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Sid Waddell, the voice of darts, dies aged 72

 

Darts commentator Sid Waddell has died at the age of 72, his manager has said.

 

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Sid Waddell was known for his colourful commentary style

 

Waddell, who had been suffering from bowel cancer since last September, became known as the voice of darts for his commentary over many years on the BBC and Sky.

 

In a statement, his manager Dick Allix said he "died peacefully with all his family around him late last night".

 

The son of a Northumberland miner, he also wrote BBC children's programmes Jossy's Giants and Sloggers.

 

He received a nomination for best scriptwriter from the Writer's Guild of Great Britain for the latter.

 

'Magic darts'

 

The broadcaster was known for his colourful and excitable commentary style.

 

"There's only one word for it - 'magic darts'," was one of his famous lines and he also described the challenge of a player trying to defeat multiple world champion Phil Taylor as "like eating candy floss in a wind tunnel".

 

Born in Alnwick, he attended Morpeth Grammar School and gained a degree at Cambridge University before working in the media.

 

In 1999 he was the "Voice of the Balls" on BBC One's National Lottery Red Alert on one occasion before he claimed he was sacked for being "too Geordie".

 

Bobby George, who twice appeared in the British Darts Organisation World Championship final, wrote on Twitter: "So sad to hear of the passing of the legend Sid Waddell or Sidly as I used to call him. Sincere condolences go out to the family x."

 

Three-time world champion John Lowe said: "Darts has lost its champion of the commentary box, Sid Waddell, sincere condolences to his family, good bye dear friend."

 

Sky Sports' Dave Clark, who worked with Waddell for many years, described him as "a brilliant man, a genius of the microphone".

 

'Totally irreplaceable'

 

He said: "He had a child-like exuberance, he'd be bouncing round like a young puppy in the commentary box, and mix that with the intellect of Einstein."

 

Another colleague, Jeff Stelling, said: "Back when I was working with him he made more of an impact than any of the players did.

 

"He is totally irreplaceable."

 

BBC Sport's Gary Lineker wrote on Twitter: "He really was the voice of his sport. A brilliant, witty, colourful commentator."

 

Tributes extended beyond the world of darts, with former deputy prime minister John Prescott tweeting: "Farewell to Sid Waddell - a man who did so much for darts and voiced so many memorable moments.

 

"A double top bloke."

 

Milburn Douglas, a councillor for Lynemouth, the Northumberland mining village where Waddell grew up, said the commentator remembered his roots.

 

He said: "With the darts, that's where he made a name for himself, but he never forgot where he came from, he came from a mining community and he was very proud of that."

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For the USA folks that might remember this TV actor...

 

'Welcome Back, Kotter's' Horshack, Ron Palillo, dies

 

http://tv.yahoo.com/news/-welcome-back--kotter-s--horshack--ron-palillo--dies.html

 

Ron Palillo, the class clown from "Welcome Back, Kotter," has died. The actor best known as Arnold Horshack from the 1970s sitcom was 63. TMZ reports the cause of death was a heart attack.

 

According to TMZ, the actor was having difficulty early in the morning. His longtime partner, Joseph Gramm, a retired actor, called 911. The star was rushed to Palm Beach Gardens Medical Center by ambulance where he was pronounced dead.

 

Palillo was best known for his role as a "Sweathog" at the remedial high school in the comedy. The University of Connecticut grad spent the last three years of his life teaching acting at the charter school G-Star Academy. ..

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Top Gun director Tony Scott (Ridley Scott's brother) dead at 68 - apparent suicide. I've said it before, but its not just the Pattaya skydiving team that elects to check out after a particularly nasty midlife crisis.

 

My link

 

TOP Gun director Tony Scott has jumped to his death in California.

The LA County coroner’s office confirmed that the 68-year-old scaled and jumped off the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro at around 12.30pm on Sunday.

 

His body was retrieved from the water by the police and coast guard.

Scott's death was being investigated as a suicide, Los Angeles County Coroner's Lt. Joe Bale said.

 

Police confirmed that several witness saw Scott jump, apparently without hesitation.

 

Several people called 911 around 12.35pm to report that someone had jumped from the bridge spanning San Pedro and Terminal Island in Los Angeles, according to Los Angeles police Lt Tim Nordquist.

 

A dive team with Los Angeles Port Police pulled the body from the murky water several hours later, Nordquist said.

 

Scott's body was taken to a dock in Wilmington and turned over to the county coroner's office.

One lane of the eastbound side of the bridge was closed to traffic during the investigation.

 

A suicide note was found in his office and another note in his black Toyota Prius, which was parked on one of the eastbound lanes of the bridge.

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Top Gun director Tony Scott (Ridley Scott's brother) dead at 68 - apparent suicide. I've said it before, but its not just the Pattaya skydiving team that elects to check out after a particularly nasty midlife crisis.

 

That's a real shocker! :shocked:

 

Excellent director. Enemy of the State is still one of my all time favourite films.

 

:sad::rip:

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That's a real shocker! :shocked:

 

Excellent director. Enemy of the State is still one of my all time favourite films.

 

:sad::rip:

 

He had inoperable Brain Cancer hence the reason he decided to end it.

 

Now if I was to find myself in such a predicament I would want to end it, I am all for euthanasia but I would not jump from a bridge.

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