EXPECTING
Keri Russell (Felicity), 30, and contractor fianc?hane Deary, 30, will
welcome their first child this summer.... Jenna Elfman (Dharma & Greg),
35, and actor spouse Bodhi Elfman, 37, are prepping for baby No. 1 later
this year.... And in late summer, Sarah Wayne Callies (Prison Break),
29, will give birth to her first child with husband Josh Winterhalt.
BIRTHS
Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under), 28, and photographer husband Sam
Handel, 29, greeted son Orson on Jan. 16.... Indie rocker Ani DiFranco,
36, welcomed a daughter, Petah Lucia, on Jan. 20.
MARRIED
Project Runway contestant Kara Janx, 30, wed real estate broker Sharone
Sohayegh, 27, on Jan. 14 in Cape Town, South Africa.
AILING
Lindsay Lohan, 20, checked into a California rehab facility on Jan. 17.
Said the actress in a statement: ''I have made a proactive decision to
take care of my personal health.'' Production on her latest movie, I Know
Who Killed Me — which was put on hold when Lohan's appendix was removed on
Jan. 4 — will resume when doctors give her the okay.... A special-effects
assistant on the set of the Universal drama Charlie Wilson's War (starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts) was seriously injured on Jan. 18.
The 34-year-old, who's expected to recover, suffered face lacerations
after a mock Stinger missile prematurely exploded on set. Officials say
that several safety regulations were violated, but no citations have
been issued. Says Universal: ''We are cooperating with investigators.''
NEW RULES
Starting in March, the Motion Picture Association of America will update
its appeals process by allowing filmmakers to cite past rulings as
precedents when arguing their cases. Additionally, the MPAA plans to
publish demographic information about its ratings board.
BACKSTORY
It turns out Hollywood-bound American Idol contestant Thomas Daniels,
21, did more than just pump gas back in Oregon. In 2005, he was
convicted of DUI. ''I was young and dumb,'' Daniels has said. Idol reps
would not comment about his future on the show.
CLOSING
HarperCollins announced that it will shutter ReganBooks — the imprint
behind O.J. Simpson's aborted tome If I Did It, Here's How It
Happened — on March 1. This decision comes one month after ReganBooks
founder Judith Regan, 53, was fired.
COURTS
Keira Knightley, 21, is suing a British tabloid for implying she has an
eating disorder. The Jan. 11 issue of the Daily Mail ran a photo of the
actress in a bikini alongside a story about a teenage girl who died from
anorexia.... Lawyers for Diego Pillco — the 19-year-old construction
worker charged with the Nov. 1 murder of actress Adrienne Shelly
(Factotum) — filed a motion on Jan. 17 asking a judge to suppress his
confession. They allege that police failed to read Pillco his Miranda
rights and entered his home without a warrant.... On Jan. 16, a judge
sentenced Usher, 28, to 20 hours of community service. Police arrested
the singer in July 2006 for speeding, after he was found driving 103 mph
on a Georgia interstate. Noted the probate court: ''He honored requests
for autographs upon leaving.''... On Jan. 17, director Gus Van Sant (Good
Will Hunting), 54, pleaded not guilty to drunken and reckless driving.
He was arrested on suspicion of DUI Dec. 21 in Portland, Ore.... Paris
Hilton, 25, was given 36 months' probation on Jan. 22 after pleading no
contest to reckless driving. The singer/model/heiress was arrested Sept.
7 in L.A. on suspicion of DUI.... A Manhattan judge ruled that Jerry
Seinfeld, 52, owes broker Tamara Cohen at least $98,750 for a townhouse
he purchased in 2005. Lawyers for Seinfeld say the comedian had offered
to pay Cohen $50,000 and plan to contest the decision.
PAYDAYS
CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, 39, signed a new contract with the network,
guaranteeing him a reported $4 million per year. The deal more than
doubles his salary and allows him to continue as a contributor to CBS'
60 Minutes.
DEATHS
Barney Miller actor Ron Carey, 71, also a regular in Mel Brooks' films,
of a stroke, Jan. 16, in L.A.
LEGACY
Denny Doherty 1940-2007
Lead singer and one of the founding members of the 1960s folk-pop group
the Mamas and the Papas, Doherty (far right) died Jan. 19 in Ontario,
Canada, after suffering kidney problems following surgery in December.
''Denny loved life, he loved women, and women loved him,'' says Lou Adler,
who produced hits like 1965's ''California Dreamin''' for the quartet. ''He
was this dashing guy with a beautiful, romantic voice. It fit perfectly
within the group's harmonies.''
Art Buchwald 1925-2007
A Pulitzer Prize-winning political satirist known as the ''Wit of
Washington,'' Buchwald, 81, died Jan. 17 in Washington, D.C., of kidney
failure. The WWII vet began his career as a Paris correspondent for the
New York Herald Tribune before becoming a D.C.-based syndicated
columnist in 1962. Buchwald also gained notoriety in Hollywood as the
man who successfully sued Paramount for breach of contract in 1988,
after claiming that the studio stole his idea for the Eddie
Murphy-Arsenio Hall comedy Coming to America. But Buchwald's legacy is
undoubtedly his humor. As the writer recently said, ''I was put on earth
to make people laugh.''
Thwarted 'Passions'
Crestfallen soap fans are busy cooking up hexes as they react to NBC's
Jan. 17 announcement that it will cancel kooky daytime drama Passions in August to make way for a fourth hour of Today. The eight-year-old
Passions became a cult hit with young viewers who dug its campy,
supernatural plots. (Who will ever forget the town's resident witch,
Tabitha — played by Juliet Mills — and her beloved talking doll,
Timmy?) But Passions remained a tough sell among old-school soap fans,
and was consistently the least watched of TV's nine remaining daytime
dramas (averaging just 2 million weekly viewers this season). NBC may
yet try to appease fans by offering new episodes online if a cable
network like SOAPnet doesn't pick up the show. (NBC's other soap, Days
of Our Lives, will air through at least 2009.) For now, devotees will
have to take comfort in knowing that there will never be another soap
like Passions. ''Tabitha and Timmy were iconic,'' says NBC Daytime chief
Annamarie Kostura. ''Passions made people ask, 'What are they doing now?'''
