On Opening Day...
January 1, 1972 - Maurice Chevalier (2) - Dr. Death
Dr. Death went wire-to-wire in 1972, and this was the hit that started it all on New Year's Day, even before his list arrived with the critical 12/31/71 postmark. Chevalier, a legendary singer and actor, died in Paris of a heart attack.January 1, 1980 - Pietro Nenni (2) - C. Perriman
Daughter and granddaughter of the legendary Perriman's Jr. & Sr., C. Perriman played briefly but well within the tradition of her star-spangled family. In 1980, she became the second person in Game history to score on New Year's Day, when Italian Socialist leader Pietro Nenni, whose career spanned seven decades, died of a heart attack in Rome.January 1, 1982 - Victor Buono (6) - P. C. Neilson
A sibling of legend P. Grise, P. C. Neilson staked out her own corner of Game history with this New Year's hit on TV and film actor Victor Buono, who had presence, great voice and diction, and a six-foot three-inch frame carrying 400 pounds which were his eventual undoing. One of his poems, "Fat Man's Prayer," is still heard on alternative radio.
January 1, 1994 - Cesar Romero (2)
One of Hollywood's best known Latin lovers attracted a throng of admirers on this New Year's Day -- Bag of Dust, Deathsprit, Gomez, The Great Beyond, Harris Tweed, T. & J. James, Johnny B. Dead, Mac, Nanny's Dream Team, Roadkill, Rosebud, Truck Savage (hold that thought), V.I.P. R.I.P. and Worm Meat, 14 in all. Gamester Mac remembers, "This was my first day in The Game. I was driving on a business trip when I heard the news and said, 'No! I didn't mean it!' An odd reaction, to be sure."
January 1, 1995 - Eugene Wigner (1) - Truck Savage
The next year, one of 1994's 14 Opening Day scorers, Truck Savage, came flying off the line again, this time with a solo ace on physicist Eugene Wigner.
January 1, 1996 - Arleigh Burke (1) - Truck Savage, Deadnecks
The next year, Truck Savage, joined by the rookie Deadnecks, did it again, for the third year in a row, scoring on a hero of WWII, Admiral Arleigh Burke.January 1, 1998 - Helen Wills (1) - Truck Savage, Deadnecks
Wow, two years later it was Truck Savage and Deadnecks again, the Game's own New Year's Babies, this time on Helen Wills, tennis great with eight Wimbledon singles titles. Wow!
January 1, 2001 - Ray Walston (2)
death.com, Dr. Doux, Rolland Craps and Silk Shroud kicked off 2001 scoring and took the lead with two points each on actor Ray Walston who played Mr. Hand in "Fast Times at Ridgemont High," Luther Billis in "South Pacific," Satan in "Damn Yankees" and Uncle Martin in "My Favorite Martian."
At the Wire...
December 31, 1976 - Roland Hayes (2) - Mr. Clete, D. Perriman Sr.
At year's end, Mr. Clete and D. Perriman Sr. paired for a duet on singer Roland Hayes. Both had already submitted their 1977 lists; both had omitted Hayes. What confidence!December 31, 1980 - Raoul Walsh (1)
D. Perriman Sr. repeated the feat in 1980, and was joined by B. Hamilton and Sue Aside in a cinematic threesome on director Raoul Walsh.
December 31, 1980 - Bob Shawkey (1) - Smith & Smith
The very same day, Smith & Smith ended the year with solo on baseball's Bob Shawkey. And then, ten years passed until...
December 31, 1990 - George Allen (3) - Mr. Goodvibes
Mr. Goodvibes flashed his trademark smile on this one, turning in his 1991 list on December 30th without football coach George Allen, who he tagged at the wire on the last day of 1990. What confidence!December 31, 1994 - Woody Strode (2) - Women with Spurs
Woody Strode was a character actor in more than 70 films but perhaps best remembered as Draba in "Spartacus." Women with Spurs paid tribute, but because Strode's obit didn't run until January 4th, 1995, after the '94 standings had closed, they received only career credit -- one of the perils of scoring at the wire.
December 31, 1997 - Billie Dove (1) - Vega Ring
Picking up this star of the silents, Vega Ring tallied a one-point solo on the very last day of the year.
December 31, 1999 - Elliot Richardson (3)
Four gamesters -- Bury Pranksters, Lincoln's Brain, Passing Fancy and Terminally Inconvenienced -- scored on the last day of the 20th century. Amazingly, the three points were exactly what Passing Fancy and Terminally Inconvenienced needed to finish in the Top Ten.
December 31, 2000 - Sen. Alan Cranston (2)
On the last day of 2000, the Merry Little Breezes led 26 gamesters in scoring two points on former Senator Alan Cranston. Repeating the feat from the previous year was Lincoln's Brain. Also scoring at the wire for a second time was Mr. Goodvibes, exactly 10 years after his solo on football coach George Allen.
December 31, 2000 - Jose Greco (2) - Lives in Jeopardy
On the last day of 2000, Lives in Jeopardy soloed for two on flamenco legend Jose Greco.
Solo Upon Solo...
No one has ever hit a Solo/Solo Daily Double, but these gamesters came close:
October 6 & 8, 1979 - Elizabeth Bishop (4) & Audax Minor (1) - Smith & Smith
Two solos in three days set Smith & Smith apart as one of the Game's great combos. Elizabeth Bishop won a Pulitzer Prize for poetry, and George Ryall was a long-time contributor to The New Yorker under the name Audax Minor.January 20 & 21, 1999 - Eugene Pulliam (2) & Charles Brown (3) - Frozen Stiff
Two solos in two days really showed style as Frozen Stiff bagged newspaper publisher Eugene Pulliam and blues pianist Charles Brown back-to-back. The mid-January solos also enabled him to move ahead of the pack and claim sole possession of the 1999 Silver Bobcat.
March 2 & 4, 2001 - Lonnie Glosson (1) & Fred Lasswell (2) - Leroy Estmort
Two solos in three days distinguished Leroy Estmort in 2001. Both Glosson, "The Talking Harmonica Man," and Lasswell, comic strip cartoonist of "Snuffy Smith," were great favorites of Leroy's and he paid them tribute with his back to back solo hits.
The Cruella Coincidence
On January 12, 1999, Sweeney Todd soloed on actress Betty Lou Gerson, the voice of Cruella de Vil in the Disney classic "101 Dalmatians." Exactly one year later, on January 12, 2000, Gashlycrumb Tinies soloed for two on Marc Davis, the Disney animator who created and drew Cruella De Vil. Whoa.
Three in a Row...
D. Perriman Jr. was the first in Game history to score a hit on three consecutive days: a solo on Rep. Daniel Flood (1) on May 28, 1994, followed by former E. German leader Erich Honecker (2) on May 29 and Ezra Taft Benson (1) on May 30.
Toe Tag tied Perriman's record in 1997, scoring on Robert Mitchum (3) on July 1, James Stewart (2) on July 2, and guitarist Johnny Copeland (4) on July 3.
Deadnecks tied the record in 1998, scoring on Cambodian dictator Pol Pot on April 15, the world's oldest person, Marie Meilleur, on April 16 and photographer, Wings keyboardist and veggie crusader Lady Linda Eastman McCartney on April 17.
Sir Stiff equaled the feat in 1999, with country singer Boxcar Willie on April 12, a solo on former East German Premier Willi Stoph on April 13, and actress Ellen Corby on April 14.
Razor, while not hitting on three consecutive days, scored three hits in two days during the Game's Wild Weekend, February 23 and 24, 1990, when seven hits were logged. C. Stanley also had three hits in two days, July 1 and 2, 1999.
The Grand Slam...
On May 14th, 1998, the Depopulators team scored four hits in one day: on singer Frank Sinatra for two points, Everglades crusader Marjorie Stoneman Douglas (their Wild Card for five), cartoonist and tennis coach Karolj Seles for four, and a five-point solo on basketball legend Earl "The Goat" Manigault. Douglas was the team's first-ever Wild Card, Manigault their first-ever solo. They scored 16 points in one day, the World's Record. This blast followed a five-point hit on country singer Eddie Rabbitt on May 7th, and a four-point hit on Dominican orator Jose Francisco Pena Gomez on May 10th, for 25 points in eight days; the rally vaulted them into a tie for third place, just three points out of first.
On the Cusp...
September 13, 1991 - Joe Pasternak (2) - Gomez, D. Perriman Sr.
Just six days before his 90th birthday, when he would have dropped to one-point, movie producer Joe Pasternak put together a two-point package for Gomez and D. Perriman Sr.
December 5, 1991 - Richard Speck (6) - Alibi, Binky Brown
Born on Dec. 6th, 1941, drifter/mass murderer Richard Speck was a few hours away from turning 50 and dropping to five points. BUT the night before his birthday, at the age of 49, he died of a heart attack. There to collect all six points were Alibi and Binky Brown.
September 2, 1998 - Allen Drury (2) - Death's Doorstep
Ouch! Death's Doorstep had a solo, the second of her career, but lost a point as Pulitzer Prize-winning author Allen Drury died of heart failure on his 80th birthday.
December 25, 2000 - Joe Gilliam (6) - Necrophiliac Pimp, Worm Feast
Just four days before dropping to five points on his 50th birthday, former Steelers QB Joe Gilliam completed a six-point TD pass to Necrophiliac Pimp and Worm Feast. And because Gilliam died shortly before midnight, the duo scored a Stocking Stuffer as well.
Burnt...
November 29, 1991 - Frank Yerby (3) - Helena Handbasket
Helena Handbasket listed author Frank Yerby solo on both her 1991 and 1992 lists, but scored in neither year. When Yerby died in late 1991, his wife kept his demise secret for five weeks, at his request. The New York Times revealed his death on January 8th, but by then it was too late to award points for 1991, and Yerby was already dead in 1992. Ms. Handbasket, however, did get career credit for the hit, the points and the solo.
Come, let us be off to Politics or back to the Greatest Hits.