Steve Irwin
Famous for his perpetual exuberance, tacky khaki outfits and "crikey!" catchword, this late Aussie animal activist-cum-TV-personality amazed audiences with his outrageous not to mention dangerou...
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BirthDate BirthPlace |
02/21/1962
Essendon, Victoria, Australia |
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Chris Brown Dresses as Terrorist for Halloween. Yep.
November 01, 2012 11:35am ESTForget ghosts and goblins. This Halloween, we found ourselves terrified not only by Katy Perry's pleasantly surprising choice to dress as Daria's Jane, but also by one celebrity's terrible taste. But, like an ax murderer behind the door you just walked through, perhaps we should have seen it coming. After all, we are talking about Chris Brown. (We heard a rumor spooky music follows him everywhere now.) Yes, the much-hated singer with a disturbingly fervent fanbase opted to continue to reverse his short-lived post-2009 contrition tour by dressing up for Halloween as... a terrorist. Because why just remind people of your violent past when you can remind people of your violent past while dressed as a stereotyped representation of a region and religion? Oh, what a fun and prejudiced time for him! Of course, Brown's hardly the first celebrity to leave tongues wagging over his costume choice. In 2005, the royally misguided Prince Harry took heat for attending a costume party wearing a Swastika armband. And he continued to fan the flames after releasing an apology that many felt wasn't empathetic enough: "I am very sorry if I caused any offense or embarrassment to anyone. It was a poor choice of costume, and I apologize." We much preferred when he dressed in his birthday suit. And just one year later — one month after Steve Irwin passed away following a lethal stingray bite — Politically Incorrect host Bill Maher lived up to his show's name when he attended several Halloween parties dressed as the crocodile hunter. (See the picture here.) Insensitive, yes, but not quite ballsy — after all, South Park did it days before Maher in "Hell on Earth 2006." (At least Simpsons didn't.) Offended by Brown's costume? Is the sky blue, and the song "Forever" forever ruined? Follow Kate Ward on Twitter @HWKateWard [Image Credit: WENN; The Sun UK] More: 15 Cool (and Ghoulish) Celebrity Halloween Costumes Halloween: How to Dress Pop Culture on a Budget 15 Worst Pop Culture-Inspired 'Sexy' Halloween Costumes
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Terry Nutkins dead at 66
September 07, 2012 7:15am ESTNutkins, famous in his native U.K. for presenting hit BBC wildlife shows including Animal Magic and The Really Wild Show, passed away on Thursday (06Sep12) after a battle with leukaemia. In the later years of his career, he made cameo appearances on programmes including Celebrity Ghost Stories and Ready Steady Cook, and also appeared in a documentary about famed Crocodile Hunter star Steve Irwin. Father-of-eight Nutkins was also a keen beekeeper and an official member of the British Beekeepers' Association. Following news of his death, animal-loving funnyman Ricky Gervais took to Twitter.com to pay tribute, writing, "RIP Terry Nutkins. Animal lover and thoroughly nice chap."
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Dominic Monaghan takes aim at reality TV show Swamp People
July 13, 2012 5:00am ESTLord Of The Rings star Dominic Monaghan has vowed to end reality TV shows that feature people who are cruel to reptiles - and he's starting with America's Swamp People. The animal lover has blasted the producers of the History Channel show, which features alligator hunters in Louisiana's Atchafalaya River Basin swamp. The third season of the show debuted in February (12) and Monaghan can't believe it has lasted that long. Taking to Twitter.com on Thursday (12Jul12), the actor snaps, "(It's) shock TV... If my hero (Crocodile Hunter star and conservationist) Steve Irwin was around, those shows about killing alligators wouldn't be on TV. I'm gonna (sic) stop them." Calling Swamp People "death entertainment that continues to demonize reptiles as monsters and animals that are okay to torture and kill", Monaghan adds, "If alligator populations need to be controlled, I understand. But the act should not be glorified on TV. Disgusting."
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Exclusive: Joe Anderson Explains 'The River', His Character and What It Might All Be About
February 08, 2012 6:10am ESTAll the buzz and questions swirling around the past few weeks have centered on what exactly is this new show The River on ABC? Last night, we all got a taste and the two-hour premiere was way more enlightening that the 10-second, ambiguous promos we had seen before it aired. So, what’s the deal? Dr. Emmet Cole, a famous wildlife expert a la Steve Irwin, has gone missing after his show 'The Undiscovered Country' ran for more than two decades. Now, his wife Tess and son Lincoln, played by Joe Anderson, are off to the Amazon to find Dr. Cole and his crew. That’s the skinny of it but after talking with Anderson about his role, I found that the story is way more complex than that. Last night was just a taste of the craziness to come and Joe gave us his opinions on the comparisons to Lost, how viewers will see the found footage and filming in some ultra creepy abandoned hospitals during the shoot. We always want to get your take. What did you think of the premiere last night? Will this be another phenomenon like Lost? Will you tune in next week? Let us know with some comments below and find me on Twitter @TheRealRothman.The River airs 9 p.m. EST Tuesdays on ABC.
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J. Edgar Review
November 08, 2011 7:18am ESTFew of the powerful men who helped shape America in the 20th century are as polarizing as J. Edgar Hoover considering the peaks and valleys of his nearly half-century-long reign as the director of the FBI and his closely guarded private life. However while there is much to debate about whether the heroism of Hoover’s early career outweighs the knee-jerk paranoia that clouded the end of his run at the Bureau and about what really turned on this lifelong bachelor one aspect of Hoover’s life is inarguable: this was a man who possessed a rare gift for establishing and maintaining order. Everything that fell under his control was meticulously kept in its place from the fingerprints on file in the FBI’s database to the cleanly shaved faces of his loyal G-Men. It’s an unfortunate irony then that J. Edgar the biopic focused on this ruthlessly organized administrative genius is such a sloppy awkwardly assembled mess. Its lack of tidiness hardly suits its central character and is also shockingly uncharacteristic of director Clint Eastwood. The filmmaker’s recent creative renaissance which began in 2003 with the moody Boston tragedy Mystic River may not have been one defined by absolute perfection—the World War II epic Flags of Our Fathers for example is no better than an admirable mixed bag—but it comes to a grinding halt with J. Edgar Eastwood’s least satisfying and least coherent effort since 1999’s True Crime. There’s no faulting the attention paid to surface period details—every tailored suit and vintage car registers as authentic—but on the most fundamental level Eastwood and writer Dustin Lance Black (an Academy Award winner for Milk as off his game as Eastwood here) haven’t figured out what kind of movie they want to shape around Hoover’s life. For two-thirds of its running time J. Edgar devotes itself to an overly dry recitation of facts about its title character which is about as viscerally thrilling as reading Hoover’s Wikipedia page and then makes a late-inning bid for romantic melodrama totally at odds with the bloodless history-lesson approach favored by the preceding 90 minutes. The non-chronological narrative structure Black adopts to tell Hoover’s story only adds to the overall disjointedness. Star Leonardo DiCaprio is first seen caked in old-age makeup as Hoover conscious he’s nearing the end of his tenure at the Bureau dictates his memoirs to an obliging junior agent (Ed Westwick). As Hoover describes how he began his career the movie jumps back in time to depict that origin giving the false impression that the dictation scenes with old Hoover will act as necessary structural connective tissue. Instead Black eventually abandons the narrative device altogether leaving the movie rudderless in its leaps backwards and forwards through time. As a result the shuffling of scenes depicting the young Hoover achieving great success alongside his right-hand man Clyde Tolson (Armie Hammer) and those portraying the aging Hoover abusing his power by wire-tapping progressive luminaries (such as Martin Luther King Jr.) that he mistrusts feels frustratingly arbitrary. There’s no real rhyme or reason to why one scene follows another. DiCaprio does his best to anchor the proceedings with a precise authoritative lead performance. Although his voice is softer than Hoover’s he mimics the crimefighter’s trademark cadence with organic ease and more importantly he manifests Hoover’s unbending fastidiousness in a number of ingenious details like in the way that Hoover reflexively adjusts a dining-room chair while in mid-conversation. But Black’s limited view of Hoover as a tyrannical egotist—the script is close to a hatchet job—denies DiCaprio the chance to play a fully three-dimensional version of the FBI pioneer. Hoover is granted the most humanity in his scenes opposite Hammer’s Tolson which are by far the most compelling in the movie. Possessing no knowledge of the secretive Hoover’s romantic life Eastwood and Black speculate that Hoover and Tolson’s relationship was defined by a mutual attraction that Tolson wanted to pursue but Hoover was too timid to even acknowledge. Hammer so sharp as the privileged Winklevoss twins in The Social Network is the only supporting player given much to do—Naomi Watts’ talents are wasted as Hoover’s generically long-suffering secretary while poor Judi Dench must have had most of her scenes as Hoover’s reactionary mother left on the cutting-room floor—and he runs with it. His mega-watt charisma is like a guarantee of future stardom and he’s actually far more effortless behind the old-age makeup than veterans DiCaprio and Watts manage to be. While the unrequited love story between Hoover and Tolson is clearly meant to provide J. Edgar with an emotional backbone the movie takes so long to get to it that it feels instead like an afterthought. Where in all the dutiful historical-checklist-tending that dominates the film is the Eastwood who flooded the likes of The Bridges of Madison County Letters From Iwo Jima and last year’s criminally underrated Hereafter with oceans of pure feeling? He’s a neo-classical humanist master who has somehow ended up making a cold dull movie that reduces one of recent history’s most enigmatic giants to a tiresome jerk.
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Beau Bridges becomes father figure for Crocodile Hunter's daughter
March 24, 2011 5:00am ESTThe 12 year old's mum, Terri, reveals the Fabulous Baker Boys star has stepped up to help the family in the years since Irwin's 2006 death - and she's thrilled her daughter has someone like the movie star to look up to. Father-of-five Bridges offered to be there for Bindi and her little brother Bob, seven, after Irwin was killed during a diving expedition - because he shared the Crocodile Hunter's love of conservation. Bindi and Beau first became pals on the set of Free Willy 4: Escape from Pirate's Cove - and he has become a constant presence in the pre-teen's life. Terri tells U.S. tabloid The Globe, "Beau is just wonderful and he has become such a great mentor to Bindi and such a great friend." And Beau admits he's happy to help out - because Steve Irwin was such a great inspiration to his kids. He explains, "When (son) Zeke was little, he used to dress up like Steve Irwin and chase lizards around in the backyard." Bridges' son now works at the Irwin family's Australia Zoo.
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Irwin: 'The wind stopped after Crocodile Hunter's death'
January 21, 2011 4:00am ESTLittle Robert, who is the spitting image of his conservationist father, told Oprah and her audience that watching the footage makes him feel that his dad "is actually there". The six year old added, "He was the best dad." Terri Irwin was touched by her son's words and started to cry. She regained her composure to pay tribute to her late husband, who died after he was pierced in the chest by a stingray barb while filming in Australia's Great Barrier Reef in 2006. She said, "Living with Steve was like standing in a cyclone... and then when we lost him, it was like the wind stopped. It was really hard." Irwin then broke down as she thanked her husband's fans and friends for all their support in the past four years - particularly towards the Australia Zoo he founded. She added, "Everybody here is making sure that Steve's legacy continues." The show aired in America on Thursday (20Jan11).
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No Strings Attached Review
January 19, 2011 2:54pm ESTForget Black Swan – Natalie Portman’s real crowning performance is to be found in the romantic comedy No Strings Attached in which director Ivan Reitman asks her to convey sincere unqualified affection for Ashton Kutcher. Portman much to her credit gamely complies and though she may not have the emaciated figure bloody nails and bandaged ankles to tell of her labors the psychic scars must no doubt be just as severe. Exhibiting strong chick-flick leanings and a rambunctious soft-R comic tone (i.e. lots of F-bombs some menstrual humor and a few shots of Kutcher’s naked ass) No Strings Attached is built around a basic relationship role-reversal: The dude Adam (Kutcher) longs for a deeper lasting commitment; the chick Emma (Portman) insists on keeping matters purely physical. Emma’s motive is a practical one: As a doctor-to-be her busy residency schedule with its 80-hour work weeks and intensive exam preparations precludes a serious relationship. But alas a woman has certain needs (foreplay apparently not being among them) and who better to fulfill them than Kutcher’s non-threatening boy-toy? Thus a “friends with benefits” arrangement is cemented whereupon the ripcord is to be pulled on the occasion that either of them develops stronger feelings. This does not last long for soon Adam is cloyingly lobbying for escalation. Emma demurs – not out of disinterest we are told but because she’s intimacy-averse and afraid of a broken heart. Why else would she resist a more permanent attachment to someone like Adam? Perhaps it’s because Adam as played by Kutcher is about as interesting as cabbage. And yet No Strings Attached would have us believe he’s some kind of floppy-haired Albert Schweitzer. This despite the fact that his greatest aspiration in life is to join the writing staff of a High School Musical-esque television series the shallow inanity of which is one of the film’s recurring jokes. In vain support of his cause the filmmakers decorate Adam’s apartment with various props – vintage posters books about 1920s movies a guitar that is occasionally picked up but never actually played – that hint at a depth that Kutcher himself never manifests. Still Portman sells us on Adam and Emma’s inevitable union with every ounce of her not inconsiderable talent. (And her comic chops are legit – as those who’ve glimpsed her appearances on SNL and Funny or Die can attest.) But she asks too much. And Elizabeth Meriweather’s script while witty and stocked with some keen observations on the evolving nature of relationships in the modern age becomes weighed down by sentiment unbecoming an R-rated comedy not directed by Judd Apatow. In the end Kutcher seals the increasingly contrived deal with the climactic line “I’m warning you: Come one step closer and I’m never letting you go ” (I’m paraphrasing but not loosely) by which time the film's already lost its grip.
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Australian crocodile hunter Douglas dies in car crash
September 23, 2010 7:15am ESTThe 69 year old, whose documentaries are said to have been a precursor to the work of tragic TV star Steve Irwin, died after his car ploughed into a tree at an animal sanctuary he set up in Western Australia. Douglas - also known as the Barefoot Bushman - shot to fame in the 1970s following the broadcast of his first film, Across The Top, which documented his six-month trip around Australia. He went on to make more than 50 documentaries throughout his long-running TV career. Douglas is survived by his wife, Valerie, and two adult children.
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Driver plans Irwin tribute for Halloween
October 20, 2009 1:15pm ESTThe Brit will be trick-or-treating as a crocodile, while her baby son Henry will be hitting the streets as the late Irwin. She tells WENN, "My crocodile hat just arrived in the post. I got Henry a little blonde wig because he doesn't have much hair so he's gonna be Steve Irwin, may he rest in peace." And Driver plans to be a very hands-on mum: "I know I'll be making all the costumes and the scenery for the school plays."
