# The Celebrity Death Pool 2005 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574 "2004-12-01T21:22:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/241 "2004-12-28T12:32:58Z")
OK here are my 13. I’ve gone for a group of bankers (in the betting sense), some longer shots and a couple of WAGS The Pope George Best (N Ireland ex-footballer) Pete Doherty - (British popstar and all round fuck-up) Margaret Thatcher (very old and frail) Ian Paisley (as above) Duke Of Ediburgh (gut feeling) Bill Deedes (British journalistic legend) Carl Fogerty (those bikes are NOT safe) Ted Heath (ex British PM) BB King Bobby Charlton (ex English footballer) Dizzee Rascal (British rap star - those guys have poor life expectancies) John Prescott (Deputy Prime Minister - old, overweight, fond of pies, likes a fight) ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/242 "2004-12-28T15:08:56Z")
Another list of those who will find themselves among the living in at the end of 2005. :rolleyes: (I don’t think I’ve scored at all in the previous 2 years I’ve participated.) Frankie Laine Maynard Ferguson BB King Allan Melvin (Sam the Butcher, Brady Bunch) Al Molinaro Brian Dennehey Robert McNamara Boris Yeltzin Lloyd Bentsen Bill France Jr Jim McKay (sports broadcaster) Pat Sumerall (football broadcaster) John Dean ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/243 "2004-12-28T16:53:10Z")
[ol][li]Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - 10/20/66 (Most deserved + Most hunted = A lock)[/li][li]John Madden - 4/10/36 (Bus accident or aneurism)[/li][li]Barry Bonds - 07/24/1964 (Plane crash or overdose)[/li][li]Mary Tyler Moore - (12/29/37 Botox OD or in a bizzare bird of prey attack) [/li][li]Bill Moyers - 6/5/34 (Of Boredom or Bitterness)[/li][li]Keith Richards - 12/28/43 (I’m not even sure he’ll make it the 4 days until 2005)[/li][li]Steve Vai - 6/6/60 (Just cuz I wanna see if there’s anything to the 666 thing)[/li][li]Zsa Zsa Gabor- 2/16/17 (On the 10th anniversary of the passing of ‘the good sister’; Eva) [/li][li]Mel Brooks - 6/28/26 (Before fading back into obscurity)[/li][li]Jason Alexander - 9/23/59 (See above)[/li][li]Willie Nelson - 4/30/33[/li][li]Dom DeLuise - Ate/One/33[/li]Larry (_Harvey Ziegler_) King - 11/19/33 (Will Die Live On CNN)[/ol] ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/244 "2004-12-28T20:39:32Z")
Well I’ve finally gotten around to picking my list. I’m thinking that I should get paid after this years list in which I got none, nadda. I hope I spelled all these right: 1. Mark Addy (actor 1964) 2. Yogi Berra (baseball player 1925) 3. Robert Blake (actor 1933) 4. Bill Cosby (actor 1937) 5. Mike Ditka (football plater 1939) 6. Clint Eastwood (actor 1930) 7. Stephen King (writer 1947) 8. Jack Klugman (actor 1922) 9. John Madden (football 1936) 10. Steve Martin (actor 1945) 11. Willie Mays (baseball player 1931) 12. Arnolad Palmer (golfer 1929) 13. Zakk Wylde (guitarist ?) ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/245 "2004-12-28T20:53:05Z")
Apparently nobody’s picked her for 2005, but critic [Susan Sontag](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2002132736_webobit-sontag28.html) has died at the age of 71. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/246 "2004-12-28T21:52:10Z")
Here’s mine: 1. Ernest Borgnine 2. Gerald Ford 3. James Brown (singer) 4. Jerry Lewis 5. Stephen Hawking 6. John Goodman 7. Dick Clark 8. Billy Graham 9. Kirk Douglas 10. Fidel Castro 11. Muhammed Ali 12. Johnny Carson 13. Ed McMahon Alternates: James Doohan Andy Griffith ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/247 "2004-12-28T23:50:21Z")
None of my picks ever die, so I’ll just keep my list from last year: 1. Ruben Studdard, (American Idol) 2. Stan Lee (comic book creator) 3. Irina Slutskaya (Russian figure skater) 4. Pope John Paul II 5. Sandra Dee 6. John Goodman 7. Dick Button (commentator/former figure skater) 8. Carol Channing 9. Randy “Macho Man” Savage 10. Ian McKellen 11. Dick Clark 12. Mel Brooks 13. Shirley Temple ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/248 "2004-12-29T03:21:59Z")
> [@cbawlmer](#): > > 1. Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake (former pro wrestler; real name Ed Leslie) Wow. That’s a really, really, really good pick. ::salutes:: ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/249 "2004-12-29T04:47:23Z")
> [@](#): > > Also, is anyone else having a hard time deciding just 13 people who will expire this year? The agonizing is agonizing. You want to know how the limit of thirteen names was scientifically arrived at? Those who go back a few years may recall that I used to run the Celebrity Deathpool threads. When I started them everybody picked ten names. But in the second or third year, I found myself with thirteen names and was having a hard time whittling it down to ten. So I decided “screw this” and arbitrarily changed the rules. ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/250 "2004-12-29T08:09:57Z")
> [@Little Nemo](#): > > You want to know how the limit of thirteen names was scientifically arrived at? Those who go back a few years may recall that I used to run the Celebrity Deathpool threads. When I started them everybody picked ten names. But in the second or third year, I found myself with thirteen names and was having a hard time whittling it down to ten. So I decided “screw this” and arbitrarily changed the rules. Excellent story. I’m sure I’m not alone in thinking that thirteen somehow seems like the “right” number for this game regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/251 "2004-12-29T13:29:27Z")
Such a scientific approach to picking dead people, Nemo. I am still agonizing and tonight is Bowling, and my teammates are not as into this as I am, though I have converted two of them to thinking about who is gonna die in the next year. One told me to only pick midgets. It is good advice as any. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/252 "2004-12-29T15:23:05Z")
> [@Ace309](#): > > Wow. That’s a really, really, really good pick. ::salutes:: He’s supposedly cleaned up since his most recent drug bust, but a lot of years of drug use don’t just get erased if you do eventually quit. Don’t do drugs, kids! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/253 "2004-12-29T15:59:02Z")
**Loach Edwino Notwithoutrage** Your [Jerry Orbach](http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/12/29/obit.orbach.ap/index.html) pick was just slightly ahead of it’s time. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/254 "2004-12-29T16:10:25Z")
Poor Mr. Orbach. Cancer is a bitch. 1. [Allegra Versace](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/07/01/wvers01.xml). That girl is just scary skinny. ---
**Author:** ![edwino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@edwino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/edwino)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/255 "2004-12-29T16:12:51Z")
I thought I was being creative there with the Versace pick, but I see you already got her, **NurseCarmen**. ---
**Author:** ![furlibusea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@furlibusea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furlibusea)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/256 "2004-12-29T16:18:37Z")
I think I am still on time, Here goes my first time trying this. Jesse Helms Courtney Love Dick Cheney Ted Kennedy Paris Hilton Keith Richards Jerry Lewis Dom DeLuise Nelson Madela Rush Limbaugh Nicole Ritchie Liz Taylor Bill Clinton ---
**Author:** ![NotWithoutRage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NotWithoutRage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NotWithoutRage)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/257 "2004-12-29T18:06:24Z")
/sigh/ I’d like to substitute Liza Minnelli for Mr. Orbach please. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/258 "2004-12-29T19:29:55Z")
> [@NotWithoutRage](#): > > I’d like to substitute Liza Minnelli for Mr. Orbach please. L&O would have been quite a different show if Dick Wolfe had ever done that. ---
**Author:** ![CuriousCanuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@CuriousCanuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuriousCanuck)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/259 "2004-12-29T19:46:18Z")
Getting in later than most, but here are my 13. (without reading the lists of others) 1. Billy Joel 2. George Wendt 3. Donald Sutherland 4. Jimmy Carter 5. The Artist Formerly Known as the Artist Formerly Known as Prince 6. Arnold Palmer 7. Doyle Brunson 8. Jack Black 9. Cher 10. Queen Elizabeth II 11. Clint Eastwood 12. Macauley Culkin 13. John Mahoney ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2004, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/260 "2004-12-29T20:18:19Z")
1. Da Pope (PJ2 to be specific) 2. Don Knotts 3. Abe Vigoda 4. Joey Bishop - the last of the Rat Pack 5. James Doohan - he just can’t take anymore, cap’n! 6. Barbara Billingsley 7. Mickey Rooney 8. Jesse Helms 9. Betty Ford 10. Red Auerbach 11. Jack Chick 12. Fidel Castro 13. Wilford Brimley Alternate: Rosa Parks [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574.md?page=14)