2021 SDMB Celebrity Death Pool

I just hope the caterers provide big bread at the wake otherwise you just have to keep folding the meat over until it looks like…this.

Allan McDonald, engineer at Morton Thiokol who was supposed to provide the go/no go approval for the Challenger launch (and who said NO), died yesterday at the age of 83 after falling and suffering brain damage.

Carla Wallenda, the last surviving child of the founder of The Flying Wallendas, died in Sarasota, Florida on March 6, 2021 at the age of 85.

Taking the name of his band way too seriously, lead singer for the band Entombed, LG Petrov, has died at 49 of bile duct cancer.

Norton Juster, author of The Phantom Tollbooth, enters the Lands Beyond at the age of 91.

I’m a bit late to the party but am intrigued with this game. What is the strategy (by some) of picking a young and presumably healthy person for your list? Sure, it’s a unique way of getting a point that nobody else would, but isn’t it kind of a waste because few such people will actually kick the bucket within the next year? Maybe you have reasons to believe they might die (i.e. drugs, suicide, etc.)?

Well, for some hard living entertainers we have the concept of what we call “The 27 Club” Alcohol, drugs, and other risky behavior sometimes carries young folk off early. And it’s not one point, it’s 100 minus age at death, so a younger person is worth a lot. So if they manage to make it to the age of twenty-seven, we figure they are probably going to make it.

Picking a young celebrity or two is seen as worth the risk, especially if they have already been in trouble.

Somehow I missed that, and it explains a lot. Thanks!

Roger Mudd, TV journalist and network news anchor, dies at 93

It’s the reason we generally mention the age of a person when we post about their death in this thread.

Biotop gets on the board with the death of Roger Mudd.

1 Team Dirt 118 4 0
2 GIGObuster 107 3 1
3 jeezums 105 3 0
3 RTFirefly 105 3 0
5 RobotDevilDog 93 3 0
6 Hal Briston 89 4 1
7 phungi 85 3 0
8 Superdude 75 2 0
9 candide 63 2 0
9 CreaseMunky 63 3 0
9 Hoopy Frood 63 2 0
9 It’s Not Rocket Surgery 63 2 0
9 Rebo 63 2 0
14 Happy Lendervedder 52 2 0
15 J-P L 43 2 0
16 Greater Zamboni 37 2 1
16 imthjckaz 37 2 0
16 Mahaloth 37 2 0
19 xizor 36 1 0
20 a35362 30 1 0
20 Amarinth 30 1 0
20 ataraxy42 30 1 0
20 BobLibDem 30 1 0
20 Borborygmi 30 1 0
20 Captain Klutz 30 1 0
20 catamount 30 1 0
20 critter42 30 1 0
20 D Anconia 30 1 0
20 Dr. Girlfriend 30 1 0
20 Dung Beetle 30 1 0
20 jenstvns 30 1 0
20 JohnT 30 1 0
20 kayT 30 1 0
20 Little Nemo 30 1 0
20 Loach 30 1 0
20 Lsura 30 1 0
20 Maus Magill 30 1 0
20 McDeath the Mad 30 1 0
20 Mean Mr. Mustard 30 1 0
20 Mona Lott 30 1 0
20 Nother Yinzer 30 1 0
20 Ponch 30 1 0
20 Precambrianmollusa 30 1 0
20 Psychonaut 30 1 0
20 Queen Anne"s Lace 30 1 0
20 Registered at Last 30 1 0
20 Reindeer Flotilla 30 1 0
20 smithsb 30 1 0
20 Stephe96 30 1 0
20 Tristan 30 1 0
20 vivalostwages 30 1 0
20 Wallet 30 1 0
20 WolfpackJeep 30 1 0
54 Paul in Saudi 27 2 0
55 Sapphiredragon76 22 1 1
56 ZeroOO 20 2 0
57 Slow Moving Vehicle 14 1 0
58 Guano Lad 13 1 0
58 lel 13 1 0
60 commasense 10 2 1
61 Old Wench 8 1 1
62 Biotop 7 1 1
62 madsircool 7 1 0

Nikki Van der Zyl, (frequently uncredited) voice actress who got her start by dubbing over lines from various actresses in the first James Bond film “Dr. No” (most notably Ursula Andress), dead at 85 from a stroke.

  1. ‘Phantom Tollbooth’ Author Norton Juster Dies At 91
    'Phantom Tollbooth' Author Norton Juster Dies : NPR

  2. Waffles the Giraffe. The Monday evening fire killed a beloved giraffe named ‘Waffles’, who [arrived at Roer’s Zoofari in 2016]. One couple even got married at Roer’s Zoofari and says Waffles the giraffe served as their best man. Age not listed.

  3. Lou Ottens, the former Philips engineer who gave the world its first compact cassette tape, has passed away. According to Dutch news outlet NRC Handelsblad , Ottens was 94 when he died on March 6th.
    The inventor of the cassette tape has died | Engadget

I wonder if they tried sticking a pencil into him and turning it

Jason Isbell is a gem of an musician, but his Twitter-game is unparalleled

Ok I’m not saying they should do this, but if it was me I’d put in the will that the pallbearers had to flip me over halfway through the funeral.

Charles Hill, art detective who helped recover “The Scream” after its theft, dead at 73.

Cliff Simon of Stargate game, dead at 42 points.

Kiteboarding accident.

Beat ya to it. :smiley:

I think you’ve forgotten to increase my score for L. G. Petrov, whose death was announced upthread by @Superdude.

That was a good pick for the pool. I’m not a huge Entombed fan, and didn’t even know he was sick.