Latest News

• 13th September 2022

  Godard's Breathless

  

  French/Swiss movie director, Jean-Luc Godard, has passed to provide DeathList 2022 with another success. Godard was born in Paris in 1930, to a French father and Swiss mother. He started to come to prominence with his first major film, Breathless, in 1960, which used many unconventional techniques and styles and was very successful generating much interest in the “French New Wave”. Later in 1960 he filmed The Little Solider which starred Anna Karina who was to go on to be his wife and star in a number of his early films. During his career he made more than 40 feature films and became a legend of French cinema, making his last film in 2018. He died at the age of 91 by way of assisted suicide, only the second DeathList candidate ever not to die of natural causes. Godard was making his first appearance on DeathList this year, at number 48.
  1 appearance: 2022 (48)
  

  8th Death

  Age: 92, Movie Director, Cause of death: Assisted Suicide

• 8th September 2022

  From Sceptre to Spectre

  

  After 70 years on the throne of the United Kingdom and 96 years on the planet, Queen Elizabeth II, has passed away to provide DeathList 2022 with one of the highest profile deaths in its history. Elizabeth’s reign started in 1952 at the age of just 25, following the passing of her father, King George VI. Generally a popular figure, she steered the monarchy carefully through many changes and challenges, plenty arising from her offspring where failed marriages and other activities regularly led to the role of the Royal Family being called into question. She was an avid fan of horse racing, owning many successful racehorses, and also owned some 30 or so corgis throughout her life. Her final formal duty as Queen was an audience with Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, to appoint the latter as the new Prime Minister. It’s unclear how much this contributed to her ultimate demise. Elizabeth was making her fourth appearance on DeathList, in number 12 this year.
  4 appearances: 2022 (12), 2021 (25), 2017 (24), 1990 (10)
  

  7th Death

  Age: 96, Queen, Cause of death: TBA

• 1st September 2022

  Breakfast host is toast

  

  British TV presenter, Bill Turnbull, has passed away to provide DeathList 2022 with its sixth score. Turnbull was most famous for being a presenter on BBC’s Breakfast TV show, a role which he had from 2001 until 2016. His career in the media started on local radio and progressed to being a US correspondent for BBC news. Later in his career, he also joined the BBC religious show Songs of Praise. In 2017 he announced that he had been diagnosed with incurable prostate cancer, the disease which would eventually take his life. He was 66 when he died and was making his first appearance on DeathList, at number 28.
  1 appearance: 2022 (28)
  

  6th Death

  Age: 66, TV Presenter, Cause of death: Prostate Cancer

• 30th August 2022

  Red and dead!

  

  Former Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, has passed after a long illness at the age on 91. Gorbachev entered the world stage in 1985 when he succeeded Konstantin Chernenko as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Gorbachev undertook a program of significant reforms including perestroika and glasnost. Over time Soviet countries steadily gained greater autonomy and the Soviet Communist party’s influence started to slip. Ultimately, in 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and Gorbachev was superseded by Boris Yeltsin, who became president of the new Russian Federation. In recent years Gorbachev had become a critic of Vladimir Putin but didn’t live to see the end of the latter’s attempt to rebuild a Russian Empire. Gorbachev was making his second appearance on DeathList, this year in 15th spot.
  2 appearances: 2022 (15), 2019 (40)
  

  5th Death

  Age: 91, Former Soviet leader, Cause of death: TBA

• 4th April 2022

  June Brown Bread

  

  June Brown, better known as Eastenders’ Dot Cotton, has passed away at the age of 95 to provide DeathList 2022 with a quick follow-up. Brown’s acting career began in the early 1970s with a series of small parts in British TV shows. It wasn’t until 1985 that she made her big breakthrough, landing the role of Eastenders launderette attendant, Dot Cotton, mother of the evil Nick Cotton. Dot Cotton went on to become a household name, involved in endless implausible storylines, eventually leaving the show in 2020. Brown was making her fourth appearance on the list, this year selected at number 8.
  4 appearances: 2022 (8), 2021 (14), 2019 (21), 2018 (36)
  

  4th Death

  Age: 95, Eastenders Dot Cotton, Cause of death: TBA

• 3rd April 2022

  Mrs Potato Dead

  

  Comedy actress, Estelle Harris, has passed at the age of 93. Harris was born in 1928 and started to make a number of low-key appearances in TV commercials and shows in the 1980s. In 1992 she landed the role for which she became famed, Estelle Constanza in the highly successful TV show, Seinfeld, playing George Constanza’s short-fused mother. After the end of Seinfeld in 1998, Harris continued to be active in TV and movies, including many voice roles. In 1999 Harris voiced Mrs Potato Head in Toy Story 2, a role she reprised in the subsequent Toy Story movies. Harris was making her first appearance on the list, selected at number 25.
  1 appearance: 2022 (25)
  

  3rd Death

  Age: 94, Actor, Cause of death: Natural causes

• 10th January 2022

  Ashes to ashes, Durst to dust!

  

  Robert Durst, the recently convicted murderer, has quickly brought his full life prison sentence to an end, passing away from a cardiac arrest. Durst was a multimillionaire real estate heir, although had little involvement with the family business, the Durst Organization. Durst shot to fame when he was the star of an HBO Documentary “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst”, which set out to explore the terrible series of misfortune that had followed Durst since the sudden disappearance of his wife in 1982. In 2000, Susan Berman, Durst’s friend was mysteriously gunned down in her home. In 2001, misfortune struck again, when an elderly neighbour of Durst’s disappeared and turned up dismembered, floating in a nearby bay. In 2010 Durst contacted movie director Andrew Jarecki inviting him to interview him about the misfortunes he had suffered. The series was shown in 2015. In the final interview with Durst, while alone in a room with his microphone still on, Durst appears to admit to the murders. Durst was arrested and tried in 2021 for the murder of Susan Berman. He was found guilty and sentenced to life. During the trial, Durst’s health deteriorated including a bout of Covid-19. Durst was making his first appearance on DeathList, lasting just 10 days at number 36.
  1 appearance: 2022 (36)
  

  2nd Death

  Age: 79, Jinxed Murderer, Cause of death: Cardiac Arrest

• 7th January 2022

  Poitier not coming to dinner!

  

  Sidney Poitier, pioneering black actor, has kicked off DeathList 2022 with a bang, passing at the age of 94. Poitier’s movie career started in 1950 and developed through the next two decades with his most famous appearances being in To Sir, With Love, In The Heat of the Night and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, all roles addressing racial issues. In 1964 he became the first black actor to win an Oscar for a leading role in Lilies of the Field. In the 1970s Poitier became a director, his most well-known work being Stir Crazy starring Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. In 2002 Poitier was awarded an Honorary Academy Award for his contribution to American cinema. Poitier was making his third appearance on DeathList, this year at number 33.
  3 appearances: 2022 (33), 2021 (40), 2019 (36)
  

  1st Death

  Age: 95, Actor, Cause of death: Natural Causes