R.I.P. Fats Domino (1928-2017)

Legendary rock and roll artist Antoine "Fats" Domino passed away today from natural causes in his beloved hometown of New Orleans, LA, at the age of 89.  He was a pioneer in bringing New Orleans-style rhythm-and-blues stride piano to rock and roll's early days. Domino is well known for hits such as "I'm Walking," "I Want To Walk You Home," "Ain't That A Shame," "My Blue Heaven," and "Blueberry Hill." 

In his later years, Domino received national attention when he needed to be rescued from his complex in the Ninth Ward due the flood waters of Hurricane Katrina in August, 2005.

With his passing, James gets his first action in Tomb Bowl XIV and now trails John 2 - 1. Since he died well after Mardi Gras weekend, James does not receive double points.

For a local New Orleans obituary on the life and legend of Fats Domino, click the link here.

May he rest in peace.

R.I.P. Jerry Lewis (1926-2017)

After a nearly six-month lull in Tomb Bowl XIV, movement on the scoreboard took place yesterday as Jerry Lewis, legendary comedian, actor, singer, director, entertainer, and philanthropist, died at the age of 91.

Mr. Lewis was a Labor Day staple in our household as his Labor Day Telethon to raise awareness and funds for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and his rendition of "You'll Never Walk Alone" to close out the program was an annual event not to be missed for our parents and us.

Jerry Lewis was a "charter member" of the Tomb Bowl, having been on James' list since its inception in 2004. James "released" him from his list two years ago, after 12 Tomb Bowls, and John promptly scooped him up for his roster.  John was two weekends away from receiving a double point bonus had Jerry passed Labor Day weekend.  With Mr. Lewis' passing, John now holds a 2 - 0 advantage over James close to two-thirds of the way through the year.

You can read more about Jerry Lewis' life in this obituary posted in today's New York Times.


We pray that his soul rests in peace.

R.I.P. David Rockefeller (1915 - 2017)

After 2016's 'carousel of celebrity passings,' the 'first quarter' of 2017 was relatively quiet.  There was a brief period of time at the beginning of the year when James almost had Tomb Bowl XIV locked up with George H.W. & Barbara Bush hospitalized at the same time.  However,  they looked quite healthy on the field for the Super Bowl LI coin toss in his home town of Houston, TX.

Today, however, Tomb Bowl XIV had its first action on the board as banker, philanthropist, and Rockefeller empire heir David Rockefeller died at the roubst age of 101.

John now takes a 1 - 0 lead.

To read more on the life and legacy of David Rockefeller, read his obituary in the New York Times.

May he rest in peace.

R.I.P. Zsa Zsa Gabor (1917-2016)

In a year that will be remembered, among many things, for the seemingly high volume of celebrity deaths, Tomb Bowl XIII has remained rather inactive.  James took the early lead with Abe Vigoda's passing in late January, but then there was no movement while major names were leaving this mortal realm left and right.

On December 18th, however, Hungarian socialite and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor died at the age of 99, roughly 2 months shy of her 100th birthday. Zsa Zsa was among the first celebrities of recent history to be famous for no reason other then being attractive, paving the way for empires like the reality television stars of today.

Ms. Gabor's passing gave John his first point of Tomb Bowl XIII and tied the score at 1-1. This was a crucial pickup for John so late in the year as, in the event of a tie, he would still hold first pick in January 1st's selections for Tomb Bowl XIV and he still would retain possession of the coveted Tomb Bowl Tombstone.

However, having lost celebrities like George Michael and Carrie Fisher both within a 48 hour span, anything can happen in Tomb Bowl XIII!

For more information on Ms. Gabor's life, please visit her obituary in Variety Magazine linked here.

R.I.P. Abe Vigoda (1921-2016)

January 2016 has been quite a month when it comes to celebrity deaths.  Greats like David Bowie, Alan Rickman, and Glenn Frey among many others have left us and ventured into the life after this one.

It was, however, a quiet month for both James & John.  We were starting to wonder if any of their Tomb Bowl picks would be within this month's list of the departed.

Today, brought the first shift in Tomb Bowl XIII, as longtime actor of stage, television and screen Abe Vigoda passed away this morning at the age of 94.  Mr. Vigoda was on James' list as his "Ironic Death" stipulation.  Reports are that he died in his sleep at home and not involved in a fishing accident, so James is only up 1 - 0.  We're only 26 days into 2016, and devoted followers of the Tomb Bowl know that anything can happen between now and when the ball drops on December 31st.

For more on the life of Abe Vigoda, please visit his obituary in the New York Times.

[Edit: This  was re-posted to keep all Tomb Bowl passings in chronological order.]

R.I.P. Christopher Lee (1922 - 2015)

Tomb Bowl XII only saw one celebrity death take place, when British actor Christopher Lee, best known as "The Man With The Golden Gun", Count Dracula, Count Dooku in "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," and Sarumon from the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, died on June 7th at the age of 93.

The passing gave John his first point of the year.  While Lee was John's "Ironic Death" Stipulation, he did not die due to impalement, so John only led 1 - 0.   Little did anyone know that Lee's passing was all John needed to secure a long-awaited victory.

Read more about the long and full life of Christopher Lee here.

What You Missed Between Posts

As mentioned, it was a busy 18 months between Tomb Bowl posts.

To be fair to our Tomb Bowl fans, here's what you missed:

Tomb Bowl XI - 2014

• No other celebrity deaths took place on either James or John's lists following the last post on June 24, 2014. When 2014 came to a close, James continued his Tomb Bowl Tombstone reign with a 3-1 victory. 

Tomb Bowl XII - 2015

• James & John were able to make their picks in Brooklyn for the last time for a while as James accepted a job in New Orleans and his family moved in early 2015. 
• 93-year-old actor Abe Vigoda, 98-year-old actress Olivia de Havilland, and 20-year-old pop singer Justin Bieber were new additions to 6-time champion James' list. 92-year-old actor Christopher Lee was John's lone addition to his list, trusting that he had a solid enough roster to break his half-decade drought. 
• James & John agreed to add a new stipulation to the Tomb Bowl beginning this year - the "Ironic Death" stipulation. What's that, you may ask? Well, say one of us had George Washington and a cherry tree fell on him or Thomas Edison got electrocuted, that's an "Ironic Death." 
• It was a quiet year for Tomb Bowl XII, but...

..."The Streak" was broken!  John edged out James 1-0 for his first Tomb Bowl Win in six years & his first time holding the Tomb Bowl Tombstone! (More information on Christopher Lee, the lone death in Tomb Bowl XII in an upcoming post.)