Celebrities in The News

BACALL GETS HONORARY OSCAR

Academy Awards bosses will pay tribute to Hollywood legend LAUREN BACALL at a ceremony this year (09) - by presenting her with an honorary Oscar. The star was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars in 1996 but has never won an Academy Award for her screen performances.

She is among this year's recipients of an honorary statue, given to celebrate motion picture achievements not covered by existing Academy Awards.

Veteran director Roger Corman, who has produced more than 300 films in his career, and cinematographer Gordon Willis will also receive the award, announced by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday (10Sep09).

Board members also voted to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer John Calley, whose movies include The Remains of the Day and The Da Vinci Code.

The prizes will be presented at the inaugural Governors Awards gala event in November (09).

From: Contact Music

NORTON TO RUN THE NEW YORK MARATHON WITH MAASAI MEN

Movie star EDWARD NORTON has signed up to run the New York Marathon after training for the big race with Maasai tribesmen in Africa.

The actor, 39, will hit the streets with three of the guys he trained with on 1 November (09).
He'll be running to raise awareness and funds for the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, which aims to protect the east African grasslands which the Maasai tribe calls home.

One of his co-runners is safari guide Parashi Ntanin, who is so fast he could complete the marathon course in less than 150 minutes.

Norton, who was a champion rower at Yale University, is confident he'll complete the race, even though he's struggling with leg and knee pain.

He says, "I'm enjoying having a goal."

From: Contact Music

DAMON BRUSHES OFF FALSE DEATH REPORT

MATT DAMON killed off a sick report he had plunged to his death from the mountains of California on Thursday (10Sep09) - with a late night appearance on U.S. TV.

An inaccurate rumour alleging the Ocean's Eleven actor had slipped and fallen off the Palos Verdes mountains surfaced online on Thursday morning.

However, Damon showed fans he was alive and well during an appearance on The Late Show with David Letternam and laughed off the bogus claim.

He said, "I didn't know (I was dead), but I feel pretty good! I just heard this. It said that I was in the Palos Verdes mountains, I don't know where this is. The cause (of death) was unknown."
But taking a serious tone, the Hollywood star chastised the pranksters behind the stunt, admitting he was angered by the report because his friends and family could easily have taken the rumour as fact.
He added, "I'm actually really glad I'm on the show because I'd hate to think that one of my friends would read it and think (it's true)... I'm a little bit upset by this because it's a careless, reckless thing to do."

From: Contact Music

Are You Ready For Pirates 4? Johnny Depp Is!

You've got a wait ahead of you since the movie doesn't hit theaters for another three years.

However we can help you out by telling you the name of the film so you can stop referring to it as the fourth one.

Here it is: Pirates of the Caribbean: In Strange Waters!

The big announcement was made at the Walt Disney Co.'s D23 Expo in Anaheim, just as Johnny Depp himself surprised an audience of 5,000 people by appearing on stage, in full costume and character, as Captain Jack Sparrow!

Johnny arrived in style in a gliding replica of his famous Black Pearl ship and cracked jokes with the audience about rum and the tasty dish that appeared before him – Kermit the Frog –(Johnny) Jack joked: "probably tastes like chicken."

We're not going to lie - we're a bit jealous we couldn't have been there.

From: Perez Hilton

CRUZ TIRED OF PREGNANCY REPORTS

PENELOPE CRUZ has been forced to return baby gifts from family and friends in her native Spain - because she's not pregnant.
Reports suggesting the Oscar winner is expecting boyfriend Javier Bardem's baby have been flying around the Internet for weeks, but she insists they're wrong and she's not with child.

The 35-year-old walked out of a TV interview at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada on Thursday (10Sep09), when she was asked about the rumours, and now she's keen to set the story straight.
She says, "I start getting some presents from friends saying, 'Congratulations, you're pregnant.' And I say, 'No, I'm not, so I return the presents. It's amazing."

From: Contact Music

FARRELL CONFIRMS BABY NEWS

COLIN FARRELL has confirmed he's set to become a dad again.
Rumours have been swirling the Irish star's new girlfriend, his Ondine co-star Alicja Bachleda, is pregnant - and now Farrell has revealed the news is true at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday evening (12Sep09), the In Bruges star refused to go into details, but said, "Yes," when asked if the baby news was for real.

Farrell, 33, and the Polish actress, 26, began dating earlier this year (09).

The Irishman has a five-year-old son, James, with his ex-girlfriend Kim Bordenave.

From: Contact Music

'Indiana Jones 5' in the Works!

Grab your fedora, whip and archaeologist garb -- Indiana Jones is ready for his next big screen adventure!

Harrison Ford told France's Le Figaro that he's ready to reprise his role as the outspoken professor-turned-hero for the fifth time -- if the script is right. "The story for the new 'Indiana Jones' is in the process of taking form," Ford explained. "Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and myself are agreed on what the fifth adventure will concern, and George is actively at work. If the script is good, I'll be very happy to put the costume on again."

In June, Harrison's "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystall Skull" co-star Shia LaBeouf - who played Indiana's son Mutt in the film - confirmed that Spielberg was hard at work on the next Indy installment, telling the BBC, "Steven's just said that he's cracked the story."

"Crystal Skull" has earned nearly $800M worldwide.

From: Extra TV

Jennifer Aniston Ready to Reveal Her Singing Voice

Jennifer Aniston will be singing and playing the guitar in an upcoming film, and she makes one guarantee about her big-screen musical debut: "I can carry a tune."

Aniston is both starring in and producing The Goree Girls – the story of a real-life 1940s-era country music group comprised of all-female prison inmates – and is currently honing her singing skills as the production prepares to roll in January.

From: People