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Oscar-winning director Robert Wise dies
DPA

Los Angeles, Sep 15 (DPA) Four times Oscar winning director Robert Wise died in a hospital here, movie agent Lawrence Mirisch said Thursday.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Mirisch said that Wise died Wednesday of heart failure at the Medical Centre of the University of California, Los Angeles.

The director of legendary musicals such as "West Side Story" and "The Sound of Music" had celebrated his 91st birthday with friends only last week, he added.

Wise directed 40 movies, covering every genre from musicals to sci-fi thrillers ("The Andromeda Strain" 1970), horror classics ("The Body Snatcher" 1945), comedies ("This Could Be The Night" 1957), epics ("Helen of Troy" 1956), and disaster movies ("The Hindenburg 1975).

He began his career as a porter at studio RKO, climbing the ranks of film production to editor and assistant for Orsons Welles' "Citizen Kane" 1941, still widely regarded by many as the best film of all times.

He received the coveted Directors Guild of America D.W. Griffith Award in 1988.

Indo-Asian News Service

Howard hides 'Da Vinci Code' from fans
Indo-Asian News Service

Los Angeles, Sep 15 (IANS) Thronging fans have forced Oscar winning director Ron Howard to disguise the name of the film he is currently shooting and which is based on the book "Da Vinci Code".

The director is currently in Britain shooting the film with stars Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Sir Ian McKellen. 

The filming has had to stop numerous times, interrupted by fans wanting to catch a glimpse of the shooting, according to the Internet Movie Database.

To counter this, Howard changed the name of the film on items such as the scripts, furniture and signs. He also banned the crew from using the real name of the movie.

The name Howard has chosen is "The Rose Line". This is a key theme of the story and easily recognisable to anyone who has read the book.

A Schwarzenegger Playboy video hidden from public
Indo-Asian News Service

Los Angeles, Sep 15 (IANS) Actor-turned-governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was reportedly saved embarrassment as he ran for Governor of California in 2003 when American Media Inc boss David Pecker allegedly bought a raunchy video featuring Arnold with some scantily clad Brazilian women.

According to Hollywood.com, an insider said, "Pecker wanted to protect Arnold. When we had embarrassing information about Arnold, we were to buy it up off the market." 

Jolie's 'chubby' baby daughter
Indo-Asian News Service

Los Angeles, Sep 15 (IANS) Oscar winning actress Angelina Jolie says she still has nightmares of the day she first met her adopted Ethiopian baby daughter who was on the brink of death.

The actress says that baby Zahara is now doing fine and looks much better than when Jolie first saw her in an orphanage, according to the Internet Movie Database.

Jolie said: "She was six months and did not weigh even nine pounds. Her skin... you could squeeze it, it stuck together... It was terrifying. Some children who were in a very similar situation to her passed away." 

But now Zahara has apparently changed so much that Jolie has nicknamed her "chubby". 

She added: "She's gained six pounds. We're calling her chubby - she's just a totally different baby. It's amazing what difference food and little bit of care makes." 

Jolie said she was grateful for her adopted kids Mad (Maddox) and Z, as she calls them. "They're the greatest little people that I've ever met. They give me so much joy and I wanna make a better world for them. I'm just grateful every day that I have the chance."

Hatcher designs T-shirts for hurricane victims
Indo-Asian News Service

Los Angeles, Sep 15 (IANS) Teri Hatcher, the star of "Desperate Housewives", has created a line of T-shirts in her efforts to help raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

According to Internet Movie Database, Hatcher has teamed up with the fashion firm My T to create a new Presents For Purpose line of inspiring designs. 

She says: "I just wanted to do something. Fifty percent of sales go directly to the Red Cross to help the hurricane victims."

The new designs are available on www.presentsforpurpose.com. 
 

Statue to mark Bruce Lee's birthday
DPA

Hong Kong, Sep 15 (DPA) Kung Fu legend Bruce Lee is to have a bronze statue unveiled in his honour in his home city of Hong Kong on what would have been his 65th birth anniversary, a news report said Thursday.

However, the former British colony's government - which has been reluctant to celebrate Hong Kong's most famous film star - has declined to give money towards the 150,000 US dollar project.

The 2.7 metre statue of Lee's famous pose from the 1972 film "Fist of Fury" is due to be erected on the Avenue of Stars on Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour waterfront on Nov 27.

It will be the first permanent memorial to the kung fu star who has been consistently snubbed by officials in his home city as they disapprove of his lifestyle and see him as a bad role model.

Bruce Lee Fan Club chairman Wong Yiu-keung told the South China Morning Post: "We believe this statue is not only a great way to remember Bruce Lee but will become a popular tourist attraction with fans from around the world."

However the club said that without public funding it was going to be "a struggle" to raise the money needed in time for the celebrations planned for November to mark Lee's 65th birth anniversary.

Lee, who was last year named Star of the Century at an awards ceremony in Hong Kong to mark 100 years of Chinese cinema, died in mysterious circumstances in 1973 after falling unconscious at a Hong Kong actress's home. He was 32.

Despite his enduring fame, officials in Hong Kong have consistently shunned the idea of permanent tributes to Lee because of his lifestyle.

Rumours of drug taking and his liaison with a film starlet shortly before his death tainted his legacy in Hong Kong, although he became a martial arts icon around the world.

A survey found that despite the official disapproval of Lee, he remains the number one male icon among Hong Kong children, finishing ahead of Jackie Chan and David Beckham in a school poll.

Repeated attempts by fans to have a museum opened in his memory have been blocked by officials.

The home where he lived his final years in the city's Kowloon district has been sold and converted into a "love hotel" where men take mistresses and prostitutes for sex.

Indo-Asian News Service

Sophie Marceau to meet her Chinese fans
Xinhua

Beijing, Sep 15 (Xinhua) French superstar Sophie Marceau is expected to meet her Chinese fans at a festival of her films here Friday and Saturday.

Three movies, including "L'Aube a l'envers," an 11-minute film written and directed by her, along with "Speak to Me of Love" and "See You Tonight", both Marceu starrers, will be screened at the fair.

Marceau will be present both evenings and mingle with her Chinese fans.

As an activity of The Year of France in China, which is close to its end now, the film fair is sponsored by the China Film Archive (CFA) and Unifrance

"After watching the films, audiences will find an unique interpretation of love given by Sophie," said Bi Yuchen, a CFA spokesperson, "which is filled with romance and poetry, as if she had lived in an ocean of love forever."

Sophie's husband, US movie producer Jim Lemley, the director of "See You Tonight", Sophie's broker Dominique Besnehard and the Unifrance vice president Marc Piton will also attend the fair.

The Year of France in China, which opened in October 2004, will end this month in an array of events, including the fair for Sophie films, a performance by the Paris Opera Ballet, an evening ball in the Summer Palace, and a jamboree on the Great Wall.

A Retrospective of French Cinema, with joint sponsorship of the CFA and the French Cinematheque, were held in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai from January to April this year, screening dozens of old French films.

Indo-Asian News Service

Britney Spears gives birth to baby boy
DPA

Los Angeles, Sep 15 (DPA) Former pop princess Britney Spears is now a pop mom.

Spears, 23, gave birth to a baby boy Wednesday afternoon at the Santa Monica UCLA Medical Center, Us Weekly magazine reported on its website.

The report said that Spears and her husband Kevin Federline, 27, arrived at the hospital with a police escort shortly before 6 a.m. (1300 GMT) and that Spears delivered via Caesarian section some seven hours later with Federline at her side.

The report quoted friends of the couple as saying the child will be named Preston Michael Spears Federline. The child is Spears' first and Federline's third. He has two children, Kori, three, and Kaleb, one, with former girlfriend Shar Jackson.

Indo-Asian News Service