# 2025 SDMB Celebrity Death Pool **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2024, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010 "2024-12-01T05:01:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/481 "2025-02-16T05:31:38Z")
Just an urban legend. > **[Fact check: Pope’s death confirmed with traditional means, not hammer](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2023/01/11/fact-check-popes-death-determined-traditional-means-not-hammer/11020726002/)** > > There is no proof that a deceased pope is hit with a hammer to determine if he is dead. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/482 "2025-02-16T05:45:52Z")
It would be interesting to know what the average length of time is that popes have held the office. That would be excluding things like anti-popes and the three year conclave. I recall the news of the death of Pope Paul VI and then, just over a month later, Pope John Paul I. Talk about a short reign. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/483 "2025-02-16T07:20:41Z")
oops, bad math ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/484 "2025-02-16T15:02:47Z")
Yeah, isn’t there a Cecil Adams article on it? ---
**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:** [February 16, 2025, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/485 "2025-02-16T21:26:25Z")
But thanks to @Happy_Lendervedder’s link we now know that [South Korean actress Kim-Sae Ron died at home leaving 76 points](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/02/16/kim-sae-ron-dead-south-korean-actress/78874423007/) on the Board. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/486 "2025-02-16T21:50:13Z")
[List of popes - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popes) Tells you how long each one was Pope. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2025, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/487 "2025-02-16T22:34:19Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Tells you how long each one was Pope. This one tells you how long they reigned, ranked: > **[List of popes by length of reign](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_popes_by_length_of_reign)** > > The List of popes by length of reign is parsed using two organizing standards—identifying the longest reigns and the shortest ones. > The term pope is the name several churches give to their highest spiritual leader. In English, the term usually means the head of the Catholic Church. The most accurate information about the popes is published every year by the Holy See in the Annuario Pontificio. > Including Peter, who was the first Bishop of Rome and the first pope, the list of the 11 longest-reign... It’s Pius IX in terms of ones we are sure existed and have accurate length of time serving. Peter, the first pope. is apparently even longer, but who knows how long he reigned and if he had any idea he was pope? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/488 "2025-02-17T04:20:49Z")
I looked at that article and in the reference section I saw a link for Urban VIII. I actually knew his birth name(he passed in 1644) as I have been a fan of Eric Flint’s Ring of Fire series and he featured significantly in the later books. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/489 "2025-02-17T14:17:14Z")
All hail [Pope Lando](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Lando)! He wasn’t pope for very long, but he could pilot the Millennium Falcon almost as well as Han Solo could! ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/490 "2025-02-17T15:23:57Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > When reached for comment, His Holiness replied with “just keep away from me with that fucking silver hammer!” Paging Dr. Edison. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/491 "2025-02-17T17:27:00Z")
Yrjö Kukkapuro is reclining permanently now. > **[Yrjö Kukkapuro, designer whose iconic chairs were sat on by ‘almost every...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/11/style/yrjo-kukkapuro-chair-designer-death/index.html)** > > The renowned designer’s postmodern style of chairs graced waiting rooms, offices and living rooms across Finland, as well as collections in New York’s Museum of Modern Art and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/492 "2025-02-17T18:50:58Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > But thanks to @Happy_Lendervedder’s link we now know that [South Korean actress Kim-Sae Ron died at home leaving 76 points](https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2025/02/16/kim-sae-ron-dead-south-korean-actress/78874423007/) on the Board. Indeed it was suicide for those who suspected, but were not sure. Police confirmed that is what happened. Poor girl. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/493 "2025-02-17T21:06:29Z")
As an avid reader of the Wikipedia obits, whenever a Korean name appears it’s probably a suicide under age 30 ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/494 "2025-02-17T21:13:10Z")
Actor [Biff Wiff died at the approximate, sort-of-estimated and unconfirmed age of 69.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biff_Wiff) ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/495 "2025-02-17T21:47:43Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I recall the news of the death of Pope Paul VI and then, just over a month later, Pope John Paul I. When Paul VI died, I had a paper route, and opened up my bundle one day to the headline that the pope had died. I asked my mother what a pope was. The next 800,000 years, nothing was on TV except for smoke coming up from some building in Italy, and documentaries about past popes, and Italian architecture. At least when it is the late 70s, and you don’t have cable. They finally picked a new pope, and TV got back to normal. A month later, I’m opening my papers again… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/496 "2025-02-17T21:52:34Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > A month later, I’m opening my papers again… Man, what a pain. Reminds me of the Mormon church, who I believe at one point were frequently picking these 80+ year old guys to lead the church…then having to replace them really quickly. ---
**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:** [February 17, 2025, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/497 "2025-02-17T22:13:44Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > A month later, I’m opening my papers again… I remember on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update, Bill Murray started to read a headline: “Cardinals gather in Rome to elect new Pope – HEY THIS STORY’S A MONTH OLD!” ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2025, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/498 "2025-02-17T22:41:15Z")
IIRC Brezhnev/Andropov/Chernenko was Death pitching an immaculate inning ---
**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:** [February 17, 2025, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/499 "2025-02-17T23:21:25Z")
Those were the times! Wouldn’t mind a rerun with the current cast. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2025, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010/500 "2025-02-18T00:36:17Z")
How 'bout an American remake? Seems to be all the rage these days. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2025-sdmb-celebrity-death-pool/1011010.md?page=26)