# Celebrity Death Pool 2020 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2019, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229 "2019-12-01T07:28:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/1 "2019-12-01T07:28:06Z")
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!!! This past year has been exciting so far, and 2020 should be just as great!!!. Okay, as usual, let’s get the rules out of the way and get to playing. \*\* The Rules\*\*: 1. You pick 13 celebrities (that’s thirteen, _ **not** _ ten) whom you predict will die within the calendar year 2020. If any of your celebrities dies, you score 100 points minus their age at death. Whoever has the most points at the end of the year wins the undying _snort_ admiration of the SDMB. 2. All picks must be time- and date-stamped by midnight Chicago time, Dec. 31st, 2019. (That’s U.S. Central time, which is six hours behind Greenwich.) 3. Valid picks are **not** : a. already dead b. a fictional character c. non-human d. under age 18 at death, 'cause we’re macabre but not _THAT_ macabre. e. a registered member of the SDMB, 'cause that would be weird f. hostages held by terrorist organizations g. famous solely as a result of their illness or associated actions/events. h. listed as “any member of whatever group” It’s really hard to define “celebrity” Best we can do is someone who’s death is rather widely reported in major media outlets, because of something they’ve done, be it art, politics, athletics, science, music, the military, or even serial murder. It’s not going to be your Aunt Mabel who was in the local paper because her apple pie won first place in the county fair. **HOWEVER** , if you **DO** have a question about whether or not someone’s choice qualifies, please, I’d prefer a PM about it to start off with, rather than thrashing it out in public and possibly causing resentment. Remember, people, it’s only a _game_! It’s supposed to be fun, Fun FUN!!! 1. You can pick people who are 100 or more years old but you won’t score points for them. See the “Quantity Not Quality” award, below. 2. If we are uncertain about the celebrity’s age at death, we will go by the higher age (lower score). 3. Prisoners held on death row will be valid for scoring points only if they die by means other than official execution. I call this the “Whitey Bulger“.rule. 4. Any poster who kills or otherwise contributes to the death of any celebrity mentioned in this thread is disqualified. It’s just a _ **game** _, people. The only exceptions to this rule would be deaths caused by those posters serving as members of the police or armed forces of any country, in the line of duty. 5. Editing your choices: be careful! You can make changes to your list before the end of the year, but it has to be clear which names are your _ **final** _ choices. It might be advisable to submit one or more “alternates” with your list, in the event that one of your picks dies during December 2019. If you have no alternates, and one of your picks has died the remaining twelve will be all you have. You may have no more than 13 picks. If you pick more than 13, or if any of your picks is otherwise invalid, I may ask for clarification. Otherwise, I will submit the first 13 names on your list. Do me a favor: check twice, post once. Sharing news of celebrities in ill health and whatnot is up to individual posters. If a poster playing the game gets banned during the year, this does not invalidate their entry, although they won’t be able to gloat in the thread if and/or when they do get points. If a player changes their username at some point, post this news on the thread, or PM me, so I know who you are. Some celebrities have common, identical or similar names. It is helpful to be specific. Spelling counts! **Please** try to spell celebrities’ names correctly. Names that weren’t originally spelled in English can be tricky, I know, but if you aren’t sure of a name, try looking at what a major news outlet, like CNN or the BBC, uses. While all deaths garnering points must occur during the calendar year, I know that a death might go unreported for a day or so. So, I will not post official total points for at least 24 hours after 12/31/2020. If you find that one of your picks died, say, late on 12/31/2020, and you didn’t hear about it until late on Jan. 1, 2021(this is a not so subtle hint to check your lists)then post a cite at once, and you will get your points. After that you will be out of luck. Additional awards: The “Opening Kickoff” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the first listed celebrity to die in 2020. The “Quantity Not Quality” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the greatest number of celebrities who died, regardless of their actual point value. The “Inside Track With the Grim Reaper” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who had the most unique picks that died. The “Robbing the Cradle” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the youngest celebrity to die in 2020, but see rule 3.d. The “Final Hours” Award: awarded to the poster or posters who pick the last listed celebrity to die in 2020. List Format: I have a spreadsheet that allows me to post game standings and produce various other statistics. The pain is “loading” the data into the sheets. I can do each list in a single cut and paste if you do the following two things. First, please observe, what I, **Baker** , refer to as the “Pope” rule, that is, use the name a celebrity is most commonly known by. It isn’t necessarily their birth name. If a person is known primarily by a titled name, please use that. So it wouldn’t be Jorge Bergoglio, it would be Pope Francis. And don’t put down Elizabeth Windsor, put down Queen Elizabeth II. For all I know there are other celebrities with the plain names. If you do pick George or Lizzy, under their lesser known names, I might not notice it, to give you those points if and when they shuffle off this mortal coil and go to join the choir invisible. And please, let me mention again, check your spelling of names!!! And second, post your list in a plain format. An example of a plain list follows here: Sam Brownback Jeff Colyer Pat Roberts Jerry Moran Tim Huelskamp Mike Pompeo Kevin Yoder Derek Schmidt Kris Kobach Ron Estes Ken Selzer Donald Trump Mike Pence However, I know that many of you like to include commentary within your lists, such as: Donald(Pumpkin-in-Chief)Trump Sam(only 26% approval rating as governor)Brownback That’s fine, it’s entertaining. But if you do that, please include the list again in plain format for me to copy & paste. It’s _good_ to be the Death Mistress! Have fun, sickos, and \*\* “May the odds be ever in your favor!”\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/2 "2019-12-01T11:42:20Z")
Julia Louis-Dreyfus John Williams Gene Hackman David Geffen Thomas Pynchon Dustin Hoffman Stephen King Tina Turner William Hurt Val Kilmer Kevin Spacey Paul Simon Art Garfunkel Alternates: Matt Lauer Steven Spielberg Madonna ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/3 "2019-12-01T15:30:11Z")
OK folks, 30 days and 14.5 hours to get those lists in!! (And 29 days and 14.5 hours until **Baker** ’s birthday! :)) ETA: And 30 days and 14.5 hours for the surviving people on my rivals’ 2019 lists to hang in there - c’mon guys, you can postpone the inevitable for that long! 😃 ---
**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 1, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/4 "2019-12-01T15:37:27Z")
Queen Elizabeth Meat Loaf Jimmy Carter Rosalynn Carter The Amazing Johnathan Pat Boone Pat Robertson Joe Piscopo John Rhys-Davies Hal Holbrook Donald Trump Larry Flynt James Randi Alternates: Mary-Kate Olsen Ashley Olsen Dan Rather ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/5 "2019-12-01T16:29:21Z")
David Attenborough Bob Barker John Byner Bill Cosby Hugh Downs Uri Geller The Amazing Kreskin Rush Limbaugh Peter Marshall Wink Martindale Martin Mull Regis Philbin Shadoe Stevens Alternates: Newt Gingrich Pat Sajak Richard Simmons ---
**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 1, 2019, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/6 "2019-12-01T16:40:28Z")
Frankie Banali Jimmy Carter Ruth Bader Ginsburg Chuck Norris Eddie Van Halen Dick Van Dyke Olivia Newton John Bob Dole Honor Blackman Ed Asner Alex Trebeck Linda Ronstadt Joni Mitchell Alternates: Nichelle Nichols Michael McKean Fred Willard ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Girlfriend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.girlfriend/32/193_2.png) [@Dr.Girlfriend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Girlfriend)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/7 "2019-12-01T18:02:38Z")
Will there be a separate themed list Death Pool this year? I enjoyed having two lists this year, especially since I got points in both! ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/8 "2019-12-01T18:44:33Z")
As usual for me, one preliminary list that will change a lot later. Just in case I forget. Harry Reid Celine Dion Sam Lloyd Rikako Ikee Danny Amis aka Daddy-O Grande Danny Trejo Alex Trebek CJ de Mooi Meat Loaf Artie Lange Kamala (the wrestler) Little Richard Lee Kerslake ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/9 "2019-12-01T19:01:15Z")
2019 was my first foray into the Celebrity Death Pool. Thus far I have zero points. I have chosen a different set of 16 folks for 2020, which will ensure that this group will survive until at least 1/1/21. David Berkowitz Xi Jinping Pierce Brosnan Hulk Hogan Duane Chapman Tony Blair Cyndi Lauper Tim Allen Kim Basinger John Malkovich Kathie Lee Gifford Chaka Khan Howard Schultz Alernates: Marcia Clark Pat Benatar Amy Irving ---
**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:** [December 1, 2019, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/10 "2019-12-01T20:14:14Z")
Please put up the themed thread as well. I am actually more ready for that one. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/11 "2019-12-01T21:51:16Z")
Since all of my 2019 picks have been most un-cooperative, I shall submit them again for 2020. Maybe at least one of them will take a hint. Cher David Hasselhoff Jonathan Rhys Meyers Michael Douglas Penny Marshall Courtney Love Charlie Sheen Pamela Anderson Lady Gaga Lindsay Lohan Miley Cyrus Toni Braxton Billy Joel Alternates: Alex Trebec Michael J. Fox ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2019, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/12 "2019-12-01T23:50:16Z")
> [@swampbear](#): > > Since all of my 2019 picks have been most un-cooperative, I shall submit them again for 2020. Maybe at least one of them will take a hint. > > Cher > David Hasselhoff > Jonathan Rhys Meyers > Michael Douglas > Penny Marshall > Courtney Love > Charlie Sheen > Pamela Anderson > Lady Gaga > Lindsay Lohan > Miley Cyrus > Toni Braxton > Billy Joel > > Alternates: > Alex Trebec > Michael J. Fox I’m sensing a weakness in your 2019 strategy that may hurt you in 2020. Penny Marshall died in 2018. ---
**Author:** ![Dancer\_Flight](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dancer_flight/32/7601_2.png) [@Dancer\_Flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dancer_Flight)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/13 "2019-12-02T00:05:04Z")
Here are my picks, there maybe a “pointless” entry simply on the faint chance of not getting totally skunked again this year. Then again, perhaps by picking him, I will grant Kirk Douglas another year’s immunity from the reaper. The List: Christopher Lloyd Prince Philip Betty White Angela Lansbury Alex Trebek Sean Connery Billy Connolly Kirk Douglas Robert Duvall Wilford Brimley Loretta Swit Shirley MacLaine Jimmy Carter The Alternates: Morgan Freeman Jack Nicholson Nancy Pelosi ---
**Author:** ![Wallet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e99b99/32.png) [@Wallet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallet)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/14 "2019-12-02T01:33:57Z")
> [@Dr.Girlfriend](#): > > Will there be a separate themed list Death Pool this year? I enjoyed having two lists this year, especially since I got points in both! First, I want to thank **Phungi** for running the Themed Death Pool this year. We really appreciate all of your hard work - thank you. However, as much as a themed death thread is great, it just didn’t garner the same posts/views as the main thread. Could we please go back to just one Death Pool thread? I know there are some who want the recognition of a well thought out themed list - couldn’t we just make a separate column on the main list? I know it was done for prior years. **Death Mistress Baker** , I know asking this is a huge imposition - could it at least be open for debate/consideration? Whatever is decided, much thanks to those who put in the time and effort to keep this game going. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/15 "2019-12-02T02:46:00Z")
Actually, I think a themed list is just great, especially as I don’t have to run it. It may not garner the same views, but those who do want it will seek it out. I do, for example. ---
**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:** [December 2, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/16 "2019-12-02T03:47:12Z")
Uh, I totally want a themed thread. Should I run it? I have no idea how the death pool is run/managed, but could learn and am willing to run the Themed one. ??? ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/17 "2019-12-02T04:04:59Z")
\*\*phungi \*\*may be delayed in beginning the themed thread, I had a reply to a PM the day before yesterday saying they were ready. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DarrenW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenW)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2019, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/18 "2019-12-02T15:54:17Z")
Jimmy Carter Chevy Chase Brian Cranston Bob Dole Brian Wilson Brian Williams Cher Alex Trebek Todd Rundgren Rupert Murdoch Mick Jagger Paul Hogan Ringo Starr Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**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:** [December 2, 2019, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/19 "2019-12-02T21:03:45Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > \*\*phungi \*\*may be delayed in beginning the themed thread, I had a reply to a PM the day before yesterday saying they were ready. Ok, great. It’s there now! ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2019, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229/20 "2019-12-03T11:02:17Z")
Thanks **Loach** for catching that! My revised list. Cher David Hasselhoff Jonathan Rhys Meyers Michael Douglas Alex Trebec Courtney Love Charlie Sheen Pamela Anderson Lady Gaga Lindsay Lohan Miley Cyrus Toni Braxton Billy Joel Alternates: Michael J. Fox [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/celebrity-death-pool-2020/844229.md?page=2)