NEWS ARCHIVE [page 9]
 
STEVE MARTIN GETS COMEDY HONOR [BBC.CO.UK,  5/11/05]
Actor Steve Martin is to receive one of America's top comedy prizes. The 59 year old will be presented with the Mark Twain Prize for American Humour, given annually by the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. His creations, be they on stage, on film or in a book, have created a collective memory of humour and joy for all American", a spokesman said. Previous recipients' of the award include Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin, Richard Pryor and Carl Reiner. Best known for his roles in films such as The Jerk, Parenthood, Father of the Bride and more recently Cheaper by the Dozen, the two-time Oscar host is also well-known for his writing skills. He will shortly be seen in Pink Panther prequel, in the Inspector Closeau role made famous by Peter Sellers.
 
CANNES FESTIVAL OPENS WITH DRAMA [BBC.CO.UK, 5/11/05]
The Cannes Film Festival has opened with a red carpet screening of surreal French drama Lemming, one of 21 films competing for the Palme d'Or prize. Indian actress Aishwarya Rai declared the event open after an overhead gymnastic display by a member of Canada's Cirque du Soleil troupe. The 58th festival is the world's most prestigious film industry gathering.
 
"STOLEN LIFE" WINS TRIBECCA HONOR [BBC.CO.UK,  5/1/05]
Stolen Life" a movie banned in its native China, has been named best film at the Tribecca Film Festival in New York. Director Li Shaolog accepted the Founders Award from actor Robert De Niro, who set up the festival after 11 September 2001 to revitalise Manhattan. "Stolen Life" is a story of love and loss in the life of a college student. Li said she hoped her movie would get "green-lighted so that my people in China can watch this film".
 
COLDPLAY MAKE US SINGLES HISTORY [BBC.CO.UK,  4/29/05]
Coldplay have become the first British band to have a new entry in the US Top 10 singles chart since The Beatles. Coldplay's  debut at number eight with Speed of Sound is the second time a UK band has achieved the feat. The Beatles managed it with Hey Jude in 1968. Speed of Sound is the highest new entry since American Idol winner Fantasia went in at number one last July.
 
POP ARTIST PAOLOZZI DIES AT 81 [BBC.CO.UK, 4/22/05]
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, one of the most influential British artists of the 20th Century, has died aged 81. He had been ill for several years and died on Friday morning in a London hospital, his family said. Born to Italian parents in Leith, near Edinburgh, in 1924, the artist and sculptor is regarded as the founder of the British pop art movement. His most famous works include a series of mosaics on the walls of Tottenham Court Road Tube station in London. He is survived by three daughters including Emma, who nursed him in later years.
 
 
LA SCALA PICKS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR [BBC.CO.UK, 4/22/05]
La Scala opera house in Milan has appointed a new artistic director as bosses attempt to recover from a management crisis. Frenchman Stephane Lissner, of Paris's Theatre de la Madeleine, has been given a four-and-a-half year contract. Musical director Riccardo Muti quit on April 2, citing the "hostility" of fellow employees after a series of rows. His post has yet to be filled. The president of the orchestra quit last week, giving no explanation. The prestigious opera house has been dogged by in-fighting in recent months. World famous conductor Mr Muti left, claiming he had been driven out by the staff's "theatrical show of hostility" over his firing of artistic director Carlo Fontana in February. Protests meant performances were cancelled following Mr Fontana's sacking as the workforce called for Mr Muti and Mr Fontana's replacement Mauro Meli to resign. Mr Meli offered his resignation and is now replaced by Mr Lissner. President of the orchestra, Fedele Confalonieri, quit on April 11 but gave no further explanation.
 
ACTING LEGEND SIR JOHN MILLS DIES [BBC.CO.UK,  4/24/05]
Sir John Mills, one of Britain's best-loved actors and the star of over 100 films, has died at the age of 97. His films included Great Expectations in 1946 and War and Peace in 1956 and he won an Oscar in 1971 for playing a village idiot in Ryan's Daughter. He died at home in Buckinghamshire on Saturday morning after a chest infection that lasted several weeks. "He was unequalled as a world [and] British movie star," his close friend Lord Richard Attenborough said. A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said that the Queen had been "sorry" to hear of the actor's death. Sir John is survived by his wife Mary Hayley Bell - now Lady Mills - his son Jonathan and daughters Juliet and Hayley, both actresses. The couple were married at Marylebone Register Office in 1941 while Sir John was on leave from the Army but Sir John always regretted not being able to give Lady Mills a church wedding. But after 60 years, their marriage was finally blessed at the church next door to their home in 2001. "By this time Lady Mills was wheelchair-bound and suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and Sir John had gone almost blind after retinas in both eyes failed. I was so proud of Mary. It was the happiest day of my life and my life has been full of happy moments," Sir John said afterwards. "The body dies but the spirit goes on. Of that I'm certain. One day Mary and I will leave this world, but we'll be reunited in the next." He was made a CBE in 1960, knighted in 1976 and was given a special honour by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Bafta) in 2002. Born in Felixstowe, Suffolk, Sir John studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and started his career on stage, where his talent was spotted by Noel Coward. Despite failing health, he continued working until the last.
 
JOHNNY CARSON MIC SOLD FOR $50,787 [BBC.CO.UK, 4/24/05]
A microphone that sat on late TV host Johnny Carson's Tonight Show desk in the 1960s and 70s has been bought by an anonymous bidder for $50,787 (£27,597). The microphone was an ever-present prop for Carson, who hosted the talk show for 30 years and died in January at 79. It was sold on Friday by Heritage Galleries in Dallas, Texas, and went for around twice the estimated price. "It's an unbelievable price," said auctioneer John Petty. "A mic like this has never come to auction before." "We were thinking: 'Gee, what would a Carson fan pay for this?'." The microphone was salvaged by chief boom operator Stan Sweeney when crew members were told they could "take a memento or two" during technical upgrades in the 1980s. The microphone still has the words "Johnny's mic... not Ed's... not Fred's..." on a label - a reference to co-host Ed McMahon and producer Fred de Cordova. Mr Petty said the microphone was still in good working order. Heritage Galleries plan to auction Carson's desk later in the year.
 
POP ARTIST PAOLOZZI DIES AT 81 [BBC.CO.UK, 4/22/05]
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, one of the most influential British artists of the 20th Century, has died aged 81. He had been ill for several years and died on Friday morning in a London hospital, his family said. Born to Italian parents in Leith, near Edinburgh, in 1924, the artist and sculptor is regarded as the founder of the British pop art movement. His most famous works include a series of mosaics on the walls of Tottenham Court Road Tube station in London. He is survived by three daughters including Emma, who nursed him in later years.
 
LA SCALA PICKS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR [BBC.CO.UK, 4/22/05]
La Scala opera house in Milan has appointed a new artistic director as bosses attempt to recover from a management crisis. Frenchman Stephane Lissner, of Paris's Theatre de la Madeleine, has been given a four-and-a-half year contract. Musical director Riccardo Muti quit on April 2, citing the "hostility" of fellow employees after a series of rows. His post has yet to be filled. The president of the orchestra quit last week, giving no explanation. The prestigious opera house has been dogged by in-fighting in recent months. World famous conductor Mr Muti left, claiming he had been driven out by the staff's "theatrical show of hostility" over his firing of artistic director Carlo Fontana in February. Protests meant performances were cancelled following Mr Fontana's sacking as the workforce called for Mr Muti and Mr Fontana's replacement Mauro Meli to resign. Mr Meli offered his resignation and is now replaced by Mr Lissner. President of the orchestra, Fedele Confalonieri, quit on April 11 but gave no further explanation.
 
WARNER BUYS P. DIDDY STAKE [BBC.CO.UK,  4/15/05]
Warner Music has purchased a 50% share in Bad Boy records, the label which was founded by hip hop star Sean "P Diddy" Combs in 1994. The deal is estimated to be worth around $30 million (£15.9million). Combs will remain the label's head, but Warner is set to gain joint control over Bad Boy's catalogue - including the musician's own recordings. Combs resumed full control of the label three years ago when he ended a deal with Arista Records. In 2003, Combs put the value of the music company at $100 million (£53 million). Other recordings owned by the label include three albums by late rapper Notorious B.I.G. Bad Boy's current roster of artists includes Mario Winans and Boys N Da Hood. The company, which will remain in its New York base, is the leading component of the Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment Group, which represents Combs' other interests, including TV and film production. The musician also has stakes in clothing, restaurants and managing other performers. The company was bought out last year by an investor group led by Bronfman for an estimated $2.6 billion.
 
RUSSELL SIMMONS RETURNS TO DEF JAM [BBC.CO.UK, 4/15/05] 
Russell Simmons is jamming again. The hip-hop mogul is returning to Def Jam, the label he created two decades ago. Simmons announced Wednesday that he will head the Russell Simmons Music Group, a joint label with Island Def Jam Music Group. The 47-year-old music mogul's first project will be producing an album for his brother Rev Run, a founding member of hip hop group Run-DMC. Simmons sold his record label in 1999 for $100 million (£53 million), but continued to expanded the Def Jam name into television, theatre and clothing. The new venture will merge Def Jam with the Russell Simmons Music Group. Simmons said he was excited at the prospect of a return to producing music. "There are a lot of great records to be made out there, like the Run record," he said. "Nobody would make that record. Nobody would know to make that record. I like the idea of doing something different," added Simmons. Antonio Reid, is the current chairman of Def Jam - which comes under the umbrella of the Universal music company.
 
AT 101, FORMER ZIEGFELD GIRL RETURN  [AP, 4/15/05]
NEW YORK - She began dancing on Broadway while the doughboys were still fighting in France. In the 1920s, she was Al Jolson's leading lady, and later was the first to perform "Singin' in the Rain" — years before Gene Kelly. On Friday, 101-year-old Doris Eaton Travis, a former Ziegfeld Girl, was back on a 42nd Street stage, rehearsing for Broadway's 19th annual fundraiser to fight AIDS.The 5-foot-2, silver-haired dynamo, who lives in Norman, Okla., is the featured performer in an opening number for the benefit show (scheduled for Monday and Tuesday).
 
REGGAE SINGER DELGADO DIES [BBC.CO.UK, 4/14/05]
Jamaican reggae singer Junior Delgado has died at the age of 46 in London, where he had been based. In a 30-year career, Delgado recorded with the likes of Lee Perry, Sly and Robbie and Dennis Brown. Famed for his "roots" style, his most successful songs included Sons Of Slaves, Raggamuffin Year and Away with Your Fussing and Fighting. His spokesman said the death had been unexpected but was believed to have been from natural causes. Born Oscar Hibbert, in Kingston, Jamaica, he recorded under his nickname, taken from the Spanish word for skinny. 
 
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER SOLD TO SONY CORP [BBC.CO.UK,  4/10/05]
The sale of Hollywood studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to Japan's Sony Corporation has been completed. Sony paid around $2.9 billion (£1.5 billion) cash for the studio, and also assumed MGM debts of around $1.9 billion (£1 billion). The deal gives Sony access to MGM's library of over 4,000 films, which they plan to use for video-on-demand services and new cable channels. MGM, best known in recent years for the James Bond films, was the last major independent studio in Hollywood. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was founded in the golden age of Hollywood in 1924 after a merger between Metro Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn Pictures, and Louis B Mayer Productions. Its most famous films include such classics as The Wizard Of Oz and Gone With The Wind. The studio will continue to release films already in production, including the forthcoming remake of The Pink Panther, starring Steve Martin, as well as producing TV shows such as the science fiction hit Stargate SG-1. US media group Time Warner also bid for the studio but it withdrew its bid in September, saying it could not agree on a price.
 
JACKIE CHAN FASHIONS [AP, 4/10/05] 
HONG KONG - His fans own copies of "Rush Hour" and "Shanghai Noon," but now kung fu movie star Jackie Chan wants them to wear his T-shirts, sleep on a bed he designed and shop at his supermarket. One of the world's most famous Chinese celebrities hopes to parlay movie superstardom into a merchandising and retail empire that encompasses everything from clothing to cookies. The action star's expanding business portfolio includes a clothing label, "Jackie's Kitchen" restaurants, a sushi eatery chain, "Jackie Chan signature club" gyms and most recently, a line of chocolates and nutritional oatcakes.
 
JAPANESE DIRECTOR YOSHITARO NOMURA, DEAD AT 85 [BBC.CO.UK, 4/10/05]
Japanese film director Yoshitaro Nomura, best known for the 1974 thriller Castle Of Sand, has died of pneumonia in a Tokyo hospital. Nomura, who was 85, began working in the Japanese film industry aged 22. He made his directorial debut in 1953 with Hato (Pigeon), and continued to make films over the next three decades.
 
RAPPER 50 CENT NOTCHES UP CHART QUARTET [BBC.CO.UK, 4/10/05]
Rapper 50 Cent has become the first artist to have four singles in the US top 10 at once since The Beatles. His raunchy hit Candy Shop is currently number one in the Billboard Hot 100 while Disco Inferno is at six. Two duets with protege The Game are at three and nine. Meanwhile, 50 Cent's album The Massacre has spent five weeks at the top of the US album chart. The Beatles commandeered the entire singles top five in 1964 with hits such as Can't Buy Me Love and She Loves You.
 

 

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