Ulitzer95

Two more names with Wiki pages who have just been marked as deceased on their pages: Claude Bonin-Pissaro (wiki), French painter and graphic designer, died in Montpellier on 21st July, 10 days after turning 100. E. J. Williams (wiki), popularly known as Joe Williams, Canadian provincial politician in Manitoba, died on 18th August, at the age of 103.

To clarify, he means in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (not the whole of Africa), and the article is somewhat misleading. It is defeated for now in the sense that the most recent outbreak has tailed off, but other future outbreaks in DRC and surrounding countries are almost certain.

Good spot! Fixed.

Ok, said I'd take a look at this and it's not a perfect list by any means but here are the surviving heads of state and government from the Cold War (12 March 1947 – 26 December 1991). I've stuck to the main participants of the Cold War as defined on this Wiki page (i.e. the Eastern and Western Blocs), as opposed to spreading this too thinly and covering every single country who played a role in an event(s) of the period. Western Bloc Australia Elizabeth II (b. 1926) Paul Keating (b. 1944) Belgium Mark Eyskens (b. 1933) Canada Elizabeth II (b. 1926) Joe Clark (b. 1939) Brian Mulroney (b. 1939) Denmark Margrethe II (b. 1940) France Laurent Fabius (b. 1946) Édith Cresson (b. 1934) Greece Constantine II (b. 1940) Christos Sartzetakis (b. 1929) Iceland Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (b. 1930) Porsteinn Palsson (b. 1947) Davíd Oddsson (b. 1948) Iran Ali Khamenei (b. 1939) Abolhassan Banisadr (b. 1933) Mir-Hossein Mousavi (b. 1942) Iraq NONE Italy Arnaldo Forlani (b. 1925) Ciriaco De Mita (b. 1928) Luxembourg Jacques Santer (b. 1937) The Netherlands Beatrix (b. 1938) Dries van Agt (b. 1931) New Zealand Elizabeth II (b. 1926) Geoffrey Palmer (b. 1942) Jim Bolger (b. 1935) Norway Harald V (b. 1937) Gro Harlem Brundtland (b. 1939) Kåre Willoch (b. 1928) Pakistan Elizabeth II (b. 1926) Nawaz Sharif (b. 1949) Philippines NONE Portugal António Ramalho Eanes (b. 1935) Francisco Pinto Balsemão (b. 1937) Aníbal Cavaco Silva (b. 1939) Spain Juan Carlos I (b. 1938) Felipe González (b. 1942) Thailand Thanin Kraivichien (b. 1927) Anand Panyarachun (b. 1932) Turkey NONE United Kingdom Elizabeth II (b. 1926) John Major (b. 1943) United States NONE West Germany NONE Eastern Bloc Albania Fatos Nano (b. 1952) Ylli Bufi (b. 1948) Vilson Ahmeti (b. 1951) Bulgaria Georgi Atanasov (b. 1933) Philip Dimitrov (b. 1955) Byelorussia Nikolay Slyunkov (b. 1929) Yefrem Sokolov (b. 1926) Stanislav Shushkevich (b. 1934) Czechoslovakia Karel Urbánek (b. 1941) Lubomír Štrougal (b. 1924) Marián Čalfa (b. 1946) East Germany Egon Krenz (b. 1937) Sabine Bergmann-Pohl (b. 1946) Hans Modrow (b. 1928) Lothar de Maizière (b. 1940) Hungary Mátyás Szurös (b. 1933) Poland Lech Wałesa (b. 1943) Jan Krzysztof Bielecki (b. 1951) Romania Ion Iliescu (b. 1930) Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931) Nikolai Ryzhkov (b. 1929) Ivan Silayev (b. 1930) Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk (b. 1934) Vitold Fokin (b. 1932) ------------------- It seems like a long list, but it's really not when you consider that 95% of Cold War leaders are dead. Romania, West Germany, Turkey, the Philippines and Iraq are the only countries with no survivors. The USA to be the next? 40 names remaining.

Earl P. Yates (wiki), also known as Buddy Yates, a WWII veteran who later went on to become a prominent rear admiral in the U.S. Navy, commanding the U.S.S. John F. Kennedy, dead at 97.

I agree to an extent. The demand is still there but not at the same level it used to be. 10 years ago they used the excuse that it was because “everyone wanted to watch music videos now”. No longer the case in 2021. The BBC is ofc constrained by a budget and their music budget is sizeable yet they see the investment being in concerts, gigs and one off performances on programmes like The One Show and on Graham Norton etc. It’s also down to logistics. The chart is now determined by downloads and streaming and thus is harder to predict ahead of its weekly release. That and the chart is no longer as varied or as interesting as it once was (for example, this week Drake has 3 songs in the top 5 alone!).

Top of the Pops dance troupes Pan's People (1968–1976) Louise Clarke 1949–2012 (left 1974) BBC obit Flick Colby 1946–2011 BBC obit Mary Corpe b. c. 1957 (one of two replacements for Lord; now living in South Africa as Mary Corpe Silver) Cherry Gillespie b. 1955 (replacement for Rutherford) Lesley Judd b. 1946 (temporary member) Babs Lord b. 1945 (left 1975) Sue Menhenick b. 1955 (replacement for Clarke) Ruth Pearson 1946–2017 Times obit Andi Rutherford 1947–2015 (left 1972) Lee Ward b. c. 1955 (one of two replacements for Lord; left 1976) Dee Dee Wilde b. 1946 (left 1975) Ruby Flipper (1976) Lulu Cartwright b. 1959 Cherry Gillespie b. 1955 Phillip Haigh aka Philip Steggles b. 1955 Patti Hammond 1950–2021 Sue Menhenick b. 1955 Floyd Pearce b. 1959 Gavin Trace ???? (sacked half way through, seems to have faded into complete obscurity) Legs & Co. (1976–1981) Lulu Cartwright b. 1959 Anita Chellamah Mahadervan b. 1959 (replacement for Peters) Gill Clarke b. 1959 Patti Hammond 1950–2021 Rosie Hetherington b. 1960 Sue Menhenick b. 1955 Pauline Peters b. 1952 (left in 1981) Here's the list using Google, births/marriages index and some old newspaper archives. Near perfect but I can't trace Trace! I'm not bothering with the Go-Jos (1964–1968) or Zoo (1981–1983) because there were too many members and most of them are obscure. Must say, surprised the BBC only did obits for Clarke and Colby, snubbing Pearson and Rutherford. After all, Top of the Pops was their own fucking show for 42 and a half years! They should cover Hammond, surely?

Isn't she the first member of Legs & Co. to die (that we know of)? I know a few of Pan's People have passed.

Could be 1 or 2 hits yet. Dole or Greaves or Phillips perhaps? The list is shit though. The Committee clearly got cocky after having such a strong year in 2020. A list with a generous helping of healthy nonagenarians is not going to get many hits. I said so on Jan 1st. Some users agreed with me, some strongly disagreed and suggested I was just being a pessimist iirc. Starting to feel vindicated.

British radio astronomer and 1974 co-laureate in Physics, Antony Hewish (wiki), died on 13th September, aged 97. Announcement from Cambridge Uni. A unique pick in the DDP. QO assured.

Death notice here as confirmation.

FB post reporting the death of bit part actress Marian Collier (IMDb), aged 90. Had roles in Some Like it Hot, as well as Lethal Weapon 2 and 4, amongst 100s of others. EDIT: Obit here.

His younger brother Olivier Giscard d'Estaing (wiki), a member of the French Parliament from 1968 to 1973, has died aged 93. His older sister Sylvie predeceased him in 2008. His younger sisters, Isabelle (b. 1935) and Marie-Laure (b. 1939) are still alive.

Obit from the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Merci!

Another Hollywood Golden Age actress appears to have died some days ago according to a credible looking edit (now reverted). Gloria Warren (wiki), who lived in L.A. under her married name Gloria Warren Gold, supposedly died there on September 11th, aged 95.

FB post reporting the death of Rabbi Ephraim Einhorn (wiki), Austrian-born British-raised head of the Taiwanese Jewish community, aged 103. A deadpooling favourite but not picked in this year’s DDP.

Hollywood Reporter obit for Fran Bennett.

Hollywood Reporter obit for Ruth Olay.

The man is a persistent pain AFAIC. Can’t come to terms with the fact that his son indulged in a secret life of drug fuelled orgies and died by misadventure. These things happen, and as much as I think Barrymore is a cunt, relentlessly stalking and harassing the man and trying to pin it all on him isn’t the right thing to do.

I met her on several occasions. A lovely lady, and a respectable artist in her own right so it upsets me that the media have to make the story of her death all about Boris. I have one of her paintings in my living room, she came over to hang it and we had tea and biscuits.

No, I’m not talking about countries who played a role in particular Cold War events because that list would be too exhaustive. Very specifically I mean the Western and Eastern blocs outlined in this brilliant Wiki article. I reckon there could be anything from several dozen to ~80 names left. Might make a game in extra curricular with those names next year.

At this rate, QEII will outlive every other Cold War (1947–1991) leader of the Western and Eastern blocs. Fascinated to know how many are still around. Perhaps a list for another day. Would require a lot of work though.

FB post reporting the death of British-born Aussie sculptor Marc Clark (wiki), just short of his 98th. FB post reporting the death of American graphic artist Janet Doub Erickson (wiki), aged 97. Will either receive Wiki standard obits? Hmmm… EDIT: Obit for Erickson.

Obit (in German) for Jack D. Dunitz (wiki), Scottish chemist, aged 98. Fellow of the Royal Society so QO obit chances… 50/50?