October 4, 1974 · Anne Sexton (6) · e. mcgrath
"My favorite early hit will always be Anne Sexton," e. mcgrath notes. "She made art out of stuff that most women didn't even talk about. It was also obvious that Anne was not a happy camper and hence a good candidate for the list." And so she was. After a day of discreet good-byes, Anne Sexton slipped into a fur coat, poured a fresh glass of vodka, went to the garage, closed the doors behind her, climbed into her red '67 Cougar, started the engine and turned on the radio. "No one who knew Anne Sexton well was surprised by her suicide," wrote one biographer, "but it was shocking all the same." But even more shocking to gamesters, e. mcgrath was not done...December 27, 1974 · Amy Vanderbilt (4) · e. mcgrath
How do you predict the Queen of Etiquette doing something so unrefined as leaping from a second-story window? Most amazingly, it was e. mcgrath's second suicide solo of 1974. And it would be echoed in July of 2000, when John Morgan, 41, etiquette maven for the British, fell to his death from a third-floor apartment window in London.August 26, 1978 - Charles Boyer (3)
Unlike so many of his Hollywood contemporaries, actor Charles Boyer married once and only once. Such was his dedication to his wife that he took his own life just two days after she died. J. Batterson, Mullen's Revenge, P. Perriman and R. Terracotta bade farewell to the star.
October 20, 1978 - Gig Young (4) - S. Silino
The Game's first murder-suicide, and a sudden solo for the stylish and acutely perspicacious S. Silino. Oscar-winner Gig Young was an alcoholic and a sadly insecure star when he married for the fifth time, taking as his bride Kim Schimdt, a German actress 33 years his junior who he met in Hong Kong while filming the aptly named "The Game of Death." Three weeks after the wedding, at their New York apartment, Young shot his bride in the head with a .38 and then turned the gun on himself. "The Game of Death" was Young's last film, and also that of its star, Bruce Lee. (Young had been cast to play The Waco Kid in "Blazing Saddles;" after his death, he was replaced with Gene Wilder.)
July 21, 1982 - Dave Garroway (4) - Phaedrus
Phaedrus alone selected the original host of TV's "The Today Show" and genial co-worker with chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs, when Dave Garroway took his own life.
April 12, 1983 - Salvador Cayetano (4) - Bonedog
On April 6, 1983, Salvadorian rebel leader Salvador Cayetano Carpio, a.k.a. Commander Marcial, was out of the country seeking arms from Col. Qaddafi in Libya when his henchmen murdered fellow rebel leader Ana Maria with knives and ice picks. Upon returning to his base in Managua, Nicaragua, Cayetano was singled out as the author of the crime and placed under house arrest. Alone in his room, he wrote a letter to the people of Salvador protesting his innocence, then shot himself with powerful new gun given to him by Col. Qaddafi. The shot blew away his chest and gave Bonedog a place in Game history.
October 21, 1985 - Dan White (7)
A clean-cut young fireman, Dan White ran for San Francisco Supervisor promising to rid the city of "radicals, social deviates and incorrigibles." Victorious, he made himself a thorn in the side of the liberal Mayor, George Moscone, and liberal supervisors, especially Harvey Milk whose gay constituency was ill-served by White's intolerance. However, White soon discovered that he could not support his family on a supervisor's $9,500 salary and resigned. The police rallied to his aid and promised him financial support if he would return to office (and thus prevent Moscone's appointment of a more liberal replacement). White asked for his job back, but Moscone, prompted by Milk, did not respond to White's request. On January 27, 1978, after a weekend of silence, White took a gun to City Hall, slipped through a basement window to avoid the metal detectors, and methodically murdered both Moscone and Milk. At his trial, he plead temporary insanity due to a diet of junk food compounded by moral outrage. This tactic was dubbed "The Twinkie Defense," and it worked. White served just five years for the double murders and was paroled on January 6, 1984. He returned to San Francisco, and on October 21, 1985, he asphyxiated himself at the wheel in a closed garage. Gamester Twinkie Defense was not present, having foolishly retired the previous year on the eve of the Perfect Hit, but In Extremis, The Moorebids and Razor collected seven points.
June 29, 1986 - Sen. John East (5)
Dying of cancer, Senator John East rushed things along with carbon monoxide poisoning; he was found dead next to his station wagon in a fume-filled garage. The King of Pain, then editor of the Game Gazette, noted the discrepancy between East's fervent pro-life stance and his mode of passing when he wrote the single best line of copy in Gazette history, "East was one of the most conservative members of the Senate, one who evidently believed that life began at conception and ended in a sealed garage." Scoring five points were Aces & Eights, Binky Brown, the Mortucrats, Mr. Goodvibes, the Obit Writers, OPEC, Perry Mason, Pontius, and the Sick Puppies who used their points to take the lead.
April 15, 1988 - Kenneth Williams (4) - The National Health
Nip and tuck this one. Actor Kenneth Williams was one of Britain's most colorful satirical comedians and a star of numerous "Carry On..." films. He delighted and outraged radio audiences with his mastery of sexual innuendo. In the final years of his life, however, Williams was dogged by ill health. He was constantly taking pills and visiting specialists to combat the pain from an ulcer. On the morning of April 15th, Ken's Mum went to wake him (she lived in the flat next door) but couldn't get him to stir. The coroner recorded an open verdict, saying it was possible (but unlikely) that Ken had taken an overdose of sleeping pills in addition to his regular pain killers that caused a lethal cocktail. On one hand, he said many times in his diaries that suicide was the only option, but he always seemed to bounce back from depression. Many think that suicide was unlikely because he would never have entertained the idea while his mother was alive. (He left her nothing in his will, presumably because he expected to outlive her.) The National Health received the points and the solo, regardless, and paid tribute to a great British comic.
May 3, 1991 - Jerzy Kosinski (5) - Helena Handbasket
The author of "Being There" grew tired of being here, and Helena Handbasket was tuned in when Jerzy Kosinski followed the Hemlock Society's recipe: pills, alcohol, a plastic bag over his head, a hot bath and a graceful exit. His parting note read, "I am going to put myself to sleep now for a bit longer than usual. Call the time Eternity."
The leader of the Gang of Four and widow of Chairman Mao chose to take her own life, and a gang of eight tallied the three points: D. Beach, Demento Morte, Dr. Doux, D. Perriman, Jr., Perry Mason, Pontius, Razor and Vega Ring.
October 8, 1991 - Ann Wickett Humphrey (6) - Ghostwriter
After watching his first wife die of cancer, Derek Humphrey founded The Hemlock Society with Ann Wickett, advocating suicide for those who were terminally ill. Humphrey and Wickett eventually married, but in 1990, when she too became ill with cancer, Derek Humphrey dumped her. The following year, rejected and ill, she rode her favorite horse into the Three Sisters Wilderness Area in Oregon, sat down at the base of a tree near Three Creeks Lake, and took her own life. Ghostwriter had predicted that this was how it would end.
September 4, 1993 - Herve Villechaize (5)
Best known for playing Tattoo on "Fantasy Island," actor Herve Villechaize was despondent over his health when he shot himself. There for the points were the fantastic Loves Company, D. Perriman Jr. and Skul.
July 30, 1995 - Biggie Tembo (7) - The National Health
Biggie Tembo of the Bhundu Boys was the king of Zimbabwean pop music. The National Health told his story: "He was just one of those feelings who makes the Game so delicious... No one could belt out rhythms like him for 4 hours a night, 7 days a week on a 6-month tour without an outside agency's support, whether medicinal, alcoholic or drawing on too much mental input. Much as I loved the music, I couldn't imagine how a character like that could survive for too long. Since he split from the Bhundus, I'd lost track of him, but the mental image of his crazed, relentless, almost maniacal performances wouldn't go away. He wasn't going to retire in his mid-30's, eating crumpets and taking tea, that's for sure." After a series of failed career moves, Biggie Tembo took his own life in a mental hospital.
June 24th, 1997 - Brian Keith (3) - Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden used her good eyes ("He looked awful on 'Cybil' last year") to score a sudden three-point solo on actor Brian Keith, distraught over his health, who will always be warmly remembered at Game Central for his role as the father in the original "Parent Trap."
May 8, 1999 - Dana Plato (7) - Clean Underwear, Doom Patrol
Dana Plato played Kimberly Drummond on TV's "Diff'rent Strokes" from 1978 to 1984. As with many child stars, her adulthood was troubled. She died of an overdose of Valium and Loritab while visiting the parents of her fiance for Mother's Day. Because of the size of the overdose, her death was ruled a suicide. She had been on many lists over the years, but only Clean Underwear and Doom Patrol held on to score seven each.
October 6, 2000 - Richard Farnsworth (2) - Dead Ernest, Sweeney Todd
Actor and Oscar-nominee Richard Farnsworth was suffering from cancer and in great pain when he took his own life with a gun at home in Lincoln, New Mexico. Gamesters Dead Ernest and Sweeney Todd made the call.
November 13, 2002 - Irv Rubin (5) - Tomb Essence
The leader of the Jewish Defense League, Irv Rubin was looking at 40 years in the slammer for conspiring to bomb a mosque in California. While being held for trial, he cut his throat with a prison-issued razor and tumbled over a railing, falling 18'. He died of his injuries nine days later in the hospital. Tomb Essence, who had soloed earlier in 2002 on the check-point shooting of coup plotter Gen. Guei, soloed on the volatile Rubin.
