•
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 7, 2000 -- A last link to Hollywood's old-school glamour years is gone. Douglas Fairbanks Jr., spawn of "The Black Pirate," stepson of America's Sweetheart, onetime husband of "Mommie Dearest" and a film star in his own right, died today in New York. He was 90.
Fairbanks appeared in more than 80 films and TV movies, including the 1939 adventure classic "Gunga Din." He was perhaps best known, though, for being dapper and for doing the dapper thing in the company of giants. The son of silent-era great Douglas Fairbanks, the scion hung with the likes of Mary Pickford (his stepmom) and Joan Crawford (the first of his three wives).
The cause of death was not disclosed.
•
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 13, 2000 -- "Girl, Interrupted" was Winona Ryder's baby.
Last seen (briefly) on screen in 1998's Woody Allen comedy "Celebrity," the two-time Oscar nominee spent six years developing the project after she fell in love with Susanna Kaysen's memoir about her two years at a mental institution in the 1960s. Ryder set herself up to play Kaysen, brought in director James Mangold ("Copland) and suggested starlet Angelina Jolie for the co-starring role of Lisa, Susanna's sociopath friend.
From start to finish, "Girl, Interrupted," opening wide Friday after a Dec. 21 limited-release debut, was Ryder's project -- her baby.
But as awards season heats up, it's Jolie, not Ryder, who's getting the buzz. Already, the 24-year-old Jolie has picked up a Golden Globe nomination and been named Best Supporting Actress by the Broadcast Film Critics Associat