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HONORS
In between strike-resolution meetings, the Writers Guild of America
announced the winners of its annual awards on Feb. 9. Taking top prizes
were Juno (Original Screenplay), No Country for Old Men (Adapted
Screenplay), The Wire (Dramatic Series), 30 Rock (Comedy Series), and Mad Men (New Series).... The next day, across the pond, the British
Academy of Film and Television Arts named Atonement the best film of
2007 at a ceremony in London. Acting awards went to Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton), and Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men).
AILING
On Feb. 6., Velvet Revolver singer Scott Weiland, 40, entered rehab for
substance abuse. The rocker underwent treatment for alcohol and drugs in
2003.... On Feb. 11 in Miami, singer-guitarist Lenny Kravitz, 43, was
hospitalized for severe bronchitis. He has indefinitely postponed a
European tour promoting his new album It Is Time for a Love Revolution.
SPLITS
Ex-blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, 32, and model Shanna Moakler,
32 — the on-again/off-again stars of Meet the Barkers — officially ended their tumultuous MTV-chronicled marriage on Feb. 8 in L.A.
COURTS
On Feb. 11 in L.A., Passion of the Christ coscreenwriter Benedict
Fitzgerald filed a fraud and breach-of-contract suit against Mel Gibson, 52, alleging that Gibson cheated him out of his share of Passion's $611 million worldwide gross. Gibson's reps did not return calls for
comment.... In May 2007, Leonardo DiCaprio's Hollywood Hills, Calif.,
neighbors sued him for $250,000 over his new basketball court, claiming
it damaged their property. On Jan. 30, DiCaprio, 33, cried foul, filing
suit against his contractors. The Basketball Diaries star wants them to pay if a court decides to award any money to his neighbors. Reps for the
actor and the builders did not return calls for comment.... In other
hoops-related news, on Feb. 11 in L.A., rapper The Game (né Jayceon
Taylor), 28, pled no contest to firearm-possession charges stemming from
a scuffle during a 2007 pickup game at an L.A. community center. Taylor
received 60 days in jail and 150 hours of community service.
DEATHS
John Alvin, 59, the painter behind iconic posters for such films as E.T., Blazing Saddles, and Blade Runner, of a heart attack, Feb. 6, in Rhinebeck, N.Y.... Married...With Children co-creator Ron Leavitt, 60,
of lung cancer, Feb. 10, in Sherman Oaks, Calif.... Comic-book writer Steve Gerber, 60 (Howard the Duck, Omega the Unknown), of complications
from pulmonary fibrosis, Feb. 10, in Las Vegas. — Simon Vozick-Levinson, with additional reporting by Stewart Allen
Exit, Stage Left
It's a drama of Shakespearean proportions: Randy Quaid, 57, has been
banned from the professional stage for life. Actors' Equity Association
made the ruling on Jan. 25, after allegations that Quaid physically and
verbally abused costars during an '07 Seattle run of Lone Star Love, an
ill-fated Western Merry Wives of Windsor musical. Denying the
accusations, Quaid, who played the intemperate Falstaff, had a
Method-esque reply: ''I am guilty of one thing: giving a performance that
elicited a response so deeply felt by actors and producers with little
experience of my creative process.'' — Simon Vozick-Levinson
