Thoughts on the 2025 Deathlist

[drunkasaskunk 209]

8 hours ago, Sean said:

 

Disappointed that Yarrow isn't on the list such an obvious early miss for the committee.Would also liked to have seen Don King ,Mujica ,Willis ,Miklosko and Kinsella on the list.

 

 

 

Who is on the committee?

 

Thanks

[Commtech Sio Bibble 2,217]

Robert Wagner being kept in favour of Flack or Law seems dubious. Most of the new additions look good, I'm especially happy with Goodyear and Weinstein. Hall is risky as I agree with the consensus that he may already be dead, or if not, go off the radar. I'm surprised that Charles 3 hasn't been dumped at 50. Bringing back Hal Linden is just dull.

 

Overall I just kinda think it's a very boring list.

[Toast 16,307]

1 hour ago, Master Obit said:

I don't really see what the point of the "suggestions for 2025" thread was if there was never any question of them deviating from their "pick anyone famous who is 90+" strategy. 41/50 picks are 90+. Similar to the rule that no more than half the list can have featured the previous year, I think it'd be much more exciting if there was a rule that no more than half the picks can be 90+

 

Yes, I think that would be a good refinement.

As for the 'suggestions' thread, I've always taken that to be general and not solely aimed at the Deathlist. 

[msc 18,671]

The annual look over. Hopefully succinct as I'm knackered.

 

Dick Van Dyke - Perennial pick, very old, signs of slowing down in 2024. In the Sulu Zone now which is dangerous but still feels like it'd take a lot to take down our favourite Cockney (ahem)

 

Eva Marie Saint - This is a Glynis Johns style in the nick of time pick for me.

 

Pete Murray - Looked frail and on his last legs on Channel 5 during the pandemic so he made it to the DL. Now he's even older, and presumably even frailer, but alive. Unsure he'll see his century in September.

 

Dennis Skinner - Seems to have recovered from his poor health in 2019 and is now seen pottering about his local. Old, frequently ill and possibly suffering from dementia now, but a tough cookie.

 

Ian Smith - Harold fn Bishop with the terminal lung cancer. No matter how happy he seemed at Christmas, his cancer is the sort that sets you to Defcon Fucked. 

 

Esther Rantzen - Annoying Esther will continue to moan in the press through 2025. She is very ill though. That breakthrough might add months to her life but 2026 is still a tall order.

 

Nigel Starmer Smith - Was bedridden, unable to communicate in 2021. Still with us. A horrible lingering fate for a popular commentator. Hopefully this is his year.

 

Alan Greenspan - zzzzzzzzz Old, frail and out of sight now. Still... zzzzzz. And I've read his book!

 

Linda Nolan - Despite all the recent falls, far too stable for someone with Stage IV cancer.

 

Mel Brooks - Ancient comic, still working with half a dozen projects on the go at the moment. Age could get him but he seems indomitable. 

 

Cleo Laine - Sky, BBC and Five all had tribute nights to her in 2024. Is said to be very frail nowadays.

 

Stanley Baxter - Went from still giving chipper interviews to very ill and in a nursing home practically overnight. This will be his year, and I'm surprised he made it this far.

 

Noam Chomsky - How is he still alive? Seemingly about to die through all of 2023 and 2024, still alive. This rent-a-cynic is now radio silent on all the events he'd write books about until fairly recently, and suffered a massive stroke last year, so surely this is his final year.

 

Sandy Gall - Much more quiet than he used to be, but to be fair, he was touring war zones in his 80s. My tip to quietly make his century from the list then snuff it soon after, fwiw. 

 

Jean Marie Le Pen - The forum's pet racist, has a death rumour every year and bounces back. Meant to be frail and unwell. He looks it for sure, but that's still too healthy for my liking. Cross fingers 2025 is it.

 

Clint Eastwood - Looking his age now, but so did Eli for years!

 

Sonny Rollins - HOW THE FUCK IS HE STILL ALIVE? That's the view of Mrs msc when she saw the list. I concur. Retired on ill health over a decade ago, has outlived several seemingly more health peers. Clock must be ticking by now.

 

Tippi Hedren - Severe dementia and living with a bunch of hungry lions? Great pick.

 

John Williams - Frail, starting to cut down his schedule (always ominous for a workaholic), very DLy, a great pick. 

 

Yoko Ono - Recently confirmed she has had Lewy Body Dementia for nearly a decade, so Yoko  wont have long left. Sadly, I add, as I am on Team Yoko One Was Pretty Cool (aided by a book on the Beatles by Maryport of this forum).

 

Len Deighton - I like this pick. I have no idea about Len's current health, but I do like this pick.

 

Geoff Boycott - Excellent DLy pick, had lots of trouble with his cancer last year and feels like the sort of sleeper DL success pick they used to do very well with.

 

Julie Goodyear - Excellent pick, Bet Lynch has been suffering badly from dementia and feels like she is following the Barbara Windsor timeline.

 

Imelda Marcos - A shoe in? I say that every year.

 

Patricia Routledge - Recently turned 95, and while still chatty, she'd clearly started to decline a bit since her last big interview in 2022, and was pausing over words. Maybe not a 2025 demise, but she is starting to slow down.

 

Prunella Scales - I've often said on this forum Pru and Timothy wouldn't last six months without each other. Now we've lost Timothy West sadly, the clock is ticking for Pru.

 

David Attenborough - Never drop him again, DL, I don't care if he lives to 120. Legend. Sounds croakier than he used, has to cancel the odd event now, still a fucking legend. 

 

Gene Hackman - When actually photo'd recently he looked very frail. 

 

Joanne Woodward - Has had end stage dementia for so long, Paul Newman used to comment on it. Newman's been dead for seventeen bloody years now!

 

Robert Wagner  - Apparently has COPD now. 

 

Desmond Morris - Might be the healthiest man on the list? Still working, still seems good for his age, might go in his sleep due to age but on the face of it, someone on the Cmme must be a huge fan!

 

Hans Blix - Apparently quite ill. But Roberta Flack is iller...

 

Bernie Ecclestone - The most DLy DL newcomer I've seen in some time. He's here till he drops. There was recent rumblings he was frail, but that might be a tax dodge...

 

Jim Lovell - Frail, old, astronaut. You picking this side, DI?

 

Douglas Hurd - He was too ill to do things when Thatcher died. He's remained quiet during huge events where he would say something if he was able to. Clock ticking here imo

 

Angie Dickinson - Last I checked she was shockingly healthy for her age.

 

Clive Davis - A very DL pick, rumours of ill health a while ago.

 

Harvey Weinstein - I don't trust this fucker one bit.

 

Hal Linden - Healthy nonagenarian. 

 

Buzz Aldrin - The legend is now very frail so might not be up to punching Death in the face. A good pick here.

 

Petula Clark - Music legend (yes, Reptile, she is), but she was still active about a year ago.

 

Robert Duvall - One of my favourites so hopefully a bad pick. The man who said he would act until he wasn't well enough hasn't had a single acting role in 3 years now, which as a fan is very worrisome.

 

Rupert Murdoch - Probably far too early but you wouldn't want to miss him.

 

Rex Williams - Feels a boomerang inspired by recent snooker legend deaths.

 

Armani - Bit early?

 

Brian Wilson - Maybe a year early.

 

Kim Novak - Oddball DL classic pick. No idea on her current health

 

Frankie Valli - Frail, legend, DI favourite. Seems close to his last legs.

 

Asma al-Assad - I think she's fucked. That type of cancer has terrible 18 month survival for DDP picks, and they announced it in May when Bashar thought he was solidly in control of Syria.

 

Stuart Hall - As said elsewhere, he might well die off the radar.

 

 

So I'm thinking about 16/17 for the year here, but there's so many frail, ill or just very old people that if the timing works out... But I said that last year, and was 19 picks too optimistic (which is the first time I've been badly wrong about a list potential). 

 

 

[Steve 708]

I am disappointed with some of the drops as highlighted in my earlier message on this thread but I think this is quite an inventive list that could prove to be ingenious - time will tell I guess come December 2025.

 

Perhaps if we consider that Linda Lavin's recent death was quite a surprise then we could get a fair few surprises with this list especially with the over 90's as anything can happen at that age. 

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,449]

Ideally I'd like to have seen Joan Plowright and Jane Rossington on the list but I genuinely don't know who I'd swop out to make room for them. 

[arghton 7,037]

12 hours ago, msc said:

Yeah Ronnie's DL description was Ambassador (a joke on him hiding in Brazil for decades) and when he saw it he took it literally as him being DL Ambassador, so he'd shout-out to the regulars in interviews and wear DL merchandise in public. It was all good fun in the way violent train robberies aren't.

 

Sam Simon used to read the forum too and then go "still alive, wankers" on Twitter...until he wasn't alive. 

 

There was one big name UK politician who, on finding their name on the DDP in the mid-00s, then entered their own DDP team but the information on who is lost now. 

Too bad a lot of people seem to consider deathpooling a mortal sin. 

 

I've had a few good but short discussions through email with a certain Asian politician who has been and is on a few of my teams. Started as a boredom-fueled brainfart and I never expected he'd respond! I don't think I'll ever explain the DL or Deadpooling to him, I doubt he'd be understanding let alone tech-savvy enough to create an account here. Interesting mental image, though. 

[msc 18,671]

6 minutes ago, arghton said:

Too bad a lot of people seem to consider deathpooling a mortal sin. 

 

I've had a few good but short discussions through email with a certain Asian politician who has been and is on a few of my teams. Started as a boredom-fueled brainfart and I never expected he'd respond! I don't think I'll ever explain the DL or Deadpooling to him, I doubt he'd be understanding let alone tech-savvy enough to create an account here. Interesting mental image, though. 

"Dear Arghton,

I've no idea how I'm still alive either.

Your mate,

Yongchaiyudh"

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,449]

I think there is an excellent chance of 20 hits this year. 

[drol 12,444]

Ecclestone, Dickinson, Clive Davis, Linden, Clark, Armani and Kim Novak are wasted picks. None of them has health issues, they are random nonagenarians, and that does not work.

[Ulitzer95 13,057]

3 minutes ago, drol said:

Ecclestone, Dickinson, Clive Davis, Linden, Clark, Armani and Kim Novak are wasted picks. None of them has health issues, they are random nonagenarians, and that does not work.

You're pissing in the wind. I have been complaining about random nonagenarian picks for 17 years now and "the Committee" never listens.

When 1/5 of the whole of the list is just random old people it immediately narrows the hit rate.

It's a pity because the rest of the list is pretty decent. My prediction is 15 hits.

[drol 12,444]

10 hits would be a good result. Most newcomers are terrible. Even Eve Marie Saint, I think she still has two/three years.

 

There is some lazy picking. Clive Davis is a healthy nonagenarian who makes regular appearances. As a bombastic public figure they could have easily picked Don King, who is actually sick now.

 

Good luck.

 

[Paul Bearer 6,206]

17 minutes ago, drol said:

Ecclestone, Dickinson, Clive Davis, Linden, Clark, Armani and Kim Novak are wasted picks. None of them has health issues, they are random nonagenarians, and that does not work.

Someone's having their first ever beer. 

[drol 12,444]

I don't drink alcohol since that horrible gastroenteritis some days ago.

[Sean 6,563]

1 minute ago, drol said:

I don't drink alcohol since that horrible gastroenteritis some days ago.

Sounds shitty.

[The Daredevil 1,222]

First DL without an ex US President since 2012!

[YoungWillz 21,479]

Ok, now the flurry of wailing and gnashing of teeth has died down a bit, thoughts.

 

For the first time, I just see the list as an alternative list. There is no doubt that, given last year and enforced drops, there will be big names missed in 2025. This could have been a year for a big old reset, bringing in sparkly new names, all freshly scrubbed and powdered with talc. 

 

Some names are like old friends, sadly missed and welcomed back. And there are some which pop up on occasion so they won't be a miss should they go.

 

So I see it as a bit of a Frankenstein's monster, replacing the bits falling away with tried and tested parts. Question is - will it rampage through the village, destroying everything in its path? Or will it be found flapping about on its bed, awaiting a bolt of lightning to awake?

 

So personally I am intensely interested to see how it does, but really have no opinion on how successful it shall be. It's there, it is done. 

 

Who knows what tomorrow brings? And if you do know, pick me my lottery numbers!

[Gooseberry Crumble 5,449]

18 hours ago, The Daredevil said:

First DL without an ex US President since 2012!

I suspect  normal business will resume  next year. 

[The Daredevil 1,222]

First DL without a footballer since 2015!

 

Also surprised Liza Minnelli didn't return, but this may be for the best.

[odeon 119]

Why isnt this thread pinned actually? Seems like maybe even the most important thread 

[jd24fan 78]

I feel like for misses, Peter Yarrow should've been on this list if it's true he's in hospice. He would've been a better choice than Brian Wilson or Frankie Valli, who I think have maybe 3 years left in them. Some of the others like Bernie Ecclestone and Clint Eastwood seem slightly wasted, IMO. Linda Nolan seems to exaggerate her condition a lot. Not a bad list this year, but there are much better choices compared to some of the names on here.

[Neol Edmunds 94]

Feels like an interregnum list. Potential for a lot of old-age deaths of nonagenerians, but can't help think restricting 90+ to 10/20 might spice up the list up.