Top Story
The arraignment date for actor Nick Nolte, who is charged with driving under the influence and being under the influence of a controlled substance, was postponed by a judge Monday. The new court date, Dec. 5, will allow the defense enough time to test a blood sample from the actor. The 61-year-old Nolte was picked up by police on Sept. 11 after his car was seen swerving on a Malibu highway. According to The Associated Press, prosecutors said Nolte had taken the banned depressant gamma hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, otherwise known as the “date rape drug.” “He was not under the influence of a ‘date-rape drug.’ That’s ridiculous,” defense attorney Mark Werksman told AP outside court. “Nick Nolte is not out there popping illicit or narcotic drugs.”
Celebs
Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker and husband Matthew Broderick welcomed their first child, a boy, Monday at Manhattan’s Lenox Hill Hospital. Although details of the birth were kept under tight wraps, according to the New York Post, David Perkins Broderick was born around 3 a.m. and mother and baby are doing fine.
Teen-pop singer Jessica Simpson, 22, and 98 Degrees member Nick Lachey, 28, said their “I do”s Saturday in a ceremony in Austin, Texas. After a six-month separation last year, the two patched things up and got engaged shortly before Valentine’s Day. Said Simpson on her Web site, “He had been patiently waiting for me to grow up a little (which I needed). And I did! Now my life feels so perfect.”
More trouble for Hollywood exec Michael Ovitz. According to The Smoking Gun.com, a Los Angeles woman is suing the former super agent, claiming his dogs–a St. Bernard and a golden retriever–attacked her and her two small dogs outside Ovitz‘s Brentwood home where she was walking. She claims the dogs were roaming free, with no human supervision or leashes.
Movies
Johnny Knoxville, hot off his number one box office hit Jackass: The Movie, has found his next project. He’ll star in the low-budget indie comedy Grand Theft Parsons, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film, which will also star Christina Applegate and Marley Shelton, is based on a true story about Phil Kaufman (Knoxville), a road manager for musician Gram Parsons. After Parsons dies, Kaufman steals the body and takes it to Joshua Tree, Calif., a serene Southern Californian desert spot, where he tries to burn the body and fulfill a pact he made with the musician. (What we really want to know is, how does he lug the body around? An oversized shopping cart?)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon star Michelle Yeoh will be showing off her stuff once again as a female Robin Hood in The Masked Crusader. The story is based on the legendary Wong Ngung, a female hero who fought for justice for the underdog. Yeoh will also act as producer, while cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma will be directing.
Tube
CBS has given the full season go-ahead to four of its new shows, including the top-rated CSI: Miami, the qualified smash hit of the 2002-2003 season. The other three shows getting full-season orders include the dramas Without A Trace and Hack, and the comedy Still Standing.
Music
Tom Dowd, a legendary record producer and engineer who worked with such musicians as Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton and others in a career spanning 50 years, died Sunday in Florida of a respiratory disease. He was 77.
