# 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:** 44
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/861 "2005-08-10T22:27:03Z")
[Barbara Bel Geddes,](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8898185/) who created the role of Maggie in the Broadway production of _Cat on a Hot Tin Roof_ and later gained fame as Miss Ellie in the _Dallas_ TV series, has died at the age of 82. Bel Geddes also appeared in such films as _I Remember Mama_, _Vertigo_, and _The Five Pennies_. ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/862 "2005-08-10T23:24:55Z")
Any score updates? ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/863 "2005-08-11T02:41:10Z")
The gentle Giant Matthew [McGrory](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050810/ap_en_mo/obit_mcgrory) has died. He was 32 years young. 68 points for me. I believe it was a unique pick. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/864 "2005-08-13T15:10:06Z")
[Gene Mauch,](http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050809/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_obit_mauch) who won three National League Manager of the Year awards but was dogged by his 1964 Phillies’ late-season collapse and two missed 1980’s opportunities for his Angels to win the American League Championship Series, died at the age of 79. Mauch won 1901 games as a manager after playing nine big-league seasons as a light-hitting utility infielder. He was one of the pioneers of the double switch, a strategic move in which a pitcher (typically) and another player are removed, with the new “position player” batting in the spot vacated by the pitcher (who is due to come up early when his team next hits) so that the reliever can be buried in the batting order. ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/865 "2005-08-13T15:27:38Z")
Parking garage tycoon/frequent candidate for public office/all-around zany[Abe Hirschfeld](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/09/nyregion/09cnd-hirschfeld.html?hp&ex=1123646400&en=7ed14506141a230b&ei=5094&partner=homepage) is dead at 85. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/866 "2005-08-15T00:06:50Z")
[Philip Klass,](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/10/AR2005081002167.html?sub=AR) an electrical engineer who became known for his _Aviation Week & Space Technology_ writing on avionics (a term he is credited with coining), has died at the age of 85. The skeptical Klass was celebrated (and decried by “believers”) for his insistence that all UFO sightings could be explained logically as observations of celestial bodies, artificial satellites, or other known phenomena. Klass helped found the Committee for Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), an organization which numbered [Robert Baker](http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/local/12354194.htm) among its fellows. Baker, who chaired the University of Kentucky psychology department, was also noted for debunking reports of ghosts. He was fond of saying that “there are no haunted places, only haunted people.” He passed away Monday at the age of 84. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/867 "2005-08-15T00:55:28Z")
[Judith Rossner,](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/11/arts/11rossner.html?fta=y) the novelist whose _Looking for Mr. Goodbar_ was made into a film that starred Diane Keaton, has died at the age of 70. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/868 "2005-08-18T03:25:55Z")
[Alexander Gomelsky,](http://www.latimes.com/news/local/state/la-me-gomelsky17aug17,1,5146575.story?coll=la-news-state) who coached the Soviet Union to four Olympic medals (including the 1988 gold) in men’s basketball, has died at the age of 77. Gomelsky also led the USSR to two world championships and seven European crowns. He built the team that knocked off the USA in the still-disputed 1972 Olympic final, but was not on the sideline in Munich – the KGB feared Gomelsky, a Jew, was a risk to defect to Israel during the Games. ---
**Author:** ![Trillionaire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@Trillionaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trillionaire)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2005, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/869 "2005-08-18T06:16:32Z")
It was a few days ago, and seeing nobody’s mentioned him I guess nobody had him, but one of New Zealand’s greatest prime ministers **David Lange** has [died](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,60-1735158,00.html) of diabetes aged 63. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/870 "2005-08-23T03:54:06Z")
[Robert Moog,](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/23/arts/music/23moog.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5094&en=ce807aa2cc654094&hp&ex=1124769600&partner=homepage) whose name became synonymous with the synthesizer after he produced the first examples of the electronic instrument that were accessible to musicians, has died at the age of 71. Moog, who began his musical engineering career by manufacturing theremins while he was an undergrad at Columbia University, saw his synthesizers embraced by the Beatles; Emerson, Lake and Palmer; Herbie Hancock; and numerous other performers. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/871 "2005-08-23T06:04:46Z")
> [@DeVena](#): > > “James Doohan, the burly chief engineer of the Starship Enterprise in the original “Star Trek” TV series and motion pictures who responded to the command “Beam me up, Scotty,” died early Wednesday. He was 85.” It bugged me that the AP printed that, because if you’ve known even one big Star Trek geek (and I’ve known many), you probably know that Kirk _never_ said “Beam me up, Scotty.” It’s a ‘play it again Sam.’ ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/872 "2005-08-23T13:13:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It bugged me that the AP printed that, because if you’ve known even one big Star Trek geek (and I’ve known many), you probably know that Kirk _never_ said “Beam me up, Scotty.” It’s a ‘play it again Sam.’ Which exemplifies why, although I’m a big Star Trek Fan, I’ll never be a “Trekker” geek. Sure, Captain Kirk never uttered that precise phrase. But he said something _like_ it a gazillion times throughout the series. “Beam me up, Scotty” is simply a useful short-hand phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Carm6773](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/2bfe46/32.png) [@Carm6773](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carm6773)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/873 "2005-08-23T21:07:13Z")
Not that anyone had him, but influential civil rights leader [Rev. Leon Lowry](http://www.stpetetimes.com/2005/08/21/Hillsborough/Rev_A_Leon_Lowry_dies.shtml) died this weekend. He taught Martin Luther King at Morehouse College. He will be greatly missed in the Tampa area. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2005, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/874 "2005-08-24T05:18:36Z")
[Brock Peters,](http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/movies/24peters.html) who played accused rapist Tom Robinson in the film of _To Kill a Mockingbird_, has died at the age of 78. Peters also appeared in such movies as _Porgy and Bess_ and _The L-Shaped Room_, as well as spending time on the stage portraying characters ranging from the title Moor of Shakespeare’s _Othello_ to boxer Jack Jefferson in _The Great White Hope_. ---
**Author:** ![Elvez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8491ac/32.png) [@Elvez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elvez)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/875 "2005-09-02T17:29:30Z")
[RL Burnside, bluesman, died today.](http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/12542189.htm) He was 79. "A sharecropper early in life, Mr. Burnside wasn’t recorded until his 40s, and didn’t become a professional musician until 1991, when he was signed by Fat Possum. Popular with younger acts like the Beastie Boys and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Mr. Burnside remained, as Johnson once said, “incorruptible because he just doesn’t care.’’” ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/876 "2005-09-04T03:07:20Z")
Just heard Rehnquist died – no link yet, though. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/877 "2005-09-04T03:25:11Z")
[http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/03/rehnquist.obit/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/03/rehnquist.obit/index.html) ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/878 "2005-09-04T03:25:18Z")
[Link](http://www.cnn.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/879 "2005-09-04T03:39:40Z")
20 points for me for Chief Justice Rehnquist. I know that Fats Domino was rescued the other day, but I wonder if it will turn out that any celebrities died in the hurricane. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574/880 "2005-09-04T04:00:43Z")
We need an updated DP standings list. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574.md?page=43) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2005/277574.md?page=45)