Go Fourth and Subtract

So, we’ve got some catching up to do. Three hits in the pool, a TV legend, a few cleared court dockets and some other stuff…

Limp-rechaun

Or
When Irish Eyes are Shut

Or
Wake-ing the Dead

Or
Haughey’s Health Fianna-ly Fails
(From the deathlist.net)
Charles Haughey, who showed the dangers of mixing drinking and democracy in riding a series of scandals to four terms as prime minister of Ireland has died at the age of 80. Haughey was credited with turning a stagnant Irish economy into one of the powerhouses of Europe. Course, he was apparently doing so on commission, as he spent his shame-filled retirement shuttling between an opulent mansion on a 280-acre estate, a private island and a yacht. A former gun-runner to IRA forces in Northern Ireland, Haughey discussed taking Belfast by force. Other scandals included taking blank checks drawn on the account of his party, Fianna Fail, for his personal spending, the time a murder suspect was found hiding in the home of the attorney general, an aide accused of stuffing ballot boxes, and the tapping of journalists’ phones, which forced his final departure from politics in 1992. In retirement, he made a public plea for donations for the cancer treatment of a longtime deputy, $40,000 of which he spent on tailored Italian shirts for himself. While one hand was in the till, his other was under the skirt of gossip columnist Terry Keane, who disclosed their 27-year affair on national television, stunning the country and Mrs. Haughey.

My unique insights into European politics and a lucky spotting of a story about his hospital stay in October helps my International House of Death score a solo hit to move into 6th place.

Dead body Here, Sherman There
Vincent Sherman, one of the last apparatchiks of the Hollywood studio system, has died at the age of 99. Under contract with Warner Brothers for 20 years, he was the anti-auteur, churning out solid if unspectacular films with the scripts and stars assigned. Sherman admitted he only liked a few of the 30 or so films he directed, but hey, he was getting laid by such stars as Rita Hayworth and Bette Davis, so he probably learned to cope. His resume includes such vaguely memorable films as Mr. Skeffington, Lone Star and The Young Philadelphians. His first film was The Return of Dr. X, one of Humphrey Bogart’s first starring roles as a murder who dies in the electric chair, but is resurrected and turns into bloodthirsty zombie. He also directed Ronald Reagan in The Hasty Heart, later referring to him as having a huge ego and little talent.

Kirsti expected Sherman’s March to Hell and takes the solo hit, joining the five-spot in 15th.

It was the best of times, it was the borscht of times
Jan Murray, whose career took him from the Borscht Belt to the boob tube, has died at the age of 89. A stand-up comic and entertainer in the Yiddish tradition of tummeling, Murray worked the Catskills circuit, then was a headliner in vaudeville and Las Vegas before taking on television. Murray’s poker game buddies were a who’s who of comic legends: Sid Caesar, Milton Berle, Shecky Greene and Buddy Hackett. Murray was the first game show star, hosting "Songs For Sale," in which aspiring songwriters had their work performed by then unknowns like Tony Bennett and Rosemary Clooney, "Dollar a Second," "Charge Account," and most famously, "Treasure Hunt," which ran from 1956 to 1959. He also served as one of Johnny Carson’s caddies in a career that spanned into the 1990s when asthma attacks screwed up his timing and forced his retirement. He also had a short-lived variety show with Tina Louise as a singer, played Uncle Raymond on My Two Dads and tried to find the enemy with Jerry Lewis in Which Way to the Front.