The DeathList 1999

10 / 50 dead

The Twelfth Annual Deathlist has once again been carefully prepared to included celebrities our panel of experts thinks will not make it to the Millennium; in other words will die in 1999. This year's Deathlist has the added restriction that there have to be a minimum of 25 new names of celebrities compared to the 1998 list. Now let's sit back and watch them drop!EMail us with your comments and suggestions for next years list at comments@deathlist.net

The 1999 List

Rank	Prev Year	Appear	Name	Age	Description
1	2	6	Pope John Paul II	79	Pope
2	3	6	Boris Yeltsin	68	Tsar
3	1	11	Queen Mother	99	Entertainer
4	16	4	Princess Alice	98	Queen Mum's sister-in-law
5	4	9	Ronald Reagan	88	(former) Idiot
6	5	8	John Gielgud	91	Actor
7	6	10	Barbara Cartland	94	Literary Genius
8		9	Lord Denning	96	Judge
9	7	9	Bob Hope	96	Entertainer
10	18	2	Bunny Austin	89	Tennis
11	8	2	Fay Wray	92	King Kong's squeeze
12		4	Lord Hailsham	88	Judge
13	9	8	Don Bradman	87	Cricketer
14		4	Quentin Crisp	87	'Performer'
15		3	Baroness Castle	89	Politician
16		3	Mary Whitehouse	85	Whinger
17	24	2	King Fahd	67	King
18		7	Alec Guiness	81	Actor
19	10	4	Lord Longford	94	Judge
20		5	Gene Sarazan	93	Golfer
21	21	2	Simon Wiesenthal	91	Nazi Hunter
22	11	5	Alistair Cooke	91	Broadcaster
23		4	Perry Como	83	Singer
24	12	7	Katharine Hepburn	92	Actress
25		2	Victor Mature	86	Actor
26		1	King Hussain	64	King of Jordan
27		1	Evel Knievel	61	Stuntman
28	13	1	Vaclav Havel	63	Czech PM
29	19	2	Billy Wilder	93	Director
30	25	2	Yassir Arafat	70	Terrorist
31		4	Victor Borge	86	Comedian
32		1	Deryck Guyler	81	Actor
33	17	2	Lord James Callaghan	87	ex-PM
34		2	Alf Ramsey	75	Football Manager
35	23	1	Max Schmeling	94	Hitler's Boxer (or maybe not)
36	22	1	Douglas Fairbanks Jnr	90	Actor
37	20	2	E W Swanton	88	Writer
38		2	Thora Hird	88	Actress
39	15	6	General Pinochet	84	Dictator
40		1	Nick Leeson	32	Jailbird
41	14	1	Ian Dury	50	Blockhead
42		1	Milton Friedman	87	Economist
43		1	Frankie Laine	86	Singer
44		1	Lord Scarman	88	Judge
45		2	Julian Critchley	69	ex MP
46		1	Helen Rollason	40	TV Presenter
47		1	Carly Simon	54	Singer
48		4	Joe Di Maggio	81	Baseball
49		1	Thor Heyerdahl	85	Explorer
50		1	Ernie Wise	70	Comedian

Latest News

31st December 1999

William Hartnell dies

1 appearance: 1989 (27)
Age: 91, Dr Who?, Cause of death: Unknown
31st December 1999

Wilfred Bramble dies

1 appearance: 1989 (8)
Age: 87, Steptoe, Cause of death: Unknown
31st December 1999

Bette Davis dies

3 appearances: 1994 (33), 1992 (11), 1987 (27)
Age: 91, Actress, Cause of death: Unknown
31st December 1999

So Nearly!

The year comes to a slow end without any more Death List successes, but the 10 death total is a new record. We can only now look forward to greater success in 2000.
19th December 1999

Robert Dougall dies

1 appearance: 1992 (33)
Age: 86, BBC Newsreader, Cause of death: Unknown
21st November 1999

Crisp (Brown) Bread!

Quentin Crisp, the 90 year old entertainer, has given the death list its 10th success this year by dying in a house in Manchester. Crisp was appearing in Manchester in a one man show when his death came. The show is expected to continue as a no man show. With six weeks of the left, this years list is now poised to be the best ever.

4 appearances: 1999 (14), 1998 (19), 1997 (32), 1993 (50)

10th Death
Age: 87, 'Performer', Cause of death: Old age
8th October 1999

All washed out!

Veteran comedy actor and radio personality, Deryck Guyler, has chalked up another point for the Death List. Guyler who was 85 and well known for playing the washboard, was number 32 on this year's list. Roll on number 10!

1 appearance: 1999 (32)

9th Death
Age: 81, Actor, Cause of death: Old age
8th August 1999

Grandstand Finish for Rollason

The final whistle has blown for British sports presenter Helen Rollason. The 43 year old, who was number 46, is a relative newcomer to the Death List but stamped her authority all over it with a decisive cancer death. With eight deaths this year so far the biggest ever total is now well within reach.

1 appearance: 1999 (46)

8th Death
Age: 40, TV Presenter, Cause of death: Cancer
3rd August 1999

Victor Matured!

86 year old actor Victor Mature has finally decided to contribute to the Death List statistics. After years of being on (and off) of the list Mature at last succumbed to old age. After a quiet couple of months Mature, number 25, is the seventh victim of this years list and puts us back in with a chance of the record.

2 appearances: 1999 (25), 1994 (28)

7th Death
Age: 86, Actor, Cause of death: Old age
13th May 1999

Sarazen finally makes the cut

Gene Sarazen, the 97 year old veteran golfer, has finally holed out to collect sixth position on this years Death List. Sarazen was number 20 on the list had had vigorous support for inclusion over recent years. The spate of celebrity deaths over the last few weeks included several former Death List stars but it was only a matter of time before a return to form. The 1999 Death List is now well ahead of target for the record of 10 deaths in one year.

5 appearances: 1999 (20), 1998 (36), 1997 (15), 1996 (24), 1994 (17)

6th Death
Age: 93, Golfer, Cause of death: Old age, terminal Yips
29th April 1999

Goodnight Alf

News just in the Alf Ramsey, celebrated England Football manager has died. Unfortunately other new stories in London have obscured Alf's death but its still a success for the No.34 entry on this year's list.

2 appearances: 1999 (34), 1993 (49)

5th Death
Age: 75, Football Manager, Cause of death: Old age, Groin strain
21st March 1999

Its Wise, Guys!

The continued spate of celebrity deaths was bound to deliver again sooner or later and sure enough Ernie Wise finally decided he wanted a mention on this page. Wise, half of English comedy duo Morecambe and Wise, only just sneaked onto this years list at number 50. A triple heart bypass operation earlier this year suggested he was always going to be a good bet not to see out the year. Wise brings this year's count to four and we're now well on schedule to beat the previous best of 10 in one year. Earlier this week there had been disappointment when Rod Hull fell off his roof while trying to fix his TV aerial and killed himself. We would be very grateful for any information of other celebrities with bad TV pictures. We were just wondering if there is any truth in the rumour that Pope John Paul has had trouble getting a good picture for those AC Milan games?

1 appearance: 1999 (50)

4th Death
Age: 70, Comedian, Cause of death: Triple heart bypass and just not funny anymore
12th March 1999

Yehudi Menuhin dies

2 appearances: 1989 (13), 1987 (23)
Age: 83, Violinist, Cause of death: Unknown
8th March 1999

Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio?...

Further disappointment for the Death List has been followed by another triumph. Last weekend saw Stanley Kubrick and the Emir of Bahrain both passing away with neither even being considered for this years list. However the tide has turned again with Baseball great Joe DiMaggio reaching his final home plate. 84 year old DiMaggio had been ill since October of last year and finally succumbed to complications. Special thanks to Andy MacCalman for alerting us so promptly of DiMaggio's demise and to the good folks at Portfolio Communications (the only place for all your PR requirements) for their continued enthusiasm (We still think Clint Eastwood has some life in him yet!).

4 appearances: 1999 (48), 1998 (40), 1997 (44), 1995 (44)

3rd Death
Age: 81, Baseball, Cause of death: Lung cancer + complications
5th March 1999

Denning Denning Done!

Well we didn't have to wait long to get back on the right track. Lord Denning, the 100 year old English judge, has banged his gavel for the last time. News of our recent disappointments clearly spurred Denning on to throw in the towel. Lets hope that the death of this year's number Eight selection will inspire other candidates to do the decent thing.

9 appearances: 1999 (8), 1998 (9), 1997 (24), 1996 (11), 1995 (35), 1994 (26), 1992 (7), 1991 (3), 1990 (37)

2nd Death
Age: 96, Judge, Cause of death: 100 years old!
8th February 1999

A Right Royal start !

King Hussein of Jordan kicked things off for this year's Death List by finally succumbing to cancer. The 63 year old king of Jordan was a lowly 26th on the list but was always a solid contender. There was a short period of controversy when the king was pronounced 'clinically dead' late on 5 Feb. An emergency meeting of the Death List ethics committee decided full physical death was required before he could be counted. Luckily we didn't have to wait long.

1 appearance: 1999 (26)

1st Death
Age: 64, King of Jordan, Cause of death: Cancer
5th February 1999

The Race hots up...

King Hussein of Jordan looks set to become the first deathlist success of the year. Apparently 'going home to die' it now looks like foregone conclusion. Also a nice message of support received today from an anonymous fan:
Fri, 05 Feb 99 00:12:12 GMT
Received: from <PIWIII@aol.com>
Date: Thu, 4 Feb 1999 18:57:56 EST
To: comments@deathlist.net
Subject: JESUS CAN SAVE YOU FROM YOUR WICKEDNESS
JESUS CAN SAVE YOU FROM YOUR WICKEDNESS
Well correct us if we're wrong but we thought Jesus was already dead and clearly such celebrities are not allowed on the list - Nice Try anyway!
1st January 1999

Arthur Marshall dies

1 appearance: 1992 (15)
Age: 89, TV Panellist, Cause of death: Unknown
1st January 1999

It's time to start running...

The 1999 list has now been finalised and targets painted on the backs of 50 celebrities. 25 new names appear on this year's list and should bring some much needed new blood into the arena. The Death List often starts rolling early in January so keep your eyes peeled.