HOLLYWOOD - Top Story
Officials confirmed Monday that the badly decomposed body of a woman found in her home last week was the estranged mother of conservative talk show host Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Reuters reports. According to a spokesman for the Los Angeles County coroner, the body of 77-year-old Yolanda Schlessinger was identified using an X-ray body comparison. An autopsy revealed she had been murdered, but the cause of death has not been established and could take a few weeks. Dr. Laura, who outraged the homesexual community two years ago by referring to gays and lesbians as "biological errors," issued a statement last week saying she was horrified by her mother's death. "My mother shut all her family out of her life over the years although we made several futile attempts to stay connected. May God rest her soul." Schlessinger has said that she and her mother had been estranged for 14 years.
Celebs
Matt Damon is denying reports that he is marrying his longtime girlfriend Odessa Whitmire, People.com reports. "The rumor that he's getting engaged has been fabricated over the past couple of weeks, but it's not true," his publicist Jennifer Allen said. "He is dating Ms. Whitmire, but he is not engaged." Whitmire is Ben Affleck's former personal assistant.The New York Daily News reports that Catherine Zeta-Jones and hubby Michael Douglas are planning to move to Bermuda to raise their children. According to the paper, Douglas preferred New York while Zeta-Jones wanted Wales, where the couple already owns a house. They reportedly settled on Bermuda because Douglas' mother, Dianna Darrid, is Bermudan. Celebrity P.I. Anthony Pellicano pleaded not guilty Monday to federal weapons charges stemming from a police investigation into the alleged harassment of Los Angeles Times reporter Anita Busch, Reuters reports. At the time, Busch was researching an alleged Mafia extortion plot against actor Steven Seagal. When searching his West Hollywood office last month for evidence Pellicano had hired an ex-convict suspected of threatening Busch, police found two live grenades big enough to blow up an airliner in a safe.Movies
The big-budget thriller The Big Bounce suspended its Oahu, Hawaii, shoot after director George Armitage suffered an intestinal ailment, Variety reports. The illness, however, does not require surgery and Armitage, who traveled to Los Angeles for treatment, is expected to resume his directorial duties. The film, which stars Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman, has been filming since October.The Venice Film Festival, which will run Aug. 27-Sept. 6, may be looking for a new home. Franco Bernabe, president of the Venice Biennale, the organization that puts on the festival, is considering moving the festival from the Lido to central Venice because of the rising costs associated with the remote island. Hotels have been known to double their prices during the event.Tube
The feature-length animated version of Ben-Hur, narrated by Charlton Heston, will bow on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, Variety reports. Heston will also voice the title role in the picture, which will air across the Christian television network Tuesday night.
Music
The Rolling Stones will play their first free concert since the 1969 Altamont fiasco when the Hells Angels turned a free "thank you" show into a bloodbath. Reuters reports the concert, scheduled for Feb. 6 at the Staples center in Los Angeles, is being held to promote awareness of global warming and is being organized with the environmental lobby group the Natural Resources Defense Council. Producer Steve Bing, a key Democrat fundraiser, will foot the bill.
Books
Tim Russert, NBC's Meet the Press host, will pen a memoir about fathers and sons for Miramax Books, The Associated Press reports. "The book will share the lessons, anecdotes and advice given to Russert by his dad while growing up in Buffalo, N.Y.," a Miramax statement said Monday. The not-yet-titled memoir is scheduled to come out in time for Father's Day in 2004.