Blake Edwards

A couple of weeks ago Blake Edwards, one of the great directors of Old Hollywood, died at the age of 88.

Edwards directed an impressive list of classic comedies, including The Pink Panther films and Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

They’re so good, we’re willing to forgive him for that awful Bruce Willis post-Moonlighting vehicle Blind Date.

His other impressive achievement was marrying the delectable Julie Andrews in 1969 and staying married to her for 41 years. Respect.

In terms of our Dead Pool, Mr Edwards’ sad passing was presciently predicted by Kate, awarding her 12 points and placing her in the lead.

And that’s actually it for the year. Congratulations Kate!

Yearly wrap-up to follow. And thanks for playing.

Dead Pool Super Happy Bumper Catch Up Edition!

The Celebrity Dead Pool has been sadly neglected over the last three months, but this hasn’t stopped our celebrity friends dropping off the perch at a rate of knots.

So here’s a quick catch-up.

On the 14th of February we lost, at the age of 89, Welsh novelist Dick Francis. This was a man who managed to turn his interest in horse racing into a lucrative horse-race-based-crime-novel career.

Seriously. How many people can claim that?

On March 10, 1980s screen darling and 2000s reality TV dropout Corey Haim tragically died at the age of 38.

On March 14, we bid a fond farewell to actor Peter Graves at the age of 83. Graves was star of the original classic Mission: Impossible series and the utterer (in the just-as-classic Airplane!) of that immortal line: “Do you like gladiator movies?”

March 15 saw the death of Australian children’s book author Patricia Wrightson at the age of 88. Her legacy includes the much-loved novel The Nargun and the Stars which, along with the subsequent TV series, was instrumental in introducing a whole generation of Australian kids to indigenous legends and creepy horror stories.

On March 24 we lost actor Robert Culp at the age of 79. Culp remains one of the first and easily one of the best wisecracking badass TV sidekicks we’ve ever had.

Whether it was opposite a crappy superhero in The Greatest American Hero or a crappy comedian in I, Spy, he always managed to bring the funny. (Although not so much in that episode of The Outer Limits. That was just weird).

The 8th of April saw the death of artist, singer, musician, manager, designer and shameless self-promoter Malcolm McLaren at the age of 64.

What more can we say that hasn’t been said? Maybe Yellow Planetary Digital Reversion. But seriously, that’s about it.

On April 10 actress Dixie Carter, star of the iconic 1980s series Designing Women died at the age of 70. There is no truth whatsoever to the rumour that her coffin had to be widened to accommodate her shoulder pads.

And I’m ashamed of myself for starting it.

The 19th of April saw the death-by-assassination-with-a-piece-of-exercise-bike of notorious Australian criminal Carl Williams.

He was … um … notorious but … I’m sure … much loved by his family and the members of his gang … who are all very good looking and … nice to their mothers and … hug puppies at every opportunity.

On May 2 we farewelled actress Lynn Redgrave. A brilliantly versatile actress, Redgrave was just as comfortable on the Broadway stage as she was playing the foul-mouthed Trudy in TV’s Rude Awakening. The world of entertainment is poorer for her passing.

May 16 saw the death of heavy metal legend Ronnie James Dio at the age of 67. Despite his prolific musical output, his main legacies appear to be the “Devil Horns” hand signal and the vocals on Roger Glover’s classic Butterfly Ball video. Still. That’s very cool.

On May 22 Martin Gardner, a founding member of CSICOP and one of the founders of the modern Skeptic movement, passed away at the very respectable age of 95.

As a math nerd, I’ve followed Martin Gardner’s work for years. Through numerous books and his regular “Mathematical Games” column in Scientific American, Gardner managed to make a connection between mathematics and storytelling that few have managed to repeat.

On May 28 we bid a fond farewell to child star and the world’s most famous security guard Gary Coleman.

Expect reruns of The Gary Coleman Show on a poor-taste cable network near you.

And finally, on May 29 the world lost the great Dennis Hopper at the somewhat surprising (for anyone who knew him) age of 74. As a tribute, may I suggest a movie marathon of Easy Rider, Blue Velvet and My Science Project. Classics one and all.

And with that, we’re all caught up.

The scores have yet to move from their previous position, so Tom is still leading the pack on 9 points.

Thanks for checking in. And stay tuned for further updates.

Jean (not Gene) Simmons

Gorgeous British actress Jean Simmons (not to be confused with KISS frontman Gene Simmons) has passed away at the age of 80.

Jean was a legend of stage and screen, best known for her performances in Laurence Olivier’s Hamlet, the Kirk Douglas classic Spartacus and as Rear Admiral Norah Satie in one episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Simmons’ beauty and tumultuous private life made her a regular focus of tabloid gossip, but there is no truth to the rumour that she had a cow’s tongue grafted onto her own.

Who would? Edward Woodward would.

Very late on this one, and quite frankly … Mr. Woodward deserves better.

Yes, the great Edward Woodward has died at the age of 79.

Rising to prominence as the iconic Callan and cementing his position as Breaker Morant and The Equalizer, Woodward was a class act all the way.

Woodward went all out to make television the respectable dramatic medium it now is (back when most movie actors wouldn’t deign to appear on the box) and brought his intense trademark gravity into every role he played.

And let’s never forget the old joke:

Why does Edward Woodward have so many ‘D’s in his name?

Because if he didn’t, he’d be Ewar Woowar.

And we couldn’t have that. Edward Woodward, rest in peace.

To Patrick Swayze, Thanks for Everything

After a long battle with pancreatic cancer, Patrick Swayze has died at the age of 57.

Whether as a romantic lead, an action hero, a drag queen or a sleazy evangelist (remember Donnie Darko? He was ace in that) Swayze has always been a compelling presence onscreen. We and Hollywood are all the poorer for his passing.

It was first announced way back in March 2008 that Swayze had been diagnosed with cancer, and at that time the prognosis looked to be very short. The fact that he lasted another 18 months is a testament to his strength and the support of this family.

Of course it took about five seconds for tasteless jokes to start popping up on Twitter and, without trying to speak ill of the recently deceased, my favourites were these:

Ghost 2 is now in production ... and "nobody puts baby in a coffin."

Too soon, people. Too soon.

Vale Ray Barrett

Veteran Australian actor Ray Barrett has died at the age of 82.

Internationally known as “that guy who was in that movie … you know …”, Barrett was an inspiration to a generation of Australian actors.

And he appeared in Doctor Who, way back before it was cool.

Respect.

Paul Newman

Screen legend Paul Newman has passed away at the age of 83, following a long battle with cancer.

This drastically changes the leaderboard for the 2008 dead pool, with Spoon taking the lead on 17 points.

It's a close-run thing, however, with Kate coming second on 16 points.

There's still three months to go, so anything could yet happen.

Arthur C. Clarke

March is turning out to be a rough month for the nerds.

On the 4th we lost Gary Gygax, a giant of the gaming and fantasy world, and today Arthur C. Clarke, renowned writer, scientist, futurist, humanist and visionary passed away at his home in Sri Lanka.

I'm not going to attempt to offer a detailed obituary for Clarke. Most of it is well known, and anything else I know of his life is just what's on Wikipedia. I don't have much to add to that.

All I do want to say is how much this man's vision and work has touched my life.

As a child I loved his television show Mysterious World. It opened up my curiosity for science. It showed me that asking questions was the way to knowledge, and that even the strangest of phenomena could be studied and understood and explained.

As a teenager I read and loved his novels and short stories. His writing combined the very best of storytelling with his extraordinary visions of the future. These visions were at once optimistic and cautionary. He knew that mankind could achieve great things but also had the potential, if compassion were missing, to wreak havoc on itself and its world.

This compassion was the key to his storytelling genius. In every single one of Clarke's stories, he never lost sight of the need to make it about people. Technology and its impacts were only ever important to the extent that they affected people.

Clarke's philosophies, both scientific and storytelling, were perfectly crystallised in 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film's theme of man's evolution, from Neanderthal to star child, is mesmerising and deeply moving. The film shows us that man can reach for the stars, and that great things await him when he gets there.

At the age of 90, I guess Clarke's passing is not totally unexpected.

There will be shock and sadness as the news is announced, but I think this is because people like Clarke just seem like they could live forever.

His work and his name certainly will.