Actor Eddie Murphy (“The Nutty Professor”) is a new dad — again.
The 38-year-old comic and wife Nicole Murphy welcomed their fourth child, a baby girl, on Christmas Eve at a Los Angeles hospital. The newly dubbed Zola Ivy weighed in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces. Mother and Murphy spawn are said to be doing fine.
“We are ecstatic and very happy about the fourth addition to our family, baby Zola Ivy,” the couple said in the statement.
Murphy‘s other children are Bria, 10, Myles, 7, and Shayne, 5.
20TH CENTURY FOX: Audrey Hepburn may be a fashion icon, a beloved humanitarian and the enduring star of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” but she’s no Elizabeth Hurley. Go figure.
The 34-year-old spokesmodel/actress was named “Babe of the Century” over the late Hepburn, per an Internet poll conducted by IGN.com.
“Both women are alluring in their own way,” the panting announcement on IGN read. “Both are European (Hurley is British, and Hepburn hailed from Belgium), and both are drop-dead gorgeous. Even King Solomon could not have easily made this decision.”
But IGN’s cyberreaders did their best, picking Hurley as their lead babe following an intensive, 63-round elimination battle. Hurley‘s screen credits include “EDtv” and the two “Austin Powers” movies.
SECOND CHANCES: Actress Halle Berry (“Introducing Dorothy Dandridge”) is engaged to R&B singer Eric Benet (“Day in the Life”), her publicist has confirmed.
Berry, 31, previously was married to baseball slugger David Justice. Their three-year union dissolved in 1996 amid rumors of abuse. The divorce was finalized in 1997.
Berry and Benet met two years ago backstage at a Los Angeles venue where he performed. No word on a wedding date. Berry/a> will next be seen on screen as Storm, one of the mutant superheroes of “X-Men.”
UNCOUPLED? The British press is frothing at the collective (and figurative) mouth with word that A-list lovebirds Michael Douglas (“A Perfect Murder“) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (“Entrapment“) are on the outs.
According to Britain’s Daily Star, Zeta-Jones spent Christmas at her London home — alone. The tabloid wrangled a quote from Zeta-Jones‘ grandmother, who reports, “They [the actress and her mother] are doing a lot of talking. I don’t know what has gone wrong.”
In the unusual role as the voice of reason, the New York Post says that there’s nothing to read into the couple’s (separate) Christmas accommodations.
“She was getting a little bit teary as Christmas approached, and Michael encouraged her to just hop on a plane and go home for the holidays,” a source tells the Post’s Neal Travis.
Today a publicist for Douglas officially denied the two had split up.
Zeta-Jones, 31, and Douglas, really old (55), have been a hot-and-heavy item for much of this year. Speculation that the two were to be engaged ran high as they celebrated their joint birthdays (Sept. 25). But the occasion came and went without a wedding formally in the offing.
ZAPPED: An apparent rift between DreamWorks and the nation’s largest theater chain is keeping the new Tim Allen comedy, “Galaxy Quest,” off at least 4,400 potential screens.
The Tennessee-based Regal Cinemas confirms to today’s Hollywood Reporter that it is not playing the film, a spoof on the “Star Trek” world, at its 431 venues in 32 states. While a Regal spokesman declined to go into specifics over the lockout, the trade paper says it appears that the company didn’t like the financial terms DreamWorks was demanding. Regal was “concerned about the box-office prospects” of the film, the Reporter says.
The reputed concern may be well placed. “Galaxy Quest,” co-starring Sigourney Weaver, opened on Christmas Day to good reviews but underwhelming business. It bowed in eighth place with an estimated $8.1 million in ticket sales.
SLAM-DUNK: A slate of 10 features has been set for the SlamDunk 2000 Film Festival, yet another Sundance alternative to be held in the shadow of Robert Redford‘s starry movie extravaganza, Jan. 25-30 in Park City, Utah.
SlamDunk, not to be confused with Slamdance or the now-defunct Slumdance, is in its third year of coattail riding. For more information on the festival, check out the official Web site at: www.slamdunk.cc/flashindex.htm.
