# 2025 Celebrity Still-Dead Pool **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 3, 2024, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094 "2024-12-03T05:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/1 "2024-12-03T05:04:41Z")
There’s the Celebrity Death Pool and the Celebrity Life Pool - perhaps you’ve participated in these and been disappointed, since you got few or no hits, while others who pile on with the easy picks always seem to rack up the points by doing the obvious, which takes no imagination. This pool is for you. Pick 13 people who you are pretty sure are already dead and post your list here. Odds are 99.99993% that none of your picks will come back to life in the next year, making you a winner! Won’t that feel good? Here’s my list for 2025: Wacko Hurley Earl Derr Biggers Heliogabalus Pixie Palladino Oofty Goofty Andy Kaufman Doodles Weaver Breece D’J Pancake Generalissimo Francisco Franco\* Dorothy “Sloopy” Sloop Leo G. Carroll Choo Choo Justice Vivian Stanshall Odd Flattuma \*(All entries must include Franco. Tradition is important.) You will be graded on originality of your picks. Odd or obscure or just plain funny choices are encouraged. Choose carefully. Don’t just post the first thirteen dead celebrities you can think of. People who died recently, like say Richard Simmons, will be judged harshly. Dead Beatles will prove you don’t care. You can enter anytime, no deadline, you can even enter a year from now if you want. Great for those who tend to procrastinate! Winner (possibly me) will be announced on January 1, 2026, if I make it to then. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/2 "2024-12-03T08:59:47Z")
Yul Brynner Herman Hesse Pope Hilarius Mitch Hedberg Generalissimo Francisco Franco Sonny Bono Yaphet Kotto Richard Kiel Ted Cassidy Josef Stalin Françous “Papa Doc” Duvalier Gustave Flaubert Sinclair Lewis ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/3 "2024-12-03T09:27:01Z")
The Star Wars cinematic universe (_Andor_ excluded). ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/4 "2024-12-03T19:54:40Z")
**NotherYinzer** _Yul Brynner_ _Herman Hesse_ _Pope Hilarius_ _Mitch Hedberg_ _Generalissimo Francisco Franco_ _Sonny Bono_ _Yaphet Kotto_ _Richard Kiel_ _Ted Cassidy_ _Josef Stalin_ _Françous “Papa Doc” Duvalier_ _Gustave Flaubert_ _Sinclair Lewis_ Good list. There might even be a theme here. Dictators, authors, bald guys, really tall men, Sonny Bono. I’m sure I see a pattern here. But no ladies? A dead sausage party. Put 'em on the hot dog cooker at 7-11 and watch 'em rotate. **Cervaise** _The Star Wars cinematic universe (Andor excluded)._ I’m not sure what to make of this. Will have to ask our panel of judges. Okay, panel say no. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/5 "2024-12-03T20:00:16Z")
At least Abe Vigoda is still alive. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/6 "2024-12-03T22:49:01Z")
It was around 3 a.m. when I wrote that list. I was up waiting for the dogs to come back in and I’m lucky I could count to 5, much less 13. I never realized I picked all guys. Oops. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/7 "2024-12-03T23:44:22Z")
S’okay. No oops about it. You do realize that women are dead too. For example, Katherine Hepburn. She’s dead. People don’t always think about that. Some kind of cultural bias I suppose. No knock on anyone who forgets. Don’t do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/8 "2024-12-04T01:24:11Z")
How about a second list? Amelia Earhart Cleopatra Pope Joan Diana Rigg Queen Elizabeth II Marie Curie Generalissimo Francisco Franco (just following the rules) Eleanor Roosevelt Golda Meir Beverly Cleary Phyllis Diller Cloris Leachman Persis Khambatta ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/9 "2024-12-04T01:52:16Z")
At least we still have Bowie. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/10 "2024-12-04T03:22:34Z")
The all Spinal Tap list Drummers John “Stumpy” Pepys Eric “Stumpy Joe” Childs Peter “James” Bond Mick Shrimpton Joe “Mama” Besser Richard “Ric” Shrimpton Sammy “Stumpy” Bateman Scott “Skippy” Scuffleton Chris “Poppa” Cadeau Tambourine player Billy Murgatroyd Dan Taman on horns Backup vocalist Andy Sutcliffe And Francisco Franco as cultural censor ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2024, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/11 "2024-12-04T19:56:45Z")
Considering that Franco has to be on the list, here’s one with him and 12 people who have been given an “opening credits” cast credit on _Saturday Night Live_: Francisco Franco George Coe Michael “Mr. Mike” O’Donoghue John Belushi Gilda Radner Charles “F-Bomb” Rocket Gilbert Gottfried Danitra Vance Phil Hartman Tony Rosato Chris Farley Jan Hooks Norm Macdonald “George Coe from _Archer_? When was he on SNL?” On just the first episode - The Version I Heard Was, he was there to play the father figure in sketches, as they weren’t sure if viewers would accept a sketch where, say, Chevy Chase or John Belushi played the father of Gilda Radner’s or Laraine Newman’s character. When they decided that Chase et al. could do it without any problem, they let Coe go. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/12 "2025-01-03T01:36:47Z")
And we’re off; the starting gun has fired a blank, if it were loaded it might have killed a celebrity by accident, one who might have been on someone’s list by mistake but the judges have conferred and decided that would count. I would like to step in and repeat a special advantage this pool has over those other pools in that there’s no deadline to enter and you are more than welcome to submit your list at any time during 2025. I should not have to say this, but there seems to be a difficulty among some would-be players in telling the difference between actual dead people and fictitious people who never existed, thus cannot have died. That’s something I never expected, but will now take the opportunity to emphasize that there is a difference. If you are confused, let me know and I’ll attempt to clear up this baffling sticking point in words of one syllable. I’d say we’re well on the way to making this THE event of the annual Dead-Alive season. So Tally-ho, and may the bestest be the deadest - I think it was Ian Fleming who said You Only Live Twice, and he has yet to be proven correct but I think I can say with great confidence that he never will be - Hatchie. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2025, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/13 "2025-01-04T12:22:27Z")
Yesterday it was reported that the world’s oldest living person had died. But the world’s oldest living person is still alive. So… ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/14 "2025-01-05T11:29:15Z")
I’ll do my bit for the old empire with this list, which I’ll call “Brits who liked to party”. I haven’t double-checked they’re all actually dead, that seems like too much work. Freddie Mercury HM Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins Keith Moon Winston Churchill Brian Jones Graham Chapman Boudicca Generalissimo Francisco Franco George Best Richard Burton Sir Malcolm Sargent Douglas Adams ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2025, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/15 "2025-01-05T14:49:36Z")
I plumbed the depths of major league baseball’s archives for (most of) these dudes Johnny “Ugly” Dickshot Ledell “Cannonball” Titcomb Tony Suck Jack Glasscock Cletus Elwood “Boots” Poffenberger Orval Overall General Francisco Franco Charlie Furbush Harry Budson “Bud” Weiser Urban Shocker Charles Manlove Van Lingle Mungo Dick Trickle ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/16 "2025-01-07T08:08:23Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > I haven’t double-checked they’re all actually dead, that seems like too much work. I suggest you not check then, because I certainly won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/17 "2025-01-07T09:49:59Z")
Nitpick! Francisco Franco Bahamonde’s title was either Generalísimo (with accent on the “i” and only one “s”, there are no double esses in Spanish) or Caudillo de España por la Gracia de Dios. So now my list, just starting, will be completed in due time: Generalísimo Francisco Franco Bahamonde Pope Benedict Lucrecia Borgia Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher Farrokh Bulsara, aka Freddie Mercury tbc ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2025, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/18 "2025-01-07T16:06:11Z")
The guy’s name was “Dickshot” and they nicknamed him “Ugly”? That’s just piling on. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2025, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/19 "2025-01-08T18:07:28Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Nitpick! Francisco Franco Bahamonde’s title was either Generalísimo (with accent on the “i” and only one “s”, there are no double esses in Spanish) or Caudillo de España por la Gracia de Dios. Aw, I always get that wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094/20 "2026-01-02T23:24:01Z")
Happy Scrapple Dappy New Year! Pencils down! Gotta say, this being the Inaugural Still-Dead Pool, it’s one to grow on. Meaning pariticipation in '25, though disappointingly punk, was nevetheless slapdash and halfhearted. But that only means there’s nowhere to go but up, and that’s what we’re aiming for in 2026, and with my genius “no deadline” codicil (because how could there be, all picks are already dead, some for centuries) we can nourish our little seed to a big, strong beanstalk with just a little bit of Miracle-Gro and a prayer. For instance, I am considering making the next Pool a “mandatory participation” one. Nobody wants to see that, so get your spouses, kids, parents, siblings, friends and neighbors to register at SDMB and let’s get out there and stuff that Ballot Box till it busts wide open! I’ve been handed the list of winners for last year’s Pool. Surprisingly, I didn’t win, but let’s first see who the big losers were. Bottom: anyone who tried to sneak Star Wars characters or other fictional low-lifes into the mix. No can do! I guess some of you don’t know what’s real and what isn’t, but like Joe Pesci said, get the shovels and get in the fucking car. Dead\_Cat: It was a nice list of mediocrities and nonentities, but frankly wasn’t funny enough. I’m sure you can do better. Reeses\_Monkey (second all female-list) This was clearly a suck-up entry, after I choused you for first offering an all-boy list. I guess I should have specified no do-overs. Once you submit to me, it’s over. I don’t want to be like that ridiculous Death Pool which is larded with Alternates and poor beggars who want to change their entry right up to the eleventh hour. You think I’m going to indulge a bunch of pathetic sobsisters? Not happenin’. That\_Don\_Guy: You did your best, and I thank you for it. I just don’t like people whose screen names include underscores (“\_”). Reeses\_ Monkey (original list) It was a good one. I liked seeing “Papa Doc” in there, a very High Grade choice. Who has even thought about “Papa” for years? And Pope Hilarius made me smile. If that’s a not real person, I don’t care; he should be real. Runner up: me. I spent a lot of time and effort rounding up this rogues’ gallery, and I hope you were duly impressed. Winner: Moriarty. Ain’t America a great country? I don’t mean now, but when ball players named Dick Trickle and Cletus Elwood “Boots” Puffenharger walked the Earth. Giants, all of them. You may pick up your $10,000 prize tomorrow at 3 am in the parking lot behind the Waffle House in Knoxville TN; you’ve earned it. Now get out of here, all of you. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-celebrity-still-dead-pool/1011094.md?page=2)