The 2011 Off Topic Celebrity Dead Pool

[germanos]

Dutch Nobelprize winner (1984: physics, for discovery of W- and Z-boson) Simon van der Meer has passed away, a Dutch newspaper reports.

RIP Simon, may you find peace and understanding in the Great Realm Beyond.

for Dutch eloquence in Physics research (we have had quite a few)

Dutch article

(Will post an English obituary as soon as I find one)

[Wezil]

(Will post an English obituary as soon as I find one)

The all important link. The final test of celebrity.

[Wezil]

I see plenty of non-English links and wiki has updated their page on him.

Will he get an English obit? 2nd place hangs in the balance...

[SlowwHand]

Due to the language of the obituary?

[Ming]

He's dead Jim

Probably have to wait for Monday for the obit.

[DaShi]

Dude, it's a production decision. The show is famed for running long. I would not have gone that way.
It has nothing to do with any particular medical condition. It has much more to do with the Academy deciding that they should value the pandering to fans of this has-been star over the comfort of many viewers. And yes, watching the struggles of the medically infirm is distinctly uncomfortable for many people.

I would not invite Hawking to be an Oscars presenter. Nor a stutterer. Nor someone with an accent that is difficult to understand. The show is already interminable without it.

The secondary issue - the one you seem focused on - is whether it "worked." For some, it did. For me, who lost a close friend after his second stroke at a young age (in his 40s), not so much.

I agree. People like that should be kept in attics or basements with the rest of the unwanted relatives.

[Wezil]

Due to the language of the obituary?

Yes. According to Rule 11 it must be in English.

[Wezil]

He's dead Jim

Of that I am sure. The question is - Was he a big enough celeb for the obit?

Probably have to wait for Monday for the obit.

I imagine he will get one at some time but it isn't at all certain. Derby calls it the List of the Lost:

http://www.derbydeadpool.co.uk/deadpool2011/lost_list.html

[germanos]

Mr. van der Meer is remembered on the front page of CERN's website.

A larger article can be found elsewhere on the website.

Nobelprize website also updated the autobiography by him.


I trust Wezil already made the necessary arrangements .

[Wezil]

I'll accept that. Update to come.

[SlowwHand]

Does Charlie Sheen's dead career count?

[-Jrabbit]

Would that it were that simple. So far, it's just the death of a thoroughly mediocre comedy series.

[Wezil]

Simon van der Meer was 85 and a unique pick for germanos (Into the Great Void). Ranked 18th on his list.

(171 - 18) + (100 - 85) + 25

= 193 points.

Well done sir. A little tense on the obit but worth the wait.

Enough points to move you into 2nd place in this year's pool and advance you significantly up the All-Time list (3rd career hit).

[Wezil]

Washington (CNN) -- David Broder, a Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post political columnist, died Wednesday from complications relating to diabetes, the newspaper said.

He was 81.

Broder, known as the "dean of the Washington press corps," won the Pulitzer in 1973 for his coverage of the Watergate scandal. He covered every national political convention since 1956, according to the Post.

[Wezil]

Former Alice in Chains bass player Mike Starr, who went public with his drug problems on the reality TV show Celebrity Rehab, was found dead in a Salt Lake City house, police said on Tuesday, nine years after the rock band’s singer died of an overdose. Starr was 44.

There go some easy points.