbing team that first scaled Mount Everest in 1953, though he himself did not make it to the top until 10 years later".

Madelyn Pugh Davis The co-writer of "I Love Lucy" has died aged 90. If these things come in threes, following on from Saks' death maybe we should be on the lookout for another creartor / writer from a US comedy show from the 50s or 60s?

Allan Brown The former Blackpool player and manager has died aged 84. The Scot began his playing career at East Fife. During his playing subsequent stint at Bloomfield Road he was unlucky to miss two FA Cup Finals through injury, the second time (the "Matthews Final") when he broke his leg in scoring the winner in the quarter final against Arsenal. After Blackpool he went on to play at Luton Town, Portsmouth and Wigan Athletic. His management carrer took him to Wigan, Luton, Torquay, Bury and Nottingham Forest before his two spells with the Tangerines. He also won 13 caps for Scotland.

Sol Saks The creator of the TV series "Bewitched" has died aged 100.

Gil Robbins Another member of The Highwaymen has died aged 80. He was the father of the actor Tim Robbins. ... to be followed 12 days later by his wife, musician Mary Robbins

Grete Waitz One of the greatest female marathon runners of all time dead from cancer at 57. Great shame.

Mason Rudolph The US golfer has died aged 76. Pretty handy in his day, he was a member of the US Ryder Cup team in 1971. He finished 4th in the 1965 US Masters.

Brigadier (Retd) Bhawani Singh, the last Maharaja of Jaipur, has died aged 80.

Gerry Alexander The former West Indies captain has died aged 82. He played in 25 tests, 18 of them as captain. He was the last white captain of the team.

That's all but 2 gone now.Only Nicholas Smith and Frank Thornton survive Trevor Bannister is also a loss to the cast of Last of the Summer Wine.I'm sure I saw a thread for that show somewhere but I'm damned if I can find it! ... well, you could add latecomer Mike Berry (b. 1942) to that list. He played Mr Spooner, who was basically an ersatz Mr Lucas if I recall. Then there are the 2 minor characters Mr. Grace's Nurse, played by Vivienne Johnson, who appeared in 22 episodes but only got the occasional bit of dialogue, usually when YMG was having palpitations. IMDB doesn't give a date of birth and suggests no one knows what became of the actress*; and former page 3 girl Penny Irving (b. 1955) who played secretary Miss Bakewell (no first name, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was Cherry). God, how I abhor that series now, but have to admit I did watch it at the time! * According to Wikipedia: "currently employed as a cover drama teacher in Essex schools, most recently Moulsham High School, in Chelmsford, Essex. She has married, and is known as Mrs. Vivienne Higgs."

So Jiroemon Kimura of Japan becomes the new world's oldest man. He is also the last known living man born in the year 1897 and the only documented man still alive who was born before 1900. The article in the link is a couple of years old, but at least we get a picture.

Arthur Marx Groucho's son, a pretty handy tennis player in his younger days as well as being a successful author, has died aged 89.

Randy Wood The founder of Dot Records has died aged 94. Their list of artists included The Andrews Sisters, Louis Armstrong, Pat Boone, Lonnie Donegan, Jimmy Dorsey, Freddy Fender, Eddie Fisher, Tab Hunter, Danny Kaye, Liberace, Barbara Mandrell, Tony Martin, Wink Martindale, Leonard Nimoy (!), Nervous Norvus, Louis Prima, Lalo Schifrin, The Surfaris and (according to the Wiki entry for Dot) lots of others, most of which mean very little to me, but some great names in there! I particularly like "Six Fat Dutchmen".

She's lasted just one episode. "The character made her debut in last Tuesday's episode ... but the actress is now said to have left the soap due to a "personal matter".

Ronnie Coyle The former Raith Rovers stalwart has died aged 46. He had been battling leukaemia and a benefit match between Raith Rovers and Celtic was held just a couple of weeks ago. Also means DDP points for And My Name Is Larry! and Died In The Wool (joker as well!).

Ah, The Sun! Dontcha just love 'em?! "Phillips, 86 - whose catchphrases include Ding Dong" (just in case you don't know who he is). Maybe Leslie deserves his own thread, or should these posts be moved to the "Carry On" thread (although he only appeared in 4 films and Angela Scoular in none)?

Angela Scoular Leslie Phillips' actress wife, 21 years younger than him, has died aged 65. "She appeared in two Bond films - as Buttercup in Casino Royale in 1966 and as Ruby Bartlett in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in 1969". A hit for 5 teams on the DDP.

Gil Robbins Another member of The Highwaymen has died aged 80. He was the father of the actor Tim Robbins.

Craig Thomas The Cardiff-born Creator of "Firefox" - the book, not the web browser - has died aged 69. The book was made into a Hollywood "blockbuster" starring Clint Eastwood.

He got a "get better soon" shoutout from Colin Murray on the last episode of Fighting Talk, which could mean anything but I'm taking it to mean he has two weeks to live. I saw Tony Green in the street last night and asked him if he was feeling better, but he wouldn't comment...

That'd be the leg-end theme then?

Status upgraded to "seriously ill" Typical Daily Mail form! Nothing in the article to back up his condition being any worse than reported earlier.

Ange-Félix Patassé The President of the Central African Republic between 1993 and 2003 has died aged 74.

Tragedy! Robin Gibb has cancelled some gigs in Brazil due to a case of night fever.

Dead I suspect the lorry drivers taking part in today's fuel protests will want to pay their respects.