# The Celebrity Death Pool 2004 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359 "2003-12-01T22:29:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/221 "2003-12-31T13:36:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vunderbob \* > \*\*First timer submitting: > > 1. Mike Wallace (of 60 Minutes) > 2. Morley Safer (ditto) > 3. Yassir Arafat > 4. Paris Hilton > 5. Jerry Lee Lewis > 6. Sparky Anderson > 7. Larry Hagman > 8. Maggie Smith > 9. Leon Askin (Gen. Burkholder on _Hogan’s Heroes_) > 10. Rosa Parks > 11. Olivia De Havilland > 12. Buzz Aldrin > 13. Pope John Paul \*\* Lat minute substitution: Scratch Maggie Smith, and replace her with Ted Marchibroda the former NFL coach. I certainly don’t want to see Professor McGonigal buy the farm… ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/222 "2003-12-31T14:53:23Z")
Jumping on at the last minute, here goes: 1. Pope John Paul 2 2. Ronald Reagan 3. Johnny Carson 4. Yogi Berra 5. Stan “The Man” Musial 6. Bart Starr 7. Clint Eastwood 8. Sean Connery 9. Bob Feller 10. Shirley Temple 11. George Herbert Walker Bush 12. Paul Schaffer 13. Mickey Rooney ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/223 "2003-12-31T15:18:03Z")
1. Pope John Paul II (elderly Catholic dude) 2. Jerry Lewis (mostly unfunny fundraiser) 3. James Brown (Godfather of Soul) 4. Lady Bird Johnson (wildflower planter, beloved Texan) 5. Ronald Reagan (ex-prez) 6. Vince McMahon (WWE honcho, pushing 60 and still getting hit in the face with chairs) 7. Hulk Hogan (washed-up wrestler, almost-certain 'roid user) 8. Joel Grey (actor-singer) 9. George W. Bush (hopefully soon to be ex-prez) 10. John Ashcroft (attorney general) 11. Margaret Thatcher (Bristish ex-Prime Minister) 12. Mickey Rooney (actor) 13. Valerie Harper (actress) ---
**Author:** ![Mad\_Matt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Mad\_Matt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mad_Matt)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/224 "2003-12-31T15:50:25Z")
I would like to revise my nominations, please. My new nominees are: 1. Pope John Paul II (_dob_ 18 May 1920) 2. Margaret Thatcher (_dob_ 13 October 1925) 3. George Best (_dob_ 22 May 1946) 4. Hamid Karzai (_dob_ 24 December 1957) 5. Richard Pryor (_dob_ 1 December 1940) 6. Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh (_dob_ 6 October 1921) 7. Stephen Hawking (_dob_ 8 January 1942) 8. Ronnie Barker (_dob 25_ September 1929) 9. Mollie Sugden (_dob 21_ July 1922) 10. Robbie Williams (_dob_ 13 February 1974) 11. Ronald Reagan (_dob_ 6 February 1911) 12. Richard Briers (_dob_ 14 January 1934) 13. Arthur C Clarke (_dob_ 16 December 1917) Sorry to be a nuisance. Happy New Year everyone, and good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Earthman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9dc877/32.png) [@Earthman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthman)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/225 "2003-12-31T17:43:57Z")
1. Yassir Arafat 2. L. Paul Bremer 3. Fidel Castro 4. Arthur C. Clarke 5. Gerald Ford 6. Charlton Heston 7. Whitney Houston 8. Osama bin Laden 9. Jerry Lewis 10. Pope John Paul II 11. Richard Pryor 12. Ronald Reagan 13. Boris Yeltsin ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/226 "2003-12-31T18:24:49Z")
Wanting to get in under the wire, if the hamsters will let me: 1. Pope John Paul II (Pontiff, Bishop of Rome, and Polish soul brother) 2. Paul Williams (singer, songwriter, actor, short round guy) 3. John Nash (Mathematician, Nobel Prize winner) 4. The Naked Cowboy -_real name apparently Robert John Burck_- (NYC attention seeker, pop culture flotsam, and future trivia question answer) 5. Dusty Rhodes (pro wrestler, redneck) 6. Jack Higgins (pulpy adventure novel writer) 7. Mako (prolific character actor) 8. Melanie -_Safka_- (former pop singer, 60s footnote) 9. Charles Taylor (exiled former dictator of Liberia, prison escapee, business associate of Pat Robertson, and nasty piece of work) 10. Courtney Love (untalented rock star, occasional actress, junkie, nut job) 11. Herbert Lom (actor, Dreyfuss in the Pink Panther films) 12. Gene, Gene The Dancing Machine -_Patton_- (crew member, and “character” on The Gong Show) 13. Bobby Allison (NASCAR racing legend, member of “The Alabama Gang”) ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/227 "2003-12-31T19:19:27Z")
People whose obit I’d hate to see in the coming year : 1. Albert Feldstein (former MAD editor) 2. Robert Silverberg (writer) 3. Harlan Ellison 4. Ray Bradbury 5. Arthur C. Clarke 6. Ringo Starr 7. Ralph Nader 8. Al Franken 9. I’m drawing a blank - will try to get back before the deadline. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/228 "2003-12-31T19:51:23Z")
I might as well get a list in, huh? Here goes. **The Celeb section** 1. Whitney Houston (would anyone be surprised, the real question is if its self-inflicted or not) 2. Ron Santo (gonna be a real sad day, especially for my dad, but the guy is losing body parts like crazy and the fact that he missed the Cubs playoff run broadcasts tells you how bad its getting) 3. Vern “Mini Me” Troyer (I almost put Ghorge Muresan on here just to balance things) 4. Evel Knievel (just cause alot of people are picking Robbie) 5. Joey Bishop (the last of the Rat Pack is due) 6. Farrah Fawcett (however it happens, it’ll be portrayed in a TV movie inside or a year) **The Politico Section** 7) Pope John Paul II (duh) 8) Ronny Reagan (see above) 9) Pervez Musharraf (its the trendy pick) 10) Fidel Castro (this guy’s fallen off the radar, it’s time for a comeback) **The Sports Section** 11) Stan Musial (and St. Louis weeps) 12) Bum Phillips (the Mad Cow scare will be too much for him to take) 13) Vin Scully (and something finally distracts the news crews from Kobe) There you have my first ever Death Pool list, lets see how it pans out. ---
**Author:** ![Squonk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squonk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squonk)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/229 "2003-12-31T19:53:32Z")
Count me in. Ronald Reagan Robert Byrd (US Senator, West Virginia, I think) Henry Kissinger Augusto Pinochet Princess Anne (revenge of the corgis) Pope John Paul II The next Pope John Wooden (Legendary UCLA basketball coach) Dick Enberg (CBS Sports announcer) Rick Wakeman (keyboardist) Luciano Pavoratti Courtney Love Richard Pryor alternates: Chris Squire (bass player) Ringo Starr ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/230 "2003-12-31T20:11:13Z")
Since it has apparently been ruled that Saddam will not count if he’s legally executed, even though I picked him before he had been so much as even captured, and the rule states > [@](#): > > 1. Persons under sentence of death will be valid for scoring points only if they die by means other than official execution. , and Saddam is under no such sentence, I will retract Saddam and replace it with Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan. But dammit, if the lack of Saddam costs me the crown, this whole thing is played under protest. And if the ruling says that Saddam is valid, even if he’s executed, I want to keep him. ---
**Author:** ![CowPatty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@CowPatty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CowPatty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/231 "2003-12-31T20:12:43Z")
For several years now I’ve selected my list of names for this pool but being a habitual lurker I’ve never posted them. Since the only points I would have ever received were for Chris Farley, I’m not sure why I’m finally coming out of hiding to play in public. I obviously stink at this game, but here goes nothing: Richard Pryor Pope John Paul II Courtney Love Albert Gore III Arthur C. Clarke Annette Funicello Zsa Zsa Gabor Ronald Reagan Michael J. Fox Jerry Lewis Billy Graham Michael Jackson Liza Minelli **scurries back to lurkdom** ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/232 "2003-12-31T20:22:32Z")
_C&P’ed from my entry on the the LJ Death Pool_: Ok, last year, my only scorer was Mr. Zevon, but that was a gimme. Other than that I’ve never come close to picking a winner in these pools. So this year, I’m going for quality of points and not quantity. No old or sick people hovering on the brink of death for me! I’m going with the James Deans and the John Belushi type shocking deaths this year: 1. Jimmy Fallon - (actor - Saturday Night Live cast member) 2. Pink - (musician) 3. Jim Carrey - (actor / comedian) 4. Jon Gruden (football coach (youngest head NFL head coach ever)) 5. Gwyneth Paltrow (actress) 6. LeBron James (basketball player / phenom) 7. Meg White (person who whacks the shit out of the drums in a very untalented way for The White Stripes) 8. Simon Cowell (American Idol cruelty disher-outerer (hopefully after he trashes someone they’ll stab him with a tuning fork)) 9. Debbie Matenopolous (ex co-host of The View who now seems to host the What’s On TV channel for my cable system) 10. Mia Hamm (soccer player) 11. Sean Astin (actor / hobbit) 12. Gwen Stefani (singer / dream woman) 13. Michael Jackson (my one hold over from last year, just because him going down in a huge ball of flames would be the most intriguing story of the year … Elvis Presley for the new millennium) ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/233 "2003-12-31T21:29:15Z")
I’m still drawing blanks on who to add to the beginners on my list , so I’ll just contribute a few from everybody’s list : 9. Ronald Reagan 10. George W. Bush 11. Pope John Paul II 12. Michael Jackson 13. Osama bin Laden ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/234 "2003-12-31T22:18:21Z")
**BIH Boy** , gimme another name, quick! Tom Baker? James Doohan? You people are _cold!_ We have about 7 hours 40 minutes to go, folks… ---
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/235 "2003-12-31T22:21:45Z")
**Flymaster** , what **cazzle** said the 28th about picking Saddam. ---
**Author:** ![katie1341](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/91b2a8/32.png) [@katie1341](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/katie1341)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/236 "2003-12-31T22:39:33Z")
I also have Saddam on my list- I understood the rules to be “no one on death row”. Saddam is not on death row. It hasn’t even been decided where he’ll be tried yet. Anyway, since he might not be a “valid” choice, I’ll substitue Ted Kennedy. How much longer can his liver last, anyway? ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/237 "2003-12-31T22:43:29Z")
My list for 2004 1. Lady Bird Johnson 2. Ervin ‘Magic’ Johnson 3. Jerry _Lee_ Lewis 4. Jerry Lewis 5. Ronald Reagan 6. Art Linkletter 7. Ann B. Davis 8. William Shatner 9. Barbara Billingsley 10. Larry Storch 11. Professor Irwin Corey 12. Don Knotts 13. Jayne Meadows ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/238 "2003-12-31T22:51:19Z")
1. The Pope 2. Ronald Reagan 3. Osama bin Laden 4. Alistair Cooke 5. David Spade 6. Peter O’Toole 7. Meryl Streep 8. Zhang Zemin 9. Dick Clark 10. Bob Barker 11. Walter Cronkite 12. Johnny Carson 13. Fidel Castro ---
**Author:** ![Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8797f3/32.png) [@Ins\_Outs\_What-have-yous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ins_Outs_What-have-yous)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/239 "2004-01-01T00:38:41Z")
I’m jumping on the band wagon for these two: 1. Pope John Paul II 2. Ron Santo Celebs: 3. John Goodman 4. Muhammed Ali Musicians 4. Robert Plant (Led Zeppelin) 5. Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) 6. Brian Wilson (Beach Boys) 7. Syd Barrett (original member of Pink Floyd) 8. Billy Joel (pianist) 9. Pete Townsend (The Who) 10. Dave Navarro (guitarist, Carmen Elektra’s hubby) 11. David Crosby (The Byrds, CSNY) 12. Brian May (Queen) 13. Jay-Z (rapper) Alternates: 1. Ralph Friedgen (U of Maryland football coach) 2. Cynthia Lennon (ex-wife of former Beatle) 3. Ravi Shankar (sitarist) ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2004, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359/240 "2004-01-01T00:40:12Z")
1- Ronald Reagan (Former President) 2- Charlton Heston (Actor) 3- Donald Sutherland (Actor) 4- Julia Child (Chef) 5- Dr. Ruth Westheimer (Sexpert) 6- Jerry Louis (Comedian) 7- Johnny Carson (TV Host) 8- Bob Barker (Game Show Host) 9- Bob Mackie (Clothing Designer) 10- Raquel Welch (Actress) 11- James Doohan (Star Trek Actor) 12- Hugh Downs (20/20 Host) 13- Mick Jagger (Rolling Stone) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2004/216359.md?page=13)