# The Celebrity Death Pool 2008 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** death-pool\ **Created:** [December 1, 2007, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439 "2007-12-01T11:46:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/41 "2007-12-09T18:35:22Z")
[QUOTE=amarone] I’m responding partly to bump this thread - where is everyone? I never thought this thread would go off the first page. [/QUOTE] Some of us are probably going to keep re-editing our picks until the ball drops on the 31st. (Besides, it ain’t easy when people on your short list like Karlheinz Stockhausen insist on leaving this vale of a tears a month too early.) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/42 "2007-12-09T19:06:21Z")
1. Kirk Douglas 2. Charlton Heston 3. Mickey Rooney 4. Richard Widmark 5. Hal Holbrook 6. Tom Wilkinson 7. Judi Dench 8. Frances Sternhagen 9. Phyllida Law 10. Sumner Redstone 11. Amy Winehouse 12. Courtney Love 13. Pope Benedict ---
**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 9, 2007, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/43 "2007-12-09T19:14:04Z")
The squeeze is lookin’ over my shoulder as I post this list. He says this is the ickiest and most macabre thing he’s ever seen me do. Like I needed another incentive to play! 😃 Here be my pics for 2008: Fidel Castro Dick Van Dyke Imelda Marcos Willie Mays Wilford Brimley Elizabeth Taylor Eartha Kitt Ruth Wertheimer Charles Manson Yoko Ono Walter Cronkite Mickey Rooney Billy Graham Alternates: Dick Clark Muhammad Ali Bob Newhart Yes, indeed, I have given up tryin’ to off Courtney Love. ---
**Author:** ![Wallet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e99b99/32.png) [@Wallet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallet)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/44 "2007-12-09T19:32:48Z")
Hamid Karzai Nestor Kirchner Hugo Chavez Pope Benedict XVI Juan Carlos I King Abdullah Vladimir Putin Felipe Calderon Kim Jong-il Ariel Sharon Donald Rumsfeld Fidel Castro Dick Cheney alt: Osama bin Laden Same list as last year - I don’t _think_ anyone kicked off yet… 🙂 1. Hamid Karzai (President - Afghanistan) 2. Nestor Kirchner (President - Argentina) 3. Hugo Chavez (President - Venezuela) 4. Pope Benedict XVI 5. Juan Carlos I (King - Spain) 6. King Abdullah (Saudi Arabia) 7. Vladimir Putin (President - Russia) 8. Felipe Calderon (President - Mexico) 9. Kim Jong-il (aka Kim Jong II) (North Korea) 10. Ariel Sharon (former PM - Israel) 11. Donald Rumsfeld 12. Fidel Castro 13. Dick Cheney alt:Osama bin Laden ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/45 "2007-12-09T19:36:56Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] 1. Kirk Douglas 2. Charlton Heston 3. Mickey Rooney 4. Richard Widmark 5. Hal Holbrook 6. Tom Wilkinson 7. Judi Dench 8. Frances Sternhagen 9. Phyllida Law 10. Sumner Redstone 11. Amy Winehouse 12. Courtney Love 13. Pope Benedict [/QUOTE] The OP requested plain lists, without numbers. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/46 "2007-12-09T20:35:42Z")
Fidel Castro Lindsay Lohan Britney Spears Amy Winehouse Blake Fielder-Civil Jesse Helms Farrah Fawcett Pervez Musharraf Scott Weiland Dick Clark Courtney Love Pope Benedict Emile Lahoud ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/47 "2007-12-09T20:37:26Z")
Many thanks for running this contest again. My picks Sid Caesar Yogi Berra Stan Musial Bob Feller Ernie Banks Mel Brooks Ed McMahon Elizabeth Taylor Fidel Castro Tim Conway Jonathan Winters Don Rickles Ernest Borgnine ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/48 "2007-12-09T21:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=swampbear] Ruth Wertheimer [/QUOTE] You do mean Dr. [Westheimer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Westheimer), right? **42fish** : Yeah, I begin thinking about the 2008 Death Pool a few months ago, when I saw Norman Mailer was ill. He’s since died, as have such worthy candidates as Porter Wagoner, Robert Goulet, and Evel Knievel. I have to replace at least the four people who’ve scored points for me in 2007, and I have about a half-dozen finalists in mind right now, but the list seems to be changing every other day. ---
**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 9, 2007, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/49 "2007-12-09T23:19:02Z")
[QUOTE=Sternvogel] You do mean Dr. [Westheimer](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Westheimer), right? **42fish** : Yeah, I begin thinking about the 2008 Death Pool a few months ago, when I saw Norman Mailer was ill. He’s since died, as have such worthy candidates as Porter Wagoner, Robert Goulet, and Evel Knievel. I have to replace at least the four people who’ve scored points for me in 2007, and I have about a half-dozen finalists in mind right now, but the list seems to be changing every other day. [/QUOTE] Ummmmm… yep… :o Guess I need to fix that. Once again… Here be my pics for 2008: Fidel Castro Dick Van Dyke Imelda Marcos Willie Mays Wilford Brimley Elizabeth Taylor Eartha Kitt Ruth Westheimer Charles Manson Yoko Ono Walter Cronkite Mickey Rooney Billy Graham Alternates: Dick Clark Muhammad Ali Bob Newhart ---
**Author:** ![ErinPuff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dbc845/32.png) [@ErinPuff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ErinPuff)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/50 "2007-12-10T03:19:54Z")
Mine are all 80+ except Elizabeth Edwards, Stephen Hawking, and Peter O’Toole. Pierre Boulez Dave Brubeck Jimmy Carter Fidel Castro Elizabeth Edwards Queen Elizabeth II Stephen Hawking Henry Kissinger Peter O’Toole Fred Phelps Prince Philip Margaret Thatcher Elie Wiesel Alternate: Valéry Giscard d’Estaing ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/51 "2007-12-10T06:53:10Z")
Since I don’t do well at this, I’ve opted to go mostly for the quantity and not quality method. Maybe one or two oldsters will co-operate with me this time and kick off soon. Dick Clark Don Rickles Zsa Zsa Gabor Mitch Miller (Anyone remember singing along with him?) Barbara Billingsley (Beaver’s Mom.) Art Clokey (Gumby’s Dad.) Betty White (Nice lady. Likes animals.) Sister Wendy Beckett (Nice nun. Likes paintings.) Jim Nabors. (Go-ol-ly!) Jimmy Swaggart (Ugh.) Fred Phelps (Quintuple ugh!) Charles Manson (Finally gets out of prison.) Billy Mays (I know he’s a long shot but I’d be happy to settle for just his vocal cords kicking the bucket.) Alternates: Hugh Downs Tony Bennett Dick Clark Don Rickles Zsa Zsa Gabor Mitch Miller Barbara Billingsley Art Clokey Betty White Sister Wendy Beckett Jim Nabors Jimmy Swaggart Fred Phelps Charles Manson Billy Mays Alternates: Hugh Downs Tony Bennett ---
**Author:** ![Ritter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ritter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ritter)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/52 "2007-12-10T08:09:54Z")
Ooh, my first foray into the celebrity death pool! Helen Gurley Brown (founder of Cosmpolitan magazine) Amy Winehouse (singer) Dominick Dunne (Vanity Fair contributor) Jenna Jameson (porn star) Kirk Douglas (actor) Margaret Thatcher (former British PM) Tom Sizemore (actor) Lauren Bacall (actor) Elizabeth Taylor (actor) Ben Aud (Australian cricket commentator) Joan Didion (author) Benazir Bhutto (former PM of Pakistan) Dick Cheney (VP of USA) ---
**Author:** ![Fiveroptic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiveroptic/32/8257_2.png) [@Fiveroptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveroptic)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/53 "2007-12-10T12:31:07Z")
Oddly, I was just thinking about this yesterday when I discovered Brett Somers had died…three months ago. Andy Griffith Wilford Brimley Dom DeLuise Bea Arthur Alex Karras Jonathan Winters Phyllis Diller Angela Lansbury Grace Slick Mary Tyler Moore Larry King Brian Wilson Imelda Marcos Alternates: Dionne Warwick Ron Jeremy Carol Burnett I’m sure I’ll feel terrible if any of the people I’ve chosen actually dies. Except Larry King. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/54 "2007-12-10T12:38:02Z")
[QUOTE=Ritter] Ooh, my first foray into the celebrity death pool! Helen Gurley Brown (founder of Cosmpolitan magazine) Amy Winehouse (singer) Dominick Dunne (Vanity Fair contributor) Jenna Jameson (porn star) Kirk Douglas (actor) Margaret Thatcher (former British PM) Tom Sizemore (actor) Lauren Bacall (actor) Elizabeth Taylor (actor) Ben Aud (Australian cricket commentator) Joan Didion (author) Benazir Bhutto (former PM of Pakistan) Dick Cheney (VP of USA) [/QUOTE] Could you also post a plain list please? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/55 "2007-12-10T15:48:01Z")
I do believe **Tikki** has a fine list. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/56 "2007-12-10T18:18:27Z")
[QUOTE=swampbear] Yes, indeed, I have given up tryin’ to off Courtney Love. [/QUOTE] I’ve been saying for years that she’s her generation’s Keith Richards. And one day she was going to hunt down everyone who put her on a Dead Pool. ---
**Author:** ![Tikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5daacb/32.png) [@Tikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tikki)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/57 "2007-12-10T18:51:41Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] I do believe **Tikki** has a fine list. [/QUOTE] Aww, shucks. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/58 "2007-12-10T19:56:35Z")
1. Amy Winehouse (singer) 2. Britney Spears (singer) 3. Les Paul (guitarist/guitar designer) 4. Billy Graham (evangelist) 5. John Madden (sports commentator) 6. Dick Clark (entertainer) 7. Marion “Suge” Knight (music mogul) 8. Kirk Douglas (actor) 9. Fidel Castro (dictator) 10. Elizabeth Taylor (actor) 11. Walter Cronkite (news anchor) 12. Beverly Cleary (author) 13. J.D. Salinger (author) Alternate: Charlotte Rae (actor) Plain format: Amy Winehouse Britney Spears Les Paul Billy Graham John Madden Dick Clark Marion “Suge” Knight Kirk Douglas Fidel Castro Elizabeth Taylor Walter Cronkite Beverly Cleary J.D. Salinger ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/59 "2007-12-11T17:06:58Z")
My 2008 list: John Goodman Fidel Castro Fyvush Finkel Kirk Douglas Ariel Sharon Mary Travers Suzanne Pleshette “Rowdy” Roddy Piper Jack Kevorkian Ray Harryhausen Eartha Kitt Zsa Zsa Gabor Alternates: William Schallert Beverly Cleary Doris Day ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2007, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439/60 "2007-12-11T17:15:17Z")
I’m sorry, my list was one short and I missed the edit window. Here is the REAL list. John Goodman Fidel Castro Fyvush Finkel Kirk Douglas Ariel Sharon Mary Travers Suzanne Pleshette “Rowdy” Roddy Piper Jack Kevorkian Ray Harryhausen Eartha Kitt Zsa Zsa Gabor Jerry Lewis Alternates: William Schallert Beverly Clearly Doris Day [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-celebrity-death-pool-2008/428439.md?page=4)