VSBfromH

Ray Harryhausen lives on, but his longtime collaborator, producer Charles H Schneer has died aged 88 He produced "Jason and the Argonauts", "Clash of the Titans" and the "Sinbad" series for which Harryhausen is famed.

Actress Susanna Foster dead at 84. She starred alongside Claude Rains and Nelson Eddy in the 1943 version of "Phantom of the Opera". Probably would have been a much biiger star "but quit Hollywood in 1945 to raise her two younger sisters and take them away from their alcoholic mother". She certainly had the looks!

Bert Hazell Former crow-scarer, North Norfolk MP and union leader has died aged 101. Contrary to some reports, He didn't quite live long enough to beat Theodore Cooke Taylor's record as the longest-lived former member of the British Parliament, although he "overtook" Manny Shinwell into second place. Michael Foot's got some way to go yet!

How tragic, though not for DDPers "A Lost Art", "Circling The Drain", "Keeper Of The Heads" and "Moldy Oldies"!

"The Old Etonian was open about his love of living the high life, which included consuming large amounts of alcohol, claiming to have drunk eight bottles of wine, a bottle of rum, a bottle of port and a bottle of vodka in one night." I was trying to establish what entitled him to be styled "Sir", but this would be down to him inheriting the baronetcy. However, I would have had him knighted for the above feat anyway!

Sad end to sad sweet dreamer Leroy Smith of "Sweet Sensation", "Britain's answer to the Jackson Five". "FORMER pop star Leroy Smith - a member of 1970s chart-toppers Sweet Sensation - has died, aged 56, alone in his flat. ... In 1995 at the age of 38, [lead vocalist] Marcel King died of a brain haemorrhage. Two years later, his son Zeus King, 18, was shot dead in Longsight during gang feuding."

Gary Kurfirst, the long-time manager of Talking Heads, Blondie and the Ramones, has died aged 60. Also involved with the Eurythmics and the B-52s, and later managed Jane's Addiction. "In 2002, two of Kurfirst's bands, Talking Heads and the Ramones, entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, making him the only manager with that distinction"

Rob Gauntlett "The youngest Briton to climb Everest has died in an avalanche while ice-climbing in the French Alps. Rob Gauntlett, who reached the mountain's 8,840m summit in May 2006, just after he turned 19, was killed yesterday, along with a close friend."

Anyone know which particular cancer 'whipped' him? I'll wager Force 10 to Hell will be cracking the whip and hoping OoO updates the DDP scoreboard pretty sharpish: A unique pick and their joker!

This King Kong died in 1987, but he was a wrestler. Ah! 4 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon - memories! Then I'd switch back to the Beeb to get the final scores in their better version.

By 'eck! Geoff Seymour, the bloke that wrote the classic 70s "Hovis" ad, has died

Loner dies in tunnel of junk in his home "An eccentric who crammed his home full of junk has died after getting trapped in a network of tunnels he built so he could move around. Gordon Stewart, 74, is feared to have become confused in the intricate labyrinth and wandered around in circles before collapsing and dying of thirst. Police were called in after neighbours said they hadn't seen Gordon, a retired joiner, for days and were concerned because the smell from the house was even worse than usual. etc."

Very briefly, but yes, Hingle is a hit - not unique, but not many chose him - surprising when you consider how ill he was for the last two years & blood cancer. But an excellent start for moi! TH - Cheers - am trying to get it all uploaded overnight with luck, if not by Tuesday 6th at latest. Clijsters was chosen by a number of teams too. Yes, but more importantly, have you added "confirmed by a Belgian" to the list of verified sources for this years DDP. I was speaking to a Belgian this morning and he confirmed that all 20 of my picks mysteriously dropped dead on New Year's Day, so can I have the trophy now please?

Actor Pat Hingle, Commissioner Gordon in the Batman movies, has died aged 84.

Former Bolton Wanderers and Mansfield Town manager Ian Greaves has died aged 76. As a player, he was dropped at the last minute and so did not travel ahead of Manchester United's 1958 European trip which ended in the Munich air disaster.

Here's a late one for 2008 (died on Tuesday): Actor Bernie Hamilton, who played Captain Dobey in "Starksy and Hutch", has died aged 80.

I'd just been looking at this very thread, and (quite unconnected) then went on seconds later to stumble upon the headline Apple industry icon dies from cancer. However, as you will see, it's not Mr Jobs. Sorry for doing an "iain", just thought it was rather ironic and a weird coincidence!

Stop press: Apparently he was the oldest surviving footballer to have been capped by England, so I wonder who takes over that mantle now? Could very well be Bert Williams, born 31 Jan 1920? Williams is second, I believe, to good ol' Phil Taylor. Good spot! My research wasn't thorough enough (done in my lunch break) - I just looked at those who, like Sailor, played in the wartime games. Taylor, unusually, got his 3 caps in 1947 when he was around 30.

Stop press: Apparently he was the oldest surviving footballer to have been capped by England, so I wonder who takes over that mantle now? Could very well be Bert Williams, born 31 Jan 1920?

Bert "Sailor" Brown has died aged 93. England football international, capped 6 times. He appeared in 4 successive Wembley cup finals, albeit the first 3 were "wartime" League Cup South finals. The fourth was in the Charlton side beaten by Derby in the first post-war FA Cup final.

Last of Last of Russ Abbott "gutted". (I STILL wouldn't bet on it....)

Playwright Dale Wasserman 'best known for "Man of La Mancha" and the stage version of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" ' has died aged 94.

Ray Deakin Former captain of Burnley has died of brain cancer aged 49.

No suggestion that his health is failing, but maybe worth keeping the prolific actor Michael Medwin, b 1923, on our radar - doesn't seem to have had a mention on here before. In fact he's still quite active, having made the obligatory appearance in "Heartbeat" this year. For some reason, Wikipedia has him born 1929, but I'm going with IMDB on this one.

How about Carl Reiner, who will be 87 in March? His wife Estelle died in October.