Arthur Woodcock

Arthur Woodcock - who was born on September 23rd, 1865, in Northampton, Northamptonshire, England - was an English cricketer.  When only a few months old, he moved to Leicestershire, where - as a right-arm fast bowler and a tailend batsman - he played 121 first-class matches for his adopted county between 1894 and 1908, as well as appearing for the short-lived London County Cricket Club in 1900. Woodcock's first engagement as a player was, in 1887, for Mitcham Cricket Club in Surrey.  His form there was so good that he was recommended as a cricket coach to Haverford College in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.; and he took up employment there between 1888 and 1894, continuing to play English County Cricket between July and September during these years.  In 1895, Woodcock became a member of the Lord's groundstaff, and during that season took 102 wickets at an average of just over 19 runs apiece; this was his most-successful season.  Woodcock was a poor batsman - averaging 8.31 over the course of his career, with a highest score of 62 against Lancashire at Old Trafford in 1898 - but was, during his prime in the late-1890s, considered the second-fastest bowler in England, shaded only by Charles Kortright.  In all, he took 548 wickets at an average of 22.28, with best figures of 9-28 against M.C.C. at Lord's in 1899.  As his county career wound down, he continued to play for M.C.C., and  also umpired some first-class matches in 1906. Woodcock was severely hampered by knee trouble during his later career; so much so that he was forced to drop out of the Leicestershire side in the 1903 season.  On May 14th, 1910, at Billesdon, Leicestershire, England, Arthur Woodcock committed suicide by "self-administered poison".  He was 44 years old.

Daniel Gonzalez

Daniel Julian Gonzalez - who was born on June 21st, 1980 - was an English spree killer, who murdered four people, and injured two others, during a two-day period across London and Sussex, in September of 2004.  The son of a Spanish father and an English mother, he was born in Frimley, Surrey, England, attending Gordon's School, a privately-run school near Woking, Surrey. Gonzalez passed eight GCSEs at school, becoming a talented actor and a chess champion, but was also described as a, "...dark and troubled boy...".  From the age of 17, Gonzalez received treatment for his psychological problems, but his mother was not happy with the care he received, writing a letter to her local M.P. saying, "...does my son have to commit murder to get help?"  By age 24, Gonzalez was unemployed, friendless, and using drugs, spending most of his time playing violent video games and watching horror films. On September 15th, 2004, he attacked 61-year-old Peter King in Portsmouth with a knife, but King fought him off. Gonzalez fled to Hove in Sussex, where, the same day, he stabbed to death 76-year-old Marie Harding whilst wearing an ice-hockey mask; the mask was later found to have his DNA on it, and was used to convict him.  On September 17th, Gonzalez travelled to Tottenham in the early morning, where he stabbed 46-year-old Kevin Molloy to death, before breaking into the house of Koumis Constantino, but was fought off before he could stab him.  He then went to Highgate, where he broke into the house of an elderly couple, Derek and Jean Robinson, murdering them - an experience he described as "orgasmic". Gonzalez was arrested after he was seen running naked from the Robinsons' house, covered in blood, and was sent for trial at Broadmoor Hospital.  Whilst awaiting trial there, he tried to kill himself by biting through an artery in his arm.  At the trial, Gonzalez pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, but this was rejected, and he was given six life sentences, with a recommendation that he never be released.  On August 9th, 2007, Gonzalez committed suicide in his cell at Broadmoor Hospital, by cutting himself with the sharp edge of a broken CD case.  He was 27 years old.

Terence Donovan

Terence Daniel Donovan was an English fashion photographer and film director.  Born on September 14th, 1936, in Stepney, East London, England, he was famous, along with fellow photographers David Bailey and Brian Duffy, for capturing the mood of the 'swinging '60s'. Between the ages of eleven and fifteen, Donovan studied at the London County Council School of Photoengraving and Lithography, joining the Royal Photographic Society in 1963. He socialised with many celebrities of the time, often photographing his models against the gritty urban surroundings of his home town.  He shot for many top fashion magazines, branching out into film production in the 1970s, eventually directing over 3,000 commercials, as well as the rarely-seen 1973 cop film, Yellow Dog. Donovan also made documentaries, as well as music videos - the most famous of which was probably for Robert Palmer's song "Addicted To Love".  He was a black belt in judo, co-authoring a popular book on the subject, and also enjoyed painting.  Donovan was married twice: the first marriage, to Janet Cohen, was short-lived, and produced a son, Daniel Donovan - a keyboardist; the second, to Diana Dare, produced a daughter - the actress Daisy Donovan, and a son - the co-founder of Rockstar Games, Terry Donovan.  On November 22nd, 1996, Terence Donovan hanged himself in Ealing, London, England.  An inquest concluded that steroid drugs he had been taking for a skin condition had caused him to develop depression.  He was 60 years old.

Stuart Leary

Stuart Edward Leary - who was born on April 30th, 1933, in Green Point, Cape Town, South Africa - was a dual-code professional sportsman, who played soccer as a centre-forward, and cricket as an all-rounder.  Leary started his football career with Cape Town side, Clyde, before moving to English club, Charlton Athletic, in 1950, along with team-mate Eddie Firmani.  Making his debut in 1951, he became a prolific goalscorer, netting a record number of goals for the club: in total, Leary made 376 league appearances for Charlton, scoring 153 goals, until his departure for Queens Park Rangers in 1962.  At Q.P.R., he appeared in a further 94 league games, scoring 29 goals.  Leary played once for the England under-23 team in 1954, but was banned from playing for the full national team due to his foreign birthplace.  Leary had a parallel career as a county cricketer for Kent between 1951 and 1971.  A right-handed batsman, in first-class matches, he scored 16,517 runs at an average of 31.10, and took 146 wickets at an average of 33.80 with his leg-break bowling. Leary returned to South Africa after his sporting career ended.  Rumours circulated that he may have been homosexual, at a time when this was not widely accepted, particularly in sporting circles, although he had married, and then divorced, an older woman.  Fellow South African cricketer, Eddie Barlow, said that, at the time of Leary's death, he had, "...about five girlfriends on the go..."  In By His Own Hand, writer David Frith states that Leary had a fondness for resting his hand on a colleague's knee during team photographs; also, at the time of his death, three people who knew Leary apparently stated that he was concerned at the nationwide crackdown on juvenile vice, and that he was also worried he may have contracted the AIDS virus.  In 1985, Leary was replaced as coach of Western Province cricket team, and sometime thereafter began taking anti-depressant drugs.  Leary's body was found on Table Mountain near Cape Town on August 23rd, 1988. It was believed he committed suicide two days earlier, on August 21st, by throwing himself off a precipice.  He was 55 years old.

Dave Clement

David Thomas Clement - who was born on February 2nd, 1948, in Battersea, south-west London, England - was an English footballer.  Clement signed as a professional with Queens Park Rangers in 1965, making his debut in the 1966-67 season - a memorable one for Q.P.R., as they won the Third Division Championship by a twelve-point margin, and became the first Third-Division side to win a major trophy - the League Cup - by defeating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 at Wembley.  A right-sided full-back, Clement played a total of 472 games for Q.P.R. between 1965 and 1979, scoring 28 goals.  During this time, he also won five full international caps for England.  He was sold to Bolton Wanderers in 1979, before moving on to Fulham in 1980.  He played a further nine games, scoring two goals, for Wimbledon during the 1981-82 season, leaving him with a career total of 532 league games and 30 goals.  As his football career wound down, Clement began to become depressed; and, on March 31st, 1982, he committed suicide by ingesting weedkiller.  He was 34 years old.  Dave Clement's son, Neil Clement, who was only three years old at the time of his father's death, also became a professional footballer, spending the majority of his career at West Bromwich Albion.  His eldest son, Paul, became a non-league footballer, and later a professional coach and manager, becoming head coach at Swansea City in Wales.

Stephanie Parker

Stephanie Parker - who was born on March 29th, 1987, in Brighton, East Sussex, England  - was an English-born Welsh actress.  She was best-known for playing the part of Stacey Weaver in the long-running BBC Wales television series, Belonging - a programme which revolved around the trials and tribulations of the Lewis family and the changing environment of modern Wales in their town of Bryncoed.  Parker also starred as Zoe in Doc Martin, Phoebe Mitchell in Casualty, and Debbie Hargrove in Doctors, as well as appearing in dramas on BBC Radio 4. The final episode of Belonging - in which Parker had played a central part since the age of 15 - was broadcast on Thursday, April 16th, 2009.  The following Saturday, April 18th, at 6 a.m., a passer-by  found Parker's dead body on open ground near Pontypridd, south Wales.  The death was ruled a suicide by hanging.  She was described by her agent, Mark Jermin, as, "...a great talent..."; and by Clare Hudson, BBC Wales's head of English-language programmes, as, "...an immensely-talented actor...".  Stephanie Parker was just 22 years old.

Mike Thalassitis

Michael Thalassitis - who was born on January 19th, 1993, in Edmonton, London, England - was an English footballer and television personality.  Starting his career with Stevenage in Division Two of the Football League, Thalassitis, a striker, subsequently played for several non-league teams. In all, between 2011 and 2017, he played 151 games, scoring 36 goals, for various teams.  Of Greek-Cypriot descent, Thalassitis also played  three games for the Cypress under-19 side, and four for their under-21s. He was called up for Cyprus's senior team in May, 2014, but was unable to travel to the game against Japan, as he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in the final game of the league season whilst on loan from Stevenage at Ebbsfleet United.  On May 29th, 2017, Thalassitis was announced as part of the cast for the third series of the reality television show, Love Island.  He and fellow contestant Jessica Shears, along with their respective partners Olivia Attwood and Dom Lever, emerged among the three couples with the fewest public votes for Favourite Couple.  In 2018, he joined the fourth series of Celebs Go Dating.  On March 15th, 2019, Mike Thalassitis hanged himself in a park in Edmonton, north London, England.  He was 26 years old.