Actor who played Danno on 'Hawaii Five-0' dies (AP)

LOS ANGELES – Stage and screen actor James MacArthur, who played "Danno" in the original version of television's "Hawaii Five-0," died Thursday at age 72. MacArthur's agent, Richard Lewis, said the actor died in Florida of "natural causes," but no direct cause was specified.

In a career that spanned more than four decades, MacArthur was most recognized for his role as Detective Danny "Danno" Williams on "Hawaii Five-0," which aired from 1968 to 1980. Episodes often ended with detective Steve McGarrett, the lead character, uttering what became a pop culture catch phrase: "Book 'em, Danno."

Jack Lord, who starred as McGarrett, died in 1998.

MacArthur quit the role of McGarrett's sidekick a year before the program's final season.

"Quite frankly, I grew bored," he explained on his website. "The stories became more bland and predictable and presented less and less challenge to me as an actor."

"Hawaii Five-O," one of the longest running crime shows in TV history with 278 episodes, was shot on location in the Hawaiian islands. It was the first Hawaii-based national TV series.

The drama has been remade by CBS with a new cast this season.

MacArthur, born Dec. 8, 1937, seemed destined to become an actor. He was the adopted son of playwright Charles MacArthur and Helen Hayes, an award-winning actress often referred to as "First Lady of the American Theatre." Silent film star Lillian Gish was his godmother.

"They did teach me a lot about the theatre just through my life with them," he said of his parents in a 1957 interview in Teen Life magazine. "They never pushed me in any direction. Any major decision has always been my own to make."

James MacArthur made his stage debut at age 8 in a summer stock production of "The Corn is Green."

His breakout role was in the 1957 "Climax!" television series production of "The Young Stranger," in which he starred as the 17-year-old son of a movie executive who has a run-in with the law.

He entered Harvard that same year, but dropped out in his sophomore year to pursue an acting career.

As a young actor, MacArthur appeared in the Walt Disney movies "Kidnapped," "Third Man on the Mountain," "Swiss Family Robinson" and "The Light in the Forest."

He also had roles in "The Interns, "Spencer's Mountain," "Battle of the Bulge" and "Hang 'Em High," as well as many guest roles on TV series such as "Gunsmoke."

He performed in many stage plays, including the lead role of Hildy Johnson in a 1981 production of "The Front Page," which was co-written by his father in the late 1920s, at the Stanford Community Theatre in Palo Alto, Calif.

His live acting career won him the 1961 Theatre World Award for best new actor for his performance in "Invitation to a March."

MacArthur said that one of his favorite "Hawaii Five-O" episodes was a 1975 segment called "Retire in Sunny Hawaii Forever" because it marked one of the rare times that he worked on screen with his mother. Hayes played Danno's Aunt Clara, who visits Hawaii and helps the detectives solve a murder.

Asked by the Hawaii Star Bulletin newspaper in 2003 about his fondest memories about working on "Hawaii Five-O," MacArthur replied: "Living in Hawaii."

(This version CORRECTS spelling of McGarrett.)

View the original article here

Israeli discoverer of Herod's Tomb dies after accident (AFP)

JERUSALEM (AFP) – The Israeli archaeologist who unearthed the tomb of the biblical king Herod died from injuries sustained during a fall at the site of the dig, the Israeli antiquities authority said.

Ehud Netzer, 76, fell on Monday when a railing he was leaning on gave way at the Herodium archaeological site in the occupied West Bank where the grave of the first century BC king was found.

He was taken to hospital where he succumbed to his injuries late on Thursday.

The Hebrew University professor discovered the tomb in 2007 after a three-decade search and has since excavated an elaborate mausoleum and three shattered sarcophagi believed to be those of Herod and two of his wives.

Herod is well-known among Israelis and Jews worldwide as the builder of the Second Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, of which only the outer wall, Judaism's most important pilgrimage site, remains.

The Gospel of Matthew describes how the Roman-era king ordered the murder of all boys in the Bethlehem area under the age of two in an attempt to prevent the infant Jesus from usurping his position as king of the Jews.

Most historians doubt the veracity of the story but believe that Herod was responsible for other acts of brutality, including the killing of at least one of his 10 wives and two of his children.

View the original article here

Anna Nicole's boyfriend found guilty of conspiracy (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – The boyfriend of Anna Nicole Smith, Howard K. Stern, was found guilty of two conspiracy counts relating to using a false name to secure prescription drugs for the late Playboy model.

Stern, 41, who was Smith's longtime lawyer and boyfriend, was acquitted on seven counts of obtaining and providing drugs to an addict but convicted of two conspiracy counts of aiding and abetting.

Smith died at a Florida hotel room in February 2007 after an overdose. She was 39.

"What the jury did find me guilty of were two conspiracy counts limited exclusively to my name being used on medication for Anna," Stern said after the verdict.

"Now, this was done to protect Anna Nicole's privacy and it was nothing more than that."

Psychiatrist Khristine Eroshevich, 62, was convicted of four counts of fraudulently obtaining medication when prescribing drugs to the starlet under false names.

Stern and Eroshevich could face up to three years in prison, according to prosecutors.

Another physician in the case, 42-year-old Sandeep Kapoor, was cleared of all charges. None of the defendants were charged with causing the ex-model's death.

"I think the jury did their best. I'm just happy this is over," said Eroshevich.

Her lawyer, Bradley Brunon, said "everything Kris did was done with Anna's best interests at heart."

The verdict came after a months-long trial and 13 days of deliberations. Sentencing is scheduled for January 6.

During the trial, prosecutors said the trio gave the immensely famous Smith the powerful opiates and sedatives she craved despite the lack of a legitimate medical need.

A 2007 autopsy found that Smith's death -- a worldwide media sensation at the time -- was due to a lethal cocktail of anti-anxiety medication, methadone, antibiotics and other prescription drugs.

It came just months after her son, 20-year-old Daniel, died from an overdose in the Bahamas in September 2006.

Born Vickie Lynn Marshall, Smith got married in 1994 to Texas billionaire oil tycoon Howard Marshall, who she had met earlier while working at a strip club. She was 26 at the time and he was 89.

Marshall died in 1995 after a 14-month marriage. But his adult son E. Pierce Marshall contested Smith's claim to the billionaire's inheritance in a case that reached the US Supreme Court.

The larger-than-life platinum blonde was regarded as one of the world's most desirable women in the 1990s when she replaced supermodel Claudia Schiffer as Guess Jeans model. She was also Playboy magazine's Playmate of the Year in 1993.

However, Smith fell out of the spotlight over the next decade, often appearing to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol in public.

Her daughter, Danielynn, is being raised by the child's father, Larry Birkhead.

View the original article here

Nugent's SD pheasant hunt may be afoul of game law (AP)

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Rocker and celebrity hunter Ted Nugent may have run afoul of South Dakota game laws by shooting pheasants after some of his hunting privileges were revoked in California.

Nugent's loss of his California deer hunting license through June 2012 allows 34 other states to revoke the same privilege under the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, though each state can interpret and enforce the agreement differently.

South Dakota honors other states' license revocations through both the compact and a state law that doesn't differentiate between large game such as deer and small game such as pheasant, said Andy Alban, law enforcement administrator for the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Department.

Alban wouldn't confirm or deny whether the agency was investigating Nugent, but said: "In South Dakota, if a person had any hunting privileges revoked elsewhere, all of their hunting privileges would be revoked here."

Nugent, famed for his 1977 hit "Cat Scratch Fever," was hunting pheasants with his black Labrador retriever, Gonzo, at Dakota Hills Shooting Preserve on Oct. 16 in the southwest South Dakota town of Oral, according to Nugent's Twitter posts and published reports.

A spokeswoman for the 61-year-old singer-guitarist said he was afield Thursday and she was trying to reach him for a statement.

California revoked Nugent's deer hunting license on Aug. 13 after he pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of deer-baiting and not having a properly signed tag, said Dana Michaels, spokeswoman for the California Department of Fish and Game.

The California deer-baiting charge was filed earlier this year after game wardens said they saw Nugent kill an immature buck on an episode of his Outdoor Channel television show "Spirit of the Wild."

Investigators found that the deer had been eating bait called "C'mere Deer." Baiting wildlife is legal in some states but illegal in California. Nugent originally faced 11 charges, but his attorney entered the two no-contest pleas as part of a deal with Yuba County prosecutors.

"I should have been better informed, more aware and I take full responsibility," Nugent said in a statement after the plea. "The honorable hunting lifestyle is my deepest passion."

The Outdoor Channel announced Monday that it had entered into an exclusive multiyear endorsement agreement with Nugent that is set to start in January.

The Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact allows 35 states, including South Dakota and California, to share information about fishing, hunting and trapping violations. It obligates members to report wildlife violation convictions to member states, giving them the capability to honor each other's suspensions.

In recent Twitter posts, Nugent also talked about hunting in Wisconsin and Michigan.

Wisconsin was notified of California's revocation, and he would not be allowed to purchase a deer license there through June 2012, although he is licensed to shoot small game and waterfowl, said Laurel Steffes, a Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman.

"We would honor it and not sell him the deer license," she said, noting that he would not need a license to archery hunt on private licensed deer farms in Wisconsin.

Nugent can still legally hunt in Michigan, where he has bought several types of licenses for 2010, state game officials said.

Although a compact member, Michigan doesn't have a parallel charge to the one that got Nugent in trouble in California, said Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The violation in California would not have resulted in a mandatory license suspension if it had happened in Michigan.

Nugent — known as the "Motor City Madman" — lived in Michigan most of his life before moving to Texas in 2003.

___

Associated Press writer Tim Martin in Lansing, Mich., contributed to this report.

View the original article here

Protests mar opening of Rome film festival (Reuters)

ROME (Reuters) – Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes face off as the two rival beauties in "Last Night," the story of a married couple grappling with the temptations of infidelity that kicked off the Rome film festival on Thursday.

The opening ceremony was marred by a protest over the Italian government's drastic cuts to funds for cultural events, with some 800 people storming the red carpet.

Knightley and Mendes did not take to the red carpet and were whisked into the theater alongside the rest of the film's cast, surrounded by bodyguards.

In the film, Knightley leaves behind her trademark costume roles to play Joanna, a young woman living in a posh Manhattan loft who becomes jealous when she meets her husband's sexy new colleague, played by Mendes.

When he and Mendes go on a business trip together, Joanna bumps into her French former lover -- and finds herself confronted with the same dilemmas about cheating as her husband.

The film develops into the parallel tales of how the couple spent their tempting evenings in separate cities, using frequent close-ups to explore the emotional side of the story.

Knightley described "Last Night," Iranian-American screenwriter Massy Tadjedin's directorial debut, as a thought-provoking film that leaves it to the audience to decide just exactly what constitutes cheating.

"I think everyone can recognize the scenarios that happen within this piece, I think that most people have at least been one person, if not all four, at some point in their life," Knightley told reporters after a press screening.

"In most films there are goodies and baddies, what I liked about this script is that it did not take a standpoint, that there is no conclusion," she said.

The film, which also casts "Avatar" star Sam Worthington and French actor Guillaume Canet, opened the fifth edition of the Rome film festival, which runs until November 5.

Also screening on Thursday was "Dog Sweat," a film by Iranian director Hossein Keshavarz following the lives of six young people rebelling against the rigidity of conservative Islamic society in present day Iran.

The film was shot clandestinely throughout Tehran before the disputed presidential election of 2009.

(Additional reporting by Hanna Rantala and Cristiano Corvino; editing by Myra MacDonald)

View the original article here

Arquette joins fight to preserve Calif climate law (AP)

By ROBIN HINDERY, Associated Press Writer Robin Hindery, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 19, 8:08 pm ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Actor David Arquette is lending his quirky star power to the campaign against a November ballot measure that would suspend California's greenhouse gas emissions law.

Wearing an American flag-print karate uniform, Arquette appeared in Sacramento on Tuesday to promote a series of online videos opposing Proposition 23.

The spots will run on YouTube and other websites and are aimed at young voters who might not be won over by traditional campaign advertising, said Jared Ficker, head of the Green Technology Leadership Group, the Sacramento-based political action committee producing the films.

In a one-minute video titled "Don't Mess With California," Arquette portrays California and proceeds to knock out a group of thugs representing Texas oil interests.

Oil companies have donated the bulk of the money to support Proposition 23. It would indefinitely suspend a 2006 California law that seeks to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide to 1990 levels over the next decade.

Opponents of the law, set to take effect in 2012, say it will eliminate jobs and hurt small businesses. Supporters call it a long-term investment in environmental protection and green technology.

Arquette is part of a well-known Hollywood family and is best known for his recurring role in the "Scream" films. This is the first time he's been actively involved in a political campaign, he said.

"It seemed like a great way to get the message across in a very intriguing way that young voters could tune into, start talking about, send to their friends," the 39-year-old said. "It's all about getting people to the polls to vote for the future."

Arquette's personal life made headlines last week when he and his wife of 11 years, actress Courteney Cox, announced what they are calling a trial separation. The next day, the actor called in to the "Howard Stern Show" and revealed intimate details about the couple's sex life. He has since apologized.

Arquette said he was aware those revelations could serve as a distraction from his efforts on the political front.

"When I was told to come up here, that was a thought of mine," he said Tuesday. "But my belief is that the most important aspect of celebrity is you can raise awareness, lend your name and support to certain things and get people talking. And that's why I'm here."

View the original article here

Kim Novak diagnosed with breast cancer, says manager (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Hollywood veteran actress Kim Novak has been diagnosed with breast cancer, but doctors says her prospects for recovery are good, her manager was quoted as saying.

The 77-year-old actress, who starred in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 classic "Vertigo" with Jimmy Stewart, maintains her health by working out three times a week and horse-riding, Sue Cameron said.

The cancer "was caught early by a routine yearly mammogram and (she) is undergoing treatment," Cameron told the Hollywood Reporter, the industry daily, cited on its online edition on Tuesday.

"All her doctors say she is in fantastic physical shape and should recover very well."

Novak, who lives with her husband raising llamas in Oregon, made a rare appearance in Hollywood in July to launch a DVD collection of her work, the Los Angeles Times reported.

View the original article here

Conan O'Brien names bandleader for new TBS show (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) – The house band on Conan O'Brien's new TBS show will be called The Basic Cable Band, and will be led by Jimmy Vivino, the network said Tuesday.

The guitarist replaces Max Weinberg, who led the band during O'Brien's NBC stints at "Late Night" and "The Tonight Show." Vivino, also a veteran of both shows, often filled in for Weinberg when the drummer toured with Bruce Springsteen.

O'Brien's new show, "Conan," debuts November 8.

View the original article here

Adrien Brody sues over release of thriller film (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – Tue Oct 19, 7:48 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Adrien Brody has sued the makers of a thriller film for more than $2 million, claiming he hasn't been fully paid for the project and the movie is being released in the United States without his permission.

The Academy Award-winning actor sued the makers of "Giallo" in federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, but an emergency petition to stop the film's DVD release was denied.

Sales of the thriller set in Turin, Italy, began Tuesday, although an attorney for the filmmakers said it has been available for rent since early September. "Giallo" was shot in 2008.

A judge ruled Brody can still seek an injunction against the film's sale, but must first notify the filmmakers.

Brody claims he is still owed $640,000 for starring in the film and that its release is likely to cost him at least $2 million in damages.

In a lawsuit and a sworn declaration, the actor said the film's producers lied to him about financing and vastly overstated how much the film's Italian distribution rights were worth.

The filings said Brody's contract allows him to withhold his likeness from the film until he is paid, but the filmmakers have ignored his demands.

"We respectfully dispute his allegations," said A. Raymond Hamrick III, an attorney for defendants Hannibal Pictures and U.K.-based Giallo Productions Ltd.

Hamrick said the filmmakers have been trying to work out a deal with Brody for several months, but the allegations in his lawsuit are not consistent with his contract.

Martin Barab, who is also representing the film companies, said Brody had been paid nearly $1 million for his role.

"Hannibal and Giallo have acted with the utmost integrity," Hamrick said.

The lawsuit was first reported by The Hollywood Reporter.

Brody, 37, won an Oscar in 2003 for his role in "The Pianist."

View the original article here

Bon Jovi to be honoured at MTV Europe awards (AFP)

MADRID (AFP) – US rockers Bon Jovi will receive a Global Icon prize at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Madrid next month, organisers said Tuesday.

The quartet, who have been performing for over two decades and sold over 125 million albums worldwide, will also perform at the annual event which will be held this year in the Spanish capital on November 7, they said in a statement.

"There?s no question that Bon Jovi has achieved iconic status across the globe as one of the world?s best known, best loved and most influential rock bands," said Bruce Gillmer, executive vice president of music and talent at MTV Networks International.

"We?re thrilled to be able to recognise and honour Bon Jovi, with the first-ever MTV European Music Awards Global Icon award."

US singers Lady Gaga and Katy Perry top the nominations, with five nods apiece. The two will go head to head in four categories -- best pop act, best female act, best song and best video.

Perry and US rock band Linkin Park, who are nominated for best rock act and best live act, will perform at the ceremony, as will Kings of Leon, Kid Rock, Kesha and Shakira.

"Desperate Housewives" star Eva Longoria will host the awards, which have been held each year in a different European city since 1994.

Past host cities include Copenhagen in 2006, Liverpool in 2008, Lisbon in 2005, Rome in 2004, Paris in 1996 and Barcelona in 2002.

View the original article here

AP source: Mel Gibson gets cameo in 'Hangover 2' (AP)

NEW YORK – Mel Gibson will make a cameo in "The Hangover 2" as a tattoo artist.

Gibson's role, which was first reported by the New York Post, was confirmed Tuesday by a person close to the production, who requested anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment publicly on the matter. The film, a sequel to the 2009 hit comedy "The Hangover," is beginning production, with a release scheduled for May 2011.

Warner Bros., which is distributing the film, declined to comment.

Gibson might be hoping some comedy improves his tarnished reputation: a memorable appearance in the first "Hangover" film helped rehabilitate Mike Tyson's image.

Authorities are investigating claims by Gibson's ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva that the 54-year-old actor-director physically abused her. Audio purportedly of Gibson making a series of racist and misogynistic rants was leaked earlier this year.

Before the audio leak, Gibson starred in the film "The Beaver." Though shooting on the film was completed in 2009, no release date has been announced by distributor Summit Entertainment.

"The Hangover 2" follows the characters of the first film on a trip to Southeast Asia for a wedding. The first "Hangover" grossed $462 million worldwide at the box office.

View the original article here

Kanye West says he had considered suicide (AP)

By RYAN PEARSON, Associated Press Writer Ryan Pearson, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 19, 9:59 am ET

LOS ANGELES – Kanye West told an audience at a screening of his film, "Runaway," that he thought about killing himself, but now feels a responsibility to make a meaningful contribution to pop culture and art.

Describing himself as a pop icon and "soldier for culture," West told the crowd "there were times that I contemplated suicide." However, he said, "I will not give up on life again."

"There's so many people that will never get the chance to have their voice heard" as loudly as his, West said Monday. "I do it for them."

West, who didn't say when he had considered suicide, is credited as director of the abstract 35-minute film, which features portions of nine new West songs, boldly colorful visuals and off-kilter camera angles. The mostly dialogue-free piece, set to premiere this weekend on MTV, VH1 and BET, will accompany West's upcoming album, "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy," which will be released Nov. 22.

After a prelude featuring narration from rapper Nicki Minaj, West's character, Griffin, is seen driving a black MTX Tatra supercar down a country road. Lying next to a hole in the pavement is a phoenix fallen to Earth, played by model Selita Ebanks in pink, gray and brown feathers.

He takes her home and offers this advice: "First rule in this world, baby: Don't pay attention to anything you see on the news."

The phoenix sits on a lawn with a deer, rabbit and sheep, then joins West at a private parade featuring fireworks, a marching band and a float depicting Michael Jackson.

Playing over those visuals are West's next single, "All of the Lights," which he said features Elton John on piano and an all-star chorus including Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Fergie and John Legend.

Ballerinas in black tutus perform in a scene featuring his current single, "Runaway." When the tune ended, there was applause from both the on-screen and live audience. In attendance were Morgan Spurlock, Ryan Phillippe, Pete Wentz and others in the entertainment industry.

The 33-year-old West told them that after a "long, hard year," he'd found his "creative sweet spot" by thinking like "a 5-year-old at all times." Besides his mother Donda West's death in 2007, West said he'd also lost three other parental figures in the last three years.

"Everything has been taken away from me," he said. "I'm so not ... scared. I so don't care."

After the Taylor Swift incident last year, which he called "a moment of sincerity," West took a six-month break. (At the MTV Video Music Awards, Swift's acceptance speech for best female video for "You Belong with Me" was disrupted by West, who took the microphone to say Beyonce should have won instead for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It).")

West said he moved to Rome and "was interning at Fendi" before finding the inspiration to get back to music.

He has hinted at the subject of suicide in his recent song "Power," which includes the repeated lines: "Now this would be a beautiful death - I'm jumping out the window, I'm letting everything go."

That song's remix is among the 10 tunes that West has released for free in recent weeks through his website, a buzz-building initiative he dubbed "G.O.O.D. Fridays" for his label imprint, Getting Out Our Dreams Music.

The producer-turned-rapper said that after "Fantasy" - recorded in Hawaii with the likes of Q-Tip, DJ Premier, RZA and Pete Rock - he will release an album of songs with Jay-Z and another with Lupe Fiasco and Pharrell Williams under the name Child Rebel Soldiers.

___

Viacom Inc. owns MTV.

___

Online:

http://www.kanyewest.com

View the original article here

Prince Harry at center of British TV kidnap drama (Reuters)

LONDON (Hollywood Reporter) – The head of Britain's armed forces has written to Channel 4 pleading with the broadcaster not to air a drama fictionalizing the capture of Prince Harry in Afghanistan.

In "The Taking of Prince Harry," due to air October 21, the third-in-line to the throne is seen being held captive at gunpoint and forced to take part in Taliban propaganda.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup has written to Channel 4 chairman Sir Terry Burns warning that the broadcast would be distressing for the families of armed personnel serving in the region and could potentially impact morale.

Prince Harry served in Afghanistan for 10 weeks in 2008 under a media blackout that was subsequently broken, provoking a debate about whether his presence put soldiers serving alongside him in the field under greater threat.

Channel 4 said it replied to Stirrup's letter, and insisted that it was a legitimate subject to explore.

"The film is rooted in expert testimony and is a serious journalistic examination of a current issue. It treats the subject matter sensitively," the broadcaster said.

View the original article here

Anna Nicole Smith jury ends Day 6 of deliberations (AP)

LOS ANGELES – After six days of deliberations, the jury in the Anna Nicole Smith drug conspiracy case went home Tuesday without sending word if they are close to returning verdicts in the complex trial.

The panel is working to reach 21 separate decisions in the case of Smith's lawyer-boyfriend, Howard K. Stern, and Doctors Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich. While the criminal complaint contains 11 charges, each defendant is charged with some but not all of the counts. There are multiple charges against each defendant, and if any one of them is found guilty of a conspiracy count, the jury must answer a list of questions saying what it believes they conspired to do.

Jurors are asked, for instance, to answer true or not true to whether the defendants "conspired to unlawfully prescribe, administer or dispense a controlled substance to an addict."

In addition, they must decide individual charges involving specific drugs and allegations of the use of false names to give Smith medications.

Legal experts say it's not surprising the six women and six men are taking a long time to make their decisions.

"There are multiple defendants, a complicated, lengthy verdict form, complex jury instructions," said attorney Dana Cole, who is not involved in the Smith case. "And if you don't have unanimity on the jury, that could make it all the longer."

He said it is not unusual to have multi-day deliberations in long criminal cases. Testimony and arguments lasted nine weeks.

Defense attorney Thomas Mesereau Jr., who also has no role in the Smith case, said the jury is probably "very conscientious."

"You have a very serious case where people could go to jail and could lose their licenses," Mesereau said. "The jury knows that. They're probably taking their job very seriously."

The outcome also is expected to reverberate among doctors and pain management patients whose need for drugs is at the heart of California laws under which the defendants are charged.

At the end of Tuesday's session, the jury had been talking for 30 hours.

Prosecutors have accused the three defendants of feeding the former Playboy model's addiction to prescription drugs by excessively providing her with sedatives and opiates. The defense said the three were trying to bring Smith relief from constant pain. The defendants are not charged in her 2007 overdose death.

The jury was to continue deliberating Wednesday.

View the original article here

Singer Sara Bareilles to open for Obama in Vegas (AP)

LAS VEGAS – Grammy nominee Sara Bareilles, singer of the pop hit "Love Song," will open for President Barack Obama at a Las Vegas rally designed to rouse Democratic voters before the midterm elections.

Bareilles performs Friday at a Las Vegas middle school, where Obama will host his latest "Moving America Forward" rally.

Nevada is prime battleground for Democrats, who face losing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid if Republican Sharron Angle's tea party bid is successful. Republicans have painted Reid as the face of Obama's sweeping social and economic policies, including the federal health care law and the $787 billion stimulus.

Bareilles is a White House favorite. She performed before world leaders at the G-20 summit in 2009 and during the First Family's 2010 Easter Egg Roll.

View the original article here

Laryngitis sidelines Marc Anthony in Puerto Rico (AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Marc Anthony has been sidelined in Puerto Rico by a case of laryngitis.

Anthony was forced to cancel a Sunday night show because of a severe sore throat. Spokeswoman Blanca Lasalle says a doctor ordered him to reset his voice for 48 hours.

He's scheduled to give a rain check performance Tuesday at the Puerto Rico Coliseum.

The New York-born salsa singer performed for a packed house Saturday night at the same venue. His wife, actress Jennifer Lopez, joined him on stage for the final number of the night, a duet of "Preciosa."

View the original article here

Documentarian Marshall Flaum dies at 85 (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Marshall Flaum, a visionary documentarian and five-time Emmy-winning producer-director-writer, died October 1 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications following hip surgery. He was 85.
During a 55-year career, Flaum's work included collaborations with Jacques Cousteau, Jane Goodall, David Wolper, Jack Haley Jr. and Hanna-Barbera, with subjects ranging from Lyndon Johnson and Frank Lloyd Wright to James Cagney, Humphrey Bogart and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.
In the first of his two Oscar-nominated docs, "The Yanks Are Coming" (1963), Flaum created what he called "the entertainment documentary." He became one of the first in his field to integrate popular music of the time with stock footage of World War I.
"Let My People Go: The Story of Israel" (1965), for which he received his second Academy Award nomination and a Peabody Award, examined the plight of the Jews.
After serving in the Army in World War II and studying acting at the University of Iowa, Flaum headed to Broadway and appeared with Basil Rathbone in "Julius Caesar" and with Olivia de Havilland in "Romeo and Juliet" in the early 1950s while studying acting with Lee Strasberg.
In 1957, he began a six-year stint at CBS as a writer, story editor and associate producer
If you want to read the rest of the article please visit this website
Click Here

Wynton Marsalis in Cuba to "bring people together" (Reuters)

HAVANA (Reuters) – U.S. jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra will play concerts in Cuba this week with what he said on Monday was a simple goal -- to bring people together through music.
His is the latest in a growing series of cultural exchanges between the United States and Cuba as the two countries grope for common ground after five decades of hostility.
The New York-based jazz orchestra, making its first trip to the communist-led island, is set to play concerts Tuesday through Saturday and give classes to young Cuban musicians.
Marsalis, 48, said he was honored to be in Cuba, with its own rich musical history rivaling that of his native New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz.
He told of how, when he was 12, his father, pianist Ellis Marsalis, brought him an album featuring Cuban jazz great Chucho Valdez and said, "Man, this is what cats are playing in Cuba."
"Then he put the record on and every time something would happen, he would go 'wooooooooooo.' He was always 'woooooooooo,'" Marsalis said.
He eschewed any overtly political overtones to the Cuba visit, saying the message of jazz was universal.
"Our tagline is 'uplift through swing.' We raise people's spirit all over the world through the art of swing," he said.
"In our music, swing means come together and stay together

if u want to read the rest of the article Click Here

Donald Trump thinks about 2012 presidential bid (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – When billionaire real estate mogul Donald Trump looks in the mirror, he is starting to see the possibility of a U.S. president staring back at him.

Trump did a round of TV interviews on Tuesday to talk about the possibility of making a presidential run in 2012.

"For the first time in my life, I'm actually thinking about it (running for president)," Trump, who declared himself a Republican, told Fox News Channel.

Asked by MSNBC when will he make his decision, Trump offered little.

"Well, I'll make it over a period of time," he offered.

The 64-year-old, thrice-wed tycoon is a larger-than-life figure in the United States whose company operates a string of resorts and casinos.

Trump, sometimes known simply as "The Donald," nurtures his celebrity status by hosting a popular reality show on NBC, "The Apprentice," as well as "The Fabulous World of Golf" on the Golf Channel.

Trump told MSNBC "I'd love not do it," meaning run for president, but that the country has so many problems, such as the erosion of the manufacturing base to foreign competitors.

"The United States doesn't really make things anymore," he said.

The Republican Party is looking at a dozen or so potential candidates for the right to challenge Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012, such as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Trump did not rule out the possibility of running under the banner of the Tea Party, the conservative movement that so far is seen as a sub-group of the Republican Party but which some experts think could emerge as a third party.

"I am a Republican but have great respect for what the Tea Party has done because they have brought to light what's going on. I mean, we have trillion-dollar deficits. ... The country is going bankrupt, let's face it," he said.

(Reporting by Steve Holland)

View the original article here

Defense gets turn in Anna Nicole Smith drug trial (AP)

By LINDA DEUTSCH, AP Special Correspondent Linda Deutsch, Ap Special Correspondent – Wed Oct 6, 3:18 am ET
LOS ANGELES – After prosecutors depicted Anna Nicole Smith as a victim of her friends, defense lawyers will their chance Wednesday to tell jurors that the former Playboy model was actually being rescued from constant pain by those who gave her prescription drugs.
Attorney Brad Brunon, who began his summation Tuesday with a defense of Dr. Khristine Eroshevich, will be followed by lawyers for Dr. Sandeep Kapoor and Howard K. Stern.
The two physicians and the late model's lawyer-boyfriend have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to provide excessive prescription drugs to an addict and other charges. They are not charged in Smith's 2007 accidental overdose death.
The drug conspiracy case, now in its ninth week, is expected to go to the jury by week's end after a rebuttal by prosecutors.
Deputy District Attorney Renee Rose concluded some eight hours of prosecution arguments presented over two days. She accused the defendants of feeding Smith's addiction to prescription drugs for their own self interest.
She said they tried to use the drugs to enhance their friendship with Smith
to view the whole article Click Here

NZ actor Sam Neill urges end to 'Hobbit' row (AFP)

WELLINGTON (AFP) – New Zealand actor Sam Neill on Wednesday appealed for "sweet reason" in a union dispute threatening to derail production of "The Hobbit" in his homeland, advising both sides to talk it over a cup of tea.
Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson has threatened to move his latest Tolkien saga from New Zealand over alleged "bully boy" tactics from unions, prompting claims from actors that workers on his sets are being short-changed.
Neill, whose credits include "Jurassic Park" and "The Piano", expressed dismay at the "anger and hysteria" the row has generated, saying everyone wanted to see "The Hobbit" made in New Zealand.
"The sooner we see calm and sweet reason return the better," he told the Otago Daily Times from Canada, where he is working on his latest film.
"This is not hard. Shaking hands and a cup of tea should do it."
Neill also advised politicians to stay out of the dispute surrounding the troubled two-part prequel to Jackson's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
"Unless they wish to calm the situation or indeed mediate, our politicians should ....
to view the whole article Click Here

De Niro turns to 'Stone,' 'Fockers' in busy season (AP)

TORONTO – Robert De Niro is retiring.

On screen, at least. In his latest film, the psychological drama "Stone," De Niro stars as a veteran parole officer ending his career in a showdown with a manipulative inmate (Edward Norton) and seduction by the prisoner's wife (Milla Jovovich).

At 67, De Niro himself has no retirement plans, though he does foresee an end to one facet of his film career. After two outings as a director, he figures he has time to oversee three more movies, at most.

"They take a lot out of me," he said in an interview at September's Toronto International Film Festival, where "Stone" debuted. "They're great to do, but just the way I did the two that I did (1993's 'A Bronx Tale' and 2006's 'The Good Shepherd') and the ones that I would do, I say to myself, maybe I would do five altogether. So three more."

That's three, tops, De Niro makes clear, talking about the time commitment of years required as a director, compared to just weeks for some roles as an actor.

Thirteen years passed between his first and second directing gigs as he maintained a busy acting schedule while developing potential filmmaking projects and trying to line up studio backing.

"It's an uphill battle. ... The creative part, that's difficult enough. But the fun stuff is all the other stuff that goes with it: people; the input from studios, and all the people who have to justify their jobs; and the money; and is this actor going to get more, or they're not right for it. All the other things. It's a lot you've got to field. A lot coming at you," he said.

That's also a lot of words coming from the typically close-lipped De Niro, so you know he means it.

Among possible future directing plans is another installment of "The Good Shepherd" saga, De Niro's epic tale of the roots of the CIA that starred Matt Damon.

But nothing's definite, unlike De Niro's on-screen career and his sideline as co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival, launched to help revitalize lower Manhattan after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Along with "Stone," De Niro co-starred in Robert Rodriguez's revenge romp "Machete" and reteams with Ben Stiller for this December's "Little Fockers," the third chapter in the "Meet the Parents" comedy franchise.

De Niro has two other movies in the can — the action tale "The Killer Elite" and the thriller "The Dark Fields" — and he's doing a quick three-week shoot in Italy for the anthology romance "Manual of Love 3."

He's also set to star as Vince Lombardi in a film biography about the Green Bay Packers coach and hopes to do a sequel to his 1988 crime comedy "Midnight Run."

Co-star Norton, who also worked with De Niro on the 2001 heist flick "The Score," said "Stone" offers audiences a chance to see De Niro stretch himself dramatically in a way he had not done for some time.

"He was investigating a very new kind of territory and character," Norton said. "A character who's dealing with his advancing age and his mortality and alcoholism and emptiness. I felt like he was rolling around deep inside a kind of vulnerability. ...

"What I admire in his work over the years is that he's been a very consistent investigator of America's underbelly, of its psychological dark sides, and of the forces in American life that we kind of try to deny."

Plum parts dry up for many actors in their 50s and 60s, but roles have come steadily for De Niro, a two-time Academy Award winner for "The Godfather Part II" and "Raging Bull."

Yet even De Niro — who has drawn criticism for taking roles many fans consider beneath him, such as the action duds "Righteous Kill," "Showtime" and "15 Minutes" — has had to adapt to the limits of age.

"When you get older, you get offered less things, obviously. You get offered father parts, and at one point, grandfather parts. Or you get offered parts that aren't the leads," De Niro said.

De Niro does not mind being the father and grandfather in "Little Fockers," where he gets to reprise his role opposite Stiller as the in-law from hell, which he originated in 2000's "Meet the Parents" and played again in 2004's "Meet the Fockers."

Though De Niro had done comedy before — he even sees comic elements to his bloody 1970s dramas "Mean Streets" and "Taxi Driver" — he found a second career as a funny man starting with 1999's mob romp "Analyze This," tweaking his tough guy persona to draw laughs.

"My mother would always tell me how funny I was. And I have friends, actor friends, who would say, `You should do a comedy,'" De Niro said.

Still, he was surprised to become a comedy star after decades as a dramatic heavyweight.

His comedies have been far bigger box-office draws than his serious films, and the work itself is a bit more laid-back.

"Comedy, there's less pressure in some ways. You can have more fun taking a chance, doing things that normally might be considered too much or over the top or too crazy or too eccentric," De Niro said. "But you can at least try them. All they can do is cut them out or say, `Tone it down.' You have to be careful. You don't want to go too far."

While De Niro has set a limit on how many more movies he's likely to direct, his acting plans are wide open.

"I don't know. At this point, look, as long as I'm around," De Niro said, rapping his knuckles on a tabletop, "knock wood."

View the original article here

Review: 'Stone' an implausible melodrama (AP)

Robert De Niro vs. Edward Norton should have been a thrilling clash of the titans: two actors who are famous for their transformational methods, intense performances and decades of challenging roles.

Turns out their showdowns are just about the only moments worth watching in "Stone." The rest is implausible melodrama.

The prison tale from director John Curran ("The Painted Veil," also starring Norton) and writer Angus MacLachlan ("Junebug") is heavy on stereotypes, cliches and repetitive religious symbolism. But when the two stars square off in long scenes that make you feel as if you're watching a play on film, it can be riveting.

Norton stars as Gerald Creeson, a Michigan prisoner nicknamed "Stone" who has served eight years for covering up his grandparents' murders with a fire. De Niro plays Jack Mabry, the parole officer tasked with deciding whether Creeson is ready to return to the outside world. He is stoic in his demeanor both at work and home, where his long-suffering wife (Frances Conroy) spends her days drinking, chain-smoking and feeding her emotional needs with biblical passages.

Get it? These guys are both made of STONE. Hence the title. Very tricky.

The two sit down in Jack's office for a series of interviews. Stone is initially defiant and evasive but eventually becomes more forthcoming about the details of his crime.

With his cornrows, squirrelly demeanor and a raspy, high-pitched delivery that sounds like he's doing a Casey Affleck impression, Norton is all sorts of mannered in his performance, but it's still kind of a hoot to watch.

Jack, meanwhile, steadily questions him and reveals nothing when Stone tries to get under his skin with questions of his own — but when he eventually snaps, it's vintage, volatile De Niro. Having made mostly comedies over the past decade or so, it's good to see De Niro back in a meatier dramatic role.

If it had just been about these two guys breaking each other down in this unforgiving setting, "Stone" would have been fine. Instead, it becomes a totally ridiculous love triangle, with Stone's wife, Lucetta (Milla Jovovich), seducing Jack to ensure that he writes a positive report resulting in Stone's release.

Sure, she's beautiful and alluring — and clearly up for anything, since she visits Stone in prison sans panties. We also know Jack is capable of darkness, based on the film's startling opening flashback sequence. But the idea that he'd be foolish enough to let them manipulate him — and then keep going back for more — is ludicrous.

The suggestion that Stone and Jack aren't so different from each other, even though one is a convicted prisoner and the other is passing judgment, is pretty obvious. Jack also happens to be just a few weeks away from retirement, which means — you guessed it — this is the tried-and-true, one-last-job premise. (De Niro and Norton previously co-starred in the one-last-heist thriller "The Score," from 2001.)

Curran tries to amp up the sense of dread with frequent doses of Christian AM talk radio, which serves as a sort of facile Greek chorus commenting on the characters' actions. He adds a buzzing din that's intended to suggest tension but is really just annoying.

Maybe that's appropriate, though. In the end, the whole film feels like sound and fury, signifying nothing.

"Stone," an Overture Films release, is rated R for strong sexuality and violence, and pervasive language. Running time: 101 minutes. Two stars out of four.

___

Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:

G — General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG — Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 — Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R — Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17 — No one under 17 admitted.

View the original article here

Kanye West enters "Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Rapper Kanye West on Tuesday unveiled the title of his upcoming album on Twitter, telling fans it will be "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy" and adding that a final version of "All of the Lights" will be his next single.

West confirmed the album title from Paris, he said, where he was working with a graphics company designing the type face for the album's cover.

"The official album title is and always was ... MY BEAUTIFUL DARK TWISTED FANTASY," West tweeted.

Previously unfinished versions of "All of the Lights" had been leaked onto the Web, but West said: "I ain't letting no leaks have any affect on my song choices."

He also said the first song on the album will be "Dark Fantasy," produced by The Rza and co-produced by West and No I.D. His recent "G.O.O.D. Friday" tracks also will make the album. He had previously tweeted that the album would be released on November 22.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

View the original article here

Calif. court to hear Jackson dad's estate appeal (AP)

By ANTHONY McCARTNEY, AP Entertainment Writer Anthony Mccartney, Ap Entertainment Writer – 2 hrs 53 mins ago

LOS ANGELES – An appeals court will hear arguments Wednesday on whether Michael Jackson's father should be allowed to challenge the administrators of his son's already lucrative estate.

Joe Jackson has appealed a probate court's dismissal of his objections to the appointment of attorney John Branca and music executive and family friend John McClain to oversee the pop singer's estate.

A judge ruled in November that the elder Jackson did not have standing to intervene in the case and was not entitled to an evidentiary hearing to contest the administrators.

Such a hearing would allow Joe Jackson's attorney, Brian Oxman, to air complaints about potential conflicts of interest and the validity of the pop singer's 2002 will, which specifically omitted his father from receiving any money.

Attorneys for Michael Jackson's estate have noted the probate court's findings against the elder Jackson, and said in motions to the appeals court that the ruling came after considering Oxman's arguments in the most favorable light.

Oxman was also allowed to argue at length during the November hearing, the estate also said in its filings.

The attorney raised issues on behalf of Joe Jackson after the singer's mother, Katherine, dropped any of her potential objections to the appointment of Branca and McClain. Katherine Jackson and her son's three children are the primary beneficiaries of the singer's estate, which has earned tens of millions since his death at age 50 in June 2009.

The estate also noted that Joe Jackson sought a stipend, but later chose to withdraw that request. The Jackson family patriarch has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in federal court against Conrad Murray, the doctor charged in connection with his son's death.

Murray's lawyers have asked a judge to dismiss that case, arguing in part that Joe Jackson doesn't have the right to sue for wrongful death.

View the original article here

Britain's Prince William rescues stricken man at sea (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – Britain's Prince William carried out his first rescue mission in his new job as a search and rescue helicopter pilot, lifting an ill man from an off-shore gas rig, a royal spokesman said Tuesday.

The 28-year-old, who is second in line to the throne, was scrambled into action on Saturday, co-piloting a Royal Air Force (RAF) Sea King helicopter to a gas platform in the Irish Sea.

It was his first rescue job since graduating two weeks ago.

"Prince William is pleased finally to be able to contribute to the life-saving work of the Search and Rescue Force," a spokesman for the prince told AFP.

"He is proud, after two years of intense training, to be able to serve in one of Britain's foremost emergency services."

William's Sea King took off from the RAF Valley base on Anglesey, northwest Wales, seven minutes after receiving an emergency call. The ill man had suffered a suspected heart attack.

Flight Lieutenant Wales, as the prince is known in the RAF, is expected to spend up to three years -- the normal tour of duty -- as a frontline search and rescue pilot. How soon he takes full command of the helicopter depends on his progress.

RAF Valley is one of six search and rescue bases in Britain. William's crew could be called in to rescue people from the sea, on mountains, from flooded regions or other areas on land.

View the original article here

Actor Tony Curtis buried after Vegas funeral (AP)

By OSKAR GARCIA, Associated Press Writer Oskar Garcia, Associated Press Writer – Mon Oct 4, 7:04 pm ET

LAS VEGAS – Actor Tony Curtis was buried Monday with a melange of his favorite possessions — a Stetson hat, an Armani scarf, driving gloves, an iPhone and a copy of his favorite novel, "Anthony Adverse," a book that inspired his celebrity name and launched a robust film career that spanned decades and genres.

The 85-year-old Oscar-nominated actor who starred in such films as "The Defiant Ones" and "Some Like It Hot" died Wednesday at his home in Henderson, a Las Vegas suburb, after suffering cardiac arrest.

More than 400 celebrities, fans, friends and family members gathered to say goodbye at a public funeral Monday in Las Vegas.

A montage of Curtis' famous film roles opened the sometimes solemn, sometimes mirthful service attended by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor Jamie Lee Curtis, porn star Ron Jeremy and Vera Goulet, widow of Broadway singer Robert Goulet. The crowd laughed as an animated Curtis appeared in a scene from the television series "The Flintstones" and sparred with actor Kirk Douglas in "Spartacus."

Friends and fans lined up outside Palm Mortuary & Cemetery well before the funeral, with more than a dozen photographers and television journalists watching the scene. Inside, seven colorful paintings and three black-and-white drawings by Curtis stood on easels, while a photo of the young, dark-haired actor was projected on a screen. The coffin was draped with an American flag.

Jamie Lee Curtis, Curtis' daughter from his first marriage with "Psycho" actress Janet Leigh, teared up as she described a man who was, she said, "a little meshuga" — Yiddish for crazy — but always full of life.

"All of us got something from him. I, of course, got his desperate need for attention," she joked.

The father and daughter were estranged for a long period but eventually reconciled. Curtis took pride in his daughter's on-screen credits, which include "Perfect," "Halloween," "True Lies" and the new comedy "You Again."

Rabbi Mel Hecht called Schwarzenegger to the front of the room for an impromptu farewell. The Austria native recalled Curtis as a generous mentor who encouraged Schwarzenegger's budding Hollywood career when others told him his foreign accent and name were too much of a handicap.

Curtis, whose native Bronx accent initially earned him similar criticism, could sympathize.

"You are going to make it," Schwarzenegger recalled Curtis telling him. "Don't pay any attention to those guys. I heard the same thing when I came here."

Schwarzenegger said Curtis refused to feel old.

"I mean, who has the guts to take off their clothes at the age of 80?" Schwarzenegger said, recalling Curtis' naked photo shoot in Vanity Fair in 2005.

Curtis' sixth wife, Jill Curtis, eulogized her husband of 12 years. She recalled how he easily dismissed their 45-year age difference when friends asked if he was worried about keeping up with a younger wife.

"Well, if she dies, she dies," she said her husband would deadpan in reply.

She recalled his simple loves: Krispy Kreme doughnuts, Splenda, his dog and white clothes. She urged family and friends to dwell not on his death, but on his extraordinary life.

"He was, as one fan put it, a once-in-a-lifetime man," she said.

The funeral was followed by the burial and then a reception for more than 100 invited guests at the Luxor hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip.

Jill Curtis, who Curtis affectionately called Jillie, told The Associated Press her husband would have approved of the festive goodbye.

"Tony didn't like funerals," she said. "He didn't want to make it funeral-y, more like a celebration."

Known for his transformation from a pigeonholed pretty boy in the late 1940s and early '50s to a serious actor, Curtis reshaped himself over decades of work and made himself impossible to typecast. The metamorphosis was completed in 1957's "Sweet Smell of Success," in which he played a sleazy press agent manipulated by a ruthless newspaper columnist (Burt Lancaster).

In person, Curtis loved giving friends and fans extra touches that made their face-to-face moments more memorable, longtime friend and pallbearer Gene Kilroy told the AP.

"He had a certain way of making everybody feel like they were Spartacus," Kilroy said.

Kilroy, an executive at Luxor, said billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian, actor Kirk Douglas and singer Phyllis McGuire were among seven honorary pallbearers.

Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz in 1925, the son of Hungarian Jews who emigrated to the United States after World War I. His father, Manny Schwartz, yearned to be an actor, but work was hard to find with his heavy accent. He instead became a tailor, relocating the family repeatedly as he sought work.

"I was always the new kid on the block, so I got beat up by the other kids," Curtis recalled in 1959. "I had to figure a way to avoid getting my nose broken. So I became the crazy new kid on the block."

Curtis suffered tragedy at age 12 when his younger brother was killed in a traffic accident. Finding refuge in movies, he would ditch school to catch matinees starring Errol Flynn, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and other screen idols.

After serving on a submarine during World War II, he enrolled in drama school on the G.I. Bill and was doing theater work when an agent lined up an audition with Universal, where he signed a seven-year contract starting at $100 a week at age 23.

The studio gave him the name Anthony Curtis, taken from his favorite novel and the Anglicized name of a favorite uncle. He later shortened it to Tony Curtis.

As his big-screen star faded in the 1960s, Curtis remolded himself as a character actor and turned to television with the 1970s action series "The Persuaders," costarring Roger Moore, and a recurring role on the crime drama "Vegas."

Curtis earned an Emmy nomination in 1980 as producer David O. Selznick in the "Gone With the Wind" chronicle "The Scarlett O'Hara War."

He also turned to writing with a 1977 novel, "Kid Cody and Julie Sparrow" and 1993's "Tony Curtis: The Autobiography."

Curtis remained vigorous following heart bypass surgery in 1994, although his health declined in recent years.

As the funeral ended Monday, a second film reel flashed before the crowd.

The montage finished with the words "The End" cast on an image of Curtis shaking his head, as if he were disputing his own epilogue.

___

Associated Press Writer Cristina Silva contributed to this report.

View the original article here

De Niro's "Love Manual" upsets Romans (Reuters)

By Eric J. Lyman Eric J. Lyman – Wed Oct 6, 3:27 am ET

ROME (Hollywood Reporter) – Residents in the Italian capital blasted Robert De Niro and the cast of Giovanni Veronesi's "Manuale d'amore 3" (Love Manual 3) for the unusually large disruption the shooting of the film is causing in Rome, the Italian press reported Tuesday.

The daily newspaper Il Tempo called the complaints a "revolt," and several newspapers ran large spreads about the third film in the highly successful Italian franchise. Law enforcement had to step in Monday to make sure public complaints did not escalate, the reports said.

In the latest installment of the story, De Niro -- who, according to reports, will speak Italian in the film -- plays an American professor who falls in love with a colleague, played by Monica Bellucci. Most of the film is set in Rome.

View the original article here

Yoko Ono reflects on John Lennon's 70th birthday (AP)

By NATALIE ROTMAN, Associated Press Writer Natalie Rotman, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 5, 4:22 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – If John Lennon had lived to be 70, Yoko Ono thinks he would have been more relaxed about the milestone than he was about his 40th birthday.

Ono recalls the ex-Beatle fretting about reaching that number: "I can't believe I'm going to be 40!" she said he told her.

"I said, 'John, John — 40's not so bad, you know?'"

Sadly, it would be his last year. Lennon was shot to death on Dec. 8, 1980, almost two months after turning 40.

But in the three decades since, Ono has worked to keep his legacy vibrant, and continues to do so with the approach of his 70th birthday on Saturday.

Eight of Lennon's albums have been remastered and are being rereleased this week as single albums as well as two boxed sets. There is also a remixed version of Ono and Lennon's 1980 "Double Fantasy" album.

Other projects include a "Box of Vision" commemorative set featuring artwork and a place to store Lennon's music; all-star concerts; a film about a young Lennon, "Nowhere Boy," out this week; and a screening of the documentary "LennonNYC" in Central Park on his birthday.

Ono will spend what would have been Lennon's birthday in Iceland, celebrating with a concert by her Plastic Ono Band and the lighting of the Imagine Peace Tower in his honor. In a recent interview, the 77-year-old artist and peace activist talked about her mission to keep Lennon's memory alive.

AP: John Lennon was a musician and an activist. Are enough musicians and artists trying to have an impact on social change?

Ono: Of course, they're all doing it. It's great. When John and I started doing it, you know, we were looking around — "Are we the only people?" It was a bit like that. But now I think there's so many musicians, they're very strong, strong sort of activists. All of them. It's great.

AP: What do you think would have been John's take on the turmoil in the world today?

Ono: He would have been totally angry. ... He would have felt like he wanted to run somewhere and just bang something or strangle someone, you know? But then I think, I'm sure he would have relaxed and decided he should still be an activist. We need to really do something about the world. Otherwise, we're all going to blow up together.

AP: What do you think of "Nowhere Boy"?

Ono: Well, first of all I was surprised because this director (Sam Taylor-Wood), she's beautiful, I mean physically very beautiful, (a) young person. ... But then the thing is, she made it and she was really good to make this. This is her first film. Incredible, right? She's like a miracle. And everybody performing in it, they're very good. And I was surprised, because this is the first time that anybody — well, maybe they read the books or something — but anybody understands how John's childhood was. And how much painful, how painful it was for him. ... I was very, very thankful that Sam Taylor-Wood made this film. Very truthful film, yeah.

AP: One hundred years from now, what do you want people to know about John Lennon?

Ono: First of all, I'm not sure if I'm not going to be there. Things are changing in this world so much and it might be like we're all going to live as long as we want to. And also John might come back. We don't know anything. So I'm not going to answer that question.

AP: How did you decide what music you wanted to rerelease with the boxed sets?

Ono: The only thing that I probably had something to do with, to decide, is I didn't put "Two Virgins," I didn't put "Life With the Lions," because they're too sort of avant-garde in a way. ... I wanted to introduce John as an incredible, special rocker first. And then he dabbled in some avant-garde things and that's OK, but that's a lot of me is in there, so I thought, "Well, you know, let's not do that."

AP: The song "Woman" — what does it mean for you to listen to that song years later?

Ono: Of course, it was very flattering that John wrote that. But at the same time I was the one who was around. I was very lucky. Many painters, you know, they paint their wives, which is kind of like a maybe cheap and simple way of doing it, I don't know. But that's what they do. So he used me in that sense and probably I inspired him or something. But I think he's talking about all women and I think that's very important.

AP: Do you still put his music on and listen to it?

Ono: I listened to his music almost every day or every other day or something the past 30 years because there's other requests and things, and for business reasons I listened to them. But it's not a very relaxing thing to do. I don't listen to his songs to just relax, because then, you know, it just makes me feel sort of, well — it's painful in a way.

___

Online:

http://www.johnlennon.com/

http://imaginepeace.com/

(This version CORRECTS Corrects to 'Box of Vision' contains no music. AP Video.)

View the original article here

Ozzy covers John Lennon for 70th milestone (AP)

NEW YORK – John Lennon would have been 70 this week, and who better to honor his legacy in song than ... Ozzy Osbourne?

Yes, Ozzy Osbourne. The Black Sabbath heavy-metal king has made a cover of Lennon's "How," available Tuesday on iTunes to benefit Amnesty International.

Osbourne says Lennon was a "driving force for humanity." He also credits the Beatles as the inspiration for his musical career.

A video for the song is debuting on AOL's PopEater.com.

The former Beatle would have been 70 on Saturday. He was shot to death in December 1980.

___

Online:

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_en_mu/storytext/us_people_ozzy_osbourne/37865502/SIG=10ri6oqsj/*http://www.amnestyusa.org

http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_en_mu/storytext/us_people_ozzy_osbourne/37865502/SIG=10ldnqpqm/*http://popeater.com

View the original article here

Doctors fueled US starlet's drug addiction (AFP)

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Two doctors helped supply troubled US starlet Anna Nicole Smith with powerful prescription drugs to feed her addiction ahead of her death in 2007, a US court was told.

Actress and Playboy model Smith died in February that year from an accidental prescription overdose in Florida, aged 39, although the doctors are not charged over her death.

But physicians Sandeep Kapoor and Khristine Eroshevich prescribed medication for her, in collaboration with her former companion Howard K. Stern, which fueled her addiction, prosecutors said.

"Her addiction started long before the crimes that we have charged," said Deputy District Attorney David Barkhurst, in closing arguments at a Los Angeles trial, adding: "She had an addiction problem."

"There is just prescription after prescription after prescription written" for Smith for the opiate Dilaudid, which only stopped after she appeared high in public at a US awards show, he added.

Kapoor, 42, and Eroshevich, 62 -- charged with conspiring to furnish drugs to an addict -- "abandoned their responsibilities. They abused their power," the prosecutor said of the two doctors.

The larger-than-life Smith was once regarded as one of the world's most desirable women during the 1990s when she replaced supermodel Claudia Schiffer as Guess Jeans model.

However, Smith fell out of the spotlight over the next decade, with dramatic fluctuations in her weight, often appearing to be under the influence of drugs or drink in public.

View the original article here

What's new, pussycat? Tom Jones, gospel singer (AP)

NEW YORK – He's 70 years old. He once competed with the Beatles and Rolling Stones on the music charts, and his most recent disc was kept from No. 1 in England by Eminem. He's a knight, and he recorded a song by Prince.

Who is Tom Jones?

To many music fans, the Welshman who sang "It's Not Unusual" and "Delilah" is just that — a trivia question. Jones is an old-school showman who emerged in the music world at precisely the time that began to be dismissed as a value, and it has handicapped him ever since in terms of critical respect.

His recently released disc of gospel tunes suggests his voice shouldn't be overlooked. "Praise and Blame" draws inspiration from his days as a boy hearing Mahalia Jackson on the radio. The songs, ranging from a ferocious version of John Lee Hooker's "Burning Hell" to Bob Dylan's searching "What Good Am I," don't always work, but the project is a brave left turn.

He proposed it as an alternative when his British record company wanted an album of holiday music. Veteran Ethan Johns produced, with keyboard player Booker T. Jones and singer Gillian Welch contributing their talents.

Elvis Presley often invited Jones to his suite to sing gospel songs when they were both performing in Las Vegas. Presley would say, "Why don't you record that?" Jones recalled. "I said, `I will one day.'"

Jones had his doubters, even within his own record company.

Britain's Sunday Times reported this summer that David Sharpe, an executive at Island Records in Britain, wondered in an e-mail whether the disc was a "sick joke." The missive, which was leaked to the media, reportedly quoted Sharpe saying that "we did not invest a fortune in an established artist" to get hymns.

"The thing that I didn't like about it, more than anything else, is that they said he was the vice president of the company ... and he's on the accounting side," Jones said. "Whatever he thought has no bearing on it, and the people don't know that."

Jones greeted with a profanity media speculation that the leaked e-mail was a publicity stunt. "How can you get good press from a negative thing?" he asked.

The disc is already a gold record in England, where it debuted at No. 2 in the British album charts. The going is slower in the United States, where it has sold about 20,000 copies since a July 22 release. Lost Highway Records here is pitching "Praise and Blame" to Americana music formats and independent record stores, said marketing executive Andy Nelson. Nelson would not comment on what was said by executives at Lost Highways' British counterpart.

Disrespect is nothing new for Jones, who recalled one critic's incredulous reaction upon hearing Jones' music was featured in Martin Scorsese's film series about the blues.

"How about listening to it before you start making jokes," he grumbled.

The showmanship, the underwear-tossing fans, some bad choices of cover songs ("Sex Bomb") never helped his reputation.

"He's similar in a lot of ways to Neil Diamond, someone who started out with a fair amount of credibility and moved over into this corny shtick," said Anthony DeCurtis, a Rolling Stone contributing editor and University of Pennsylvania writing instructor. "Back then it meant more than it means now."

Jones is a singer, not a songwriter, and his career took off around the same time as Dylan, who profoundly changed the landscape.

"It's shortsighted and a little ridiculous: Someone who sings well does have something to say. But at that moment it felt important that people did write their own material," DeCurtis said.

Jones believes that his staying power and his voice, a formidable instrument barely diminished by time, are worthy of respect. He never thought poor choices in cover songs would overshadow his talent. "I thought my vocal power would dominate, instead of `You know, Tom, if you want to be taken serious, why are you wearing those tight pants?'" he said.

"To me, singing is like when an actor takes a role," he said. "You've got to get inside that role, you've got to give it personality. It's like a mini-film, a song is to me. You've got to get inside it and put your personality into it and make people believe it."

He's got a suitcase of great stories, like when he thought Burt Bacharach was joking when he first asked Jones to record "What's New Pussycat."

There was the night he met Paul McCartney in a club and asked if he would write a song for him. A week later, McCartney sent one over, with the requirement that Jones record it as his next single. Jones was good to go, but his management didn't want a last-minute change in plans to release another song.

Thus, "The Long and Winding Road" became the Beatles' last single before their breakup and not a Tom Jones song.

Even though Eminem kept him from the top spot in the charts this time, he won't start rapping to keep up with the young competition.

"No," he said. "There are limits. Rap is one of them."

Then again...

"I wouldn't be opposed to doing the singing part if someone else raps, as long as I like the song."

___

Online:

http://www.losthighwayrecords.com

http://www.tomjones.com

___

EDITOR'S NOTE — David Bauder can be reached at dbauder(at)ap.org

View the original article here

"Heist," "Wanderlust" in cards for Alan Alda (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Alan Alda is heading to the big screen, booking two back-to-back projects at Universal.

Alda will first board Universal's Judd Apatow comedy "Wanderlust," and then becomes the first to join Ben Stiller in "Tower Heist," which Brett Ratner is directing.

In "Wanderlust," which follows a married couple played by Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd trying to escape modern society by moving out of New York, Alda will play the head of a naturist village.

"Heist" revolves around the overworked manager (Stiller) of an illustrious tower residence who leads a team of defrauded workers in a heist of its penthouse tenant, a Bernie Madoff-type Wall Street capitalist who pulled a Ponzi scheme and swindled the staff. Alda will play the capitalist.

Alda last appeared on the big screen in "Nothing But the Truth" and "Flash of Genius." He starred in TV's "The West Wing" in its closing seasons and is set to return as a guest star on "30 Rock," in the role of father to Alec Baldwin's character.

View the original article here

Tom Hanks circling "Sleeping Dogs" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Tom Hanks may be the first actor to board "Sleeping Dogs," Kathryn Bigelow's follow-up to "The Hurt Locker."

The Paramount Pictures project was previously known as "Triple Frontier" and reunites Bigelow with her "Hurt Locker" screenwriter, Mark Boal.

The story is set in the border zone between Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil, which is a haven for organized crime, and centers on five men of various ages working in the zone.

The project became a hot property in the wake of "Hurt Locker's" six Oscars, including the trophies for best picture and director.

Many actors' names have popped up in association with "Dogs," among them Leonardo DiCaprio, Christian Bale, Sean Penn and Jeremy Renner.

View the original article here

Carbon atom pioneers share Nobel chemistry prize (AFP)

STOCKHOLM (AFP) – Richard Heck of the United States and Japan's Ei-ichi Negishi and Akira Suzuki shared the 2010 Nobel Chemistry Prize Wednesday for pioneering research in linking carbon atoms.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences lauded the trio's work in "the development of palladium-catalysed cross coupling."

The jury said the tool "vastly improved the possibilities for chemists to create sophisticated chemicals," and had applications in the medical, electronics and agricultural fields.

View the original article here

Politics and celebrities on tap at New Yorker fest (AP)

By JOCELYN NOVECK, Associated Press Writer Jocelyn Noveck, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 5, 6:55 am ET

NEW YORK – "I think this is going well," remarked New Yorker editor David Remnick to his audience at a weekend panel on the tea party movement.

He was being sarcastic. The hostility was escalating between former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, and Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y. The banter became so tense that even-tempered historian Jill Lepore, sitting between them, suggested she leave so the men could arm-wrestle. "Don't make me come over there and beat you down," Remnick jokingly warned his panelists, who also included CNBC's Rick Santelli, at another point.

In other words, it was a perfect Saturday morning for New Yorker fans, who, in an annual autumn rite, gorge on juicy events like these at the three-day New Yorker Festival.

The tea party panel was one of several offerings linked to current news events. Another was a showing of "The Social Network," the new film about Facebook, with a panel afterward that included Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Timberlake, who play Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Napster co-founder Sean Parker.

New Yorker fans are loyal — 80 percent of festival tickets sold out on the first day they were available, the magazine said. And ticket buyers came from everywhere — 26 different countries and 47 states.

As always, there were offerings catering to more highbrow tastes — forums on fiction, a visit to the Frick Collection — and a strong celebrity contingent, with appearances by Alec Baldwin, Steve Carell, Jake Gyllenhaal, James Taylor and the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

And for those hard-core fans whose celebrities happen to be their favorite New Yorker writers, there was a storytelling evening featuring five of them, including the much-loved Calvin Trillin, who told the tale of his efforts to get salty language past the stubbornly reluctant former editor of the magazine, William Shawn.

The SNL cast members — Fred Armisen, Seth Meyers, Andy Samberg, Jason Sudeikis, Kenan Thompson and Kristen Wiig — recounted their first, nerve-wracking auditions for the show, and pondered the eternal question of how the show has survived since 1975. Consensus: There's always new material out there.

As for Carell, he recounted how he was such an unknown when he did the film "Bruce Almighty" that an agent contacted him to find out who was representing him. Turned out, her own agency did.

"I was such a low priority at the agency that even the agents who worked there didn't know I was a client," he said.

Carell also discussed the imminent end to his tenure on NBC's "The Office" — he leaves after the current season, his seventh — and some of his future goals.

One of them, he said, is to play an even more unappealing guy than Michael Scott of "The Office."

"I want to play a jerk — a really, really mean guy," Carell told his fans. "Someone who is just reprehensible, but doesn't think he is."

And he shot down at least one rumor: That he'd angled hard to play the Joker in "The Dark Knight" before Heath Ledger got the job. "I've learned to not be sarcastic in print interviews," he said.

View the original article here

Oscar-nominated actor Tony Curtis dies (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Tony Curtis, whose dark-haired good looks made him a Hollywood star well before he became an accomplished actor in hit movies such as "Some Like It Hot" and "The Sweet Smell of Success," died at his home in Nevada, his daughter said on Thursday. He was 85.

Curtis, one of the biggest box-office stars of the 1950s and one of Hollywood's busiest playboys, died in bed in Henderson, Nevada.

Curtis had a memorable role in the classic gladiator movie "Spartacus" in 1960 and received an Academy Award nomination for 1958's "The Defiant Ones," but his career got off to a rough start. His first starring role was in "The Prince Who Was a Thief" in 1951 and critics were appalled as Curtis, playing an Arabian prince, proclaimed in a thick New York accent, "Yonduh lies de castle of de caliph, my fadder!"

Still, Universal Pictures' star-making machinery and teen fan magazines managed to make Curtis a heartthrob and movie-goers loved his dark-haired sex appeal and impish grin.

Within a few years, Curtis had improved enough for Saturday Review magazine to call him "a rare phenomenon, an authentic screen personality who, through hard work, has made himself into an actor of considerable subtlety and some breadth."

Two of his most enduring performances came in "Some Like It Hot" as he teamed with Jack Lemmon -- playing cross-dressers opposite Marilyn Monroe -- and "The Sweet Smell of Success," in which he played a fawning press agent.

His Oscar nomination came for the 1959 film "The Defiant Ones," in which he played a racist escaped con chained to Sidney Poitier. Other notable films included "Houdini," "Trapeze," "Operation Petticoat," "The Boston Strangler," "The Vikings" and "The Great Imposter."

Curtis made more than 140 films, mixing comedies with dramas, but part of his life was plagued by poor movies and struggles with cocaine and alcohol.

"My father leaves behind a legacy of great performances in movies and in his paintings and assemblages," his daughter, actress Jamie Lee Curtis, said in a statement.

BROOKLYN BORN

Curtis was born Bernard Schwartz in New York to poor Hungarian immigrants on June 3, 1925. He quit school to join the Navy in World War Two, serving on a submarine tender, and pursued acting after his discharge.

Curtis was known to be demanding at the height of his stardom and television producer Lew Gallo called him "an impetuous child."

His fans were as fascinated by Curtis' private life as they were his movies. He was an inveterate womanizer whose girlfriends included Marilyn Monroe and Natalie Wood. He was married six times, starting with actress Janet Leigh in a union he later admitted was partially motivated by publicity value. After divorcing Leigh, he married Christine Kaufman, who was 17 when they met while filming "Taras Bulba."

Curtis was once quoted as saying, "I wouldn't be seen dead with a woman old enough to be my wife." His sixth wife, Jill Vandenberg, was 45 years younger than Curtis.

"He'll be remembered as a very good actor when people start reflecting on the amount of work he did both in drama and comedy," actor Roger Moore told BBC radio. "He certainly was wonderful in 'Some Like it Hot' and he was quite brilliant in 'Boston Strangler' and in the film that he did with Sidney Poitier 'The Defiant Ones'."

Moore, who worked with Curtis for 15 months on the early-1970s TV series "The Persuaders," said Curtis "denied ever saying that (working with Marilyn Monroe) was like kissing Hitler."

Curtis' children included actress Jamie Lee Curtis, who was estranged from him for much of his life, and he admitted he was a failure as a father.

As his acting career waned, Curtis concentrated on painting and in 1989 he sold more than $1 million worth of his art in the first day of a Los Angeles exhibition.

"Painting is more meaningful to me than any performance I've ever given," he told an interviewer.

Curtis eventually moved to Las Vegas. In 1989, he released an exercise videotape for people past age 50.

He operated the Shiloh Horse Rescue and Sanctuary, a refuge for horses that were abandoned or abused, on the California-Nevada border with wife Jill.

(Editing by Bill Trott and Philip Barbara)

View the original article here

Bruce Willis spies a good time in "Red" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Smirks meet semi-automatics in "Red," a comics-derived action flick that offers self-conscious casting and a wink here and there without feeling as jokey as, say, "Knight and Day."

Although tailor-made for genre fans, it benefits from flavors of humor and romance that keep its appeal from being fanboy-only. The Summit Entertainment release opens October 15.

The picture makes the most of its premise, in which valuable CIA operatives must return to action after having settled, or not, into various stages of retirement. Some take to it comically (Morgan Freeman's Joe, subversive in an old-age home) and some pragmatically, while Bruce Willis' Frank sits alone in intrigue-free suburbia, making up reasons to call a help-desk operator (Mary-Louise Parker) whose sassy-sweet voice has become the entirety of his social life.

Willis isn't bored for long, of course: assassins with unknown motives force him to go on the run, kidnap Parker for her own safety and round up old colleagues to figure out who's trying to wipe them out. But those wry, almost poignant opening scenes make up for the occasional generic moments to come.

Screenwriters Jon and Erich Hoeber try to put a spin on this not-unfamiliar spy-vs.-spy stuff -- beyond the novelty that came straight from the comic -- and director Robert Schwentke delivers the requisite action without trying to reinvent the wheel.

But what keeps the movie going is the cast, some of whom strike a perfect balance between self-consciousness and credulity. Willis might benefit the most, in a part other films have tried and often failed to craft for him, and Parker gives the movie more than she gets: when she finally accepts having been dragged into this mess, her character embraces the danger with a flirtatious relish that reminds us that this is all supposed to be fun. Even the more cartoonish performances, like John Malkovich's acid-damaged paranoiac, fit the movie's vision of the vanished, wild-and-woolly heyday of spycraft.

The actual mechanics of the plot might eventually get so convoluted they have to be accepted on faith, but the spirit of "Red" rarely falters.

View the original article here

Britney Spears is a ratings grabber for 'Glee' (AP)

NEW YORK – Britney Spears is a dream for Fox's hit musical "Glee."

Tuesday's episode that featured the star in some dream-sequence cameos drew an estimated 13.5 million viewers. The Nielsen Co. says it was the second most-watched episode of the show ever, behind last spring's return from a hiatus.

That's also an increase from the 11.1 million people who had tuned in to the "Glee" season premiere a week earlier. Spears was also a trending topic on Twitter during the telecast, exemplifying one of TV's biggest new trends: viewers using social media to correspond with friends while watching.

The show's cast performed five Spears songs during the episode, including "I'm a Slave 4U" and "Stronger."

View the original article here