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I know that last time there was an Alex Higgins thread it turned into a rant fest. So this is more general question, which I suspect will get very few answers-Aren't there a ton of sick and dying snooker players Joe O'Boye, the Francisco's, etc . Suspect this will prove to be a thread to nothing but.......?

She might not have made the cut for the 2014 DeathList but I feel Gudrun Ure deserves her own thread. So there.

First ever recipient of an animals heart. Modern medicine at its finest. Guess they saved his bacon. I wonder how long he's got now. Wasn't famous before the operation, but confident he'll get a QO when he dies.

The Stirling Moss thread.

Senator Edward Kennedy has been hospitalised after suffering stroke-like symptoms.

she looked 60 in the sixties anyone know of her

Greatest German footballer to ever live, now in poor health and unable to attend both the World Cup and Pelé's funeral. Though he is very private on his health issues, he has recently revealed he is "doing well considering his condition", which is not so reassuring. Also looking very thin and yellowish. 80 seems a tall order.

This is a bit "left-field", but Leonid Stadnick (Ukraine) should be considered for forthcoming DealthLists. Although he's only in his late 30s, he is currently the world's tallest man. His height appears to have now stopped at 8 ft 5ins, although earlier estimates have gauged him as reaching 9ft+. I'm not sure what happened over the last year to stop his growth, but THINK he had brain surgery (or treatment) to suppress a pituatry anomoly. From documentaries etc, he appears in pretty good health, however the increased mileage of bloodflow around his body places a huge burden on his heart. Personally, I hope he bucks the Giantism trend (of dying young).

The captain is walking round his garden in aid of the NHS. Originally to raise a thousand £££'s now stands at over £8m. Only famous in in his own backyard, but will no doubt get a QO when he snuffs it. Will he make it to the ton?

As suggested... Baroness Meacher today announced to the House of Lords that Frank Field, now known as Lord Field of Birkenhead (wiki), 79, is dying (BBC link). She revealed that he had recently spent time in a hospice and a very reliable Labour friend of mine (same source who told me Sir Gerald Kaufman was dying) says he has aggressive stage 4 cancer (though doesn't know what type of cancer). Field started life out as a member of the Conservative Party, before defecting to Labour in 1960. He was elected as a councillor in Hounslow in 1964 and served for 4 years. He was first elected as an MP (for the constituency of Birkenhead) in 1979. He lost his seat in 2019, owing to the fact that he fell out with the Corbyn leadership of the Labour Party over anti-semitism (the "final straw" according to the man himself, though he had tensions with the party for years). He was forced to stand as an independent, but only captured over 7000 votes. He served as the Minister of Welfare Reform under Tony Blair from 1997 to 1998, his only ministerial position. In 2010, Field became the only Labour MP with a role in David Cameron's government, after being appointed "poverty tsar". He later served as Chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee from 2015 to 2019, succeeding Dame Anne Begg. He was elevated to the House of Lords in October 2020, and he chose to sit as a non-affiliated member. Somewhat of a legend in the world of politics, and respected on all sides of the political spectrum. Field is from a generation of Old Labour types where it was never deemed acceptable to come out as gay. He's also a firm believer in Brexit, and was one of only a handful of Labour MPs to share this view in the 2017–2019 Parliament (along with Dennis Skinner, Kate Hoey, maybe a couple of others). In my opinion, a must for DL 2022.

Unless you've been living in a cave where you had no access to any sort of media, you probably heard that good old OJ Simpson has been found GUILTY of armed robbery and kidnapping. What say you, OJ? Will OJ finally drop the soap?

I'm surprised Osama bin Laden wasn't on this year's deathlist. While he's proven pretty resilient since getting more than he bargained for post-911, I'd say with a US election in November, there's a good chance the Americans will manage to blow up whatever mountain hole Osama is squirreled away in. And in the end, that's probably good news for him, what with all those virgins waiting for him in the afterlife . . .

This thread is the place to discuss Kirk Douglas.

Sir Harold Wilson, the Labour politician who served as Prime Minister from 1964 to 1970 and 1974 to 1976 is 96. How many people think he'll live until 100? Can we get a health update because I haven't heard what he's doing in a while? He's had Alzheimers since the late 1980's so he can't be that well off.

According to this story, professional voice of reason Pat Robertson is calling for the Venezuelan President Hugo Sanchez to be assassinated. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9047102/ Judging by how the vote went in the last election there's a lot of Robertson's supporters in the red states that Bush won, so maybe W will bow to the demands of his constituents. Although given the CIA couldn't plant, I mean find, any WMD in Iraq I very much doubt their ability to carry out something as simple as offing a Latin American president. Or, maybe we should just nominate Robertson for '06.

Felt it was time that arguably one of the legendary Queens of Country and Western music singer Loretta Lynn who recently turned aged 85 had her own thread. Definitely one of the big name figures from this genre of music and she's still touring to this very day! Some random facts about Loretta She was a big supporter and friend of George Bush and his wife Barbara. Campaigned and sang for them when he stood for US President. But she apparently loathed Ronald Reagan and could not bring herself to like him. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Lynn Has been in the music business for nearly sixty years

The King died on his throne exactly 28 years ago. Bookmakers have revealed that wagers have all but dried up from fans betting that Elvis Presley is still alive. Over the years bookmakers William Hill have taken thousands of bets that Elvis will be found alive, but in the last year fans have stopped placing bets. Bookmakers have now lengthened the odds of Elvis being found alive from 100/1 to 1000/1. "The biggest odds we have ever given was a Elvis related bet, we offered 14 million to one that Elvis will crash land a UFO into Loch Ness hitting the monster," said bookmaker Rupert Adams. "It is perhaps the end of an era, where even his most ardent fans no longer believe that Elvis could have remained hidden for so long."

Darrell "Dimebag" Abbott of heavy metal band Damageplan, and formerly of Pantera, was gunned down last night at a show in Columbus, Ohio. The gig was part of the band's perhaps unfortunately titled "Devastation Across The Nation" tour. At least four other less famous people were also killed. http://www.antimusic.com/news/04/dec/item07.shtml

Always a good sign that your time is nearly up is winning a 'Lifetime Achievement Award'. Dave Swarbrick, former violinist with Fairport Convention, received one this week at the BBC Folk Awards. Unfortunately Dave was too ill to receive his award in person! Swarb, rather surprisingly, has already passed the famousness test, by having an obituary written in the Daily Telegraph a couple of years ago. (Oops). His poor health (mainly self-inflicted it has to be said) has included 2 tracheotomies in the last few years, and he is now confined to a wheelchair with oxygen mask (see also Marlon Brando). Keep an eye on him. DWB

The Derek Draper thread.

Following on from the Ideas and Possibilities thread, Steve Harley of Cockney Rebel fame has a 'nasty' cancer. https://m.facebook.com/profile.php/?id=100058063000040 All tour dates cancelled. Famous enough in my opinion without being lumped into a generic music thread.

This is the Ian St John thread.

Saw the latest season of Curb and he only appeared in a few scenes sitting down due to him becoming increasingly frail. Since he has had a massive array of health problems in the past too, I'd thought I'd add him to DL.

I am aware of the British Character Actors thread but I thought it was time to set Ackland up with his own thread. He was born in 1928, so he may be one to keep an eye on. Possibly one for the 2021 DL.

Nikolai Ryzhkov must be on the list for next year