New: Celebrities / Famous + Other People Who Passed in 2023

While Matthew Perry did not drink on the set of Friends, he did work with extreme hangovers and was sometimes sweating and shaking.

Perry became addicted to Vicodin after a jet-ski accident in 1997, and completed a 28-day rehab program at the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation that year.

His weight dropped as low as 128 pounds (58 kg) and he took as many as 55 Vicodin pills per day.

At age 30, he suffered from alcohol-induced pancreatitis and erectile dysfunction; in May 2000, he was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

In February 2001, Perry paused productions of Friends and Serving Sara for 2 months, entering rehab for an addiction to Vicodin, methadone, amphetamines, and alcohol.

Fifteen years later, he revealed that due to his addiction issues, he did not remember three years of the time he was acting on Friends, between seasons three and six.

In 2018, Perry spent five months in a hospital for a gastrointestinal perforation. During the hospital stay, Perry nearly died after his colon burst from opioid abuse.

He spent two weeks in a coma and used a colostomy bag for nine months. Upon being admitted to the hospital, doctors told his family that Perry had a 2% chance of survival. He was connected to a extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) machine, which breathed for him.

Two years afterwards, while attending rehab in Switzerland, Perry faked pain to get a prescription of 1,800 milligrams of Oxycontin per day and was having daily ketamine infusions.

He was given propofol in conjunction with a surgery, which stopped his heart for five minutes. The resulting cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) resulted in eight broken ribs.

He paid $175,000 for a private jet to take him to Los Angeles to get more drugs. When doctors there refused, Perry spent another $175,000 to take a private jet back to Switzerland.

In 2022, he estimated that $9 million was spent on his addiction, including 14 stomach surgeries and 15 stays in rehab as well as 6,000 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and therapy twice a week for 30 years.

Sad news,I remember going to Palace a couple of times with Rovers,the team that he built there were a decent side.

Shane MacGowan: Piers Morgan and The Pogues bandmate lead stars paying tribute as singer dies aged 65..By Katie WilsonShowbiz Reporter.

Tributes have started to pour in for The Pogues frontman Shane MacGowan after it was announced he passed away at 3am this morning in hospital

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Tributes have poured in for Shane MacGowan after it was announced he has died at the age of 65.

The Pogues singer, who is most famous for his Christmas hit The Fairytale of New York with the late Kirsty MacColl, had been in and out of hospital recently with various health issues. Taking to social media today, his wife Victoria Mary Clarke announced the sad news he had passed away.

Posting a black and white photo of Shane holding a glass and a cigarette taken during his younger years, she wrote: "I don’t know how to say this so I am just going to say it. Shane who will always be the light that I hold before me and the measure of my dreams and the love of my life and the most beautiful soul and beautiful angel and the sun and the moon and the start and end of everything that I hold dear has gone to be with Jesus and Mary and his beautiful mother Therese.

"I am blessed beyond words to have met him and to have loved him and to have been so endlessly and unconditionally loved by him and to have had so many years of life and love and joy and fun and laughter and so many adventures. There’s no way to describe the loss that I am feeling and the longing for just one more of his smiles that lit up my world."

She added: "Thank you thank you thank you thank you for your presence in this world you made it so very bright and you gave so much joy to so many people with your heart and soul and your music. You will live in my heart forever. Rave on in the garden all wet with rain that you loved so much You meant the world to me."

A statement from The Pogues official Twitter account read: "It is with the deepest sorrow and heaviest of hearts that we announce the passing of Shane MacGowan. Shane died peacefully at 3am this morning (30 November, 2023) with his wife Victoria and family by his side. Prayers and the last rites were read which gave comfort to his family." It added: "Shane is survived by his wife Victoria, his sister Siobhan, and his father Maurice, family, and a large circle of friends. Further details will be announced shortly, but we ask for privacy at this very sad time."

Paying tribute to his bandmate in a separate post, Peter 'Spider' Stacey, who co-founded The Pogues with Shane, Jew Finer and James Fearnley, shared a poignant image of them performing on stage together and wrote: "‘O Captain! My Captain! Our fearful trip is done..’”

Singer Nick Cave was one of the first to pay tribute to Shane following the sad news of his passing, calling him: “A true friend and the greatest songwriter of his generation. A very sad day." Derry Girls actor Siobhan McSweeney said that Shane MacGowan “was the voice of London for us Irish”. She added: “When I was scared about moving here he lured me over with songs about chancers, drinkers, lovers, poets and scoundrels. That’s the place for me, I thought! He also taught me how to miss home, whatever that may be. Damn shame, Shane.”

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Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar also sent his condolences and said: "Sorry to hear that Shane MacGowan has passed. He was an amazing musician and artist. His songs beautifully captured the Irish experience, especially the experience of being Irish abroad.”

Irish President Michael D Higgins said news of Shane's death was "particular poignant" as it was so close to fellow Irish musician Sinead O'Connor's. In a heartfelt message, he said: "Born on Christmas Day, there was perhaps some form of destiny which led Shane to writing Fairytale Of New York, the timeless quality of which will surely mean that it will be listened to every Christmas for the next century or more.

“Likewise songs like Rainy Night In Soho, A Pair Of Brown Eyes, If I Should Fall From Grace With God and so many others will live on far into the years and decades to come. I think too of Haunted, and the particular poignancy that both Shane and Sinead O’Connor have left us in such quick succession.” He added: “It was a great honour for me, as President of Ireland, to present Shane with a lifetime achievement award in the National Concert Hall in January 2018 as we marked his 60th birthday. A richly deserved honour.”

TV presenter Piers Morgan also paid tribute to Shane and wrote: "RIP Shane MacGowan, 65. Irish punk legend, genius Pogues singer/songwriter, and hell-raiser extraordinaire. His favourite joke was: ‘I was given six weeks to live, about 25 years ago!’ Let’s make Fairytale of New York the Christmas No1 as a tribute. (He was born on Xmas Day)."

Labour ex-Chancellor Alistair Darling dies two days after 70th birthday, family confirms..By Lizzy BuchanDeputy Political Editor.

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Lord Darling was Chancellor during Gordon Brown's premiership

Former Chancellor and veteran Labour politician Alistair Darling has died aged 70.

A statement issued on behalf of his family said: "The death of Alistair Darling, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and long-serving member of the Labour cabinet, was announced in Edinburgh today. Mr Darling, the much-loved husband of Margaret and beloved father of Calum and Anna, died after a short spell in Western General Hospital under the wonderful care of the cancer team."

Keir Starmer led tributes to a politician who "lived a life devoted to public service" and said he was "deeply saddened" by his passing. Lord Darling helped turn around the disastrous 2008 economic crash while serving as Gordon Brown’s Chancellor from 2007 to 2010. He served as a Cabinet minister throughout the New Labour years, under Tony Blair and then Mr Brown's leadership.

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He was appointed Chief Secretary to the Treasury after the 1997 election landslide, before serving as Social Security Secretary, Work and Pensions Secretary, Transport Secretary, Scotland Secretary, Trade and Industry Secretary and finally Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Lord Darling, who was first elected as an MP in Edinburgh in 1987, led the successful Better Together campaign to keep Scotland in the UK in 2014. He stood down in 2015 and was shortly afterwards he was made a peer, becoming Lord Darling of Roulanish.

In a statement, the Labour leader said: "I am deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Alistair Darling. My heart goes out to his family, particularly Maggie, Calum and Anna, whom he loved so dearly.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it was a "sad day" as he praised Lord Darling for his time in the Treasury. He tweeted: "One of the great Chancellors, he’ll be remembered for doing the right thing for the country at a time of extraordinary turmoil. My deepest sympathies to his family."

Former PM Theresa May said Lord Darling was a "committed public servant, a proud Unionist and a calm, kind and decent man". She added: "He was an asset to our politics and our national life. My thoughts and prayers are with his family."

Yes, just reading about it...all the details on the link below

 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Freedom_Deal

I bet your life is full of interesting anecdotes....NOT...😂😂😂

Thats sad,I remember her in the Likely Lads the complete antithesis of Terry,always looked very prim and proper but there was one scene with her sat on a bed wearing a black lace trimmed slip,very fit....

A bit pathetic really, isn't it?

 
Benjamin Zephaniah, the British poet whose work often addressed political injustice, has died aged 65.



Zephaniah died in the early hours of Wednesday morning after being diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago.

A poet. A role model. Most definitely an inspiration . . . Rest In Blessed Peace, Benjamin.