And we have scorers!
Congratulations to
Angel Heart
Caricci
Mullinator and
zoog - with 41 points!
They will share the Opening Kickoff Award for first dead celebrity! Whoo-hoo!
How’d they all get 41 points already? For Tug McGraw?
Yes, for Tug McGraw. Should have specified that.
Okay, folks, I have to jump in here as Lord High Executioner and make some clarifications here:
Per Rule #9, no one can make changes to their lists after Dec. 31st, and if you have more than 13 valid picks, I’m going with the first 13 names you submitted. ArchitectChore and Mac Guffin both submitted 14 names. Mac Guffin, I am using Michael Jackson as your first pick and losing Ed McMahon. ArchitectChore, I am keeping Muhammad Ali and dropping Jay-Z. I know, I’m just mean that way. 
Re anyone who picked “Barbara Bush”: I am going to assume you meant the former First Lady, not the granddaughter of the former First Lady, because you would have specified the younger Bush.
FYI, I do have a hard copy of everybody’s submissions and changes, and I am going to make my own master list for my own reference, although I will not post it here (too long, and not necessary).
Many, many thanks to cazzle and sunfish for the time and effort they have contributed to this year’s game. I would not be aware of some of these issues without you!
Okay, I’m nearly done with the final corrected master list, which includes corrections to the lists for cadolphin, Flymaster and t-keela. Sorry to have missed those earlier.
I’m also largely finished compiling a reference list of birthdays for all the celebs (thank God for the IMDb! ) and will post it later too. If the date listed doesn’t look right for the person you had in mind, please let me know. Note on the b-days: I wasn’t able to find a DOB for everyone. In those cases where I was able to calculate a year of birth from an age reference, the DOB reads e.g. “? 1955” to indicate the lack of an available birth date. For a couple of celebs the year of birth is unclear or unknown; these are labeled e.g. “10 June 1910 (est.).”
a35362, I need a ruling from you. In the process of going through the list again, I found 3 possible mistakes. Is it too late to fix these entries?
- Dragon Phoenix - lists J.P. Montero, Formula 1 driver. There is no J.P. Montero, but there is a J.P. Montoya.
- Royal Nonesuch - lists Richard Ebert. Should this be Roger Ebert?
- Happy Leddervedder - lists William H. Gacy. Should this be William H. Macy?
Lastly, a clarification from Mr. Babbington - You listed Zhang Zemin. Are you referring to Jiang Zemin, president of China?
Yes, I think these are acceptable, as long as we get clarifications before someone dies (“Oh, but I meant to say…”).
Thank you for catching these. I don’t always recognize the names, especially musicians and sports figures.
Menocchio, I still don’t know if you want Saddam or Putin on your list. Please let me know.
Did anyone pick Olivia Goldsmith (never heard of her myself…)
Oh dear. Uta Hagen, anyone?
D’oh! Link.
Sternvogel had Uta Hagen. No one had Olivia Goldsmith.
Updated list will be posted this weekend, whether or not I hear from folks (Royal nonesuch, Happy Leddervedder, Menocchio) who still have questions about their lists!
How about Harold Shipman? Anyone have him?
With the death of Uta Hagen, Sternvogel has 16 points…and…is in second place! Whoo-hoo!
No, nobody picked scary killer doctor Harold Shipman.
I must be really good at this game. Last year I ended up with 73 points and was tied for 5th place. So far this year I’m tied for 6th.
I assume I am far far too late to change my Bob Monkhouse, who died just before the new year to someone else?
I was away on vacation and then when I got back to work the internet server was broken and then the Straight Dope forum wouldn’t let me in for about 2 weeks, kept crashing.
Go on let me change him to something random, someone that in all likelyhood won’t die.
Someone like Jay Leno.
No?
Damn.
So, no one had Ann Miller?
Or Bob Keeshan (Captain Kangaroo)?
The Captainhas lost a spring in his step. A search has him in the 2003 pool. This pool as well, but that my be just vunderbobs mention.
I’ll dive in for the search.
No one had Bob Keeshan in this year’s pool. No Ann Miller either.
The updated lists are posted starting here (links at bottom of page).
Nobody picked Noble Willingham, Ann Miller, or Bob Keeshan.