HOLLYWOOD - Top Story
Madonna has set her heart on a new home. The singer and her husband, British film director Guy Ritchie, are on the verge of buying a $12.75 million British mansion that once belonged to photographer Cecil Beaton, Reuters reports.
Ailing
French film star Jean-Paul Belmondo was hospitalized Wednesday in Paris for emergency treatment of what medical officials are calling a cerebral accident, The Associated Press reports. Belmondo, 68, is listed in serious condition, but is conscious. He was hospitalized early Wednesday in Corsica and then flown by helicopter to Paris.
Deaths
Lorenzo Music, the voice of the cartoon cat Garfield, died Sunday at his home in Los Angeles of lung cancer, AP reports. According to his wife, Henrietta, the 64-year-old Mr. Music worked until a month ago when he recorded Garfield's voice for a car commercial. He is survived by his wife and four children.
In Court
Michael Cournede, the 19-year-old co-defendant in the robbery case against Sopranos actor Robert Iler, has been charged with stealing money, a jacket, and a compact disk player from a teen-age victim in a separate incident on April 19 by Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau on Tuesday, AP said. If convicted on the first-degree robbery charge, Cournede could face up to 25 years in prison.
Honored
Jim Nabors, who played the character of Pfc. Gomer Pyle in the 1964 TV sitcom Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., is ready to be promoted. According to AP, Gen. James Jones, commandant of the Marine Corps, will promote the character to lance corporal Thursday at a private ceremony at Camp H.M. Smith on Oahu, Hawaii.
In General
Eminem protégés D12 and the Detroit acid-rapper Esham were thrown off the Vans Warped Tour show after a fight broke out backstage during the Aug. 3 show in Camden, N.J. Esham's publicist told SonicNet.com that the members of D12 jumped hims, causing a broken nose, ruptured eyeball, mild concussion.
A new batch of performers will be honored at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, ABCNews,com reports. Among them are former teen idols David Cassidy, Deborah Gibson and New Kids on the Block, who have provided the museum's curator, Jim Henke, with memorabilia.
Dr. Who has been cited as the most influential television cult programs of all time, according to a list compiled by media historian Jeff Evans for his new untitled reference book. Fawlty Towers and Star Trek ranked second and third, Reuters reports. Other top shows included Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Prisioner, The X Files and The Simpsons.
Anne Heche will star on her own television series for Warner Bros., scheduled for fall 2002. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Heche's salary will fall on the $1 million range. The studios are still unsure if the actress will act on a half-hour or hour-length show, but she has expressed interest in doing comedy.
Tyne Daly's paycheck for her CBS drama Judging Amy will climb from mid-five figures to six figures next season after the actress agreed to extend her contract by another year. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the deal settles the dust between Daly and the show's producers after the actress did not return to work for the show's third season.
Survivor 2 contestant Michael Skupin says he will not run for the U.S. Senate in 2002, AP reports. Skupin, 39, says he wants focus on his family and his new company, Michael Skupin Ministries, which fights alcohol and drug addiction. The former contestant told AP that he "will have the opportunity again when the timing is better."