Happy Monday and away I go.
I hate to start the day with sad news, but a private funeral was held Sunday in upstate New York for British-born film and stage actress Natasha Richardson, who died last week after a skiing accident. Among the 50 or so mourners in attendance were Richardson’s husband Liam Neeson; their sons, Michael, 13, and Daniel, 12; her mother Vanessa Redgrave; her sister Joely Richardson; her aunt Lynn Redgrave and friends of the family such as Blaine Trump, Mia Farrow, Ralph Fiennes, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, Uma Thurman, Alan Rickman, Timothy Dalton and Laura Linney, reports said. People.com said Neeson was one of the pallbearers who carried Richardson’s casket into the hour-long funeral at St. Peter’s Church in Millbrook, N.Y., the town where Richardson and Neeson were married 14 years ago and shared a home. Wow, that is insane.
To continue with the sad news, Jade Goody’s funeral is to be conducted in the next two weeks and will be screened live on television, the late British reality TV star’s publicist said. The Big Brother favorite died of cervical cancer Sunday at the age of 27. Publicist Max Clifford told The Daily Telegraph her funeral will take place at St. John the Baptist Church in Buckhurst Hill, England. “Jade wanted a celebration of her life. It will be very much a Jade Goody Production with Jade doing her own thing her own way,” Clifford told the newspaper. “It will be a celebration, but of course there will be a lot of tears.” The BBC said hundreds of people have visited the TV star’s Upshire home since her death to offer messages of condolence or leave flowers, candles and cards. England’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Goody “a courageous woman” and said he was “deeply saddened” by the news of her death. “The whole country has admired her determination to provide a bright future for her children,” the BBC quoted Brown as saying. “She will be remembered fondly by all who knew her and her family can be extremely proud of the work she has done to raise awareness of cervical cancer, which will benefit thousands of women across the United Kingdom.” Damn, I became a fan of hers last year, while watching clips of her on Celebrity Big Brother across the pond.
Bicycle rider Matt Lauer was forced to miss Monday’s taping of the Today show after he was hurt trying to avoid a collision with a deer on Long Island, N.Y. “He was riding his bike over the weekend and he had a run-in with a deer,” Today co-host Meredith Vieira said. The 51-year-old Lauer’s shoulder was injured when he was thrown from his bike while trying not to hit the animal, but Vieira said his sense of humor appeared fine as he quipped in an e-mail that he thought “the deer was hired by the competition.” “I’d hire the deer — but just to graze him,” Vieira told Lester Holt, who covered for Lauer on Monday’s program. The Today Show Web site did not say when Lauer will return to the show. I wonder if he had any idear what happened. Get it? Oh that old gag.
Hollywood film star Bruce Willis has married model Emma Heming in a small ceremony in Parrot Cay in the Turks & Caicos Islands southeast of the Bahamas. People.com said the wedding took place Saturday at the actor’s vacation home. Guests included Willis’ ex-wife, actress Demi Moore, their three daughters and Moore’s current husband, actor Ashton Kutcher. Willis’ publicist told People.com the couple, who had been dating for about a year, are planning to make their marriage legal at a civil ceremony when they return to California. Willis is best known for his roles in the TV show Moonlighting and in the Die Hard movies. Ugh, why were Demi and Ashton there? You know my theory, you don’t bring sand to the beach.
Oscar winner Robin Williams is expected to make a complete recovery from his recent heart surgery in the next two months and plans to resume his comedy tour afterward, his representatives said on Monday. Williams, 57, one of Hollywood’s leading comedians and known for his manic stand-up routine steeped in wacky accents and improvisation, had surgery on March 13 at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. “His heart is strong and he will have normal heart function in the coming weeks with no limitations on what he’ll be able to do,” Dr. A. Marc Gillinov, a cardiothoracic surgeon at the clinic, said in a statement. The operation was done to replace Williams’ aortic valve, repair his mitral valve and correct an irregular heartbeat. Williams postponed his “Weapons of Self-Destruction” comedy tour earlier this month to undergo the procedure after complaining of shortness of breath. He was in Florida at the time and was first treated at the University of Miami Hospital. See I thought he was an avid drug abuser in years past, and that might have weakened his heart.
Dance Sensation Lady Gaga turned her back on the love of her life – because he wanted her to give up her career to become a housewife. The “Just Dance” hitmaker was left heartbroken after she was forced to choose between her unnamed ex and her passion for pop. She eventually made a decision to focus all her energies into her music, but still pines for her lost love. But the singer is adamant she made the right choice – insisting she will never be let down by her art. She says, “I’ve only ever really been in love once. He didn’t want me to do this job. He wanted me to stay at home, so I left. It broke my heart but also made me realize music is my first love. “My music’s never going to roll over in bed one morning and tell me it doesn’t love me anymore. I have a problem with rejection.” See the name Mama Gaga just does not have the same ring to it.
Pop star Justin Timberlake and girlfriend Jessica Biel fueled reports their relationship is in trouble after they failed to show up at a casino opening. The couple, dating since 2007, has recently been dogged by rumors they plan to split, with a source telling The Chicago Sun-Times: “Things are not going as smoothly as they would want people to think they are.” The stars then added to the speculation when they failed to deliver a scheduled promotional appearance at the launch of an Indiana Live Casino in Shelbyville, Indiana on March 13. And their absence infuriated many members of the 8,000-strong audience. Guest Marian Flemming says, “It was ridiculous. They promised us that Justin and Jessica were going to be here, so we came down to check out the new casino and had hoped to see the two stars. When they did not show up, we simply felt cheated.” Yeah, I have a feeling that Justin does not want to be tied down.
And finally, Surviving TLC members Tionne ‘T-Boz’ Watkins and Rozanda ‘Chilli’ Thomas are reuniting for a tour of Japan. The two stars have not played a major show together since the tragic death of rapper Lisa ‘Left Eye’ Lopes, who perished in a car crash in Honduras in 2002. But the “No Scrubs” hitmaker are coming back together to perform a series of live dates in Japan – although the tour plans have yet to be officially announced. In a post on social networking site Twitter.com, Watkins writes, “TLC starts practice for the Japan tour on Mon. “Chilli and I just met about our Japan dates! We are performing 17 songs.” Well I guess that is better than appearing on Celebrity Appetence, right T-Boz?
You Know The Drill
Mango Out