BITS AND PIECES 11/02
PUSSS...@aol.com
--Michael J. Fox, whose TV spot advocating stem-cell research raised
Rush Limbaugh's hackles, tells CNBC's Donny Deutsch tonight that he
thought Limbaugh's attack on him was "kind of a thoughtless thing to
do." Fox, who suffers from Parkinson's, says his uncontrollable shaking
(questioned by Limbaugh) is a sad reality. "Except how it relates to
other people, the whole idea that it could be an affectation is crazy,"
Fox says. "You want to be able to speak." The interview airs tonight at
10.
--Dennis Haysbert and Gregory Itzin - better known to fans of "24" as
Presidents Palmer and Logan - will compete against each other Monday at
the Golf Digest Celebrity Invitational in L.A. The event benefits the
Prostate Cancer Foundation. Dougray Scott, Mark Wahlberg are also
expected to paricipate.
--"Queer Eye" guy Jai Rodriguez will host the third season of Si TV's
"Styleyes," which will take place entirely in Miami. Rodriguez is
currently shooting the show in South Beach and he'll also co-produce
the series, which kicks off its next season in April.
--Jesse L. Martin at tonight's Princess Grace Foundation-USA Gala.
--Cinemax, airing all six "Star Wars" flicks in high-def (Nov. 10-13),
transforms Vanderbilt Hall (in Grand Central) into a "Jedi Recruiting
Office" tomorrow (8 a.m.-6 p.m.).
--Bill Cosby will be inducted into the NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.
NY POST/PAGE SIX...
--WHO wouldn't want to see Brad Pitt dripping wet in his boxers? Well,
as it turns out . . . Brad Pitt. The new dad is so unhappy over his
image on the cover of December's Vanity Fair (pictured) - which shows
him standing in the rain wearing nothing but boxer shorts and tube
socks - he's contacted his lawyers, TMZ.com was first to report. The
picture, which first appeared in The Post on Monday, was taken by
avant-garde director and photographer Robert Wilson in September 2005,
when Pitt sat for a video portrait. Reps for Vanity Fair said Wilson
gave the magazine the right to publish Pitt's photo for this December
"Art Issue," and that Wilson sent Pitt's managers a letter informing
him of the plans. But Pitt's lawyers are considering suing the glossy
for using the "unauthorized" photo. Pitt's people told Page Six they
are "trying to figure out" what the contract between him and Wilson
allowed. One source said the "Babel" star, who is now in India, has
always been a "big seller" for the magazine - which may be the reason
Vanity Fair chose Pitt to replace a reportedly scheduled Sacha Baron
Cohen "Borat" cover. Wilson has devoted much of his life to
photographing and documenting celebrities, including Steve Buscemi and
Winona Ryder, and many of his photos (including Pitt) will be on
display at several New York galleries in January. Katharina
Otto-Bernstein, who directed the documentary "Absolute Wilson" based on
the artist's life, told Page Six's Corynne Steindler that the lensman
is "a very gentle soul. He would be the last person who would want to
upset people," she said. Pitt's camp, however, is upset. "We were all
surprised," said his publicist. "We had a great relationship with
Vanity Fair. I don't know if this is going to affect that."
--FOR better or worse, we're all about to see a little bit more of
hyperactive CBS "Early Show" weatherman Dave Price. He just re-upped
his contract with the network and may have gotten a sweet side deal -
to host the long-running game show "The Price is Right." Longtime
"Price" host Bob Barker announced his retirement Tuesday afternoon, and
it came as a shock to some. One former co-worker said, "Bob always
swore he would die on that show. He had a unique contract where it was
for life - and if he left unwillingly, the show had to go dark for a
year, effectively killing it." Some think CBS head Les Moonves must
have paid off Barker to retire - because he loves Price, who had been
threatening to jump ship to Fox. A rep for CBS, Chris Ender, said, "Bob
just informed us of his plans. It's premature to discuss another
potential host."
--AMY Sacco held her Halloween party at Scores West - but she should
have used her trusty doormen from Bungalow 8, Armin and Disco, at the
front. Lydia Hearst and five pals including Michelle Trachtenberg
arrived and asked for "Calvin," the name Sacco had told them to use.
But the Scores door demon took one look at gorgeous Hearst in her
butterfly costume and inexplicably roared, "This group's not getting
in! Get away from the [bleep]ing door!" Hearst, who is auditioning for
Victoria's Secret next week, just shrugged and went to Tenjune, where
she and her posse partied the night away.
--DON'T mess with Sharon Stone's likeness! The diva agreed to be
honored at Saturday's benefit in Santa Monica for the Children Affected
by AIDS Foundation. She planned to auction off a custom "Barbie" doll
Mattel made in her image. But she flipped when she saw the result,
claiming it looked nothing like her. Stone refused to come to the
benefit, choosing the Carousel of Hope ball instead. Stone's rep, Cindi
Berger, said, "That is absolutely correct. The doll didn't look
anything like her. [Stone] was never committed to going."
--BILL Clinton singing "Happy Birthday" to his assistant, Doug Band, at
the Gramercy Park Hotel and passing out "I'm with the band" T-shirts.
--COLIN Powell on a business trip for the Carlyle Group at the Four
Seasons Hotel in Doha, Qatar.
--Aussie supermodel Elle Macpherson is helping Bono and Bobby Shriver
and their (Product) Red campaign to fight AIDS in Africa. She bought
200 Red Nano iPods at $200 each for her Christmas list and got them all
engraved.
--Balthazar Getty will perform at tonight's Penguin Store opening on
Melrose Avenue in L.A. alongside Jessica Biel, Lindsay Lohan and Robert
Downey Jr.
--David Hasselhoff will join the Las Vegas production of "The
Producers."
NY POST/CINDY ADAMS...
--NOW, about next Thursday's Truman Capote memorabilia auction at
Bonhams. You already heard his friend Joanne Carson, at whose Beverly
Hills house he always bunked, put it up. The loot being unloaded
includes a signed first edition of "In Cold Blood." Estimate: $1,500.
Fourteen pages of the final unpublished manuscript "Remembering Willa
Cather" - $30,000. Handwritten notes for "Answered Prayers" -
$3,000-$4,000. Handwritten script for his "Tonight Show" appearance
June 13, 1968, shortly after Robert Kennedy's assassination. The yellow
paper includes scribblings on his conspiracy theories - $2,500-$3,500.
And the 7-carat brown diamond he gave her for a birthday. Estimate:
$25,000. Question is: Which will Philip Seymour Hoffman want?
--ANGELA Lansbury, back on the boards next spring in the new play
"Deuce," told me last year that all she wants, her biggest wish, is a
return to Broadway. Even told me that, to this end, she'd gotten
herself a new apartment in town.
--Borat Sacha Baron Cohen Kazakhstan Whatever, or someone dumb enough
to look like him, was hustling east, walking rapidly, on 74th, Madison
to Fifth, last Friday night. A man had him in tow. I saw them. Himself
in his usual sleazy beige suit. Nobody - not one single body - paid him
any mind. Me, either.
--Emilio Estevez did a voice-over role in the CGI animation thing out
come holidaytime "Arthur and the Invisibles." Also in it Mother
Madonna, David Bowie, Snoop Dogg and the original global mother, Mia
Farrow.
--Kathleen Turner: "I'm taking 'Virginia Woolf' around the country,
then I'll put her to rest and move on to something else."
--Supermodel Evangelista shopping at MoMA.
--At Le Bernardin, Frank and Kathie Lee Gifford toasted 20 years.
--Jon Bon Jovi became an uncle. Brother Matthew Bongiovi and wife
Desiree named her Isabella Elizabeth.
--HBO's documentary premiere of "Absolute Wilson," about avant-garde
designer Robert Wilson, was a dishy evening. Folks like Winona Ryder,
Rufus Wainwright, writer Gregory Speck. Gossip like Franco Zeffirelli
ailing in former Met impresario Joseph Volpe's Rome villa. Architect
Richard Meier confessing relief that Renzo Piano got the job to fix the
Whitney Museum. Critic John Simon insisting "Robert Wilson's art is
utterly without substance, structure or significance."
--WHAT this is about, God knows. But: The Barrow Street Theatre's new
play is "An Oak Tree." It is so far starring Oscar winner F. Murray
Abraham, "Psycho Beach Party" 's Charles Busch, Austin Pendleton,
"American Splendor" 's James Urbaniak, someone from "Queer As Folk,"
the musician Laurie Anderson. This two-person play's author, Tim
Crouch, is onstage with, each performance, some different actor, who
never saw the script and can improvise. Whatever this thing is, it
opens Saturday. Let's put it this way. The whoever actor can never be
an underachiever; it's more like the author's an overexpecter.
--KATIE Couric spying former beau, horn player Chris Botti, kissed him
and hugged him. Maybe he'll move up to be current beau? And maybe tell
her to lose the lip pencil outline, which looks cheesy on a news host?
--And since I've nothing better to do than criticize, can the "Today"
show lower Meredith Vieira's prompter so she won't keep looking up as
she talks to us? Also makes the neck look not good.
--JOSEPHINE Baker's son Jean-Claude owns Chez Josephine restaurant.
Rooting around to provide Beyoncé material for her TV tribute to
Josephine's centennial, he found the 1926 original Chez Josephine menu
from 40 Rue Fontaine in Montmartre. Her lover Georges Simenon, later a
novelist and notorious Casanova, had typed it. To celebrate his own
20th year on bawdy 42nd Street, Jean-Claude is offering her exact bill
of fare. He says: "From drops of coffee with absinthe, to dribbles of
soupe à l'oignon, it's relics of a lost age shimmering with glamour,
Cartier-bejeweled maharajahs and Josephine, center stage, dancing a
wild Charleston under flying confetti." Whatever, he's pricing these
eats at $19.26.
NY POST/LIZ SMITH...
--ENTERTAINMENT Weekly called it "Tex Mess," and they weren't
discussing enchiladas. The reference is to the long-awaited "Dallas"
feature movie. Stars, including Jennifer Lopez, Luke Wilson and Shirley
MacLaine, have all been in and then out. The one still attached is John
Travolta, who is determined to reinvent J.R. Ewing for the 21st
century. John is winding up his role as the super mom Edna Turnblad in
the film version of "Hairspray." Then, possibly if there is still a
budget, New Regency will try to hit a gusher. But despite Travolta's
enthusiasm for this project, I still say "Don't dress!" for the
premiere.
NY DAILY NEWS/RUSH AND MOLLOY....
--Wyclef Jean went ape when he saw Cuba Gooding Jr. outside PM on
Halloween. Tricked out in a gorilla suit, the furry Fugee tried to
bound over the club's barricade to greet the Oscar winner and ended up
splayed on the pavement like King Kong after he fell from the Empire
State Building. Gooding had to snicker at the man who's so smooth on
that "Hips Don't Lie" video. "Shakira! Shakira!" Cuba teased. P.S. The
actor's missus, Sara, should be happy to hear Gooding shot down one
flirty lady who seemed to want to get him horizontal. "Hey, baby," he
told her, "I've got a wife and two kids!"
--What was the scariest thing about Halloween? If you're "Entourage's"
Kevin Connolly, it was recent ex Nicky Hilton table-dancing at Heidi
Klum's party at Privilege in L.A. Hilton arrived with sister Paris,
plus boy pal Brandon Davis and music producer Scott Storch. Our spy
says Connolly paced alongside the table trying to get Nicky's
attention. But our source says the heiress didn't give Connolly the
time of day ...
--Looks like Petra Nemcova is over the musical stylings of James Blunt.
We mentioned last Thursday that the model was spotted with hip-hopper
Russell Simmons at a CD party for John Legend - and Simmons assured us
they're "just friends." Maybe so, but these friends danced the night
away at the JoonBug Masquerade Ball Tuesday and made an early exit from
Capitale hand in hand, says our spy.
--Angelina Jolie will continue her efforts to save the Cambodian forest
that used to be a Khmer Rouge stronghold from gem mining and timber
cutting, but not with the U.S. conservation group WildAid. With the
advice of Endeavor Group's high-powered Trevor Neilson, who also
advises activist celebrities such as Bono, she has set up her own
foundation, the Maddox Jolie Project, named after her Cambodian
adoptive son. Jolie is credited with convincing the government there to
stop its plans to build a dam.
--When Time magazine sent correspondent Michael Weisskopf to Iraq in
2003, he lost his right hand flinging a live grenade from his open
truck, but saved everyone onboard. The journalist was honored Wednesday
by the Stavros S. Niarchos Foundation at a lunch co-hosted by the
Landmine Survivors Network. "Doonesbury" cartoonist Garry Trudeau also
took home a prize for his sensitive portrayal of strip character B.D.'s
loss of a leg in combat. Trudeau visited amputees in the Walter Reed
Army Medical Center to find background for his story - and was
particularly moved by one military police officer's tale of how members
in her unit retrieved her wedding ring after her hand was blown off by
a rocket. "Storytellers are considered indispensable precisely because
life is such a bitch," said Trudeau, "not in spite of that."
--We hear shops selling Muhammad Ali GOAT snacks soon may be popping up
like Starbucks. The boxing great and his brand guru, Peter Arnell, are
looking for empty New York storefronts to hawk the healthy edibles. The
animal acronym stands for "Greatest Of All Time."
--Singer-actress-model wanna-be Samantha Cole was so disappointed there
weren't any paparazzi around while she partied at Tao on Halloween, she
teetered across the street in her "sexy" Devil costume to be snapped by
photogs awaiting Rachel Weisz's arrival at the Gotham magazine party at
The Grand.
--Fran Drescher may have set a speed record for tearing through the
ghoulish corridors of Blood Manor on Halloween. Also braving the W.
27th St. attraction were Missy Elliott, the "Jersey Boys" cast and Kyra
Sedgwick (plus children).
BY ADAM LISBERG/NY DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
--Maury Povich has a message for the worker on his show who claimed he
had an affair: Shut up! The talk show host is seeking a gag order
against staffer Bianca Nardi, who claims she was sexually harassed on
the "Maury" set. "It's an absolute irony coming from defendants that
make their living airing other people's troubles in a public forum,"
Nardi's lawyer, Bruce Baron, told the Daily News. "If they are innocent
of the allegations, what is the concern?" Nardi claimed in April that
Povich's show was rife with porn, booze and sexual pressure behind the
scenes - and that Povich was cheating on TV journalist wife Connie
Chung with producer Donna Ingber. The $100 million suit was shunted
into arbitration and may not be heard until next year. But Povich's
lawyer said this week that she wants a confidentiality order. "Claimant
and her attorneys have repeatedly demonstrated their desire to try
their case in the media," wrote Povich attorney Kathleen McKenna,
citing Baron's public statements and his discussion of the case on his
Web site. She didn't return a call from The News. Povich and Chung have
refused to discuss the case; Ingber's husband has denied an affair.
NY DAILY NEWS/RICHARD HUFF....
--Jose Canseco, Michael Irvin, Wade Boggs and Darryl Strawberry are
among the ex-sports stars who will be in Spike TV's second season of
"Pros vs. Joes," a series that pits former top jocks against wanna-bes
in an athletic competition. It will be taped in Carson, Calif., and
launch in January.
--NBCsports.com will carry the ING New York City Marathon live this
weekend, including a feature that will allow users to type in the bib
number of any runner and see them at different spots in the race. The
event can be viewed live or on demand later for $4.99.
By Cindy Clark, USA TODAY
--Disney's Hannah Montana soundtrack tops the Billboard album chart
with 281,000 copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Hannah staved
off new albums from My Chemical Romance (The Black Parade, 240,000) and
John Legend (Once Again, 231,000), which had to settle for debuts at
Nos. 2 and 3. The rest of the top 10 features Justin Timberlake,
Evanescence, Hinder, Diddy (last week's No. 1), Tony Bennett,
Nickelback and The Killers.
--"Crackberry" is the winner of the 2006 Word-of-the-Year contest by
the Webster's New World College Dictionary staff. Crackberry is a pun
on the popular Blackberry PDA for its addictive
constant-flow-of-communication quality. Among other contenders:
neuroeconomics (an emerging field studying emotions activated in
financial decisions) and carbon footprint (the effect one's daily
activities, such as washing clothes or driving to work, have on the
environment).
--Janet Jackson, Fergie and The Killers will perform at the 2006
Billboard Music awards Dec. 4. The awards air from Las Vegas at 8 p.m.
ET/PT on Fox. Celine Dion, Rihanna, Chris Brown and American Idols
Katharine McPhee and Chris Daughtry also are scheduled to appear.
--NBC has canceled drama Kidnapped, abandoning plans to reveal the
mystery over the abduction of a teenage boy by moving the show to
Saturdays. Last week's episode on that night averaged only 3.7 million
viewers. The 9 ET/PT time slot will be filled by Law& Order: Criminal
Intent reruns. Eight remaining episodes will be available for free on
nbc.com.
--Actress Monique Coleman, best known for hit Disney Channel movie High
School Musical, was eliminated Wednesday from ABC's Dancing With the
Stars. Advancing to the semifinals of the ABC reality show competition:
NFL legend Emmitt Smith, actor Joey Lawrence and actor Mario Lopez.
"Everyone that's left is so incredible," said Coleman before her exit
dance. The final three perform Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
LAS VEGAS JOURNAL/NORM CLARKE...
--"007" star Pierce Brosnan, leaving some Bunnies shaken and stirred
during a visit to the Playboy Club and Moon nightclub at the Palms
Fantasy Tower on Saturday night. Also there: ZZ Top and actor Antonio
Sabato Jr.
--Jewel, enjoying a margarita and Mexican food at Border Grill
(Mandalay Bay).
--Mark Stoermer of The Killers and his girlfriend, Tristan Moyer,
hanging out at The Freakin' Frog near UNLV, instead of taking in the
band's Vegoose after-party at Studio 54 (MGM Grand).
--At Body English (Hard Rock Hotel): Jason Giambi, Barry Zito, Mo
Vaughn, Eric Byrnes, TV car racing personality Jamie Little, Indy car
phenom Dan Wheldon, former Playmate Brande Roderick and local actress
Cerina Vincent.
--Angie Harmon and Jason Seahorn, in the crowd at Celine Dion's show
(Caesars Palace).
--Fox News Channel's Shepard Smith, chowing down on stone crabs from
Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak and Stone Crab on the set after his show
Monday from the fountains in front of Caesars Palace. He and pals
partied at Tao (Venetian) over the weekend.
--NFL great Jerry Rice, at the bar in Eiffel Tower Restaurant (Paris).
L.A. DAILY NEWS/By Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith
--Tara Reid is tired of the way her image is presented to the public.
"I feel like I graduated a long time ago, but the media won't give me
my certificate," she complains. "It's like, OK - she's done four
movies this year. Leave her alone.' " Certainly a lot of attention has
been expended on Reid's hard-partying ways and her breasts (as in her
notorious wardrobe malfunction on the red carpet a couple years ago and
her recent disclosure about having had to have correction of a past
enhancement surgery). She acknowledges, "I've made a lot of mistakes,
but I've learned from them. I'm older, my focus is different, and I'm
stronger than I used to be." Reid's latest film is the horror feature
"Incubus" - teenagers, abandoned warehouse, CIA paranormal experiment
gone awry, you get the picture - which just became available for
downloading exclusively on AOL Red (beRED.com). "If this works, it will
be a really great new platform for filmmakers and open up a whole new
area for actors to work in," she notes. She has "If I Had Known I Was a
Genius," a comedy with Whoopi Goldberg and Sharon Stone, on the way.
She also has "Senior Skip Day" - "it's like a modern-day Ferris
Bueller' " - due in January, and she has completed "7-10 Split." The
latter comedy, which she describes as "kind of like Dodgeball' with
bowling," marks the first feature out of Tara's own production company.
"My brother (Tommy Reid) directed it. It's so exciting watching his
dream come true."
--Hot teen stars Aly & A.J. - 17- and 15-year-old sisters Alyson and
Amanda Michalka - just finished their first headlining concert tour.
They have a new "Acoustic Hearts of Winter" album out, and have a
handful of autumn concert dates ahead. But that doesn't mean they're
stopping to catch a breath. "We're going to start recording our next
album in January, so we're just writing up a storm," A.J. tells us,
adding that they were writing songs while aboard their tour bus. "We
had a great time. We're glad to be back home ... We're definitely still
best friends," says Aly. "Even closer than before the tour," adds A.J.
Next up, acting-wise, the girls tell us they expect to begin "The Jane
Prize," a modern take on "Pride and Prejudice" early in the New Year
for Sony. "It's a really funny script," says A.J., "with a
dysfunctional family and all the things they go through. It's very cool
and edgy and fun."
--Pro skateboarder Rob Dyrdek and his bodyguard, Christopher "Big
Black" Boykin, say they are bringing funny back with their reality show
"Rob & Big," premiering tonight on MTV. "There's a genuine realness
that allows us both to make each other laugh all day long," notes Rob,
who hired his 400-pound bodyguard in 2002 to help him deal with
security while trying to skateboard in public places. Adds "Big Black,"
"He just wanted to see what kind of reaction we could get out of
certain security (personnel), who seem to go overboard with their get
off the property' tactics. It got so hilarious that Rob asked me to
join the team." However, despite their antics, they still hope to get a
message across about skateboarding as well. "I'm really about the
future of the sport. I still feel like it's very misunderstood," claims
Rob. "Most people, when they think of pro skateboarding, they think
you're training for the X-Games, or you want to be Tony Hawk. The
reality of it is, the world's best skateboarders don't even go to
competitions. They're in the streets, but there is no legal place to
ride a skateboard. The superstars of skateboarding run from cops every
single weekend. That's why I set out to design the first urban plaza
for skateboarding and why I'm doing a film, which I hope educates the
mainstream on how our sport really is."
--A December production has been targeted for Eric McCormack's
"Imperfect Union" half-hour comedy pilot for TBS. The ex-"Will & Grace"
star is serving as executive producer of the show that has to do with a
factory owner's son and a shop steward's daughter who take over their
dads' respective posts when the old guys retire. As in McCormack's
"Lovespring International" Lifetime show, he's not in the cast - but
don't be surprised if the former Will graces an episode with a cameo or
guest star stint now and then.
--http://janetcharltonshollywood.com/....
--One Hollywood couple whose marriage DOESN'T seem to be in trouble is
that of Christina Aguilera and Jordan Bratman. Christina was the Corpse
Bride for Halloween and the Bratmans celebrate their one year
anniversary in November. We never hear stories about these two arguing
in nightclubs or enduring long separations. They ALWAYS seem to be
happy. Maybe the fact that at their wedding, Jordan proudly raised a
toast to his parents thanking them for his generous male endowment, has
something to do with it. His father took a bow and Christina smiled and
nodded in agreement.
--Just what the world needs - another celebrity endorsed fragrance.
This time it's not a movie star or an athlete - it's American Idol
judge Simon Cowell. SOMEBODY (was it Estee Lauder?) came up with the
bright idea that men everywhere will want to smell like Simon and use
his grooming products. Granted, men ARE impressed with his financial
success, but does that translate to wanting to emulate his skincare and
fragrance? We hear he's in the final stages of negotiating a deal with
a New York cosmetics giant, and of course the packaging will be black,
reflecting Cowell's manly monochromatic t shirt collection.
--As the competition heats up on Dancing with the Stars, it appears
that Mario Lopez and his dance partner Karina Smirnoff are closer than
ever. She happens to be a Latin dance champ -the ideal partner for
Mario. The pair have been rehearsing day after day and partying at
night. Mario has introduced New Jersey girl Karina to Hollywood
nightlife - clubs and parties - and she loves it. The glamorous
celebrity dance couple create a stir everywhere they go. There was even
a report that Mario and Karina were partying at a local hotel bar and
security later caught them in an embarrassingly passionate situation in
the trash room! it looks like Karina is hooked on those Lopez dimples,
just like many girls before her, but the prognosis for the romance is
not good. Flirty Mario has opted NOT to tour with the Dancing with the
Stars show , so Karina will soon be on her own. Like a setside romance,
this relationship will likely be over as soon as the show wraps.
ASSOCIATED PRESS...
--Christopher Reeve's children are carrying on their dad's crusade:
finding a cure for paralysis. Alexandra and Matthew Reeve both serve on
the board of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, which Reeve
established to fund research for therapies and a cure, People magazine
reports in its Nov. 13 issue. "Our dad's accident really did connect us
to this community: 4 million people in the U.S. who are suffering from
paralysis," Alexandra Reeve tells the magazine. "We understand how
important it is not only to find a cure but also to improve quality of
life." She and brother Matthew will join their stepbrother, Will Reeve,
14, at the foundation's annual gala on Nov. 6 in New York. Christopher
Reeve was paralyzed in 1995 in a horse-riding accident. He died in 2004
at age 52. His wife, Dana Reeve, died of lung cancer earlier this year.
Asked about how her stepbrother, Alexandra responds, "Wills doing well.
He loves school. He is playing hockey and football and keeping busy
with friends."
--Child actress-turned-international diplomat Shirley Temple Black
broke her wrist in a fall "a few weeks ago," her publicist said
Wednesday. Black, 78, is still wearing a cast on her right arm, said
Rick Ross. "She's fine," he said. "She's doing great." The accident
happened at Black's Northern California home, Ross said. Black, who
retired from acting when she was 21, was recognized in January by the
Screen Actors Guild with a lifetime achievement award.
--Marilyn Monroe's lace-trimmed pantaloons and the hat John Lennon wore
at the Beatles' last photo shoot are among more than 150 items of
entertainment memorabilia that will go up for sale later this month.
Lennon's black cowboy hat is expected to fetch between $15,200 to
$19,000, Bonhams auction house said Tuesday. Lennon wore it during an
August 1969 photo shoot that followed the Beatles' final recording
session. The cream pantaloons that Monroe wore in the 1954 Western
movie "River of No Return" are estimated to sell for between $3,800 to
$5,700 at the Nov. 22 sale. A handful of rare publicity posters for
2002's "Spider-Man" film will also be on the auction block. The
posters, printed before Sept. 11, 2001, and recalled after the terror
attacks, show the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center
reflected in Spider-Man's eyes. The auction will also include movie
posters from early 20th-century hits such as "All Quiet on the Western
Front" and concept sketches for the 1960s TV show "Thunderbirds." "We
are delighted to be selling such an important collection of TV
memorabilia," Stephanie Connell, of Bonhams' rock and roll and film
department, said Tuesday. "Rarely can one have an insight into the
concepts of such an iconic series." Derek Meddings, special effects
supervisor for "Thunderbirds," also worked on the "Captain Scarlet,"
"Batman" and "Superman" shows. The sale includes his original drawings
of the Batplane from the first of Tim Burton's "Batman" films and the
designs of the Cox Gun used in the 1977 James Bond movie, "The Spy Who
Loved Me."
--Prince fans, fire up that Little Red Corvette and head for Las Vegas:
the purple one will be performing there every weekend starting Nov. 10.
The diminutive rocker will play Friday- and Saturday-night shows at
3121, a nightclub inside the Rio hotel, according to a Wednesday news
release by P R Plus, a Vegas firm representing the club. Tickets for
the 21-and-over shows cost $125 and will be available beginning Nov. 2.
Prince will also host Wednesday-night concerts at the club by other
artists. The Grammy winner, who once changed his name to an
unpronounceable symbol, will perform at the club indefinitely, a P R
Plus representative said. Prince joins a growing contingent of
songsters who have settled in Vegas hotels as regularly featured acts,
including Celine Dion, Elton John, Barry Manilow and Toni Braxton.
--Before The O.C. and Laguna Beach, the younger generation satisfied
its taste for televised teen drama with Beverly Hills 90210 and Melrose
Place. Now both shows are arriving in DVD packages. Beverly Hills
90210: The Complete First Season packs 22 episodes into a six-disc set
that includes behind-the-scenes footage and commentary by series
creator Darren Star. Melrose Place: The Complete First Season is an
eight-disc set containing 32 episodes and featurettes on each of the
residents of trendy Melrose Place. The DVD collections will be released
Tuesday.