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April 2006
Al Green working again with producer Willie Mitchell
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Since Al Green even uses the title on the cover of his latest album, “It’s OK,” the singer’s second critically acclaimed secular project with old Royal Studios producer Willie Mitchell, it’s only logical to address him as “reverend” when you ring his cellphone.
“It’s Al,” he gently corrects. He’ll appeared Friday night at Chastain Park Amphitheatre with Atlanta singer Francine Reed.
It’s clear that the soul singer is enjoying his reunion with Mitchell, who with Green created the performer’s biggest hits like “Let’s Stay Together” and “Love and Happiness.”
“Working with Willie at Royal is like going home,” Green says. “You just go in and do your thing. It’s familiar and it’s comfortable.”
When we inform the singer that Mitchell once told us the secret to getting an inspired performance out of Green in the vocal booth was shouting obscenities at him, the singer lets loose one of his multi-octave laughs. “Now, Willie’s just getting old, and he’s senile,” Green says. “I wouldn’t believe a word that man tells you!”
The vocalist has described his recent work with his old mentor as the continuation of “a beautiful painting.” So with the release of 2004’s “I Can’t Stop” and last year’s “It’s OK,” is that 40-year-old mural of sounds now complete?
“That’s the thing with painting,” he explains. “You never know when a painting is done until it’s done. And it’s tougher when you’re painting with your heart. No piece of art is ever finished until you put your signature on it. And Willie and me? Neither one of us is even close to signing our work just yet.”
The singer has been cutting tracks at Jimi Hendrix’s old Electric Lady Studios in New York City’s Greenwich Village.
“We’re keeping it Al, but we are adding a hip-hop flavor. The stuff we’re laying down is gonna knock your socks off.” Green pauses and adds: “It’ll knock your socks and your shoes off!”
While Green still logs 130 to 140 dates a year gigging, he tries not to leave his flock unattended too many Sundays at his Full Gospel Tabernacle church in Memphis, just down the road from Graceland.
“You know what they say,” he says, laughing. “If the bishop’s not there, your congregation might not stick around either! Rev. Al’s got to be there, or folks might not be putting that $20 in the [collection] plate. I only miss four or five Sundays a year.”
And according to the singer, tonight’s Chastain audience can expect Green’s multi-decade long ministry of love to continue.
“Whether I’m up there singing, ‘Love and Happiness” or ‘Take Me To the River’ or ‘Let’s Stay Together’ or ‘Amazing Grace,’ it’s all about the love, baby. And there’s no way to whup that either.”
A sneak peek at ‘Niki’
Heeding the dark pin-hued invitations to “Come Play!” Atlanta Botanical Garden patrons, social elite and well, us, dressed the part at Thursday night’s private preview of “Niki in the Garden” in Midtown. Feather boas and bright primary colors were the cocktail party attire of choice.
The whimsical outdoor art exhibition collecting 41 pieces of Niki de Saint Phalle’s colorful sculptures went perfectly with the crisp humidity-free (and seemingly pollen-free) spring evening.
Guests sipped champagne and made mental notes to bring their children and grandchildren to the family-friendly exhibition this summer.
Welcoming the crowd, ABG executive director Mary Pat Matheson talked about the facility’s ambitious $45 million fund-raising campaign. Thus far, the garden has raised $28 million.
Matheson and her staff are hoping the Niki exhibit will drive visitors during its stay in Atlanta through Halloween.
“Niki in the Garden” opens to the public today. For info: atlantabotanicalgarden.org.
Celebrity docket
Rapper Snoop Dogg flew from Britain on Friday following his arrest over a fracas at Heathrow Airport in which seven police officers were injured. The 34-year-old boarded a Virgin Atlantic flight for Johannesburg, South Africa, late Friday. He was due to perform in Durban today.
Snoop and five other men were arrested Wednesday on charges of violent disorder and affray — or in non-English English terms, starting a brawl — and spent the night in jail, the Metropolitan police said.
Police said Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Broadus, and the other men, all U.S. citizens in their 30s, were released Thursday but must return to London next month for further questioning.
Trouble began late Wednesday when members of Snoop’s entourage were denied entry to British Airways’ first-class lounge. A disturbance involving 30 people followed, police said.
When officers told the group that they would not be allowed to board their flight, “a number of the group became abusive and pushed officers,” a police spokeswoman said.
She said seven officers received cuts, bruises and other minor injuries.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Bluesman Otis Rush is 72. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is 52. Actress Kate Mulgrew (“Star Trek: Voyager”) is 51. Actress Michelle Pfeiffer is 48. Actress Uma Thurman is 36. Rapper Master P is 36.
Sunday: Actress Cloris Leachman is 80. Singer Willie Nelson is 73. Rapper Lloyd Banks is 24. Actress Kirsten Dunst is 24.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Local foodies, get ready to grab a table at Shaun’s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Keeping up with Atlanta chef Shaun Doty’s culinary capers is rapidly becoming a full-time position here at Buzz Central. Just seven months after wowing diners with the debut of his Table 1280 at the Woodruff Arts Center, Doty’s wire whisk is again on the move.
In late summer, Doty plans to transform the former Inman Park Patio at 1029 Edgewood Ave. into his eponymous eatery, Shaun’s. Doty will remain as a consultant at Table 1280.
“Inman Park is an amazing neighborhood, and I want to create a dining experience that will mesh with its laid-back and creative vibe,” Doty said via a statement e-mailed to Buzz. “The concept will be simple yet creative and implemented with integrity and passion.”
The 3,000-square-foot restaurant features 65 seats inside and 25 on the patio. In comparison, Table 1280, operated by New York-based Restaurant Associates, seats 240.
Doty first made a name for himself by transforming the late, great Mumbo Jumbo downtown, and later at MidCity Cuisine.
The chef quietly confided to us Thursday that the decision was prompted by his adorable son, Dante, who will turn 3 on May 21.
“He’s at a very fragile time in his life right now and I needed to get into a place where I’m participating more in his life. This couldn’t wait. It had to happen now.”
Doty says his bosses at Restaurant Associates “have been supportive and amazing” about his decision to lessen his role at Table 1280. Said Doty: “It sounds crazy to open a new restaurant in order to find more free time, but that’s the reality of this.”
Paula Deen cooks with Reege
Savannah chef and Food Network goddess Paula Deen put Regis Philbin through the mixer during her segment on “Live With Regis & Kelly” on Thursday morning to promote the hardcover release of “The Lady & Sons Just Desserts” (Simon & Schuster, $24). Deen tried to whip up her son Bobby’s Caramel Cake with the kitchen-challenged Philbin. After Philbin sent flour, eggs and milk flying through the air, Deen leaned in to ask, “Somebody told me you [create a vacuum] at cooking. Is that true?” Reege replied: “No, that’s not true!” The cake didn’t exactly get finished, but the segment served as hilarious morning television. And oh, yes, in the show’s closing seconds, Deen announced on-air that her older son Jamie’s new bride is pregnant. Exclaimed Deen: “I’m going to be a grandma!”
We’ll drink to that
Project Open Hand advisory board member Barron Segar got a jolt when he and his Midtown neighbors ordered dinner Wednesday at Oceanaire Seafood Room in Midtown. The table of four turned out to support the annual Dine Out for Project Open Hand benefit. When Segar went up to thank the eatery’s staff, however, he was informed that, despite some misinformation, Oceanaire was not actually a participating restaurant this year. To clear up the misunderstanding though, Oceanaire’s operating partner and executive chef Adam Newlon is matching the group’s total bill with a donation to the charity. “When they told us they were making the donation, we immediately ordered another bottle of wine,” Segar told us Thursday. “I have a hangover today because of Project Open Hand!”
Morning team gives thanks
Things were decidedly less dramatic at the Food Studio at the King Plow Arts Center downtown. The Dine Out participating restaurant also served as the 12th and final stop for B98.5 FM’s morning team Kelly Stevens and Alpha Trivette on Wednesday night. The pair, along with B98.5-mobile driver and morning show producer Will Gara, make it a ritual each year to drive around to the various eateries to thank diners for helping to raise money for the charity, which provides meals for people struggling with illness. “It’s a cause that touches everyone no matter who you are,” Trivette told us. “We’re only too happy to take a couple of hours to thank folks.” Cracked Stevens as he eyed a massive steak at a nearby table: “I’m really proud of myself. I somehow refrained from asking, ‘Are you going to finish that?’ all evening.”
Nonprofit gets new digs
Georgia Lawyers for the Arts finally has a real office. Now the nonprofit just has to raise the money to pay for it.
The volunteer organization, which provides free legal help to about 5,000 starving artists and small arts groups each year, has moved into shiny new digs in the King Plow Arts Center on West Marietta Street. Most of the fixtures, from lighting to artwork, were donated, as was the interior design by Pam Moore. Even the blue paint on the walls was a gift.
It’s a big step up for the organization, which started in 1975 when attorneys Ben White and Bob Lower (both now partners at Alston & Bird) drove around in a VW van dispensing legal advice to artists. Most recently, GLA was in a closet-size space at City Hall East.
GLA has pledges of about $150,000 so far and is holding a fund-raiser at its new office tonight to help raise the remaining $350,000. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra conductor Robert Spano, honorary chairman of GLA’s campaign, will be among those attending.
GLA helps artists with everything from evictions to free speech issues. The organization got involved when Atlanta police threatened to shut down “Naked Boys Singing!” in 2004, said executive director Lisa Moore.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress-singer Ann-Margret is 65. “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno is 56. Actor Jorge Garcia (“Lost”) is 33. Actress Penelope Cruz is 32. Actress Jessica Alba
(“Fantastic Four”) is 25.
Contributing: Kirsten Tagami and news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Stripper joke pays off
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In case you were wondering, R&B newcomer T-Pain’s inescapable single “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper),” isn’t about personal experience at Atlanta’s many adult entertainment spots. The recent Top 10 hit wasn’t even supposed to be on his debut album, “Rappa Ternt Sanga.”
“It was a joke,” the artist told Buzz days before his sold-out appearance Thursday at the Roxy, with R&B pinup Chris Brown. “I made it for my homeboy. I took him to his first strip club … and afterward, when I was in the studio in Atlanta, I just started making fun of how he was acting. He was a little drunk. And he just had these lustful eyes. Anyway, my making fun of him just started sounding real good to my [label executive].”
T-Pain’s talent with the catchy hook has caught the attention of R&B singers Joe and Charlie Wilson, rap acts E-40, Eightball & MJG, Trillville, Too Short and Trick Daddy, and pop stars Britney Spears and Nick Lachey — all of whom he says he’s worked with recently.
“It’s a good time for me right now,” said the Tallahassee native, born Faheem Najm. “I don’t know what the secret is to my hooks, other than I try not to make them super-complicated. But Cee-Lo, Devin the Dude and Andre 3000 — those are the best and most creative hook-men, ever!”
Local heroes
It was at a local showcase that Atlanta superstar Usher was discovered. Same goes for R&B singer Monica. Who knows, maybe the same magic dust will fall on hometown talents Suga Suga or Malachi — two of the four acts performing at the BMI Urban Showcase tonight at Vision nightclub. Producer and rapper Lil Jon and fellow BME exec Hot-107.9’s Emperor Searcy host the competition that will also include Leo of California and the Philadelphia band Thunderkatz. Judges include songwriter/producers Jazze Pha (Ciara), Sean Garrett (Beyoncé) and DJ Toomp (T.I.), as well as Block Enterprises CEO Russell “Block” Spencer.
The evening is to begin with the unveiling of Karl Kani’s Live Life & Love Denim collection and swimwear from Atlanta Beach.
Usually this kind of event is closed to the public, but anyone over 21 is invited to this one. Tickets will be available at the door. For more info: www.bmi.com.
Tiffany blue plate special ushers in line of jewelry
Box lunch, anyone? Sixteen Atlanta movers and shakers were invited Tuesday to Bluepointe restaurant, where Tiffany & Co. hosted a lunchtime sneak peek at the new Frank Gehry jewelry collection. Once the female guests — including Laura Turner Seydel, Vikki Locke, Lila Hertz, Stephanie Hughley and Barbara Babbit Kaufman — were seated, waiters produced edible blue-iced cakes in the shape of Tiffany’s famous box, made by Bluepointe pastry chef Lisa Smith.
After polishing off the raspberry-filled goodie, followed by lobster salad and sea bass, each guest was presented with an authentic blue box containing a piece of Gehry jewelry: sterling silver dangling earrings or cuff bracelets.
Gehry, world-renowned California architect and designer of the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, recently turned his attention to small-scale design, and he is the first outside designer to work with Tiffany and Co. since Paloma Picasso launched her iconic X’s and O’s 26 years ago. Tiffany’s vice president Tom Carroll worked for two months with New York management to free up the Gehry baubles early for the luncheon. The jewelry, with prices starting at $135, rolls out over the coming months at Tiffany stores.
At the recent Beverly Hills Tiffany/Gehry gala, celebs like Felicity Huffman, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Patti LaBelle oohed and aahed over the contemporary collection. Atlanta’s official launch comes in July.
Blinding light hits Hatcher
In a freak accident on the set of ABC’s “Desperate Housewives,” Teri Hatcher suffered an eye injury when a light bulb exploded Tuesday, People magazine reported. “Glass lodged in my right eye and proceeded to scratch my cornea,” Hatcher told the magazine. “I was taken to a wonderful eye doctor and am now wearing a most glamorous eyepatch over the right half of my face.”
Hatcher, 41, said she should be back to work in two days and was trying to see the humor “in the oddity of it all.”
Redneck resurrection
Alpharetta’s Jeff Foxworthy, whose sketch comedy “Blue Collar TV” show was canceled this season by the WB, is getting a new series on CMT this fall, “Foxworthy’s Big Night Out.” The show, with an initial 12-episode run, will be shot at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre starting in June.
“Jeff really defines that Southern brand of comedy that plays so well with our audience,” said Paul Villadolid, CMT’s head of programming.
Foxworthy’s buds Bill Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy, who were on “Blue Collar TV,” won’t be joining him. “This was intentional,” Villadolid said. “We didn’t want to remake ‘Blue Collar TV’ for CMT.” The new show will feature stand-up, sketch comedy and country acts.
“We were never a good fit with the WB,” Foxworthy told Buzz. “With CMT, it’s kind of being a bigger fish in a smaller pond. We’re a better fit.”
Nothing in my pockets …
Illusionist David Copperfield magically avoided getting robbed Sunday. Copperfield, 49, was walking two female assistants to their tour bus after his show in West Palm Beach, Fla., when four teens pulled up in a black car, a police report said.
Two armed robbers allegedly demanded the group’s belongings. One woman handed over $400 from her pockets, and the other gave up her purse with several hundred dollars, her passport, plane tickets and cellphone. Copperfield says he turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing in them, even though he was carrying his passport, wallet and cellphone. “Call it reverse pickpocketing,” Copperfield told The Palm Beach Post.
Four teenagers later were arrested, charged with armed robbery and held without bond, police said. The women’s property was recovered.
Celebrity birthdays
Musician Sheena Easton is 47; Paul Daniel “Ace” Frehley of Kiss is 55; radio personality Casey Kasem is 74.
Contributing: Rodney Ho, Marylin Johnson, Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Peachtree Battle’ tries a dame
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The search for “Peachtree Battle” matriarch Azalea Wieuca has now extended across the Atlantic. John Gibson and Anthony Morris, the playwrights of the seemingly indefatigable Ansley Park Playhouse stage production, met last week with Judi Dench in London about the role in a film version. Explains Gibson: “She has a brilliant comedic side which is rarely seen.” As for the obvious question as to whether a Brit could play the boozy, bitter Southern belle, Morris quipped: “It worked pretty well in ‘Gone With the Wind.’ “
The writers are taking the leisurely way back to the United States, via a cruise aboard the Queen Mary 2, to work on the screenplay adaptation of “Peachtree Battle.”
Explains Gibson: “The middle of the Atlantic is the only place my cellphone doesn’t ring.”
Fonda’s next role?
While Poncey-Highland actress Jane Fonda’s name has also been bandied about for the planned film version of “Peachtree Battle,” she might have another script to memorize. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Fonda, “Desperate Housewives” actress and “Transamerica” Oscar nominee Felicity Huffman and teen queen Lindsay Lohan are in talks to co-star in “Georgia Rule,” “a dark comedy” to be directed by “Pretty Woman” and “Princess Diaries” director Garry Marshall.
According to the Tinseltown bible, the flick “centers on a rebellious young woman (Lohan) who is sent by her dysfunctional mother (Huffman) to spend a summer with her grandmother (Fonda)” after various vehicular scrapes with speeding paparazzi.
OK, so technically, we embellished those last seven words. …
Morgan Creek Productions is attached to the film that could get a late August shooting start.
For purely selfish reasons, we hope this is all on the level because Marshall is the only person we’ve ever interviewed who can reduce us to a snorting, giggling hyena 12 seconds into an interview.
Go ahead, eat up, it’s all for a good cause
In a year dominated by other pressing charitable needs, the organizers of today’s Dine Out for Project Open Hand enlisted some heavy-duty Atlanta foodies to help out.
Bob Amick, the mastermind behind One Midtown Kitchen, Two Urban Licks, Piebar and Lobby, along with pal and Murphy’s owner Tom Murphy, and Jeff Landau, who has graced the city with enduring faves like Einstein’s, Joe’s on Juniper, Garrison’s Broiler & Tap and Cowtippers, are serving as co-chairs for the daylong dining fund-raiser.
More than 200 Atlanta-area eateries will donate 20 percent of Wednesday’s total receipts from breakfast, lunch and dinner orders toward the city’s nonprofit Meals on Wheels program for seniors and folks dealing with illness, including HIV/AIDS, cancer and other disabling diseases.
For Amick, whose commitment to raising money for HIV/AIDs extends back to the HeartStrings benefits in the past millennium, lending his time and support was a no-brainer.
“Sure, there are many, many charities out there right now that need our help,” Amick told Buzz Tuesday. “But this is at home in our backyard. Project Open Hand’s work isn’t any less important today. Hopefully, us lending a hand will help grow the event further. We need even more restaurants to step up in the future.”
Amick says he wants his futuristic spacious space pod patio at Piebar packed all day.
Landau, in addition to donating services and staff to the event, will be popping into each of his Metrotainment Cafe properties today for a quick bite.
“Even back when we were just one restaurant, we always participated,” Landau told us. “Our company is extremely proud to have raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for Project Open Hand over the past 14 years. We want to do our part to help them inject some new ideas and approaches for the Dine Out event.”
For a complete list of participating restaurants, go to: dineoutforpoh.com.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress-comedian Carol Burnett is 73. Guitarist-songwriter Duane Eddy is 68. Drummer Roger Taylor of Duran Duran is 46. Actor Jet Li is 43. Actor-comedian Kevin James (“The King of Queens”) is 41. Singer Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC is 36. Actor Tom Welling (“Smallville”) is 29.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Warm-weather faves return to garden, park
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Break out those low-backed beach chairs. Two of the city’s most-beloved outdoors summer traditions have announced their 2006 schedules.
This week, as the Atlanta Botanical Garden places the finishing touches on the installation of its much-anticipated “Niki in the Garden” art exhibit prior to its public unveiling Saturday, garden rep Geri Laufer somehow found time to slide Buzz the line-up for this year’s SunTrust Concerts in the Garden.
The series, which annually takes place on the Great Lawn below the massive Fuqua Conservatory and the boisterous bullfrog pond, is again aiming for diversity this year.
Kicking off the concert series June 9 is Chicago bluesman Buddy Guy, followed on June 21 by the 1980s rockers the Fabulous Thunderbirds. On July 21: Texas singer-songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker; Aug. 2: Blueswoman Marcia Ball is booked along with Cajun band BeauSoleil; Aug. 9: Gospel singing legends the Blind Boys of Alabama will gig in the garden. And 1980s dance diva Taylor “Tell It to My Heart” Dayne will close out the series on Aug. 18.
It could not be confirmed at press time whether the venue would construct a mirror ball for the occasion. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. May 6 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden gift shop and at Ticketmaster outlets or online at ticketmaster.com. Discounted advance tickets for ABG members went on sale Friday.
One really expansive lawn away, Turner Classic Movies, meanwhile, will present its free seventh annual Screen on the Green film festival in Piedmont Park. The 45-by-24-foot movie screen in the park’s meadow area, directly behind the Park Tavern, will glow again starting June 1 at dusk with the 1964 Beatles classic “A Hard Day’s Night.” June 8: “The Wiz,” the 1978 musical starring Diana Ross, a pre-freak Michael Jackson and the late, lamented Nipsey Russell as they scamper down the Yellow Brick Road; June 15: “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the 1986 John Hughes classic starring a pre-Sarah Jessica Parker-partnered Matthew Broderick; and June 22: “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” the 1961 Blake Edwards/Truman Capote/Audrey Hepburn romp featuring the Oscar-winning “Moon River” by Hank Mancini and Johnny Mercer. The series will close out June 29 with the 1971 Gene Wilder musical confection “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
A ‘Pretty Woman’ pity party?
Bless their hearts, New York gossip columnists can be, well, downright unpleasant. In Monday’s New York Daily News, Gatecrasher scribbler Ben Widdicombe gleefully recounted a visit that Oprah Winfrey and her “best girlfriend” Gayle King made to Julia Roberts’ Gramercy Park apartment last week after the Smyrna gal’s first foray onto the Great White Way via “Three Days of Rain” fetched less than stellar reviews. Widdicombe wrote that his (typically anonymous) source described the social call to Roberts and hubby Danny Moder as a “pity party.” He went on to observe that, on the morning of the reviews, “a tense-looking Roberts and Moder were photographed walking around the neighborhood.”
Not surprisingly, the Daily News scribe neglected to mention that the run of the play is doing boffo box office. At least Widdicombe resisted reprinting that particularly hateful line in New York Times critic Ben Brantley’s review: “Your heart goes out to her when she makes her entrance in the first act and freezes with the unyielding stiffness of an industrial lamppost, as if to move too much might invite falling.”
Coupling
“Entourage” star Kevin Dillon has married fiancée Jane Stuart in Las Vegas.
They were married Saturday in a downtown wedding chapel in a brief service that included several songs performed by an Elvis Presley impersonator, Us Weekly reports on its Web site.
Stuart, 27, who is pregnant (bless her heart), wore a white, floor-length dress, according to the magazine, which had two reporters in attendance. Dillon, 40, was dressed in jeans and a leather jacket.
The service was witnessed by Dillon’s “Entourage” co-star Kevin Connolly, the magazine said.
Uncoupling
Ex-“X-Files” actress Gillian Anderson and documentary filmmaker Julian Ozanne have separated after 16 months of marriage, their lawyers said Monday.
“Gillian Anderson and her husband, Julian Ozanne, are saddened to announce that their marriage is at an end and they are in the process of separating,” said a statement released by Schillings law firm in London.
“At this difficult time they request that their privacy is respected. There will be no further comment.”
Waaay back in 2004, the couple married at a friend’s beach house on an island off Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Al Pacino is 66. Actress Talia Shire is 60. Actor Hank Azaria (“The Simpsons”) is 42. Actress Renée Zellweger is 37. Actor Jason Lee (“Dreamcatcher,” “Almost Famous”) is 36. Singer Jacob Underwood (O-Town) is 26.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Lovett grad on ‘Cold Case’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lovett grad Aran Cravey, class of 1996, makes her first big TV appearance as a suspect in a few flashback scenes on the hit CBS drama “Cold Case” on Sunday at 8 p.m. Cravey, who now lives in New York but is in Los Angeles trying out for TV pilots, told Buzz she didn’t immerse herself in acting until college but mostly did cheerleading at Lovett. Now, she’s determined to make a career of acting. Her role on the show is set in the 1940s. “They did all the ’40s hair and makeup, but you can tell it’s me,” she said.
Singer ran (so far away) from old band, hairdo
Buzz pondered which cheesy event to attend Friday night: watermelon-smashing prop comic Gallagher at the Gwinnett Performing Arts Center or ’80s New Wave band Flock of Seagulls at Andrews Upstairs in Buckhead.
We tentatively opted for the latter.
Most folks of a certain age knew the Flock of Seagulls for lead singer Mike Score’s wacky waterfall-like hairstyle and the band’s lone U.S. top 10 hit, 1982’s “I Ran,” a staple on early MTV. (Since the AJC photo archives failed to turn up a usable shot of Score’s original hair, you can wax nostalgic at www.myspace.com/aflockofseagulls or watch the vintage video on www.youtube.com.)
Nearly a quarter-century later, a 40-something Score, now a Floridian, is still making a modest living with a backup band and none of the other original members. And that hairstyle — along with the hair itself — is long gone. Rather, on Friday night, he wore a black cap and a long ponytail, looking more like some random guy at the bar than a rock star.
Score, in fact, spent much of the 15-song set behind his keyboard, eyes closed, almost ignoring the crowd. Nonetheless, the 200-plus partygoers actually paid attention to the songs, filled with techno beats and catchy rock riffs. And many even seemed to recognize the band’s two other top 40 hits, a sped-up version of “Wishing” and the mesmerizing “Space Age Love Song.”
The act’s shirtless drummer Michael Braham provided the eye candy, jumping around his drum set with a wide grin as if he were a member of Quiet Riot or Van Halen.
With virtually no between-song patter, Score did score a joke before one song: “This is from our first album. Was that 1882?”
Kicks morning host gone
Craig Cornett resigned last week as morning host on country station Kicks 101.5. Cornett, who joined Kicks this past fall from St. Louis but has already been off the air for more than a month, cited on-air the need to take care of his father, dying from terminal cancer.
“Cancer has changed my life, as it has changed many lives, and right now I am the only family member who can care for my father,” Cornett said to the listeners. “You see, my mother is ill as well and unable to take care of Dad. Not knowing what time he has left, I have chosen to be with him here in Arkansas, and realize with this commitment to my dad, I cannot be on the air as host of the Kicks morning show in Atlanta.”
Cornett couldn’t be reached for comment.
His predecessors Bandy & Bailey, who lasted three years, are now doing a syndicated show, heard in Lexington, Ky. While Kicks seeks a replacement, former Star 94 morning producer Kristen Gates will hold the fort with regulars Jill Kelly and Jim Vann.
In other radio news, former 99Xers Fred Toucher, with Rich Shertenlieb and Crash Clark, may soon be the afternoon show on rock station WBCN-FM in Boston.
Safe haven for Pitt-Jolie
Namibia sure isn’t the United States when it comes to freedom to stalk celebrities. Namibian authorities are clamping down on journalists trying to follow Brad Pitt, pregnant Angelina Jolie and her two adopted children after the couple asked for some privacy, according to South Africa’s Sunday Times. The paper said its own photographer and three French photogs were ordered to leave Namibia or face arrest. Journalists require accreditation to work in the country.
Random bits
The rocky relationship of Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards has gotten even worse. A judge issued a temporary restraining order Friday requiring Sheen to stay away from his estranged wife Richards. Sheen was ordered to stay at least 300 feet from Richards, her home, her car and their two young daughters except during supervised visits with the children, according to court documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. …
TV Guide reports that NBC is going to renew sitcom “Scrubs” for a sixth season. …
Trying to partly fill the void left by Music Midtown, Star 94 is planning a one-day music festival at Midtown’s Atlantic Station tentatively scheduled for July 22 with acts to be announced May 17. …
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Shirley MacLaine is 72. Actress-singer Barbra Streisand is 64. Actor Eric Bogosian is 53. Actor-comedian Cedric the Entertainer is 42. Braves star Chipper Jones is 34. Singer Kelly Clarkson is 24.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-5688 or e-mail rho@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Madea’ book delivers another plum for Perry
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Fairburn playwright/actor/producer/film director Tyler Perry can add another first to his resume. Perry’s first book, “Don’t Make a Black Woman Take Off Her Earrings: Madea’s Uninhibited Commentaries on Love and Life,” will debut atop The New York Times’ nonfiction best-seller list in the April 30 edition.
In late February, after a star-studded premiere at Atlantic Station, Perry’s “Madea’s Family Reunion” reigned at the box office, opening at No. 1 and raking in more than $30 million. It went on to make more than $62 million domestically despite mixed reviews.
The 36-year-old Perry built his fame touring and starring in the “Madea”-themed plays.
No matter the medium, Perry’s staple character has been the wisecracking, gun-toting grandmother, Madea Simmons.
In the book, which Riverhead Books released in hardback April 11, Perry writes in the voice of Madea, sharing observations and advice.
Taking a brief second away from counting the wheelbarrows of greenbacks that arrive hourly both day and night at his mansion, Perry said via a statement: “I’m really happy for the loyalty and continued support of my fans.”
Change for ‘Gilmore Girls’
In a move that is being perceived by fans as creatively crippling as Aaron Sorkin’s departure from “The West Wing,” “Gilmore Girls” husband-and-wife team Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino are departing Stars Hollow at the end of this season. The show’s production company said “Gilmore Girls” will continue next season with Dave Rosenthal, who has been a writer-producer there, running things.
According to IMDB.com, Rosenthal’s other TV producing credits include (brace yourselves): “Arsenio,” “Good Morning Miami” and “Hope & Faith.”
The WB is closing up shop this fall, but “Gilmore Girls” is expected to move to the new CW network, which is a combination of the current WB and UPN networks.
“Despite our best efforts to return and ensure the future of ‘Gilmore Girls’ for years to come, we were unable to reach an agreement with the studio and are therefore leaving when our contracts expire at the end of the season,” the Palladinos said in a statement.
With stars Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel under contract for one more season, next year is widely considered to be the show’s last one.
The series’ trademark quirky townspeople and rapid-fire, pop-culture-littered dialogue were all developed by Sherman-Palladino, the show’s creator. Sherman-Palladino has stated consistently throughout the series run that she had “a plan,” even conceding at one point that she knew what the final piece of dialogue would be in the series finale.
“We want to thank Amy for creating and nurturing this wonderful series for the past six years and giving us one of the most memorable mother-daughter relationships in television history,” Warner Bros. Television said in a statement.
Celebrity docket
Hey, Pete Doherty, you just got ordered to an 18-month drug rehabilitation program by a London judge. What do you do to celebrate dodging serious jail time?
Naturally, you get popped for drug possession. Yes, unbelievably, the former Libertines frontman was released on bail Friday, after being hauled in Thursday night for suspected drug possession.
The 27-year-old Babyshambles singer was detained in a car in east London on Thursday, mere hours after Judge Jane McIvor placed him on probation on separate drug charges. Ironically, in court, she praised the singer, saying: “It’s a long, slow process, but you are showing sufficient signs of compliance and effort.” She also noted the singer had not been nabbed for drugs since Jan. 14.
On Friday, a disheveled Doherty was accompanied by a lawyer as he left a police station where he had spent the night. His only comment to the knot of reporters and photographers who shadow his every appearance: “I feel like smacking you in the face, mate, stay away from me.”
Doherty was ordered to return to the station in June pending police inquiries. The 21-year-old driver of the car, who was not identified, also was freed on bail.
On Thursday, McIvor placed Doherty on probation for two years and banned him from driving for six months. Police found marijuana, heroin and crack cocaine in Doherty’s car and clothing when he was arrested Dec. 18, one of a long line of run-ins with police.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: TV producer Aaron Spelling is 83. Actress Charlotte Rae (“The Facts of Life”) is 80. Actress Estelle Harris (“Seinfeld”) is 74. Singer Glen Campbell is 70. Actor Jack Nicholson is 69. Director John Waters is 60. Singer Peter Frampton is 56. Singer-guitarist Daniel Johns of Silverchair is 27.
Sunday: Actor Lee Majors (“Six Million Dollar Man”) is 67. Actress Blair Brown is 60. Actress Joyce DeWitt (“Three’s Company”) is 57. Actress Judy Davis is 51. Comedian George Lopez is 45. Actress Melina Kanakaredes (“CSI:NY”) is 39.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Star turn earns radio producer a new job
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sometimes, if you’re terribly fortunate, there’s a moment during a job interview when you realize you’ve just hit the gig-getting home run over the wall.
Incoming “Steve & Vikki in the Morning” show producer Rachel Giordano had such a revelation this week during a lunch interview at Maggiano’s Little Italy in Buckhead.
When the former New Yorker discussed her television background, working for ABC Daytime, she happened to disclose that she’d once served as Star Jones Reynolds’ assistant on “The View.”
“My mouth just dropped open!” Vikki Locke told Buzz, laughing uproariously. “We just couldn’t believe it. I told her, ‘I knew there was a reason I loved you!’ “
As Buzz readers will recall, earlier this year during Jones Reynolds’ amazingly well-documented media tour for her recent inspirational tome “Shine: A Physical, Emotional & Spiritual Journey to Finding Love,” the daytime diva hung up on Steve McCoy and Locke after they dared to ask about her alleged gastric bypass surgery.
The incident was later splashed across the New York Post’s Page Six column, with Jones Reynolds describing McCoy as “the single rudest person who’s ever interviewed me.”
After re-airing the interview several times and posting it online at star94.com, McCoy and Locke outfitted listeners for Jones Reynolds’ February book-signing here with commemorative T-shirts with her hilariously over-the-top quote on it.
“Rachel knew all about our relationship with Star,” Locke told us. “We pressed her for lots of Star stories, but she was very diplomatic about it all.”
As for the obvious, Locke said, “No, Steve hasn’t given her a T-shirt yet, but we’re sure going to. Maybe we’ll even take a picture for Star! I’m sure she would want a chance to congratulate Rachel.”
All this Star-speak has us misting up and reflecting on all the fun we had last winter. Heck, as we sip tea from our “The View”: Skinny Star edition coffee mug, we might as well dig around and find one last…
Moment to ‘Shine’
“Here’s a truism: Don’t let ‘em dog you out. When someone dogs you out, it strikes a blow to your self-esteem. Don’t let anyone else say what you’re about or put you in a box. You know, my motto is ‘I am the author of the only dictionary that defines me.’ ” — Star Jones Reynolds, “Shine,” Page 275.
Sharing the birthday bucks
Speaking of the aforementioned McCoy, last Friday, during the radio station’s Free Money Birthday Game contest, the Atlanta radio vet was taken aback by winner Clay Sain, whose birthday is Sept. 1. Sain explained that he’s legally blind and was going to give $900 of his winnings to a pal who owed that amount to Uncle Sam on his taxes.
“He drives me anywhere I need to go,” Sain explained to McCoy. “He’s really the only friend who’s stuck by me. He’s really been stressing over this. I’ve been praying so hard about a way to help him out.”
Touched by Sain’s generosity, McCoy whipped out his personal checkbook on-air and wrote the listener a check for $900.
Overscene
“Rush Hour” actor and Atlantan Chris Tucker braving the lunch rush at Buckhead Diner on Thursday to nosh on chef Joey Riley’s fish and chips. Before exiting, the comic posed for a picture with server Helen Lu for the eatery’s celeb-drenched “Famous Faces” wall.
Celebrity docket
After being repeatedly arrested in the past year for his uncanny imitation of a Walgreen’s drive-through, former Libertines frontman Pete Doherty was finally ordered by a London judge to attend an 18-month drug rehabilitation program Thursday. The singer was placed on two years’ probation.
Judge Jane McIvor also banned the current Babyshambles frontman from driving for six months because of drug possession.
Doherty, 27, had pleaded guilty last month to seven charges of possessing drugs including heroin, crack cocaine and marijuana, which police said they found when he was stopped once in December and once in January.
Prosecutors noted the rocker’s flippant — yet open — demeanor when he was arrested Dec. 18, one of a long line of run-ins with police.
Court documents said that when police found plastic bags of crack cocaine in his right sock, Doherty told officers: “I didn’t think I had it in there.”
McIvor told Doherty she would adhere to his pre-planned drug rehabilitation regimen, choosing the dates of his court-ordered drug tests around his lengthy tour schedule.
“It’s a long, slow process, but you are showing sufficient signs of compliance and effort,” McIvor said. She noted that Doherty hadn’t been arrested for drugs since Jan. 14.
At press time Thursday, Buzz was planning to celebrate the momentous occasion with champagne, confetti and a balloon drop.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor Charles Grodin is 71. Singer Iggy Pop is 59. Actor Tony Danza is 55. Actress Andie MacDowell is 48. Singer Robert Smith of the Cure is 47. Actor-director John Cameron Mitchell (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”) is 43. Comedian Nicole Sullivan (“King of Queens”) is 36.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Fonda reveals tidbits on love, work, health
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Even while suffering unsettling flashbacks of the media onslaught known as Fondapalooza 2005, we dutifully scrutinized the CNN transcript of Tuesday night’s “Larry King Live” interview with Jane Fonda, looking for fresh material Wednesday. The author-activist-actress is in New York this week making the media rounds to promote the just-out paperback of her memoir “My Life So Far” (Random House, $16.95).
Lunch was cut short at Buzz Central when our peepers hit the bit about Fonda’s current six-year intimacy “drought.”
Aghast, King asked, “You’ve gone six years?”
“When you’re 68 years old, the idea of getting in bed with a new man is scary,” she explained.
Fonda disclosed that her former stepson, Rhett Turner, and daughter Vanessa Vadim helped her to assemble the book’s beautifully produced companion DVD.
She also announced she’s close to making a deal for her next film, a drama, and possibly doing another comedy, plus a long-rumored sequel to “9 to 5” with co-stars Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. Her study of Christianity continues as well. “I’m in theology school,” Fonda told King.
Promoting the much-anticipated Jane Fonda Roast to benefit her Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention charity June 1 at the Georgia Aquarium (although she referred to it on-air as the “Atlanta Aquarium”), Fonda announced the addition of OutKast member Big Boi (“He’s going to roast me in rap”) plus appearances by ex-husband Ted Turner, King, Rosie O’Donnell, former President Jimmy Carter, Debbie Reynolds and Wanda Sykes.
Discussing her right hip replacement last year, Fonda told King she’s fully healed and back to horseback riding. She’s anticipating a new left hip and two knees at some future point.
Cracked Fonda: “Aren’t we lucky to be alive when they can change the parts? I feel like a jalopy.”
Della sets dizzying pace
Della Reese is 74 years old, an age when most of her peers are pondering their mortality and scaling back activities. But the actress-singer is busier than ever.
She travels frequently to do speeches, including a luncheon Wednesday for the Possible Woman Leadership Conference at the Georgia World Congress Center.
She has been an ordained minister for several years and does sermons every Sunday at a church in Los Angeles.
Reese just started a line of colorful clothing for plus-size women on the Home Shopping Network. “The manufacturers are busy hiding my size,” she told Buzz after the luncheon. “I’m not ashamed of my size. I have the right to wear red and bright blue and turquoise. I don’t have to walk around like my husband died.”
She’s even pondering another TV show with Roma Downey, her co-star on “Touched by an Angel.”
“Retirement? I’ve heard that word before, but don’t think I know what the definition of that word is,” she said wryly. Being busy, she added, “is relaxing to me.” She then politely said she had to get off the phone and get to the airport and fly back home.
“My grandson goes to Morehouse,” she said. “I will return again. You can’t get rid of me!”
Stork report
In a brilliant display of irony, Tom Cruise and his sparring partner, Brooke Shields, both became parents Tuesday. And if you believe the online Us Weekly report, both were at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. Yes, while former “Dawson’s Creek” actress and Scientology broodmare Katie Holmes was no doubt quietly gnawing a bullet while delivering daughter Suri, Shields was down the hall (no doubt enjoying an epidural) welcoming baby girl Grier Hammond Henchy. In another ironic twist, fired Cruise spokeswoman Pat Kingsley (who is now widely credited for somehow keeping the diminutive actor’s insanity under wraps for decades) announced the “Blue Lagoon” thespian’s baby news to the world.
Shields, 40, and husband Chris Henchy, a 42-year-old television writer and producer, also have a daughter, Rowan, who turns 3 next month.
As Buzz readers will recall, Shields and the “Cocktail” actor had a public spat last year after the couch-crunching Cruise criticized the actress for taking antidepressants after the birth of her first child. Appearing on NBC’s “Today” show, Cruise said there was no such thing as chemical imbalances that needed to be corrected with drugs, and that depression could be treated with exercise and vitamins.
Celebrity birthdays
Actor George Takei (“Star Trek”) is 69. Actor Ryan O’Neal is 65. Actress Jessica Lange is 57. Actress Carmen Electra is 34. Actor Joey Lawrence (“Blossom,” “Brotherly Love”) is 30.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Soon, Connie Sue will be singing sans pal
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Some sad news hit the Buzz Central “In” box Tuesday. Libby’s Cabaret pianist Robert Strickland, who’s been the resident ivory tickler and musical director since the Buckhead supper club opened in 2000, is departing the club this spring.
“I’ve learned a lot, made a lot of new friends and had the opportunity to stretch and grow musically,” writes Strickland in an e-mail sent to friends and Libby’s regulars.
The pianist, who’s accompanied Joni Mitchell and Jennifer Holliday over the years, is leaving his post to pursue some of the many touring opportunities he’s had to turn down over the past six years.
Longtime cabaret fans will recall Strickland and the club’s namesake Libby Whittemore working together in the past millennium at the old Upstairs at Gene and Gabe’s in Midtown. The pair first cultivated their sibling-like onstage banter working in the former Coach and Six bar on Peachtree Street in the early 1990s.
“I could never have gotten through the last six years without him,” Whittemore told Buzz Tuesday. “He’s been such an asset to the club and to every singer he’s ever accompanied on our stage. I knew this day would come someday. It’s scary how talented Robert is. I guess I’ve just been stingy with him. As sad as it is, he deserves the very best, and now he’ll have a chance to take those other opportunities.”
On Thursday night, Strickland will perform his final “Night of Piano Mastery” solo set at Libby’s (including his big finale, George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue”), and he’ll still be donning his “Baby Jane” Bette Davis wig during the venue’s popular “Hollywood or Bust!” revue through the end of the month. His final stint will be accompanying singer Bernardine Mitchell during her May 4-25 engagement at the club.
Alas, the infamous Libby’s Christmas Show won’t be the same this year without Strickland playing Steve Lawrence to Whittemore’s Eydie Gorme on “Sleigh Ride” or performing the pair’s showstopping “Sisters” duet from “White Christmas.”
Alas, Whittemore’s alter ego, Connie Sue Day, the 31st Lady of Country Music, is also losing her fave accompanist, the Stetson-sporting Robbie Lee Strickland.
Cracked Whittemore: “I have not made that phone call yet. Poor Connie Sue is bound to come unwigged!”
A bloody Book Bash
The Center for Southern Literature at the Margaret Mitchell House in Midtown may soon need a full-time mixologist on staff. Tonight at a scheduled Book Bash reception for mother-and-daughter mystery novelists Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, the specialty drink will be Bloody Marys. In the past few months, the house has whipped up content-appropriate cosmopolitans for “Sex and the City” author Candace Bushnell, Bellinis for John Berendt and Baileys Irish Cream for Frank McCourt. On Thursday, the Higgins Clarks will also host a “Lunch & Lit” session with fans at the MMH. And no, arsenic is not on the menu. For info: www.gwtw.org or call 770-578-3502.
Volume weekend for LowCountry
After feeding 5,200 attendees at the 41st Atlanta Steeplechase over the holiday weekend, it’s a minor miracle there was any pulled pork left for LowCountry Barbecue’s fanatical regulars this week. According to LowCountry’s aptly named Johnny Ham, the crowd, which included Gov. Sonny Perdue, sucked down 1,158 pounds of pulled pork barbecue, 625 pounds of chicken salad, 400 pounds of cabbage for coleslaw, 625 pounds of smoked salmon, 250 pounds of fresh fruit, 700 pounds of spinach artichoke dip, 388 dozen cookies and 300 gallons of “mostly sweet” tea.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Elinor Donahue (“Father Knows Best”) is 69. Actor Tim Curry is 60. Hip-hop mogul Suge Knight is 41. Actress Ashley Judd is 38. Actor James Franco (“Spider-Man” films, “Freaks and Geeks”) is 28. Actress Kate Hudson is 27. Actor Hayden Christensen (“Star Wars: Episodes II and III”) is 25.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Peas in VIP pod at Vision
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Black Eyed Peas had considerable junk in their trunks when the pop group rolled up to Vision nightclub late Saturday. Technically, there were four passenger vans worth of trunk involved. Peas singer Fergie, clad in a white tank top, large gold hoop earrings, long braid and black fingernail polish, arrived with boyfriend and “Las Vegas” actor Josh Duhamel, who sported a low-key black ball cap and matching hoodie. Band members Will.I.Am, apl.de.ap and Taboo quickly made friends in the Midtown club’s crammed but inexplicably coveted VIP circle. A cake and bubbly were awaiting the A-listers.
Also spotted in the packed club early Sunday morning: Miss Universe 2005 Natalie Glebova, Atlanta Hawk Josh Childress and former University of Georgia star quarterback and current Atlanta Falcons prospect D.J. Shockley. Film and record producer Dallas Austin also made the early morning scene.
Don’t look to Fonda for plain-Jane writing
It proved an exercise in futility when we screeched “Look out!” to Charlie Gibson during his “Good Morning America” interview Monday with Jane Fonda.
It didn’t help that we were a thousand miles away and in front of our TV.
And so exactly a single question into his in-studio with the two-time Oscar-winning Poncey-Highland resident, Gibson — like Buzz and countless scribblers before us — hit the infamous Fonda iceberg.
The activist-actress-author is doing the media rounds this week to promote the new paperback edition of her memoir “My Life So Far” (Random House, $16.95), which includes a fresh introduction and a companion DVD interview disc.
Reading from her newly written intro, Gibson asked about the passage: “If I had to sum it up, I would say I’m a woman, born with an abundance of resilience, who has spent her life improvising on the theme of self-transcendence.” The fill-in “World News Tonight” anchor conceded, “I have no idea what that means.”
Bang.
“It means just what it says,” Fonda replied, attempting a tight smile.
As he gingerly picked icicles from his teeth, Gibson soldiered on with a question about last month’s unpleasantness at the Gold Dome. The Georgia Senate overwhelmingly rejected a resolution honoring Fonda for her decade-long commitment to preventing teen pregnancy in the state.
“It was a small group of people,” Fonda reasoned. She went on to add that after the resolution was shot down, she received “scores of letters from people on both sides of the aisle, saying they were ashamed” about the resolution’s failure. Referencing the Vietnam vets who still won’t accept her countless public apologies, the actress allowed, “I’m a lightning rod for their pain and anger.”
While she said she is “horrified by what they’re doing in Iraq,” Fonda has opted not to pursue a national tour to speak out against the war.
“I wanted to do a tour like I did during the Vietnam War, a tour of the country,” explained Fonda. “But then Cindy Sheehan filled in the gap, and she is better at this than I am. I carry too much baggage.”
Fonda is set to appear Tuesday night on “Late Show With David Letterman.” She’s just back from a 10-day vacation in Argentina with former hubby Ted Turner, her daughter Vanessa Vadim and her grandchildren.
Of Turner, Fonda said: “He’s my favorite ex-husband. We get along great. I love to fish, and he’s got some great property down there.”
Atlanta: Every day is … ?
Andre 3000 of Atlanta rap duo OutKast, rapper, producer and label president Lil Jon and fellow rapper Da Brat were all in the audience to see a comedian who is close to having their kind of major name recognition: Katt Williams. Williams — the voice of “The Boondocks” character A Pimp Named Slickback, “Friday After Next” actor, MTV’s “Nick Cannon Presents: Wild ‘N Out” participant and music video veteran — taped his first special at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center this past weekend. And why Atlanta? Well, before the sold-out show, he told Buzz, “I love [Atlanta] for all that it is. Some of my most cherished people are in Atlanta.
“Plus there are so many elements at work in Atlanta,” he continued. “A wonderful mix of people. There’s the colleges, people coming from all over the country to go to Morehouse and Spelman. The businesspeople. The thugs. The gangsters. All of the necessary elements of an audience for a comedy special.”
At the beginning of his performance, he expanded on the reason — less glowingly: “All of your dreams can come true at [adult entertainment club] Magic City, and you can be killed at the stoplight!”
At press time Monday, Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau employees were still hard at work, trying to fit the slogan onto a T-shirt.
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Barbara Hale (“Perry Mason”) is 85. Actress Hayley Mills is 60. Actor James Woods is 59. Actor Eric Roberts is 50. Actress Melody Thomas Scott (“Young and the Restless”) is 50. Actress Jane Leeves (“Frasier”) is 45. Talk show host Conan O’Brien is 43. Actor Eric McCormack (“Will and Grace”) is 43. Actress Alia Shawkat (“Arrested Development”) is 17.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Tween fans clamor for the Pussycat Dolls
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The first two in line to see the Pussycat Dolls at a Perimeter Verizon Wireless store Saturday waited patiently for more than four hours.
“They’re awesome!” said Snellville fifth-grader Maggie Britt, who screamed loudly as the six women entered the store.
“They’re gorgeous!” added sister Shannon Lay, 26. “They’re better than the Spice Girls. They sing better. They dance better.”
But Buzz asked Maggie if she could name any actual members of the group, who opened for the Black Eyed Peas Saturday night at Chastain Park Amphitheatre. “Sure!” Maggie said. Pause. “Umm … no.”
Started as a burlesque act in Las Vegas a decade ago, the sextet is more concept than music group. Think the Harlem Globetrotters, just shorter and prettier. Indeed, Verizon could have brought in six impostors and few of the 100-plus heavily tween fans there would have known the difference.
Yet they do have three big Top 40 hits, including the mildly raunchy “Don’t Cha” and current hit “Beep,” which jokingly bleeps out anything that could be construed as sexual.
The lead singer is a beauty named Nicole Scherzinger, formerly of the blink-if-you-missed-it group Eden’s Crush. She stood with the other five for media questions and managed to spout off multiple clichés in one breath when asked about advice for others.
“Stay true to yourself,” she said helpfully. “Have faith. Don’t give up.”
‘Crunk’ on hockey
Local “King of Crunk” rap star Lil Jon is becoming king of the puck: He’s shown up at three Atlanta Thrashers hockey games recently, including Saturday’s crucial win that kept the team’s playoff hopes alive.
He wore sunglasses and a blue Thrashers jersey with the letters “LJ” on the back and the number 17, Thrashers star forward Ilya Kovalchuk’s number. (Lil Jon’s son is in youth hockey.)
When the camera showed his image on the video board during the third period, he waved his arms up and down. The crowd screamed.
In an interview on the Thrashers Web site last month, he was asked if he could help the many hockey players who have lost their teeth. Lil Jon’s jokey answer: “Definitely. I got a great jeweler dentist. We could hook them up with some bling. I’ll definitely help them out, get ‘em a nice grill going.”
Rascal Flatts ain’t hurtin’
Rascal Flatts had the biggest debut of the year, selling 722,000 copies of “Me and My Gang,” according to Nielsen SoundScan. It’s the biggest country debut since Tim McGraw’s “Live Like You Were Dying” in fall 2004, with 766,000 copies its first week. LaGrange’s own Bubba Sparxxx debuted at No. 9, with 51,000 copies sold of “The Charm.” His last CD “Deliverance” opened at No. 10 with 65,000 copies in 2003.
NPR station hits goals
WABE-FM (90.1), the local National Public Radio affiliate, reached its spring fund-raising goals again. Entering the 10th and final day of on-air begging a couple of weeks ago, the station was still short $226,000 of its $850,000 goal, itself a hefty 12 percent increase from a year earlier.
But as usual, the procrastinators came through, finishing with pledges of $874,000, a record take. “The Atlanta listeners get some kind of thrill doing that,” said general manager John Weatherford.
More than 7,200 individuals pledged money, up from 6,700 in spring 2005. And the station now has a record 38,000-plus members and 330,000 weekly listeners.
WABE, in fact, has hit its fund-raising goals for so many years now, that current management can’t recall the last time listeners failed to come through.
More on Cruise control
Tom Cruise has taken the impending birth of his first child with fiancée Katie Holmes to another level. “We’ve been doing seminars with the family just to educate them,” the 43-year-old star of the upcoming “Mission: Impossible III” tells GQ magazine in its May issue, out April 25. “Running seminars so we can understand what Kate’s going through, and for Kate to understand it. Things like how to take care of a pregnant woman and get ready for the birth. It’s just kind of becoming a fun game of learning.”
‘Idol’ revelations
Dunwoody High School grad and “American Idol” host Ryan Seacrest has purchased Kevin Costner’s 10,000-square-foot $11.5 million home in Hollywood Hills. …
Canadian singer/songwriter Daniel Powter has never appeared or competed on “Idol,” but he can thank the show for fueling the popularity of his insanely catchy song “Bad Day,” played whenever a contestant gets voted off. The exposure helped propel it to the top of the Billboard Top 100 for three weeks.
“It grows on people. Everyone can sing it, and it’s easy to whistle,” Powter told USA Today last week. “I’m sure ‘American Idol’ is a huge reason the song is what it is. I’m thankful because it’s getting my music out there.”
Celebrity birthdays
Actress Kimberly Elise (“Close to Home”) is 39. Singer Liz Phair is 39. Rapper-actor Redman is 36. Actress Jennifer Garner (“Alias”) is 34. Singer Victoria Beckham of the Spice Girls is 32.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Tyra Banks gives a leg up to Spanx inventor
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s own Spanx footless pantyhose inventor Sara Blakely got a pricey TV endorsement for free this week when she guested on “The Tyra Banks Show.” First, Blakely got the leadoff, 10-minute slot with the supermodel/chat show host to discuss the Spanx hosiery empire, which generated $85 million in retail sales in 2005. She started the company with just $5,000. The show focused on inventive entrepreneurs who started their businesses with nothing.
The bubbly Blakely explained the creation of and the patent process behind Spanx and got to toss out the slimming, line-eliminating undergarment’s trademark slogan: “We’ve got your butt covered.”
But even Blakely looked surprised when her company (which exists almost exclusively on word-of-mouth) got the endorsement deal of the year when Banks cooed: “I’m a very big fan of Spanx.” The retired supermodel then proceeded to flash the audience via a sneak peek of the pair of Spanx she was wearing.
“I wear them on 80 percent of the shows,” she told Blakely. “So when L.L. Cool J is on and I’m going, ‘You’re so cool,’ what I’m really doing is [adjusting] my Spanx!”
B is for Beverley Leslie
Omnipresent one-man Midtown celebrity sighting Leslie Jordan got a primo mention in the April 14 Entertainment Weekly. The actor, in town performing his one-man show “Like a Dog on Linoleum” at the 14th Street Playhouse, holds down the letter “B” in the magazine’s feature, “Gay’s Anatomy: ‘Will & Grace’ A to Z.” Touting his recurring Beverley Leslie character on the long-running NBC sitcom, EW writer Dave Karger scribbles of Jordan’s creation: “The diminutive, prissy pal of Karen’s whose howl-worthy denial of his own homosexuality made him a fan favorite. ‘He literally makes every single person laugh,’ says Sean Hayes. Adds Eric McCormack: ‘Even when he’s around, you miss him. Because he’s just that short.’ “
C is for Cruise
This will make the online activists at FreeKatie.com feel so much better. In an interview scheduled to be broadcast Friday night on ABC’s “Primetime,” Tom Cruise told Diane Sawyer that speculation regarding Scientology births has been blown out of proportion. The furniture-hopping dad-to-be confirmed to Sawyer that his fiancée, Katie Holmes, who is in the final stages of her pregnancy with the couple’s first child, will adhere to Scientology’s practice of quiet birth. Cruise explains that “quiet birth,” which aims to minimize talk and other noise inside the delivery room, is “basically just respecting the mother.”
“She does what she’s gotta do,” he explains, addressing speculation that such a practice would muffle Holmes completely and deny her pain medication.
“If she needs medicine, she needs medicine.”
Whew.
Alas, Scientology apparently doesn’t allow you to ball-gag your freakish sperm donor or tranq-dart him during delivery… .
J. Jackson: Listener beware
That new Janet Jackson music making the rounds on the Internet is apparently not as new as you might think.
The 39-year-old part-time Atlantan, who is working on a new album, says someone has leaked songs she recorded at least two years ago when working with hit-making producer Rich Harrison. At least one song has already made the rounds, titled, “Put It on Me.”
“A couple of years ago, I recorded some tracks with Rich Harrison. But none of that music will appear on my new album,” Jackson said in a statement released to The Associated Press on Friday. “I have a tight rein on all of the music that has been recorded.”
Jackson’s new album, tentatively titled “20 Years Old,” is expected to be released later this year.
Celebrity birthdays
Today: Country singer Roy Clark is 73. Actress Emma Thompson is 47. Actress Emma Watson (“Harry Potter” movies) is 16.
Sunday: Singer Bobby Vinton is 71. Actor-comedian Martin Lawrence is 41. Actor Jon Cryer is 41. Actor Peter Billingsley (“A Christmas Story”) is 35. Actor Lukas Haas is 30.
Contributing: News services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Atlantans co-wrote Blige chart-topper
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Three Atlantans can take a huge chunk of credit for what is now the longest running No. 1 R&B single on the Billboard chart, since that listing was reintroduced in 1965. Local talents Johnta Austin, Bryan Michael-Cox and his cousin Jason Perry co-wrote the Mary J. Blige ballad “Be Without You” with Blige, and it has been atop the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Song list for 15 weeks in a row. Only two songs have had 14-week reigns in the past 41 years: Deborah Cox’s 1998 hit “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” co-written by Atlanta R&B singer-songwriter Montell Jordan; and Mariah Carey’s “We Belong Together,” co-written by Atlantans Jermaine Dupri, Manuel Seal and Austin.
Oh — and in case you were wondering, there have been four other songs in the entire history of that Billboard chart that have been No. 1 for 16 weeks or more: “The Honeydripper (Parts 1 and 2),” Joe Liggins and His Honeydrippers (18 weeks); “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie,” Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (18); “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens,” Louis Jordan & His Tympany Five (17); and “Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bob,” Lionel Hampton & His Orchestra (16). The record-breaking tunes are being considered for the upcoming “American Idol” theme night: “Songs That Inspired Your Great Grandparents to Yell ‘Turn That [Expletive] Down! ’ ”
If you can do ’70s look, this call’s for you
As part of our ongoing public service to assist Buzz readers with opportunities to stalk, er, stare longingly at “Failure to Launch” actor Matthew McConaughey and “Lost” star Matthew Fox while scoring some decent coin, we recommend popping by the Atlanta Marriott Century Center Friday afternoon.
That’s when casting directors will hold a casting call for the upcoming, locally shot feel-good football flick “We Are … Marshall.” The two Matthews portray coaches in the film.
From 1 to 5 p.m., casting folks are asking Atlantans who wish to be extras in the movie, set to shoot here from April 24 to June 20, to turn up with a recent photo or head shot. The filmmakers are seeking men and women of all ages, 18 to 100 (yikes!) for “all types of scenes.” College-age-looking guys and gals should have 1970s-era longish hair “with no extreme highlights or dyes.”
Experienced football officials, marching band members with their own instruments, cheerleaders, firefighters and paramedics are also needed for the drama.
The extras casting folks tell Buzz: “We need a little of everything. If you feel you do not fall into one of these groups, don’t let that stop you from coming.”
“Also, participants should know that this is not an actual audition, just an opportunity for filmmakers to get a photo and some info from you. You should be in and out ‘in just a few minutes.’”
The casting call will be at the Atlanta Marriott Century Center, 2000 Century Blvd., at Clairmont Road and I-85. E-mail: marshallextras@gmail.com.
More ‘Captain Planet’
Cartoon Network’s kid brother, Boomerang, has unearthed 13 “lost” episodes of 1990s TBS ‘toon “Captain Planet and the Planeteers.” While the cable netlet won’t confirm that the eps were discovered during a routine purging of Ted Turner’s sock drawer, it has announced an airdate. The never-aired shows will run during two marathons on Earth Day 2006 (for you soulless, gas-guzzling SUV drivers, that would be April 22) from 7:30 to 11:30 a.m. and then from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Boomerang.
Our fave episode described in the e-mail sent to Buzz Central? “Twelve Angry Animals: While climbing Mount Everest, the Planeteers are caught in a terrible blizzard and face certain death. Fortunately, they are led by a snow leopard to a fantastic ice cavern where they think they will be safe. But the cavern turns out to be a courtroom and the Planeteers are put on trial for humanity’s crimes.” Or as we at Buzz Central like to refer to it: Saturday night in Midtown.
Easter bunny benefit
The goofy stuffed bunnies are once again greeting patrons at Agnes & Muriel’s in Midtown in preparation for the kitschy cafe’s third annual Easter Sunday benefit for the North Georgia House Rabbit Society. The goal of the charity this time of year is to “prevent the impulse purchase of live rabbits for children.” Translation: By the time Mother’s Day rolls around, the novelty will likely have worn off and unless your husband is secretly seeing Glenn Close, you’re stuck with a lettuce-munching machine. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, A&M owner Glenn Powell will preside over the popular home-style Easter buffet benefit. As always, GHRS volunteers will have adoptable bunnies out front for those who understand the responsibilities they’re taking on. For info: Agnes & Muriel’s, 1541 Monroe Drive N.E., Atlanta. 404-885-1000, www.mominthekitchen.com.
Celebrity birthdays
Country singer Loretta Lynn is 71. Actress Julie Christie is 66. Actor Brad Garrett (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 46. Singer-guitarist John Bell of Widespread Panic is 44. Actor Anthony Michael Hall is 38. Actor Adrien Brody (“The Pianist”) is 33. Rapper Da Brat is 32. Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar is 29.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Office’ actor to lend support to ATL troupe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Hot on the heels of his featured turn in the “Michael’s Birthday” episode of the hit NBC sitcom “The Office,” series regular Brian Baumgartner will return to his hometown this month.
The former Sandy Springs-based actor plays “Kevin in Accounting” on the boundaries-pushing, cult cubicle comedy. Baumgartner will fly in for an Actor’s Express benefit April 30 at a most appropriate venue, the 27th-floor corporate dining room of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP at 1100 Peachtree St. in Midtown. In addition to a VIP cocktail reception hosted by Mellon Wealth Management on the building’s 15th floor, Baumgartner will participate in a James Lipton-esque (presumably without the scary dyed facial hair…) “Inside The Actor’s Express Studio” Q &A with Express artistic director Jasson Minadakis.
So how did the hipster theater snag the actor? It helps that his mom, Cherry Baumgartner, serves on the Actor’s Express board.
Via a statement, the actor tells Buzz: “I’m thrilled and excited to be returning to Atlanta to support Actor’s Express. There is nothing more important to the cultural landscape of a city than a thriving theater community. Producing new and challenging works is never an easy thing.”
Alas, within the confines of a canned, prepared statement, Buzz could not immediately ascertain whether Baumgartner’s “Office” co-workers Jim and Pam (gleefully referred to by online bloggers as “Jam”) will finally get horizontal this season.
Natch, we also would have asked if he got to keep the “American Pie 2” DVD and the 69 containers of Cups of Noodles his character received in a recent episode when Kevin experienced a brief skin cancer scare.
For both the cocktail party and the Q&A, tickets are $150 per person. Contact 404-875-1606.
Renaissance Festival fare
Proving once again that the way to a Georgia Renaissance Festival lover’s heart is through his or her gullet, the festival has added new taste treats for the 2006 season. When the 21st annual jousting joint lowers its drawbridge this weekend (just off I-85 South, Exit 61, milord), in addition to its time-tested turkey legs and macaroni and cheese on a stick, the fest will offer Gator Bites: “large chunks of fried alligator served on a skewer along with a tangy remoulade sauce.” Also on the menu: fried Bananas Foster and gazpacho served up in “a translucent glass, garnished with tomato, cucumber and a breadstick.”
Ah, but the big news is the addition of lobster rolls. We’ll just let Renaissance Fest rep Sarah Petermann’s hilarious description speak for itself: “Titanic hunks of supremely fresh lobster, given the Hellmann’s treatment, with a fine dice of celery and a finger-twitch of chopped scallion, all shoved into a warm, buttery bun.”
Heck, we might even tempt fate with those ever-roaming Kissing Wenches to experience that…
Mishap for Britney’s boy
As it turns out, life isn’t all free booze and photo ops at Vision nightclub. California child welfare officials and a sheriff’s deputy have paid a visit Britney Spears’ home because her infant son was accidentally dropped from a highchair, according to published reports.
Six-month-old Sean Preston fell April 1 as his nanny lifted him from the highchair and something in the chair snapped, Star magazine is reporting. The infant slipped from her arms and fell, bruising his head on the floor, the magazine said.
People magazine and the Los Angeles Times also reported the incident on Wednesday.
Though a doctor examined the baby at the house, Sean Preston’s concerned mama and nightspot-hopping hubby Kevin Federline took the baby to the emergency room to have him examined — six days later, People said.
Spears’ attorney, Martin Singer, said in a statement that the hospital made a report to the Department of Children and Family Services as required by state law.
“DCFS immediately responded and determined there was no problem and no reason to open a formal investigation. They determined that the parents weren’t involved in the injury and nothing was improper within the home,” he said.
In February, DCFS visited Spears’ home after publication of photographs showing the 24-year-old singer driving with then 4-month-old Sean Preston in her lap, rather than in a car seat as required by law.
Celebrity docket
Rocker Pete Doherty failed to appear at a London court Wednesday for a review of his progress in drug rehabilitation.
Doherty’s representatives told Thames Magistrates’ Court that he had been unable to return from Paris, where his group, Babyshambles, had played a concert Tuesday night.
Proving once again that rich drug-addled rockers are treated differently than drug-addled nobodies, the case was adjourned until May 12.
Doherty, 27, was sentenced in February to 12 months of community service and ordered to submit to regular drug tests after pleading guilty to drug offenses.
Celebrity birthdays
Musician Al Green is 60. Singer Peabo Bryson is 55. “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” bandleader Max Weinberg is 55. Actor Rick Schroder is 36.
Contributing: news services. If you have a tip, 404-526-2749. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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