FWIW, the definition of “celebrity” I craft my lists by is simply this: Their deaths will make national news in at least USA, UK, Canada, or Australia. Since this is an English-language board.
I’m kind of taking an unorthodox approach this year. I’ll be surprised if any of the folks on my 2009 list are on anyone else’s. I’m fine with whatever decisions are made, but any new rule changes might disqualify them.
-None are presently household names.
-A few have been profiled in recent news reports.
-Some, but not all, have been in the news recently.
-Most, but not all, have the same last name, and have been in the news periodically over the years. A documentary was made about them.
-All are intimately connected with each other.
-I expect if one goes they’ll all go, and it will be front page news. By Jan 1 2010, I’ll either have 13 hits or 0 hits.
And I’m not aiming for the low hanging fruit – 2009 could quite possibly see a new DP champion.
Celebrity relatives are sometimes reported; so are people famous only for their disease. Hence if we adopted this approach, it would still leave some of these people in - which may be fine, if we are ok with that.
Then we have to define “one of the world’s major news sites”. What is “major”? Would we have to name specific ones in advance?
Stage-managing Tiger’s early career. I think the fact that almost everyone recognizes him by name indicates that he was a celebrity. But yes, there is an element of judgment required. I think that is better than a free for all.
Otherwise, what is to stop someone nominating a terminally-ill friend or relative of theirs?
Yep, otherwise the dead ‘celebrity’ becomes way too subjective.
Examples:
Earl Woods = celebrity
Phil Mikkelson’s father ± celebrity
Elizabeth Edwards = celebrity
Mike Huckabee’s wife ± celebrity
And what about the S Korean boxer who suffered fatal brain injury very late in 2007? The boxer in question was not very well known, IMHO. He only became well known through his injury.
Barack Obama
John McCain
Amy Winehouse
Osama Bin Laden
Gough Whitlam
Emilio Navaira III
Robert Novak
Salvatore “Fat Sal” Scala
Rosanne Cash
Al Davis
John Madden
Fred Phelps
Reverend Donald Wildmon
Or you could simplify it even more. CNN and/or the BBC have to report it. What celebrity is going to die that wouldn’t be covered by either one of them? They both have huge global operations.
Farrah Fawcett
Michael Jackson
Jang Jin-young
Steve Jobs
Ted Kennedy
Osama bin Laden
Robert Novak
Ariel Sharon
O.J. Simpson
Maggie Smith
Patrick Swayze
Morgan Tsvangirai
Amy Winehouse
Elvira
Doug Llewellyn
Bob McGrath
Phyllis Diller
Finesse Mitchell
Dan Quayle
Burt Ward
Frank Sinatra Jr
Donovan
Rue McClanahan
Conrad Bain
Hal Linden
Garrett Morris
I just want to point out, I could guess that Earl Woods was Tiger’s father, but that was because he was named Woods and I know that Tiger’s father had a lot to do with his career. If you asked me out of the blue what Tiger’s father’s name was, I could not have told you. He seems to me to be the epitome of someone famous because of who he is related to.
How would this work? If, for example, Bob Shepard (one of my picks) dies, and his death is not covered by CNN, would he be replaced by my first alternate? Or would I be out of luck?
I’m finally going to play the Death Pool! For the record, I don’t want any of these people to die and will actually be very bummed if some of them kick it (especially Bob Barker).
Patrick Swayze
Ted Kennedy
Amy Winehouse
Michael Jackson
George H.W. Bush
Willie Mays
J.D. Salinger
Harper Lee
Fidel Castro
John Madden
Bob Barker
Stephen Hawking
Ed Asner
You’ll get no grief from me. I took a lot of stick a couple of years ago for picking Bertie Griffey, wife of baseball star Ken Griffey Sr., and mother of baseball star Ken Griffey Jr. Her cancer was reported in the news, so I saw her as fair game. I still do, but as she survived my list and is now immortal, I won’t be picking her again.
Amy Winehouse
Farrah Fawcett
Steve Jobs
Dick Clark
Nate Dogg
Michael Jackson
Elizabeth Edwards
Hamed Karzai
Patrick Swayze
Jade Goody
Nancy Reagan
Fidel Castro
Kim Jong-Il
For instance - Let’s say a former Canadian Governor General dies. News in Canada? Yes. Celebrity in Canada? Yes. Does CNN or BBC pick it up? Maybe but probably not.
I don’t offer any suggestions.
I do understand why there was no concrete rule in place. I don’t have a problem with not having such a rule in place.
Claude Levi-Strauss
Esther Williams
Hal David
Nanette Fabray
Edwin Newman
Phyllis Diller
Robert McNamara
Sargent Shriver
Marcia Strassman
Dick Clark
Hugh Downs
Tom Bosley
Annette Funicello
Lou Jacobi
Patrick Swayze
George Wendt
Daniel Pinkwater
Ron Jeremy
Jack Black
John Goodman
Amanda Vanstone
Edie McClurg
Ian McKellen
Stephen Colbert
OK so this year, I’m going with the obvious, obesity, and wildcards. I figure Stephen’s coked up wife will shoot his brains out like any other good comedian that does a spot on the Simpson’s.
- Bugs Bunny.