The DeathList 2025

11 / 50 dead

This is DeathList 2025. DeathList is a list of 50 celebrities selected by the DeathList committee for the fact that they may die during the forthcoming year. DeathList has some rules: Candidates must be famous enough such that their death is confidently expected to be reported by the UK “mainstream” media; Candidates cannot be famous solely for the fact they are likely to die shortly and only 25 candidates can reappear from the previous year’s list. 2024 was an annus horribilis for DeathList – just six deaths – the worst score for over 30 years and a world away from the record of 20 deaths. Was it bad luck? Was it bad selections? Should the committee be replaced with AI? Time will tell if DeathList 2025 signals a return to form and can Make DeathList Great Again!

The 2025 List

Rank	Prev Year	Appear	Name	Age	Description
1	2	10	Dick van Dyke	100	Actor
2		1	Eva Marie Saint	101	Actor
3	3	3	Pete Murray	100	British Radio Presenter
4	12	3	Dennis Skinner	93	Politician
5		1	Ian Smith	87	Harold Bishop
6	35	2	Esther Rantzen	85	TV Presenter
7	13	4	Nigel Starmer-Smith	81	Rugby Commentator
8	4	7	Alan Greenspan	99	Economist
9	29	5	Linda Nolan	66	Nolan Sister
10	11	6	Mel Brooks	99	Comedian / Director
11	7	5	Cleo Laine	98	Jazz Singer
12	16	6	Stanley Baxter	99	Comedian
13	9	3	Noam Chomsky	97	Intellectual
14	8	6	Sandy Gall	98	TV News Reporter
15	24	6	Jean-Marie Le Pen	97	French Neo-Nazi
16	19	2	Clint Eastwood	95	Dirty Harry
17	46	3	Sonny Rollins	95	Jazz Musician
18		1	Tippi Hedren	95	Actor
19		1	John Williams	93	Composer
20		3	Yoko Ono	92	Mrs Lennon
21		1	Len Deighton	96	Author
22		1	Geoffrey Boycott	85	Cricketer
23		1	Julie Goodyear	83	Bet Lynch
24	43	5	Imelda Marcos	96	Former First Lady of the Philippines
25	18	2	Patricia Routledge	96	Actor
26	38	9	Prunella Scales	93	Sybil Fawlty
27		3	David Attenborough	99	Broadcaster and Natural Historian
28	23	2	Gene Hackman	95	Actor
29	17	5	Joanne Woodward	95	Actor
30	10	3	Robert Wagner	95	Actor
31	22	4	Desmond Morris	97	Zoologist
32	26	2	Hans Blix	97	Weapons Inspector
33		1	Bernie Ecclestone	95	Formula 1
34		1	Jim Lovell	97	Apollo 13 Astronaut
35		2	Douglas Hurd	95	Politician
36		2	Angie Dickinson	94	Actor
37		1	Clive Davis	93	Columbia Records
38		1	Harvey Weinstein	73	Sex Offender
39		2	Hal Linden	94	Barney Miller
40	45	2	Buzz Aldrin	95	Astronaut
41		1	Petula Clark	93	Singer
42	39	3	Robert Duvall	94	Actor
43		1	Rupert Murdoch	94	Media Mogul
44		2	Rex Williams	92	Snooker Player
45		1	Giorgio Armani	91	Fashion Designer
46		2	Brian Wilson	83	Beach Boy
47		1	Kim Novak	92	Actor
48		1	Frankie Valli	91	Singer
49		1	Asma al-Assad	50	Ex Syrian First Lady
50		1	Stuart Hall	96	Sex Offender

Latest News

12th December 2025

Baxter dust

Scottish comedian, actor, and impressionist, Stanley Baxter, has passed at the age of 99, recording the 11th success for DeathList 2025. Born in Glasgow, Baxter’s career began as a child actor when he appeared on a BBC radio series. Over time, he rose to stardom, ultimately starring in several successful television shows, including The Stanley Baxter Show on BBC in the 1960s, The Stanley Baxter Picture Show on ITV in the early 70s and Mr Majeika in the 80s. He won three BAFTA awards during his career. Baxter also authored several books, focused on his creation “Parliamo Glasgow”, a spoof language programme based on the Glasgow dialect. Baxter made 6 appearances on DeathList, this year at number 12.

6 appearances: 2025 (12), 2024 (16), 2023 (20), 2022 (35), 2021 (45), 2018 (31)

11th Death
Age: 99, Comedian, Cause of death: TBC
28th October 2025

Scales weighs in

Renowned British actor Prunella Scales has passed at the age of 93, providing DeathList 2025 with its tenth success. Scales’ acting career began in the 1950s, taking on a wide variety of TV and film roles during the 50s and 60s. In 1973, she was cast, alongside John Cleese, as the sharp-tongued Sybil Fawlty in the classic TV comedy, Fawlty Towers, a role for which she would become famous. Scales remained busy as an actor well into her 80s, but in the later years of her life she suffered from dementia. Scales was making her ninth appearance on the DeathList, this year at number 26.

9 appearances: 2025 (26), 2024 (38), 2023 (26), 2022 (32), 2021 (20), 2020 (28), 2019 (44), 2018 (19), 2016 (22)

10th Death
Age: 93, Sybil Fawlty, Cause of death: TBA
3rd October 2025

Routledge kicks the bouquet

British actor Patricia Routledge has passed at the age of 96 scoring DeathList 2025’s ninth success. Routledge’s acting career started in theatre in the 1950s, where she began to make a name for herself from shows in London’s West End and in the 1960s on Broadway, going on to win prestigious awards for her performances in musicals. In 1990, Routledge landed a TV role, which elevated her fame. In BBC’s Keeping Up Appearances, she portrayed Hyacinth Bucket, a comically snobbish woman who always sought a higher social standing and insisted her surname was pronounced “Bouquet”. She would also go on to star in another major TV show, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. Routledge was honoured with a damehood in 2017 and with a second appearance on DeathList in 2025, selected at number 25.

2 appearances: 2025 (25), 2024 (18)

9th Death
Age: 96, Actor, Cause of death: TBC
4th September 2025

Hasta La Vista, Fashionista

Legendary designer, Giorgio Armani, has passed at the age of 91 for DeathList 2025’s eighth success of the year. Armani initially studied medicine and also served in the Italian army before he moved into the fashion industry as a window dresser and designer for Nino Cerruti. In 1975 he launched his eponymous brand which would become hugely successful. He focused on menswear at first, then expanded into womenswear and, in due course, accessories and fragrances. His success elevated him to becoming a global household name associated with high-end fashion. Armani was making his debut on DeathList, this year securing 45th place.

1 appearance: 2025 (45)

8th Death
Age: 91, Fashion Designer, Cause of death: TBC
8th August 2025

Lovell Splashes Down

Astronaut Jim Lovell has passed away at the age of 97 for DeathList 2025’s 7th success. After a career in the US Navy, Lovell joined NASA in 1962. He first went into space on two Gemini missions in the mid-1960s and was part of the crew of Apollo 8, which orbited the Moon in 1968. However, his most famous mission was as commander of Apollo 13, where, after a near-catastrophic oxygen tank explosion, he heroically guided his crew safely back to Earth, after uttering the infamous phrase, “Houston, we have had a problem”. Lovell was making his debut appearance on DeathList, selected at number 34.

1 appearance: 2025 (34)

7th Death
Age: 97, Apollo 13 Astronaut, Cause of death: TBA
25th July 2025

Laine to rest

British jazz singer, Dame Cleo Laine, has passed away at the age of 97, providing DeathList 2025 with its sixth success. Laine’s career started in the 1950s, when, after auditioning, she joined John Dankworth’s band. She would go on the marry Dankworth in 1958 and would continue to work with him until his death in 2010. She had major success in her own right, including winning the Grammy for Best Female Jazz Vocal Performance in 1986. Laine was making her fifth appearance on DeathList, this year at number 11.

5 appearances: 2025 (11), 2024 (7), 2023 (24), 2022 (27), 2019 (38)

6th Death
Age: 98, Jazz Singer, Cause of death: TBA
30th June 2025

And Finally...

British newscaster and journalist, Sandy Gall, has issued his last headline, passing away at the age of 97. Gall started his journalistic career with Reuters in 1956, then going on to join British TV news organisation, ITN, in 1963 as their foreign correspondent, covering events such as the JFK assassination and the Vietnam War, and, at times, reporting from dangerous locations. In 1970, he started on the show which would make him most famous, News at Ten, where he appeared regularly as a newsreader for the next 21 years. He continued as a TV journalist for many more years and also authored a number of books. Gall was making his 5th appearance on DeathList, this year selected at number 14.

6 appearances: 2025 (14), 2024 (8), 2023 (16), 2022 (21), 2017 (35), 2016 (31)

5th Death
Age: 98, TV News Reporter, Cause of death: TBC
11th June 2025

Wilson no longer getting around

Brian Wilson, co-founder of The Beach Boys, has passed at the age of 82, providing DeathList 2025 with its fourth hit. Wilson founded The Beach Boys with two of his brothers in 1961. The band had major commercial success through that decade with hits such as Good Vibrations, God Only Knows, I Get Around and the iconic Pet Sounds album. Over time, Wilson became acknowledged as an influential musical genius but also fought battles with drugs, alcohol and mental health issues for decades. Wilson was making his second appearance on DeathList this year, some 36 years after his first. He was selected at number 46.

2 appearances: 2025 (46), 1989 (18)

4th Death
Age: 83, Beach Boy, Cause of death: TBC
26th February 2025

The Trench Connection

Legendary actor, Gene Hackman, has passed away in somewhat mysterious circumstances at 95. Hackman’s acting career started in the early 1960s, appearing in his most famous role in The French Connection in 1971, for which he won the Best Actor Oscar. Further notable roles were in 1992’s Unforgiven (for which he won a second Oscar), The Royal Tenenbaums and the Superman movies of 1978 and 1980, where he played Lex Luthor. He retired from acting in 2004 and wrote some novels but developed Alzheimer’s disease in his later years. He, his wife and one of his dogs were all found dead by authorities at his home. After investigation, it was concluded his wife had passed away from natural causes some days before he died of heart failure, probably hindered by his Alzheimer’s. Hackman was making his second appearance on DeathList, this year at number 28.

2 appearances: 2025 (28), 2024 (23)

3rd Death
Age: 95, Actor, Cause of death: Heart failure
15th January 2025

Linda No Longer

Linda Nolan, member of the Irish singing group with four of her sisters, The Nolans aka The Nolan Sisters, has passed on at age 65 after a long battle with cancer. The Nolans came to fame primarily in the UK and Ireland in the 1970s and continued to be popular in the 1980s. Their biggest hit was 1979’s “I'm in the Mood for Dancing". The group split up in 2005 but reformed several times with various of the sisters involved, although one of the sisters, Bernie Nolan, died of cancer in 2013 (another DeathList success). Linda Nolan was making her fifth appearance on DeathList, this year at number 9, so achieving one final top ten hit.

5 appearances: 2025 (9), 2024 (29), 2023 (47), 2021 (34), 2018 (9)

2nd Death
Age: 66, Nolan Sister, Cause of death: Cancer/pneumonia
7th January 2025

Le Pen Signs Off

French far-right politician, Jean-Marie Le Pen has passed at the age of 96 to provide DeathList 2025 with an early first success. Le Pen started his political career in the 1950s and founded France's far-right National Front party in 1972. He was ultimately expelled from that party in 2015 as a result of his Holocaust denial statements. He was also convicted on many occasions of racist and hate speech crimes. In his later years, he had a major falling out with his slightly more moderate politician daughter, Marine Le Pen, who had become president of his former party. Le Pen was making his sixth appearance on DeathList, peaking this year at number 15.

6 appearances: 2025 (15), 2024 (24), 2023 (22), 2022 (24), 2021 (39), 2020 (46)

1st Death
Age: 97, French Neo-Nazi, Cause of death: TBA