 On the Industry
BEVERLY HILLS—This week in Hollywoodland was a little of the same and a few surprises. Firstly, the death of Michael Jackson remained the top story of the week. With memorial services being planned this week and his burial, fans are flying in from all over the world to Hollywood to be a part of history. The cause of the singer’s death is still undetermined and is surely to become the top news story of 2009. At least so far this year, no other story has eclipsed Jackson’s death. ET has the exclusive last photo of Michael Jackson before his death. You can see the photo by going to: http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/06/75724/index.html For fans of Michael Jackson, who would like to attend his memorial service at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. There may still be an opportunity for you to attend by going to: http://staplescenter.com/memorial.php where you can register and try to win the Lottery of 17,500 people who will be given seats. The Mayor's office has asked fans who do not win a chance to attend to stay at home and not to arrive on Tuesday for fear of overcrowding. Farrah Fawcett’s private funeral service was at Our Lady of Angels Catholic Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday. Ryan O’Neal, her best friend Alana Stewart and former “Charlie’s Angels” costar Kate Jackson were in attendance along with Fawcett's son, Redmond, who is serving time in jail for drug possession. Redmond and Ryan both read passages in honor of Farrah. In addition to her 91-year-old father, there were about 200 invited guests at the ceremony. Ryan’s son, Griffith, and other fans stood outside of the church during the ceremony. Also this week two legends celebrated birthdays. Lena Horne turned 92 on Sunday and two-time Academy Award winning actress Olivia de Havilland turned 93 on Wednesday. The two movie stars celebrated quietly with their friends. Though fans celebrated on Hollywood Boulevard this week in honor of both of the actresses. We lost so many icons this week. Fred Travalena, a friend of Canyon News and columnist Ruta Lee, died last Sunday, actress Gale Storm on Monday and Brentwood resident and Academy Award winner Karl Malden on Wednesday. Hollywood seems to be losing a great number of stars lately, but fans make sure they are not forgotten. Mel Brooks will be honored as a movie maker and comedian later this month by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in Los Angeles. The comedian, director, actor and writer, who is amongst a small list of 12 people to win an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Award, will be honored by famous fans, friends and stars of his movies. Some who have been announced to attend are: Terri Garr, Cloris Leachman, Carl Reiner and Lesley Ann Warren. Kate Gosselin may be receiving a backlash from being too much in the media and having her marriage crumble before the prying eyes of media and fans over the last few months. Word came last week that the book about her life as a wife and mother was put on hold by the publisher and now her clothing line has been halted as well. Hopefully the famous couple that stars in their own series “Jon and Kate Plus 8” on TLC will spend more time with their eight children and try to get a semblance of normal life for their family back on track. They may have no choice. Ratings for the one time hit show have plummeted 77 percent. When will stars remember the late Bette Davis said, “Less is more!” Kevin Jonas, the 22-year-old brother of the famous Jonas Brothers has announced he’s getting married to fiancé Danielle Deleasa, who is a former hairdresser who lives in New Jersey is said to be ecstatic about the engagement. So the question is, will the brothers perform at the wedding? Hilary Duff has announced that she’ll be playing a movie star in a future episode of the hit series “Gossip Girl.” The series also stars beautiful Blake Lively, whose brother-in-law and well-known actor Bart Johnson of “High School Musical” fame is busy filming “Monster Mut” with actor Zack Ward. Bart and his beautiful wife Robyn are both staying extremely busy, while jetting from their Hollywood Hills home to their Inn in Utah. Jennifer Aniston’s costar and friend Bradley Cooper announced last week that he and Aniston were just friends. This week the handsome star of the upcoming film “Hangover” was seen in NYC on a dinner date with Oscar winner Renee Zelwegger at Antonucci Italian Restaurant on NYC’s Upper East Side. How long will it take Cooper to make his PR savvy statement again, “We are just friends?” Aniston lost out to Angelina Jolie once again. The star who made $25 million last year was runner up to Jolie who earned $27 million in 2008. Academy Award winning actress Meryl Streep was number three at $24 million, Sarah Jessica Parker landed at a whopping $23 million and beautiful Cameron Diaz rounded the group of highest earning ladies in Hollywood at $20 million. This is what I call real girl power! Back to Sarah Jessica Parker. She and talented Broadway actor husband Matthew Broderick showed the world their beautiful twin daughters; Marion Loretta Elwell and Tabitha Hodge Broderick, who join 6-year-old brother James Wilkie in their Manhattan home. This week I got an email from a reader who wanted to know if the rumors of Clint Walker being in bad health are true or false. They are absolutely false. Mr. Walker is in excellent health both physically and mentally. He’s always busy and he exercises and eats well. He takes very good care of himself much like he did over 50 years ago while starring in the WB’s and ABC series “Cheyenne.” The handsome cowboy and his wife Susan are still doing great. Cheyenne is currently running on the Western Channel. Look for an interview to run soon in this paper on the star. And finally, the film “Twilight” received the top award for films of Vision for the Vision Awards at The Beverly Wilshire Hotel last week. My longtime friend Kate Linder, who portrays Esther Valentine on the daytime soap “The Young and the Restless” was a co-host for the evening. Kate wore a beautiful black gown and was the Belle of the Ball. |