No-one is recognised as knowing more about Hollywood and celebrities than David Hartnell MNZM. He’s not only spent a lifetime reporting on Hollywood’s trivia, gossip and scandals, but he counts many celebrities among his personal friends. Every Monday morning David will give you an exclusive weekly update on the gossip, scandals and trivia of Hollywood’s elite.
David is an award winning broadcaster and columnist and he is also the patron of The Variety Artists Club of New Zealand Inc.
Her Majesty The Queen, awarded David the Insignia of a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit (formerly an MBE) in the Queen’s birthday Honours list 2011 for his recognition for his services to entertainment.
In 2012 he was made an Ambassador St James Saviours, the trust formed to save the iconic Auckland theatre. In 2014 he was made an Ambassador to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand.
In 2016 he was made Patron of the Brotherhood of Auckland Magicians.
Visit David’s Website
‘Under a spell – David Hartnell’s First Love,‘ in the NZ Woman’s Weekly. View the article here on David’s website.
Be in to win monthly DVDs
…simply answer a question correctly, from this week’s column and you will be entered into the draw.
This week: What was the General Lee in the US TV series The Dukes of Hazzard?
Answer by clicking here.
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Monday 13th March 2017
I’m not one to gossip but……………Sir Bruce Forsyth’s daughter has revealed that the TV legend is ‘doing great’ after spending five days in intensive care with a chest infection earlier this month. The 89-year-old former British Strictly Come Dancing TV host has returned to his Surrey home after his hospital stay and is being nursed by his wife of 33 years Wilnelia, 59.
Bruce’s daughter Julie Forsyth told the UK Sunday People newspaper that the family is ‘rallying’ around the ailing presenter ‘He is getting over a chest infection so it’s a bit difficult, but he’s doing good.’ Bruce is dad to Julie, Debbie, Louisa, Laura, Jonathan and Charlotte. He also has nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Julie said all the relatives had been by his side over the past few weeks.
‘We were all up there, all the girls rallied round, and his son.’
Fans feared for the entertainer when he was rushed to hospital with a severe chest infection.
A friend of the national treasure said: ‘He was rushed to St Peter’s and put straight into ICU because of his age, and the nature of his illness. He was in a lot of pain, but has been very stoical throughout ‘Of course, because he is nearly 90, doctors had to take extra precautions and Bruce had to stay in intensive care for a minimum of five nights. Wilnelia was by his bedside virtually the entire time, and has been amazing. ‘Now Bruce just wants to get home, and slowly build his strength back up again. He remains in great spirits.’ Bruce’s manager Ian Wilson thanked the hospital on his behalf. He said: ‘Sir Bruce Forsyth would like to thank everyone for their good wishes. ‘He and his family would also like to say a special thank you to all the NHS doctors, nurses and staff at St Peters Hospital for their kindness and care.’ The veteran broadcaster was forced to cancel several public outings last year due to poor health. In 2015, Sir Bruce underwent keyhole surgery following a fall at his home in October 2015 after two aortic aneurysms were discovered. Although he was expected to take two months to recover, the process took much longer.
Indeed, he did not appear out in public at all during 2016, and was not well enough to attend the funerals of close friends Ronnie Corbett and Terry Wogan. Last year, his wife Wilnelia, a former Miss World, gave an emotional interview to the UK paper The Mirror in which she said he had ‘problems moving’, adding that the couple have discussed the future when she will have to make a life without him. She said: ‘He’s the man I fell in love with because his brain is still there. He has a bit of a problem moving but we still laugh and talk. ‘I pray, I believe. The main thing is that he’s doing well. The pain is more emotional; sometimes we cry, but mostly we laugh.’
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Coronation Street’s legend Jean Alexander – who played Hilda Ogden – has left £10,000 to animal charities in her will.
The kind-hearted actress, who passed away aged 90 in October, insisted she preferred cats to men – and was sure to sign off part of her fortune to her beloved furry friends.
Jean, who spent 23 years on the ITV soap, also left money to loved ones, left £5,000 to the RSPCA Southport Ormskirk and District Branch and £5,000 to Woodlands Animal Sanctuary.
And the late star’s charitable giving didn’t stop there – she also left behind £5,000 to North West Air Ambulance and £5,000 Southport Offshore Rescue Trust.
Miss Alexander passed away peacefully in her hospital bed after she took ill.
She spent her 90th birthday in hospital, as she had fallen ill just as family and friends planned to celebrate the milestone.
In total Jean left an estate worth £673,000 and split her home in Southport, Merseyside, between nieces Valeria Thewlis and Sonia Hearld.
She gave six friends a total of £30,000 cash
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The mounting feud between two Republicans: Donald Trump and Arnold Schwarzenegger could be bigger than the Bette Davis and Joan Crawford feud!
Arnold has been a die-hard Reagan Republican since he moved to LA and became a huge fan of the California governor. Last year, for the first time ever, Arnold could not support his party’s presidential candidate and tried to say so diplomatically – he advised voters to consider what’s best for their country instead of their party.
Trump never forgets a slight and was delighted to pounce on Arnold when opening night ratings for Celebrity Apprentice (which Trump formerly hosted and still produces) were only so-so. Trump denounced Arnold and called himself a “ratings machine.”
When Arnold announced Friday that he was not returning to host the show, Donald was thrilled and tweeted that he didn’t quit – “He was TERMINATED over pathetic ratings!” Arnold’s tweeted reply:”You should think about hiring a new joke writer and fact checker!” He feels viewers shunned the show because of Trump’s connection.
All I know is – this feud is going to get BETTER and BETTER– just watch this space for more drama goings on and on and on!
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Victoria Beckham wraps herself in a white coat on the cover of In Style’s April 2017 issue.
Here is what the 42-year-old fashion designer shared with the mag: For the first time ever do I see a slight smile on her face?
On the reviews of her first collection in 2008: “I’ve got a pretty thick skin. It could have been worse. They could have said, ‘We thought it was going to be rubbish, and it is.’ Instead, they thought it was really good, and I look at that as a positive. I look at everything as a positive, to be honest with you.”
On Tom Ford recognizing her as a designer over a Spice Girl: “I’m really proud of what I achieved with the Spice Girls, but I’m also proud of everything I have done with my brand. So that meant a lot to me, you know? That’s Tom Ford saying, ‘We look at you as a credible designer,’ which was very cool.”
On living with the reality of paparazzi: “I think people would really be surprised at how we try to avoid too much attention. But there are certain places where you cannot avoid being photographed. It is what it is. I’ve had this since I was 18 years old.”
On her latest collection for Target: “You really get a sense of the relationship between Harper and me. This is fun, easy, cute, all of those things. Very honest. Very me.”
FYI: Victoria is wearing a Max Mara coat with rings by David Yurman and Tiffany & Co. on the cover.
For more from Victoria, visit InStyle.com!
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Richard Simmons’ rep is slamming the podcast Missing Richard Simmons again after rumors keep surfacing about where his client is and why he’s been missing since February 2014.
“We did not cooperate, we did not collaborate, we did not approve, we have nothing to do with this podcast,” Richard‘s rep Tom Estey said to People magazine.
A recent episode of Missing Richard Simmons contains an interview with Richard‘s friend and former massuse Mauro Oliveira, who said that Richard is being held hostage by his housekeeper Teresa Reveles.
“That is absolute, absolute madness. Absolutely not true. And you know what? It’s unfortunate that people have to lie to get ratings for a podcast,” Tom continued.
Dan Taberski, the creator of the podcast, has repeatedly reached out to him to try and get an interview, Tom said.
“I don’t know who the hell he is. But I don’t care. What I do care about is the truth,” Tom continued. “I can’t believe this podcast is getting this much attention. But I just don’t get it. If there was any truth to it, I would tell you, there is no truth to it.”
“We did not cooperate nor collaborate. So there is no Richard Simmons attached to this podcast. If there was a reason for us to comment or to cooperate, then we would certainly have done it, but we just didn’t feel the need,” Tom added. “He made a choice to take a break from public life, which he has the right to do. People need to respect that and not surmise that there’s something wrong, when there’s nothing wrong.”
“For 40 years, he took care of everyone else but himself. And so it’s not that he’s being selfish, he’s just being a person, a regular person, taking care of himself.”
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Michelle Dockery steps out to attend a luncheon to celebrate her new movie The Sense of an Ending at the Lotos Club in New York City, looking stunning.
The 35-year-old actress was joined at the event by her co-star Jim Broadbent.
While she is promoting a new project, Michelle is of course still being asked about her beloved series Downton Abbey.
“I would never push her away, but I was very fortunate after Downton, Good Behavior came along. I play an incredible character, Letty, in that show,” Michelle told CBS News about not straying away from Lady Mary.
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When it comes to transcribing historical texts as a Smithsonian Digital Volunteer, some projects can be more entertaining than others.
Not that transcribing specimen labels for 44,000 bumblebees or variations of tropical pollen can’t be interesting, in their way.
But what about the joke files of Phyllis Diller?
The wild-haired, groundbreaking 20th-century comic may not have had “a million of ‘em,” as some in her profession boasted. But she had at least 53,000 gags, typed out on individual 3×5 cards, in categories ranging from accessories to washing. They were typed and meticulously filed into 48 drawers of a large, beige Steelmaster cabinet on wheels that she donated, along with a few of her wilder getups and wigs to the Smithsonian in 2003—less than a decade before her death in 2012 at 95.
The Smithsonian Transcription Center began in 2013, relying on volunteers to help transcribe field notes, diaries, levers, logbooks and specimen labels from eight various Smithsonian museums and archives, some 7,500 volunteers have signed up to transcribe more than 225,000 pages. But when Diller’s jokes came up for transcription last week, “they are going like gangbusters,” says Meghan Ferriter, project coordinator. “I think we actually gained about 115 new volunteers in one day.” The volunteers do it all online—typing out items that have been photographed and digitized. That way the information can be more easily searched, Ferriter says. “You can search the categories that Phyllis Diller used, you could search the content of jokes, or even look at the difference between jokes she created in the 1970s versus the 1980s.” And transcribers might get a chuckle along the way as well.
Most of the gags, written from the 1960s to the 1980s, are just like that—one per card. But a few that are more involved sometimes take a few cards to tell. Volunteers, who range in age from students to retirees and live all over the world, have been relied upon for a number of tasks so far at the Transcription Center, Ferriter says. “But certainly the Phyllis Diller cards appear to be resonating deeply with volunteers who coming to participate in this project now.” The Diller cards came out during Women’s History Month to highlight her contributions to comedy. Transcribing them, Ferriter says, “is also an opportunity to allow the public to interact with a collection that is not available on view right now.”
Ferrier says the center is grateful for any transcribing a volunteer wants to do. “We welcome everything from one line to 100 lines,” she says, whether it’s “spending two minutes working with us, or two hours, or two weeks, or two years—and we do have volunteers who have been working with us for two years.” Judging how quickly the files are being transcribed, getting all 53,000 cards completed may only take a matter of months. “The pace of transcription is going very quickly so far.” And once a volunteer has transcribed enough jokes, maybe they will want to move to something else. “The benefit of using Smithsonian Transcription Center is that you can work a few pages of Phyllis Diller cards, and then you can go and transcribe pollen cards from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute,” Ferriter says. “It’s a very flexible experience.”
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Everybody’s so incredibly ageist!’ Dame Joan Collins takes aim at Britain and denies being rich. Her hugely successful acting career has spanned more than 70 years and enabled her to lead an exclusive lifestyle.
But Dame Joan has bemoaned a Britain she describes as “incredibly ageist” – and denied that she is rich. In a wide ranging and punchy interview with the presenter Michael Buerk in this week’s Radio Times, the veteran actress was in no mood to take any prisoners.
Now 83, Dame Joan became tetchy when Mr. Buerk, himself 70, asked if advancing age had made her calmer She replied: “Everybody’s so incredibly ageist in this country! “Anyway, how old are you? What have you got that’s wrong with you?” And despite being worth an estimated £25million and owning homes in Belgravia, New York, Hollywood and a villa outside St Tropez, she denied that she was rich. When former BBC newsreader Mr. Buerk asked what continues to drive her, adding “after all, you’re rich”, the actress bridled.
She snapped back: “What’s rich? “I’m not exactly rich, no. Rich, as Robert Wagner said to me, is having ****-you money. I don’t have that and I’ve a lifestyle to support.” After taking her first stage role at the age of just nine, the five-time married actress has enjoyed a long and successful career on both stage and screen. In her latest movie The Time of Their Lives, she once again plays a diva – an aged Hollywood star whose fading glamour is shored up with cosmetics, but whose spirit is undimmed.
Her character, Helen, escapes from an old folks’ home to go to the funeral of an ex-husband with the help of a downtrodden frump called Priscilla, played by Pauline Collins. When asked by Buerk if she was trying to squeeze a bit more out of life before the curtain comes down, the veteran star replied: “Is that a question? You’re bumbling! “I am a big squeezer of life. I couldn’t squeeze more out than I do.” The actress, who was made a Dame by the Queen in 2015, has been a vocal supporter of Brexit. She has publicly said Britain has become too crowded and that unchecked immigration will lead to ‘this tiny island’ sinking into the sea. This is part of an interview with Dame Joan in the UK Radio Times magazine out this week.
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Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt are NOT in talks to co-star in a movie together, despite a bogus stories in gossip magazines and on some websites…
A rep for Jennifer, assures all media outlets, “There are no projects that Jennifer is considering with Brad.”
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In Kirsten Stewart’s new film Personal Shopper, she plays a young woman working in Paris as a personal shopper for a celebrity. She seems to have the ability to communicate with spirits, like her recently deceased twin brother. Soon, she starts to receive ambiguous messages from an unknown source.
The 26-year-old actress is now opening up about how working on the film has caused her to
“People feel so entitled to communication in the digital age,” Kristen said. “I think mourning has probably changed because we’re so in each other’s faces no matter where we are geographically. Now imagine someone passes away and you’re like, ‘What do you mean I can’t talk to them? I can always talk to them.’”
“I haven’t had too many friends pass away, and my grandma’s a hundred years old. I haven’t dealt with death a whole lot, and, if I have, it’s been sort of peripheral,” Kristen added. “I can’t imagine going back and knowing that my entire text thread with this person is still there and they’re not. People’s Facebooks become memorial-type things. I think having this data in our hands all the time, depending on how you approach it, can be really scary because it’s a rabbit hole. It gives you an opportunity to know more than you could remember without it. Is it better to let things go and be affected by them, or always have it there to dwell on? Who knows?”
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Olivia Newton John‘s daughter is finally telling all on her plastic surgery woes!
Chloe Lattanzi revealed to Australia’s Woman’s Day that her first boob job when she was 18-years-old left her body completely destroyed, and her lip fillers weren’t much better!
“All those things were a disaster,” Lattanzi, 31, said. “Not only did the lip implants look ridiculous, the first boob op I had in Australia when I was 18, left me looking mutilated.”
Lattanzi explained that she had her surgeries corrected as “a reward [to herself] for [her] sobriety” after overcoming a drug addiction and eating disorder. The Grease star’s daughter went to rehab in 2013 for her cocaine and alcohol addiction.
A new boob job cost the wannabe singer $10,000 (US), but she didn’t mind.
“Now I’m a 32DD and I love my body and love showing my new boobs off,” she said, adding, “Mum supported my surgery decisions because she knew how unhappy I was before.”
Lattanzi also denied having a rib removed to make her skinnier, saying, “I’d never dream of removing a vital part of my anatomy. I wear a waist trainer and work out to stay in shape.”
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Former Two and a Half Men star Jon Cryer is set to top line Losing It, ABC’s single-camera family comedy from Growing Up Fisher and Truth Be Told creator DJ Nash and Aaron Kaplan’s Kapital Entertainment. Written by Nash, Losing It is about three misfit adult siblings and their parents who — between divorce, new parenthood, early-onset dementia and let’s just say life — are all losing it in different ways. And family is the only way they’re going to find it.
Cryer will play one of the adult siblings, Andy, a successful acupuncturist who turned to Eastern philosophy as a way to cope with his crazy family. While he’s close with his mother, his relationship with his father is complicated, especially since Andy finds himself having to take care of the dad who never really took care of him. A bit of a control freak, Andy believes he can fix anything – except for maybe his marriage that has been in trouble ever since he caught his wife with another man.
Cryer joins Natalie Morales who plays another sibling. Nash and Kaplan executive producer with Dana Honor.
Cryer won two Emmy Awards for his role as Alan Harper, a struggling, divorced chiropractor, on the hit CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men, which he played for the show’s entire 12-season run.
Since the Men 2015 finale, Cryer did an arc on CBS’ drama NCIS. This marks his return to TV series full-time. Cryer recently was attached to a multi-camera comedy script by Will & Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick.
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The documentary is directed by Michael’s friend David Austin, with contributions from his musical peers Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder.
Now UK Channel 4 has said that it won’t be aired at its intended time of mid-march. Michael’s body remains unburied as tests continue to establish what caused the star’s death.
It’s expected the body will be unburied for 13 weeks, after he died on Christmas Day. An source told the Mirror: “This film feels like a huge part of George’s legacy. “Although he is speaking and not singing, it could be seen as his final performance in terms of him making the film. He talks about areas of his life never previously discussed.
“It is vital the film does him justice. George has not had a funeral yet and with the transmission date just weeks away, the decision was made to delay giving the final version to UK Channel 4.” A spokesperson for Channel 4 said: “Due to the terribly sad circumstances, we are taking time to carefully finish the film which will be shown later this year.”
George Michael’s ex-boyfriend, Kenny Goss, said that the star’s body had “just given up” when he died. Goss was with Michael for 13 years until they split up in 2009, and described the star as “the love of his life”. Speaking to the UK Sunday Mirror, Goss said of Michael’s death: “I can’t say for sure but I think his body just gave up. All these years, it was just weak.” Michael’s boyfriend Fadi Fawaz was also reported to have been banned from the funeral, after loved ones broke into a public row about the arrangements. Adele recently wept as she paid tribute to the star. Police are still treating the death as unexplained but non-suspicious
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Prince Jackson is all smiles while heading into the Good Morning America studios for an interview in New York City.
The 20-year-old son of the late Michael Jackson stopped by the show to talk about his charitable student organization Heal Los Angeles, which he started while as a student at Loyola Marymount University. Prince says the organization was inspired by his dad’s organization Heal the World.
Prince also talked about his name and how he chose King’s Son Productions as the name of his own production company.
“My father was the King of Pop and King’s Son Productions has this mantra where a title is earned, but a name is given,” he said. “So, I was born as Prince and that was the name my dad had given to me, but my dad had earned the epithet King of Pop and that’s through hard work and years of training and everything that he worked so hard to get. So it’s a form of motivation because my name is Prince, but for all intensive purposes I am the King’s son — working to get my own epithet.”
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Fans of La La Land (which is not me I did not enjoy the movie) who live in Los Angeles are in for a special treat as a “live-to-film” concert production is heading to the Hollywood Bowl!
Composer Justin Hurwitz, who won two Oscars for his work on the movie, will conduct a 100-piece symphony orchestra, choir, and Jazz ensemble while the film is played on a big screen.
“For me, one of the most thrilling and fulfilling parts of making La La Land was scoring the film to a live orchestra: a hundred phenomenal local musicians playing in real-time to the Technicolor images, bringing Justin‘s compositions to vivid life,” Oscar-winning director Damien Chazelle said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to share that experience with audiences this summer, let alone in a setting as epic and as quintessentially ‘LA’ as the Hollywood Bowl.”
The concert production will take place on May 26 and May 27. Tickets go on sale this Friday, March 10 in the US!
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Do you know who this iconic TV and movie star is from this American Express TV commercial back in 1990 is? In The Red: What a tart. Dressed in scarlet high heels, a large fluffy hat and clutching a handbag and dogs. See the bottom of my column to see if your right!
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Viola Davis has just won an Oscar, and now she’s opening up about her growing up in poverty.
The 51-year-old Fences star opened up to People magazine where she said that she and her family struggled with hunger, terrible housing conditions, and racists remarks from bullies.
“I was the kind of poor where I knew right away I had less than everyone around me,” Viola said. “Our environment, our physical space reflected our income.” At home, “the boards were coming off the walls,” she says, and the family endured “shoddy plumbing and no phone and no food and rats and all of that. That very much was visible to me.”
Despite her upbringing, Viola says that growing up poor helped motivate her to want to give herself a better life.
“It became motivation as opposed to something else — the thing about poverty is that it starts affecting your mind and your spirit because people don’t see you,” Viola said. “I chose from a very young age that I didn’t want that for my life. And it very much has helped me appreciate and value the things that are in my life now because I never had it. A yard, a house, great plumbing, a full refrigerator, things that people take for granted, I don’t.”
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I FEARED I WAS GOING TO HYPERVENTILATE – THE DAILY MAIL, UK
A GUT-BUSTING HIT– THE NEW YORK TIMES
A MASTERPIECE OF MALFUNCTION – THE TIMES, UK
EXQUISITELY CHOREOGRAPHED MAYHEM – THE INDEPENDENT, UK
IT’S AS THOUGH THE MOUSETRAP HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY MONTY PYTHON – WHATSONSTAGE.COM
WE LAUGHED UNTIL THE TEARS RAN DOWN OUR FACES – JOANNA LUMLEY
HAS THE AUDIENCE ROLLING IN THE AISLES – THE AGE, MELBOURNE
Touring from 27 September, 2017
Wellington | Christchurch | Auckland
Lunchbox Theatrical Productions pre-sale AVAILABLE NOW GP on sale 17 March @ 5pm
London’s Olivier Award-winning theatre company Mischief Theatre is bringing its smash-hit comedy The Play That Goes Wrong to New Zealand for the first time from September.
With a host of awards for Best New Comedy to its credit, The Play That Goes Wrong actually appears to be doing something right for West End audiences, and now audiences here will get their chance to witness theatrical disaster when this hilarious masterpiece stumbles into town.
Described as Fawlty Towers meets Noises Off, The Play That Goes Wrong has been enjoying five-star reviews and is currently playing to packed houses in the West End and Australia and opens on Broadway this week. This brilliant comedic piece makes its premiere in Wellington on 27 September, followed by Christchurch on 3 October and Auckland on 11 October.
The play introduces ‘The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ which is attempting to put on a 1920s murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong…does, as the accident-prone thespians battle on against all the odds to get to their final curtain call.
Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields and directed by Mark Bell, The Play That Goes Wrong is a highly physical comedy packed with finely-tuned farce and Buster Keaton inspired slapstick, delivered with split-second timing and ambitious daring. The Play That Goes Wrong, which started its life at a London fringe venue with only four paying customers at the first performance, is now enjoying its third catastrophic year on the West End and has gone on to play to an audience of over a quarter of a million.
The Play That Goes Wrong got it absolutely right when it clinched a number of accolades including the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy 2015, BroadwayWorld UK Winner for Best New Play 2015 and WhatsOnStage Award Winner for Best New Comedy 2014. The Play was also a highlight of the Royal Variety Performance in 2015.
Licensed to 33 countries, with productions playing in Melbourne, Tokyo, Paris, Budapest and soon to open in Rome, Warsaw, Shanghai, Cape Town, the cast stumbling its way to New Zealand will come direct from the UK tour.
Mischief Theatre was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art and began as an improvised comedy group. The company performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work. This is Mischief’s first New Zealand Tour and they look forward to Going Wrong, upside down, on the other side of the world.
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Emma Watson and Dan Stevens pose together on the cover of Attitude magazine’s April 2017 issue, in which Beauty and Beast director Bill Condon opens up about the first-ever gay moment in a Disney film.
Here is what the stars had to share with the mag:
Emma on the film’s queer sensibility: “I think it was really important actually for Dan and I to develop and understand why each of our characters feel like they don’t fit in. I certainly felt watching the original that I wanted to know more about why Belle feels that she’s different and why she wants to be different and why she’s naturally different.”
Dan on why the lead characters are so popular with gay men: “It’s about that sense of persecution. Belle is seen as a bit of a freak within her community, this girl who reads and invents things and is a bit too clever for the local Establishment. And Beast is obviously persecuted because of his appearance.”
Bill on creating the character that experiences Disney’s first ever gay moment: “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And josh (Gad, who plays LeFou] makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its pay-off at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.”
For more from the issue, visit Attitude.co.uk!
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Tom Hanks has earned a reputation for being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, and he continues to cement that image by committing good deeds for fans and strangers. See below five of the actor’s random acts of kindness.
Hanks most recent gesture came Thursday when he bought an espresso machine for the White House press corps. Attached to the gift was a note that read, “Keep up the good fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Especially for the Truth part.” In fact, this is the third time in the past few years that Hanks has sent a coffee maker to the Press Corps.
In September 2016, Hanks stopped mid-jog in Central Park to crash a wedding photo shoot and congratulate the bride and groom. Not only did the actor pose for pictures with the couple, but also asked if they needed a wedding officiant because he’s an ordained minister. Tom found a lost ID card belonging to a Fardham University student in October 2015 and posted a photo of the card on Twitter to get it back to her. “Lauren! I found your Student ID in the park. If you still need it my office will get to you. Hanx,” he captioned the image. The girl later got her ID returned along with a note from Hanks and his signature.
In 2013, Hanks invited a fan named Sarah Moretti, who suffers from autism, backstage to his dressing room after his Broadway show Lucky Guy. A video was later posted online of the woman presenting the actor with a scrapbook she made of photos from his movies and other events, to which he said, “Oh, Sweetie! How wonderful is it to meet you?” He then wrote her a letter in return.
That same year, Hanks invited a New York City cab driver to see his Broadway show after the man extended his shift to give the actor a ride. The driver wrote about the encounter on Facebook, revealing that the actor nicknamed him “Mr. Ferrari” because of the Ferrari hat he was wearing. The driver later met Hanks again backstage at his show, and continues to tell all of his passengers about the actor’s kind deed.
Just a foot note: I interviewed Tom many years ago when he was in one of this fist movie titled Big. He was very down to earth and not at all Hollywood, and from what I hear fame and fortune has not changed him.
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Emma Watson rocks a jacket with her name on it for her brand new feature with Coveteur!
The 26-year-old Beauty and the Beast actress opens up about supporting female-led businesses, what she wears almost every day, working with Dior and much more.
On supporting female-led businesses: “I love to work with and support female designers. I think Gabriela Hearst is absolutely amazing, very sustainable, really smart. As I’m putting together my press looks for Beauty and the Beast, I really have in mind, ‘how can I support up and coming female businesses?’.”
On what people say when they recognize her on the street: “What’s really interesting is that people are actually afraid to get it wrong! They’re always like, ‘Is it you, is it not you?’ And there’s this fear of getting it wrong. I always find it amusing. Mostly its like, ‘Are you the girl? Are you that girl?’ Which always makes me laugh.”
On the one thing people get wrong about her: “[laughs] Gosh… I’m trying to think what I get. I’m probably sillier than people think I am.”
On her go-to binge watch of choice: “This is going to make me seem very uncool, but Friends! It blows my American friends’ minds, but in the UK, Friends still plays. There’s one channel that it’s on basically all the time, and I will watch Friends reruns forever. My friends are like, ‘Why are you doing this?’ It’s one of those comforting things to have in the background that just kind of makes you feel like everything’s going to be okay.”
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Eva Mendes looks radiant on the cover of Shape magazine.
Here’s what the 43-year-old actress and designer had to share with the mag:
On skipping Ryan Gosling’s red carpets during awards season and being his rock behind-the-scenes: “What people don’t know about me is that I love being home. Instead of hitting the red carpet, I’d rather be with our girls [ Esmeralda, 2, and Amanda, 11 months).”
On what she eats every day: “I usually start my day with eggs. I think they’re like magic – you can do so much with them. I mostly keep it simple and have scrambled eggs and a piece of Ezekiel toast for breakfast … I grew up eating rice and beans, so I want some kind of grain in every meal. For lunch, I usually have salmon and rice or quinoa, and I try to include a salad. I’ll eat the same thing for dinner. I’m a creature of habit in that way. I don’t get bored with food. I try to think about it as fuel for my body. But what I am looking forward to is the time when dinner becomes a sit-down situation again. Right now I’m in survival mode with two babies, eating on the go.”
On getting back into shape after having a baby: “In some ways, it’s been more challenging to get back in shape after my second daughter. Yet it’s not as hard as I thought it would be, because I’m always running around with the kids. I never sit down – I’m on the move all day. And I don’t keep junk food at home anymore, because I’m trying to set a good example. So there are no more Krispy Kremes for me to grab. But there is this app called Postmates that delivers whatever you want in minutes. It’s almost as bad as having the food in your kitchen. Don’t laugh, but they’re on the way here right now!”
For more from Eva, visit Shape.com
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It is none other than John Cleese in that red dress!
…………………. Until next week my lips are sealed!
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Monday 6th March 2017
I’m not one to gossip but……………Fresh fears for legendary British TV host and entertainer Sir Bruce Forsyth returned from hospital under the watchful gaze of concerned medics after it emerged he returned home from hospital in an ambulance.
British national treasure Sir Bruce, 89, was rushed to St Peter’s Hospital, in Surrey, last Sunday after he was taken to hospital last Sunday with a serious chest infection.
He spent five days in intensive care — and was flanked by medics as he returned to his Surrey mansion on Friday (Saturday NZ time).
A source said: “Bruce is feeling much better but is still far from 100 per cent, so doctors decided to take precautions
“Their view was that the more support he had on hand for the transition, the better.
“Now Bruce is at home, he can relax completely and concentrate on getting better, which is of course, what everyone wants him to do.
“He won’t be up and about for a while, but he is happy the doctors have allowed him to be at home – where he is comfortable.
“Everyone is keeping an eye on him, these illnesses are more troubling at a certain age but he has been through worse.”
Sir Bruce had surgery in 2015 after two life-threatening aneurysms.
This scare was unrelated.
He is being nursed by devoted wife, Lady Wilnelia, who remained by his bedside throughout his time in intensive care.
I had the pleasure of working with Sir Bruce when he was in New Zealand many years ago, and what a hell of a nice down to earth person he was…the true professional … they don’t make them like that anymore! I wish him a speeding recovery. Here are two clips on what Sir Bruce does so well.
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Halle Berry is lucky that the Best Picture mistaken identity episode occurred at the conclusion of the award show – otherwise everybody would be talking about her wig! She wins WORST HAIR at the event – hands down – and we pity everyone who had to sit behind her at the show!
This wig was stiff as a board- didn’t move when she did, and sat on her head like a hat. Halle’s dress onstage was lovely but she changed before she and her WIG went to the Vanity Fair party.
Why she didn’t take the WIG off when she had the chance, is a mystery.
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Oscar winning ‘Moonlight’ screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney on why he wore DameElizabeth Taylor’s Red Ribbon
“My mother died of AIDS related complications when I was 22 years old – a month or so before I wrote In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue … 25 years ago Dame Elizabeth Taylor wore a Red Ribbon on her white gown to bring awareness to the fight against the epidemic alongside Paul Newman as they presented the Best Picture Award in 1992.
I had the great honor of representing my mother and Dame Elizabeth by wearing that same 25 year old Red Ribbon on my white suit to continue to bring awareness and solidarity to the fight against AIDS.”
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It’s wasn’t just Hollywood’s leading ladies who wanted to look their best on the Oscars red carpet, but the men too. According to new reports from The Independent, Leonardo DiCaprio flew an “eyebrow artist” to Los Angeles all the way from Australia to groom his brows before the event, where he presented Emma Stone with the Best Actress award for her performance in La La Land.
Leonardo is reportedly such a fan of Australian “eyebrow-artist-to-the-stars” Sharon-Lee Hamilton, he flew her 7,500 miles from Sydney to Los Angeles to tend to the brows of both himself and a select group of his friends, including Tobey Maguire, the reports suggest. The A-List actors are apparently among a few Hollywood clients who enlist Sharon-Lee to “trim and wax” their eyebrows, which typically would cost $250. However when you add on the costs of return flights from Sydney, it proves to be one pricey grooming session!
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This year’s Oscars will go down in history as one of the most disastrous blunders of all time announcing the Best Picture. Announcers Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway revealed they had accidentally been given the wrong envelope by accountants with Price Water House Coopers, who tabulate the Academy’s voting.
But it’s certainly NOT the first time there’s been a mix up over the winners.
In 1964, Sammy Davis Junior was hosting the prestigious award ceremony when he was handed the wrong envelope when presenting the Oscar for Best Music Score.
Instead of announcing Andre Previn for Irma La Douce, the Rat Pack singer said it was for John Addison for Tom Jones.
But rather than panic, David Jr. played it cool. ‘Oh I am… they gave me the wrong envelope,’ he told the crowd, pulling a comedy face as he appeared to take the blunder in his stride.
‘Wait till the NAACP hears about this,’ he joked, to raucous laughter.
Playing up the blunder for laughs, Davis Jr. slipped on a pair of reading glasses as he was passed the correct envelope.
Here’s a clip for that year’s Oscars.
Talking about this year’s Oscars – their In Memoriam had a number of notable snubs. And at least one celebrity is speaking out about it.
As Gossip Cop reported, the Academy Awards tribute to the stars we’ve lost over the last year was introduced by Jennifer Aniston. The actress made special mention of Bill Paxton, whose death was announced just hours before the ceremony. The montage that followed highlighted a number of industry professionals who have also died, including actors like Mary Tyler Moore, Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds, Anton Yelchin, Garry Marshall, and John Hurt.
But a few late stars of substantial caliber were left out. Florence Henderson, who died in November, wasn’t recognized. Garry Shandling,Doris Roberts and Robert Vaughn weren’t included, either. And Patricia Arquette, herself an Oscar winner, is taking issue with The Academy’s decision to leave out her actress sister, Alexis, who died in September.
Patricia told Vanity Fair, “I’m really bummed. For the In Memoriam, they left out our sister Alexis, and she was trans.” She went on to say, “We’re living in a time right now where trans kids can’t even go to the bathroom in schools and they’re diminished in society. It’s really unfortunate that the Oscars decided they couldn’t show a trans person who was such an important person in this community. Because [for] trans kids, it could have meant a lot to them.”
A couple of year ago The Oscar’s completely miss out mentioning the passing of both Phyllis Diller and Joan Rivers in their In Memoriam section, both these women appeared in movies.
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Casey Affleck was asked about his sexual assault allegations in the past after his whirlwind weekend where he won the 2017 Best Actor Oscar statue at the Academy Awards.
“I believe that any kind of mistreatment of anyone for any reason is unacceptable and abhorrent, and everyone deserves to be treated with respect in the workplace and anywhere else,” the 41-year-old Oscar winner told the Boston Globe about the 2010 lawsuit against him by two women. The case was settled out of court, and Casey has said the claims are untrue.
“There’s really nothing I can do about it,” Casey continued. “Other than live my life the way I know I live it and to speak to what my own values are and how I try to live by them all the time.”
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Katie Holmes is telling the world what Tabloids don’t print the truth, as if we didn’t know that – HELLO!
The actress covers the April 2017 issue of Town & Country, and candidly discusses raising her daughter, Suri Cruise, and balancing motherhood with her career. As everyone knows, being part of Hollywood comes with media scrutiny. And to say Holmes has been the subject of a few tabloid cover stories over the years would be a massive understatement.
But she doesn’t take those gossip magazines seriously. And neither should anyone else. “In today’s world a lot of celebrities probably shield their children from the tabloids. In my household we know what they print isn’t true, so we don’t pay attention,” she says. “There are more important things… If people know who you are, they might write about you, and you can’t control that.”
In recent years, the rumor mill has fixated on the former “Dawson’s Creek” star’s divorce from Tom Cruise and her supposed relationship with Jamie Foxx. Last month, OK Magazine! Manufactured a cover story that claimed Holmes and Foxx revealed “how we fell in love.” Of course, neither star actually spoke to the tabloid.
Also in February, OK! sister publication the National Enquirer published a story alleging Holmes and Fox has “split over Scientology” Reps exclusively told the Gossip Cop website the tale was both “crazy” and a “complete fabrication.” And so now we stress what Holmes herself told Town & Country about the tabloids: “What they print isn’t true.”
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Boy George took to social media over the weekend to mark an anniversary.
’9 years sober today. #letgoletgod’ the Culture Club singer posted on Twitter.
It’s an impressive achievement considering there was a time when the 55 year old was getting more attention for his struggles with drugs than for his music.
He had become addicted to heroin in the 1980s as well as other drugs which led to many legal troubles.
In 1986 George was arrested for heroin possession. Then in 2005 for cocaine