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June 2007
July 4 parade a good break for soap star
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Between scenes this week, “General Hospital” actress Julie Berman jokes that she’s been practicing her “parade wave.” The Emmy-nominated 24-year-old is headed here next week to appear in WSB-TV’s annual “Salute 2 America Parade” on July 4.
She’s looking forward to a break from the drama her character Lesley “Lulu” Spencer (the spitfire offspring of soap supercouple Luke and Laura) has been immersed in this summer. Lulu recently discovered, for example, that the father she idolizes raped her mother back during the disco era. Now, Luke’s bolted town with her catatonic mom. Oh, and there was that painstaking decision to have an abortion last year after sleeping with her stepbrother.
“It can get pretty crazy on our show!” Berman concedes, laughing. Still, Berman says a highlight for her was having her long-lost TV mom (played by soap icon Genie Francis) return to the show for a month last year. The guest stint earned Francis her first-ever Emmy win this month.
“We were too busy for me to spend time being scared about working with her,” she says. “I’ve learned so much from Genie and [Luke portrayer] Tony [Geary]. Mostly, they’ve given me great advice about being young in this business and not letting people take advantage of you. They’ve both encouraged me to stand up for myself.”
Berman says she’s pleased with Lulu’s development as an independent, gutsy gal.
“So many female characters this age wait around and cry over boys,” she explains. “It’s great to be able to play a strong young woman who makes mistakes but learns from them.”
WSB’s “Salute 2 America Parade” coverage officially kicks off at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Take a break with ‘The Simpsons’
We’ve already witnessed fans going nuts over this display at various movie theater lobbies around town. And on July 4, participants in the Peachtree Road Race also will have an opportunity to take a load off with TV’s most animated dysfunctional family. Yup, the folks at Fox have reserved space for a “doh!”-nut break in Piedmont Park for runners after enduring Heart Attack Hill on Wednesday morning. There’s an empty cushion waiting for runners at the end of “The Simpsons” couch with Homer, Marge, Bart, Maggie and Lisa perched next to you. Runners will be encouraged to pose for photo ops. The promotion is designed to get fans geared to spend money to watch the family in “The Simpsons Movie.” The big-screen ‘toon debuts in theaters July 27.
‘Mob’ heads South
Oscar winner Ray McKinnon’s filmed-in-Georgia comedy “Randy and the Mob” will open exclusively in Atlanta on Sept. 21. Plans are also in the works for a possible premiere here earlier that week. “Mob,” which won the audience award at this year’s Nashville Film Festival, stars McKinnon and his Hollywood-based Ginny Mule Pictures team of Walton Goggins (TV’s “The Shield”) and Lisa Blount. After its Atlanta debut, the film is expected to open in select Southern theaters in late September and October, then be screened nationally in November.
The comedy features McKinnon, a native of Adel, in a dual role as a man who owes money to low-level Italian mobsters and the man’s gay twin brother. “Mob” was filmed two years ago in various parts of North Georgia, including Douglasville, Covington and Decatur.
In 2002, McKinnon, Goggins and Blount’s made-in-Georgia “The Accountant” won the live-action short film Oscar. In 2004 the team released the stark Southern drama “Chrystal,” which co-starred the three and Billy Bob Thornton.
High five
Digital albums this week
1. “Icky Thump,” The White Stripes
2. “Lost Highway,” Bon Jovi
3. “5th Gear,” Brad Paisley
4. “Who We Are,” Lifehouse
5. “Back to Black,” Amy Winehouse
Source: Billboard Online
Celebrity birthdays
Saturday: Singer Lena Horne is 90. Jazz bassist Stanley Clarke is 56. Actor David Alan Grier is 52. Actor Vincent D’Onofrio is 48. “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino is 23.
Sunday: Actress Olivia de Havilland is 91. Movie director Sydney Pollack is 73. Actor Jamie Farr is 73. Gospel singer-choir leader Andrae Crouch is 65. Singer Deborah Harry of Blondie is 62. Singer Fred Schneider of the B-52’s is 56. Actor Dan Aykroyd is 55. Actor Andre Braugher (“Homicide”) is 45. Actress Pamela Anderson is 40. Actor Henry Simmons (“NYPD Blue”) is 37. Rapper Missy Elliott is 36. Actress Liv Tyler is 30. Actress Hilarie Burton (“One Tree Hill”) is 25.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Album cover shoot allows band to preen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
For the cover shoot of Stockbridge-birthed Collective Soul’s upcoming album, “Afterwords,” band pal and Buckhead salon owner Richie Arpino assisted with hair and makeup.
Oh, and he shot the cover.
Arpino, who in recent years has taken up photography, producing annual calendars for charity (his upcoming 2008 concept, “Body and Art” combines nudes posing in front of paintings), was recently commissioned to do the shoot by pal and Soul lead singer Ed Roland.
“Out of the blue, Ed says to me, ‘We should probably discuss a concept for the album cover because you’re shooting it,” Arpino told us Thursday. “It’s my first album shoot, so I did a lot of research.”
Thumbing through old Collective Soul CD covers, Arpino discovered something unusual about the photogenic gents — Roland, his younger guitarist brother, Dean Roland, bassist Will Turpin, guitarist Joel Kosche and drummer Ryan Hoyle had never been prominently featured on any of their album artwork.
“We fixed that pretty fast,” Arpino says. “I just told them, ‘You’re a good- looking band. Let’s get you guys out there.’ “
Dressed in chic rocker black, the band and Arpino fired off frames at Ed Roland’s home studio, late Atlanta artist Paul Chelko’s gallery and finally in front of soup bowls at Metrofresh in Midtown.
As for “Afterwords,” Arpino, who’s heard it, says it has a more acoustic feel and that fans should look out for the single, “Hollywood.” The disc should arrive in stores next month.
FADING SIGNAL
“Radio Golf,” the final installment of August Wilson’s 10-play cycle on African-American life in the 20th century, is ending its Broadway run Sunday. Staged by Atlanta director Kenny Leon, Wilson’s last work ran for only 64 performances and 17 previews, but it was nominated for numerous honors, including the Tony Award for best new play.
“This year was a crowded season for straight plays,” Leon said of the short engagement at the Cort Theatre. “You had a lot of plays that were fighting for that same audience.”
“Radio Golf” failed to surpass the 72 performances of Wilson’s “Gem of the Ocean,” also directed by Leon on Broadway in early 2005.
But Leon said, “I’m very excited and proud of the accomplishments of ‘Radio Golf.’ The fact that it was voted best new American play by the New York Drama Critics Circle, the four Tony nominations, the fact that we played to four cities across the country to sold-out houses.” Leon and Wilson dramaturg Todd Kreidler helped shepherd the play into its final form as Wilson was dying of liver cancer in 2005.
Leon, director of Atlanta’s True Colors Theatre Company, is in rehearsals for his theater’s National Black Arts Festival production of Lonnie Elder III’s “Ceremonies in Dark Old Men,” which begins previews at the Alliance Theatre on July 8 (Tickets: 404-733-5000).
OVERSCENE
MTV’s most memorable “Real World Denver” castmates/frienemies Brooke LaBarbera and Davis Mallory at Tap gastropub on Peachtree Street in Midtown, enjoying cocktails on the bustling patio. Alas, there were no immediate reports of LaBarbera’s trademark bottled water spraying meltdowns or any teary drunken angst involving Mallory’s seemingly fluid sexuality. Perhaps Tap owners Bob Amick and Todd Rushing should consider installing cameras. … Bruce Springsteen once again discreetly browsing the aisles at Acapella Books in Little Five Points … We hear The Boss dropped close to $300 on the shop’s hipster stock.
COUPLING UPDATE
As NBA champion Tony Parker’s wedding date to “Desperate Housewives” star Eva Longoria potentially inches closer next week, he’s staying coy about plans for the event.
Speaking to reporters Thursday in Paris, the San Antonio Spurs point guard shrugged off questions about the wedding date and venue, believed to be July 7 at a French chateau.
“I don’t care where I’m going to get married,” he said. “It’s a girls’ thing.” To other queries, he replied: “That’s a question you should ask Eva.”
He dismissed one rumor: that the wedding cake would be flown in from the United States.
“Why take a cake from the United States … if it is France that makes the best cakes?” he asked.
While Longoria picked the wedding site — believed to be the luxurious chateau de Vaux-le-Vicomte — Parker said he was taking charge of the food and music. And that’s all he would say.
With Longoria due back on the “Desperate Housewives” set in a matter of days, expect nups sooner than later.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Gary Busey is 63. Comedian Richard Lewis is 60. Singer Colin Hay of Men at Work is 54. Singer Evelyn “Champagne” King is 47. Actress Sharon Lawrence (“NYPD Blue”) is 46. Actress Melora Hardin (“The Office”) is 40. Rapper DJ Shadow is 35. Country guitarist Todd Sansom of Marshall Dyllon is 29. Singer Nicole Scherzinger of Pussycat Dolls is 29.
STORK REPORT
“I Know Who Killed Me” actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon is pregnant with twin boys.
The 40-year-old actress and her husband, talent agent Mike Nilon, expect to welcome their first children in November, confirms her publicist, Carri McClure.
The pregnancy was first reported by syndicated entertainment TV show “The Insider.”
Beauvais-Nilon’s credits include “NYPD Blue,” “The Jamie Foxx Show” and the aforementioned upcoming flick also starring Lindsay Lohan.
Contributing: Wendell Brock, 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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Fans fill store for Maupin’s tales from ’70s
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As he read the opening passage of his latest novel, “Michael Tolliver Lives” Wednesday night at Outwrite Books in Midtown, author Armistead Maupin was able to bring story hour to the intersection of Piedmont Avenue and 10th Street.
Inside, hundreds packed into the store while other fans lined up, arms folded on the railing outside, clutching copies of the book while listening intently underneath exterior speakers.
The fact that Maupin was detailing the joys of 1970s group sex aloud was evidenced only by the uncomfortable looks of a few passers-by in the intersection.
The “Tales of the City” writer was happily introducing engrossed readers to his “unofficial” seventh book in the 30-year old series.
“I’ve been very lucky on this tour,” Maupin told Buzz. “The readers have been enthusiastic, and they’ve really welcomed these characters back.”
Readers David Kerr, Terry Bird and Winston Johnson were seated up front. Bird has been a fan of the series since happening upon the original newspaper installments in the San Francisco Chronicle while on a trip west in 1977.
Kerr read all six of the sprawling novels a decade later in a single summer. “To me they were magical,” Kerr explained.
Said fan Sheri Mann Stewart, who finished “Tolliver” Tuesday night: “It was very emotional for me. It was like catching up with friends that I had missed terribly.”
PHOTOS: Armistead Maupin at Outwrite
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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Going from depositions to diapers
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Former Fulton County prosecutor Nancy Grace supplied some details to her viewers Tuesday night on her new dual role of wife and expectant mom.
“Being a mother did not seem part of God’s plan for me,” she told CNN viewers. “My life has been, for 20 years, representing crime victims in and out of court. I’m happy to report the plan for my life has made a U-turn. This past April I married David [Linch] and tonight we announce I’m expecting twins.” Of her secrecy, Grace added on “Access Hollywood”: “I didn’t want to jinx it. I come from rural Georgia, and we believe in hexes and all that. I did not want to [announce] it until I was further along. But, I can’t hide it anymore. I’ve made enough excuses on why I’m sick, and [people] are going to find out.”
In this week’s US Weekly out today, Grace, 47, discloses that her cravings are, indeed, Southern-fried: “Watermelon, peaches and my mother’s southern fried chicken!
A HARD DAY’S NIGHT WITH LARRY KING
Associated Press
CNN’s Larry King bungled his interview with the surviving Beatles on Tuesday night. As he was asking a timely question about where Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were when John Lennon was murdered in 1980, King referred to Starr as “George.”
As in George Harrison, the Beatle who succumbed to cancer in 2001.
McCartney and Harrison played off the gaffe with banter that could have been lifted from one of the band’s 1964 U.S. press conferences.
“I was getting to George,” King stammered, trying to explain away the slip.
“No, you weren’t, Larry,” McCartney playfully scolded. “You said his name wrong.”
Interjected Starr to McCartney: “Shut up, it’s my turn.”
Replied McCartney: “I know, but he got your name wrong, Ringo, on national television. We can’t cut it. It’s live.”
Sighed Starr: “I know. Give him a break.”
The pair’s sibling-like sparring saved the segment. Alas, King’s creaky credibility wasn’t as fortunate.
VEGGIES, PLEASE
Carrie Underwood and Kevin Eubanks have been named the “world’s sexiest vegetarians” in PETA’s annual contest.
Results were released this week by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
Underwood, 24, a Grammy-winning country singer, won the title in 2005. Eubanks, 49, leader of NBC’s “Tonight Show” band, is a newcomer to the winner’s circle.
Eubanks leapt ahead of his competitors with help from Jay Leno, who encouraged viewers to vote for Eubanks and “bring honor” to the late-night NBC talk show.
“I’m gonna keep this campaign going,” Leno said during a recent show after sharing a photo of a shirtless Eubanks with his audience. Leno said the shot, in which Eubanks is holding a backpack and posing against a woodsy backdrop, wasn’t doctored.
Runners-up in the contest, which the animal rights group said drew more than 110,000 votes on its Web site, included Joaquin Phoenix, Milo Ventimiglia, Kristen Bell, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jared Leto and Lisa Edelstein.
Last year, Prince and Bell, who starred on the “Veronica Mars” TV series, were picked as the two sexiest vegetarians. Previous winners also include Natalie Portman, Andre 3000, Coldplay’s Chris Martin, Shania Twain, Tobey Maguire, Lauren Bush, Josh Hartnett and Alicia Silverstone.
CELEBRITY DOCKET UPDATE
“Saving Private Ryan” actor Tom Sizemore’s 16-month prison sentence for violating probation in a drug case has been dramatically reduced.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cynthia Rayvis gave the actor 213 days of credit for time he has already spent in jail and two live-in drug programs, leaving him with about nine months in state prison.
Sizemore will likely serve about 41/2 months of that, said Deputy District Attorney Sean Carney.
The 45-year-old actor, who has been in jail without bail since June 5, wasn’t in court this week. An after-hours call to his lawyer, Fay Arfa, wasn’t immediately returned.
The judge originally ordered the steeper sentence Monday after authorities said they discovered methamphetamine in the actor’s car and arrested him in Bakersfield, Calif., last month. Sizemore was charged with seven drug-related counts, including transportation and possession of methamphetamines.
HIGH FIVE
Comcast on Demand programs in the metro area (for the week of June 20-27):
1. Lil Boosie, “Wipe Me Down” video, Music Choice
2. “Entourage,” “Welcome to the Jungle” Episode 43, HBO
3. “Ice Age: The Meltdown,” HBO
4. “Dora the Explorer,” “To the Treehouse,” Nickelodeon
5. T-Pain, “Buy You a Drink” video, Music Choice
— Source: Comcast
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Comedian-director Mel Brooks is 81. Actress Kathy Bates is 59. Actress Alice Krige is 53. Actor John Cusack is 41. Actress Tichina Arnold (“Everybody Hates Chris”) is 36. Country singer and former “American Idol” contestant Kellie Pickler is 21.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Singer Reed busy with tour, new CD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta’s own Francine Reed rang into Buzz Central on Tuesday from Columbus, Ohio, to slide us an update on her annual summer tour with Lyle Lovett and His Large Band as it treks its way across a 55-show itinerary with singer K.D. Lang.
Reflecting on the tour’s June 15 stop at Chastain, where the act has been traditionally greeted with a concert-halting electrical storm, Reed told us: “This was actually the first year when I was praying for some rain since my hometown needs it so badly.”
After 23 years with Lovett, Reed’s signature solo number “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues” occupies a special place in the show this summer.
“I lead off the set, baby!” Reed said, laughing. “I come out with a remote microphone and sing ‘Women’ and people think it’s the Francine Reed show. They’re probably wondering if Mr. Lovett is coming out at all!”
When Reed returns to her adopted city in August, she has two weeks here before heading to San Francisco for bookings through Halloween. Local fans can expect gigs at Fuzzy’s Place (dates to be announced) and an Aug. 11 date at Blind Willie’s.
Reed and the members of Java Monkey are also working on a new CD. It’s being culled from 15 live shows together, recorded over the last few years, including a tour of Australia and her Atlanta gigs opening Chastain dates for soul men James Brown and Al Green.
When we offered Reed our BuzzBerry line for updates, Reed cracked: “Oh, baby, you know me. I don’t want a thing to do with a BlackBerry unless I can eat it.”
A MOB FOR MAUPIN?
The police barricades from Gay Pride weekend hadn’t even been removed from outside his store Tuesday when Outwrite Books owner Philip Rafshoon was contemplating needing them for tonight’s signing. As many as 500 “Tales of the City” fans could show up for author Armistead Maupin’s first-ever signing at the Midtown store.
Over lunch at the shop’s counter Tuesday, Rafshoon told us the store has already sold 250 copies of Maupin’s new novel, “Michael Tolliver Lives” (the writer’s unofficial seventh “Tales” book). While Rafshoon still had 350 copies in reserve, he was busy hunting up more books. Starting six weeks ago, eager readers were assigned numbers for the in-store event. That will continue today. Starting at 6 p.m., the first 100 ticketed folks will be admitted to the line to the scheduled 8 p.m. event, Rafshoon says. The remainder of Maupin’s readers will likely trail out the door onto Piedmont Avenue and wind around onto 10th Street, Rafshoon predicts.
“He’s the best-known out author who has never appeared at Outwrite in our 14-year history,” Rafshoon explains of the response. “And this is the first new ‘Tales’ book he’s published during our existence. Everyone is incredibly excited.”
OVERSCENE: LEFT COAST EDITION
Atlanta celebrity shutterbug Ben Rose checked in with us Tuesday to say that the Atlanta music scene had temporarily relocated to Los Angeles, the site of Tuesday night’s BET Awards. Of the influx of ATL A-listers, Rose e-mailed: “When I woke up this morning at my hotel, I couldn’t remember if I had spent the last 24 hours in Atlanta or L.A.” Leaving his hotel Monday, Rose reported seeing Ludacris on his way into a VIP reception. Later, Rose found himself shooting Atlanta’s own Jermaine Dupri and Bow Wow at the Producers Ball, sharing their private booth with Atlanta singer-songwriter Johnta Austin. Alas, Rose eventually realized where he was when he got the bill for a 4 a.m. room service order of a Caesar salad and a freshly squeezed glass of grapefruit juice. Price tag: $38.
HOOTIE ON HOLD
Hootie & the Blowfish has announced that the band is postponing the first 13 shows on their summer tour, including the act’s July 6 date here, scheduled as part of the Delta Classic Chastain series. The gig has been rescheduled for 8 p.m. Aug. 31. Previously purchased tickets for the July 6 performance will be honored Aug. 31.
We’re told that the postponed dates stem from a lingering staph infection in singer Darius Rucker’s left knee. “Rucker has undergone three surgeries to clear the infection and will be in post-operative rehabilitation through mid-July, which will prevent him from performing,” a Classic Chastain rep said via e-mail.
The band released this statement: “This is our first time canceling or postponing shows on a tour and it’s not something we take lightly. We hope our fans understand that nothing is more important to us than Darius’ health, and we will see you all later this summer.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys is 65. Country singer Lorrie Morgan is 48. Actor Tobey Maguire (“Spider-Man”) is 32. Singer Leigh Nash (Sixpence None the Richer) is 31. Actor Drake Bell (“Drake and Josh”) is 21. Actress Madylin Sweeten (“Everybody Loves Raymond”) is 16.
STORK REPORT
Former Fulton County prosecutor and much-lampooned CNN talk show host Nancy Grace was secretly married in April and is expecting twins, according to a report in the New York Post.
Grace, 47, reportedly married a longtime friend from Atlanta in a quiet April ceremony in Macon.
“I’m finally not keeping it a secret anymore,” she told the Post. According to the report, Grace is married to David Linch, an Atlanta investment banker. The two attended Mercer together in the 1970s and have stayed in touch, the Post story said.
Grace told the Post their marriage was a “spur of the moment decision” and that the pair had a simple ceremony in Macon, Grace’s hometown.
Contributing: 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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Book festival fare: Kinky, authors
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Cold Mountain” author and National Book Award winner Charles Frazier along with mystery writer, songwriter, salsa salesman, Jewish cowboy and failed Texas gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman have been selected as the keynote speakers for the second Atlanta Journal-Constitution Decatur Book Festival on Labor Day weekend.
During a Monday luncheon at Watershed in Decatur, festival organizers unveiled their ambitious plans for the literary festival, which drew an estimated 50,000 attendees in its inaugural year. This year’s event will feature 300 authors, including fantasy/sci-fi writer Terry Brooks, humorist Roy Blount Jr., 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry winner Natasha Trethewey and music journalist Chuck Klosterman.
According to programming director Tom Bell, the new Decatur tradition that started “as a harebrained scheme among friends sitting at a table at Java Monkey” will feature Friday field trip opportunities for elementary and high school readers; meet-and-greets with author/musicians John Wesley Harding and Peter Case and chefs/cookbook authors Marvin Woods and Scott Peacock; a youth poetry slam final; a teen literary salon; and a Mardi Gras-inspired parade through Decatur’s square, featuring area book club members.
“We like to think of ourselves as the city too busy to hate and the city not too busy to sit down and read a great book,” said AJC DBF executive director Daren Wang.
During the weekend, former AJC book editor and incoming Atlanta magazine book editor Teresa Weaver will interview Frazier onstage about his latest book, “Thirteen Moons,” which has been translated into Cherokee. The session will also feature Myrtle Driver, translator of Cherokee.
For info: www.decaturbookfestival.com.
PEACH-Y MERGER FOR LUXURY GLOSSY
Atlanta Peach magazine’s reach just got a lot longer. On Monday, it was announced that Ocean Drive Media Group, the owners of the Atlanta glossy, has entered into a partnership with Greenspun Media Group and Niche Media to create “the largest network of city-specific luxury publications in the country,” according to Ocean Drive head Jerry Powers. Greenspun Media owns various titles in Las Vegas and is the owner of the Las Vegas Sun daily newspaper; Niche’s holdings include publications in Aspen, Colo.; Boston; and Los Angeles. The merger will allow all three companies’ publications to tap into a total of 16 markets and an estimated 4.4 million readers.
A WHOLE LOT OF DIMES FOR DIMES
The final numbers have been crunched from this month’s citywide 23rd annual March of Dimes Dining Out fund-raiser. The event — featuring eateries that included Aria, Emeril’s Atlanta, the Capital Grille, Bluepointe, Nikolai’s Roof, Shaun’s, Taurus, Thrive, Trois and Wisteria and after-party venue Lotus Lounge nightclub — raised more than $100,000 for Georgia’s babies. Said event chair and Q100 morning man Bert Weiss: “The generosity of this community never ceases to amaze me.”
OVERSCENE
Rapper/actor Ludacris dining and sampling a bottle of 2000 Andrew Jeffries Sauvignon Blanc at Two Urban Licks. …
“Will & Grace” Emmy winner Leslie Jordan (currently co-starring in the CW summer series “Hidden Palms”) taking a break from his countless Gay Pride appearances over the weekend for a lunch of grilled chicken panini and a glass of iced tea at Lobby at Twelve.
CELEBRITY DOCKET
“Saving Private Ryan” actor Tom Sizemore was sentenced Monday to 16 months in prison for violating his probation in a drug case.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cynthia Rayvis ordered the sentence after authorities said they found methamphetamine in the actor’s car on May 8 in Bakersfield, Calif.
Sizemore, 45, was on probation for a previous drug conviction.
He was arrested in Bakersfield for investigation of seven drug-related charges, including methamphetamine possession.
He has been in jail without bail since June 5, when he surrendered on a warrant alleging he had violated his probation.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Billy Davis Jr. of the Fifth Dimension is 67. Musician Mick Jones of the Clash is 52. Actor Gedde Watanabe (“ER,” “Sixteen Candles”) is 52. Singer Chris Isaak is 51. Singer Terri Nunn of Berlin is 46. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia,” “Boogie Nights”) is 37. Actor Sean Hayes (“Will and Grace”) is 37. Actor Matt Letscher (“The New Adventures of Old Christine”) is 37. Actor Chris O’Donnell is 37. Country singer Gretchen Wilson is 33. Actor Jason Schwartzman (“Slackers,” “Rushmore”) is 27.
Contributing: 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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Monica’s new husband ‘hates reporters’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Southeastern Emmy Awards on Saturday night bestowed its top Governors Award to Monica Pearson for 32 years of service on Atlanta TV airwaves. And yes, her on-air name change from Monica Kaufman last year after she married John Pearson Sr. is still a topic of conversation.
“Some thought management was crazy” to change her name, WSB-TV news director Marian Pittman said on the dais at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Buckhead. “We got e-mails. We got phone calls. ‘What are you thinking?’ Well, if you’re in my chair or the GM’s chair, it’s easy. All we need is Monica. Some people don’t need a last name. And if you met her husband, you know why she changed it!”
The camera jumped to John Pearson, a DeKalb County police captain, and he sat stone-faced for several seconds before (barely) cracking a smile.
Rodney Ho/AJC staff
Longtime WSB-TV anchorwoman Monica Pearson (formerly Kaufman) chats with WGCL-TV’s Adam Murphy.
The anchorwoman, in an elegant white dress and cropped hair, thanked WSB and Karyn Greer of WXIA-TV for nominating her. Then she thanked her hubby for breaking a rule about media types.
“He hates reporters,” Pearson said. “Literally hates reporters. It took him a year for a girlfriend to talk him into going out with me!”
Many of the top awards went to stations outside Atlanta. (The Southeastern Emmys cover Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Asheville, N.C.) Fox affiliate WAGA-TV won for top daily newscast in a Top 25 market. Turner Broadcasting took home 16 awards, while NBC’s WXIA-TV grabbed 11 and Fox Sports South nabbed eight. Blair Meeks of WXIA won as best live on-camera reporter for the second year in a row.
NEW KITCHEN AHEAD FOR CELEBRITY CHEF
Buzz ran into charismatic chef Marvin Woods, who hosted the popular Turner South show “Home Plate,” which ended its run last year when the network was sold to Fox. He was nominated for best non-news on-camera talent but didn’t win.
Woods, who moved to Atlanta from South Florida last year, still has ties with Turner: He has a development deal with Cartoon Network. And he’s also working with Atlanta Public Schools on a nutritional education program he calls “Droppin’ Knowledge.”
After his short-lived stint at Midtown’s now-defunct Spice, Woods said he now has a chance to run his own restaurant in a downtown space about a block from the Ritz-Carlton, which he hopes to open in the fall. He doesn’t have the name pinned down yet, but it will seat about 180.
“It’s going to be eclectic ethnic,” Woods said. “Caribbean, African, Southern.”
ANOTHER ATLANTAN GETS RAMSAY BOOT
For the second week in a row, “Hell’s Kitchen” hellion Gordon Ramsay booted a metro Atlantan off the Fox reality show. In last Monday’s episode, it was Joanna Dunn, 22, of Roswell, the youngest contestant.
Ramsay tossed her for not smelling bad crab and almost serving it to the customers. “He said to make sure you check and double-check and taste the food,” Dunn told Buzz. “That one incident, I didn’t.”
Dunn now teaches at the Publix Apron’s Cooking School in Alpharetta. The Detroit native moved here from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina but enjoys it here, noting that it’s a good place to become a chef and perhaps break into TV.
One more Atlantan remains: former Waffle House cook Julia Williams. “She’s an amazing person,” Dunn said. “The world is going to see a lot of her.”
RANDOM BITS
After all the brouhaha over NBC and ABC trying to pay Paris Hilton for a sit-down interview, CNN’s Larry King is getting her for free Wednesday, the day after she leaves jail. The hotel heiress is serving a 45-day sentence for violating probation in an alcohol-related reckless driving case… . Rapper Foxy Brown, who’s on probation for assault and facing a battery charge in a separate case, had another brush with violence over the weekend. But this time she was the victim, police said. Four people teamed up to rob the racy rapper of a Louis Vuitton bag, $500 in cash and credit cards around 5:30 a.m. Saturday in Brooklyn, police said.
HIGH FIVE
Dave FM
The rock station swapped out program directors Friday. Here are the five most played songs in the past week.
- “What Light,” Wilco
2. “How to Save a Life,” the Fray
3. “9 Crimes,” Damian Rice
4. “You Know I’m No Good,” Amy Winehouse (below)
5. “Thinking About You,” Norah Jones
— Mediabase 24/7
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Carly Simon is 62. Actor Jimmie Walker is 60. Actor Ricky Gervais (above) is 46. Singer George Michael is 44. Actress Angela Kinsey (“The Office”) is 36.
LATE NIGHT JOKES
“There’s a video of Kobe Bryant trashing his fellow Lakers. The good news? This is the first evidence that Kobe’s even aware there’s other members on the team.”
— Jay Leno, June 21
“This week, Ozzy Osbourne sold his mansion in Los Angeles. Ozzy said he had to sell the house because, he said, ‘I could never find it.’ ”
— Conan O’Brien (right), June 21
“Great day for Hillary Clinton. She chose the song for her campaign, a song by Celine Dion. Is it wise choosing a Celine Dion song? She’s a singer best known for doing a song based on a sinking ship.”
— Craig Ferguson, June 19
Contributing: news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
The Boss steers clear of headliner’s spotlight
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Nightwatchman, the folkie-political songwriting alter ego of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello, had a couple of notable guests during his gig Thursday night at Smith’s Olde Bar in Midtown.
Bruce Springsteen, who’s in town recording with producer Brendan O’Brien, was spotted at a side table in the venue with O’Brien, who also produced Morello’s recently released album, “One Man Revolution.”
“We brought them in the back door,” Nolen Reeves Music rep Melanie Blake told Buzz on Friday. “It was all very low-key. He wasn’t a rock star at all. He was just there to hang out and catch Tom’s set. Everyone was hoping he would get onstage but he seemed really content watching Tom do his material.”
Amazingly, Springsteen, sporting a ball cap, went largely unnoticed in the jam-packed club. The Boss was also spotted backstage in a small room having a chat with the evening’s headliner.
As for the obvious, Blake said: “Every one of the Smith’s staff who got to shake his hand was completely thrilled!”
Cybill set to get ‘Curvy’ at Alliance
The Alliance Theatre is set to add some celebrity star power to its stage this fall. In November, the Tony Award-winning theater (and no, it never gets old typing that…) will host the world premiere of Bobby Goldman’s “Curvy Widow” starring Cybill Shepherd. According to info provided to us Friday, “the tour de force one-woman comedy is about love, sex and the adventures of a widow who finds the world of dating to be most interesting when she looks in the least expected places.” Or as we’re referring to it: “Cybill in Cyberspace.”
Opening night is Nov. 25, 7.30. Tickets are available to Alliance subscribers now by calling the Woodruff Arts Center box office at 404-733-5000. Tickets will be available to nonsubscribers this summer. Broadway director Scott Schwartz (“Jane Eyre” and “Golda’s Balcony”) will direct, with set and costumes designed by David Woolard and in association with Raoulfilm, Inc. Tickets will cost $50.
Girls gone wild: Fur Bus version
There’s always that one moment during the annual Fur Bus Media Night each year when we question reality, our judgment and the laws of physics. On Thursday night, that moment arrived when we were flashed twice by two separate female media types at Haven in Brookhaven. This year, the 40-some radio, TV and glossy mag correspondents were also shuttled to hotspots Mix in Brookhaven, Posh in Buckhead, Tap in Midtown and Thrive downtown to sample cocktails and signature menu items. As you may have gathered, some attendees overlooked the foodstuffs in favor of the booze. As usual, Fur Bus co-owners Rick Butgereit and Trey Humphreys played chaperone and tolerated — no, encouraged — outrageous behavior. When quizzed about the aftereffects of last year’s outing (which, incidentally, ended with a normally posh local magazine editor reflecting on her dinner choices in the parking lot) Butgereit told us: “We’re really out to set a new record this year. We’re going for a sweep.” As usual, by the time patrons were safely deposited home via Zingo designated drivers late Thursday, Butgereit had achieved the lofty goal.
Atlanta authors have D.C. date
The Library of Congress announced Friday that Atlanta authors Carmen Agra Deedy, Shelia P. Moses and Sanjay Gupta are among the 70 writers selected to participate in the seventh annual National Book Festival in Washington.
The festival “welcomes all Americans to the National Mall to celebrate reading and meet with some of America’s most-loved authors from across the country,” said first lady Laura Bush, a former librarian who founded the event.
The event will also feature best-selling authors Joyce Carol Oates and David Baldacci, historians David Kennedy and Ken Burns and the Food Network’s Cat Cora.
Festival author coordinator John Cole said he expects the Atlanta authors to be big draws.
“For Carmen, it will be her third appearance,” he said. “She is a wonderful speaker.”
Four authors are selected to speak at a black-tie dinner the night before the festival.
Bush and husband George W. attend.
“Carmen was a speaker at the black-tie dinner before our second festival,” Cole said.
Moses was so popular last year that she was invited back, he said.
“Shelia had such a good time and really wanted to come back,” he said. “She said she would come back on her own if she wasn’t selected, but she didn’t have to worry about that.”
This is Gupta’s first appearance, Cole said.
The free festival will be 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sept. 29 on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Let her come here and co-host for a week. That’ll set her straight.”
— “Evan Almighty” actress Wanda Sykes on Friday, on celebrity inmate Paris Hilton on “The View.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Today: “The Young and the Restless” actor Ted Shackelford is 61. “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson is 51. Actress Frances McDormand is 50. Singer KT Tunstall is 32. Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz is 30.
Sunday: Actor Al Molinaro (“Happy Days”) is 88. Actress Michele Lee is 65. Drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac is 65. Bassist Curt Smith of Tears for Fears is 46. Actress Danielle Spencer (“What’s Happening”) is 42. Actress Sherry Stringfield (“ER”) is 40.
Contributing: Bob Dart, David O’Brien 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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See Rock City do goofy stuff for publicity
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Note to local public relations types: Want to get noticed in this space? Gather a state treasure, a proclamation-presenting politician and a mascot resembling an escapee from the North Pole.
Oh, and then persuade the company CEO to wear a birdhouse on his head to the state Capitol.
Such was the scene this week as State Sen. Jeff Mullis (whose 53rd District encompasses Lookout Mountain, Ga.) awarded a proclamation to Rock City Gardens roadside attraction owner Bill Chapin inside the state Capitol, noting the tourist stop’s 75th anniversary.
Along for the ride into the big city: Rocky, Rock City’s head elf mascot (who, incidentally, did dash up the Capitol steps, we’re told). Rock City Garden’s 75 Days of Summer celebration commenced Thursday.
In addition to the state honor, Rock City Gardens officials are asking folks with fond memories of their visits to contribute their memories of taking in Lover’s Leap, Fat Man’s Squeeze and Swing-a-Long Bridge at www.seerockcity.com/75.
Local fans may also want to tune in to “Today” this morning on WXIA-TV starting at 7. Chapin, clad in his birdhouse hat, and Rocky will be outside Rockefeller Plaza, vying for the attention of weatherman Al Roker. They were scheduled to be in line by 5 a.m.
“And we’ve got personalized hats for Al, Matt [Lauer] and Meredith [Vieira] as well,” rep Nicholas Wolaver told Buzz from NYC Thursday. “It’s been a really unique visit so far. As we’ve walked the streets of New York City, people keep stopping Bill to tell them that they’ve seen Rock City.”
And perhaps the coolest thing about seerockcity.com?
You can score one of its famous birdhouses for $22.99 if you don’t have time or $200 in gas money for a road trip.
JUST IN AT BUZZ CENTRAL …
Criminal Records in Little Five Points has snagged former Drive-By Truckers member Jason Isbell for one of his first solo in-store signings and performance at 7 p.m. July 10. Fans of the Athens act will recall that those dreaded band-related “personal issues” led to the guitarist/singer-songwriter’s departure from the act in April.
Isbell’s solo debut, “Sirens of the Ditch,” will be released on the same day via New West Records.
Interestingly, “Sirens” was co-produced by Isbell and his former Truckers bandmate Patterson Hood and recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Ala. That night, Isbell will also play a gig at the EARL in East Atlanta.
FIL-A FANATICISM
About 115 Chick-fil-A campers, (some complete with tents and one group of gals hauling a couch), waited outside all night for the public debut of the fast food eatery on South Cobb Drive in Smyrna on Thursday. Many had been there since noon Wednesday. The first 100 folks in line, you see, were awarded 52 coupons good for weekly fixes of the food staple over the next year. “We had one gentleman who told us that this was his 20th Chick-fil-A store opening,” rep Julie Bowcutt told us Thursday, still trying to shake the surprise out of her voice. “Since school’s out, we even had families who spent the night outside together.” For security purposes, Chick-fil-A reps stay overnight as well. The store officially opened at 6:30 a.m. Thursday.
“Everything was broken down pretty fast,” observed Bowcutt. “Using the drive-through is difficult with a tent in the parking lot.”
OVERSCENE
Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan and guests supping on a lobster and crab duo, hanger steak, and oxtail (sans cheese) at Trois. The party — sigh — drank sparkling water. After a couple of autograph-seeking fans made their way inside the Midtown eatery, a manager hastily apologized to the rocker. We’re told Corgan happily signed more autographs on the way out. The band starts a sold-out nine-gig residency at the Orange Peel in Asheville, N.C., this weekend.
ON MY iPOD
Andruw Jones, center fielder, Atlanta Braves
With 6,800 songs on his iPod, Jones says his current favorite artist is Atlanta’s own T.I., and the rapper/actor’s “Top Back” remains tops with Jones. Among his most recent downloads? “I can’t remember exactly. Some salsa, some country and some rap.”
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Ralph Waite (“The Waltons”) is 79. Singer-actor Kris Kristofferson is 71. Journalist Brit Hume is 64. Actor David L. Lander (Squiggy on “Laverne and Shirley”) is 60. Singer Todd Rundgren is 59. Singer Alan Osmond of the Osmonds is 58. Actress Meryl Streep is 58. Actress Lindsay Wagner is 58. Singer Cyndi Lauper is 54. Actress Mary Lynn Rajskub (“24”) is 36. TV personality Carson Daly is 34. Actor Donald Faison (“Scrubs”) is 33.
Contributing: 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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Not even Evan, exactly — but, hey, we got rain
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
If your lawn and garden finally got a proper watering Tuesday night, you may want to thank the guy running around town dressed as Noah. All day and night Tuesday, the biblical ark builder was spotted dashing about town to promote the upcoming big-screen comedy “Evan Almighty”; the film’s star, Steve Carell — who goes the flowing-beard-and-boat route in the flick after Morgan Freeman as God instructs him to — was being utilized for bigger press engagements like “Live with Regis & Kelly.”
Atlanta model and actor Joel Darby donned a robe, hilariously cheesy facial hair and matching eyebrows and good-naturedly greeted visitors at the Georgia Aquarium, Centennial Olympic Park, CNN Center, the World of Coke and Turner Field.
By the way, non-biblical celebs spotted in the stands this week for the Boston/Atlanta series included: OutKast member/actor Andre “3000” Benjamin, R.E.M. bassist Mike Mills, Atlanta Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall and country singer Josh Turner. We’re told that Turner and Hall, both devoted fans, even turned up early to watch the Braves take batting practice before the game.
SIDELINED SINGER TELLS HER STORY
When singer-songwriter Mary Chapin Carpenter canceled her summer tour, she no doubt disappointed the dozens of dancing glow-in-the dark plastic flamingos who traditionally turn up (to her delight) for her annual outing at Chastain Park Amphitheater. But her reasons were sound. In her “This I Believe” essay recorded for Sunday’s edition of National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” the singer details her recent health scare. After a concert tour this spring, Carpenter was hospitalized after suffering a pulmonary embolism. “Everyone told me how lucky I was,” she says in the radio essay. “A pulmonary embolism can take your life in an instant.” As she recovered, Carpenter says she experienced disappointment and depression, until a chance encounter at the grocery store: “One morning, the young man who rang up my groceries … told me to enjoy the rest of my day. I looked at him, and I knew he meant it. … What I want, more than ever, is to appreciate that I have this day and tomorrow and hopefully days beyond that. I am experiencing the learning curve of gratitude.”
The singer should be back on the road in 2008. “Weekend Edition Sunday” airs locally 8 to 10 a.m. on WABE-FM, 90.1.
OVERSCENE
Artist Dale Chihuly dining at South City Kitchen in Midtown with his wife and son. The Chihulys ordered the South City pimento cheese with house pickles, celery and grilled buttermilk bread appetizer and smoked pork shoulder, served with a short stack of jalapeño-corn griddle cakes with barbecue sauces and the buttermilk fried chicken.
NBA great Charles Barkley was also spotted in the eatery, with a female dining companion, dining on the buttermilk fried chicken while his guest had the grilled marinated ribeye.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Jane Russell is 86. Actor Bernie Kopell (“The Love Boat”) is 74. Musician Ray Davies of the Kinks is 63. Actress Meredith Baxter (“Family Ties”) is 60. Actor Michael Gross (“Family Ties”) is 60. Country singer Kathy Mattea is 48. Actor Doug Savant is 43. Actress Juliette Lewis is 34.
Contributing: Rodney Ho 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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‘Price is Right’ casting director: Rosie not a stunt
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Billy Kemp, who is casting to replace Bob Barker on “The Price is Right,” was in Atlanta Wednesday to promote an upcoming “how to get on a reality show” seminar August 4 at Philips Arena. Kemp, who also casts for shows such as “American Idol” and “America’s Got Talent,” told Buzz that talking to Rosie O’Donnell today as a potential host is not a publicity stunt.
“We’re taking it seriously,” he said. “She’s obviously hugely passionate about it. We’ll see how it goes.”
He said this has been one of the toughest casting decisions he’s ever had to do in his career. “Whoever gets the job is going to be scrutinized and compared to Bob. You can’t win. The best thing is hope the host grows over time and the audience wants to stay with them.”
CBS technically has until August to replace him since the network is airing reruns over the summer. But Kemp said Barker is willing to cover for himself if the casting folks fail to find a new host by then. “We don’t want to pick someone just because we’re running out of time,” he said.
He is aware Barker has said kind words about O’Donnell and he hopes whoever they find gets Barker’s stamp of approval. “The hardcore fans, they want to know Bob approves. You don’t want to put in Kato Kaelin and everybody says, ‘No way!’ “
If you’re interested in the seminar, you can find info at www.DreamsN2Reality.net.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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TCM presenting films exploring lesbian and gay themes
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
No one is more shocked by Turner Classic Movies’ month-long commitment to gay and lesbian images in film than “Screened Out” author Richard Barrios.
“I’m honestly beside myself in gratitude,” he says about the Atlanta-based cable channel’s film festival selections, which begin running at 8 p.m. Monday and Wednesday nights all month. The dozens of films in the series encompass everything from the fascinating 1912 silent short “Algie the Miner,” about a westward-bound effete city boy, to the gritty 1950 women-in-prison flick “Caged,” to tonight’s 1935 drama “Sylvia Scarlett” featuring a cross-dressing Katharine Hepburn.
Barrios, whose 2003 book forms the basis for the festival, helped to select the films in the series and co-hosts with esteemed TCM film historian Robert Osborne. Throughout the pair’s intros for each selection, it’s sometimes obvious they don’t share the same opinion regarding a character’s sexual orientation. On Monday night’s intro for the 1944 horror film “The Uninvited,” for example, the co-hosts debated whether Miss Holloway, the film’s sinister rest-home head mistress, was indeed a lesbian.
“In the end, it was a good discussion,” Barrios explains. “Regardless, it’s been documented that when the film came out, groups of similarly dressed women would show up at theaters at odd hours. They obviously responded to this character, and this grapevine-like word had spread about it within the lesbian community.”
Still, Barrios concedes that some selections in the series, like next Monday’s seldom-seem 1969 camp fest “Staircase” starring Rex Harrison and Richard Burton, aren’t exactly stellar films.
” ‘Staircase’ on almost every level is a terrible movie,” Barrios says, laughing. “But the fact that here were these two huge actors doing a mainstream film playing homosexuals in 1969 is worth noting.”
“Still,” Barrios notes, “it’s a jaw-dropper. You might want to have a drink beforehand!”
VERN, SHIRLEY DEBUT
Leave it to Zoo Atlanta to organize a vine-cutting ceremony for a mob. And for once, we’re not referring to those digital camera-clutching Mei Lan fans who dutifully turn up each morning. At 9:30 a.m. today, Zoo Atlanta President Dennis Kelly and Georgia Power customer-service executive vice president Mickey Brown will introduce zoo- goers to the tourist attraction’s newest residents: a mob of nine meerkats from southern Africa and a pair of warthogs named Vern (pictured) and Shirley from the same region. The animals will reside in the zoo’s new Kalahari Connections habitat, made possible by Georgia Power. We’re told that while Vern and Shirley could have a future romantic coupling, the meerkats have been far more high maintenance. Apparently, during the journey to Atlanta, two of the meerkats in the mob (headed by sister-brother team Scurry and Big Flinch) acted up and had to be transported separately. Perhaps inspired by this, the zoo has enlisted Constance Babbleon, a fictional gossip columnist, to contribute a weekly blog on the new critters at zooatlanta.org. Zoo reps tell us that efforts are under way to restore peace in the mob. There was no immediate word if Jerry Springer had, as yet, been called in to assist. …
‘SWAMP ROMP’ BREAKS RECORD
Fernbank Museum of Natural History reps informed us Tuesday that the facility’s recent “Swamp Romp: Lost Oasis” netted a record-breaking $138,000 this month. The 13th annual fund-raiser, attended by nearly 600 revelers, will benefit BONES for Kids (Building on Experiences in Science), a fund established by the Artemis Guild to enrich children’s programming at Fernbank.
HIGH FIVE
Television
Top downloaded TV shows:
1. “Hour Four,” “The Starter Wife,” USA Network
2. “Dominion,” “Stargate SG-1,” SciFi
3. “Iraq/First Kiss,” “Lil Bush,” Comedy Central
4. “The Job,” “The Office,” NBC
5. “K+R, Part 2,” “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip,” NBC
Source: iTunes
STORK REPORT
It’s a boy!
It’s a girl!
“Waitress” actress Keri Russell is a mom. The 31-year-old actress welcomed her first child, a boy named River Russell Deary, on June 9 in New York, says her publicist, Jill Fritzo. Russell is married to Shane Deary.
Russell stars as a woman grappling with an unexpected pregnancy in the independent romantic comedy “Waitress.”
And it’s another girl for “The King of Queens” star Kevin James and his wife.
Shea Joelle James was born last week in Los Angeles, says the actor’s publicist, Jennifer Allen. James and his wife, Steffiana, also have an older child, Sienna, who was born in 2005.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Olympia Dukakis is 76. Actor Danny Aiello is 74. Actor John Mahoney (“Frasier”) is 67. Musician Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys is 65. Home repair show host Bob Vila is 61. Singer Lionel Richie is 58. Actor John Goodman is 55. Bassist Michael Anthony of Van Halen is 53. Bassist John Taylor of Duran Duran is 47. Actress Nicole Kidman is 40. Actor Josh Lucas (“Sweet Home Alabama”) is 36.
Contributing: news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
Paula cooks with two Emmys
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Savannah restaurateur-Food Network icon-ham hawker-magazine namesake-author Paula Deen can add another title to her ever-growing résumé: Emmy winner.
Yup, at last week’s 34th annual Creative Arts & Entertainment Emmy Awards presented at Hollywood & Highland Ballroom in Hollywood, Deen’s Food Network show “Paula’s Home Cooking” snagged Emmys for outstanding lifestyle host and for outstanding lifestyle program. Said Deen in a statement: “This has clearly been the most surreal week for me. I am grateful for this honor and for everyone on my team who worked so hard to make this possible. I feel truly blessed.”
Paula’s Home Cooking” executive producers Gordon Elliott, Jessica Shweky and Mark Schneider, along with producer Aimee Rosen, were also honored.
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A (ALMOST) DAME
Christiane Amanpour has spent years reporting from the world’s worst hotspots and coaxing meaningful talk from combative world leaders as the chief international correspondent for Atlanta-based CNN. So it’s hard to imagine anything throwing her for a loop. But that’s apparently what happened over the weekend when she found out Queen Elizabeth II had named her a Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
“I am stunned and delighted to be recognized in this wonderful way for my work,” said Amanpour, born of British/Iranian parentage. “And, of course, for being a true Brit.”
According to the list released on the occasion of the queen’s official birthday, Amanpour was selected “for services to journalism.” Established in June 1917 by King George V, the CBE is one of five medals that make up the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. In order of seniority, it’s one level below the “knight”/ “dame” designations. Amanpour is one of the few journalists ever to be awarded the CBE.
Still, Buzz was more impressed when the globe-trotting journalist finally appeared, playing herself as the long-talked-about heroine of fictional aspiring reporter Rory Gilmore, in the series finale of “Gilmore Girls” on CW this spring …
SKIRT!, SHOTS, CIGS AND NOSTALGIA
The first-year anniversary bash for Skirt! magazine had a decided vintage vibe to it the other night at Trois in Midtown. Pretend airline stewardesses from the glamorous (albeit smoke-filled) age of air travel greeted the soiree’s approximately 375 guests who were there to celebrate the one-year anniversary of Skirt! magazine in Atlanta. The 1960s-attired attendants attempted to ply guests with cigarette trays, filled with varieties of smokes, and kept busy snapping old-school Polaroids of the partyers. Concentrics Restaurants’ Todd Rushing offered glasses of champagne and spiked watermelon gazpacho shooters, compliments of chef Jeremy Lieb. The party was so popular, Rushing ended up keeping the bar open an extra hour. Guests included WSB anchor Jovita Moore, Q100’s Jessica and Jeff Dauler, Star 94’s Vikki Locke and jewelry designer Mark Edge, Dave FM’s Will Davis, CNN’s Betty Nguyen and Brianne Davis, Skirt! editor Stephanie Davis’ actress sister whose visit to Atlanta was suddenly cut short. While here, Brianne received a call back for the soon-to-be-cast role of Supergirl on the CW’s “Smallville.” We’re told that the character is slated to appear in up to half of next season’s episodes of the CW superhero drama.
(Skirt! operates under an Atlanta licensing agreement with Cox Newspapers, which owns the AJC.)
OVERSCENE
“As the World Turns” actress Robin Mattson dining with a friend at Watershed Restaurant in Decatur over the weekend. We’re told that the daytime vet, who’s also had stints on “General Hospital,” “All My Children” and “The Bold and the Beautiful,” enjoyed chef Scott Peacock’s sweet corn soup and fresh Florida grouper.
STORK REPORT: IT’S A BOY!
Smyrna-reared Oscar winner Julia Roberts welcomed her third child, a boy named Henry Daniel Moder, on Monday.
Henry, born in Los Angeles, weighed 8 1/2 pounds, said Roberts’ publicist, Marcy Engelman.
“All of the Moders are doing great,” Engelman said in a statement.
Roberts, 39, and her husband, 38-year-old cinematographer Danny Moder, have 2-year-old twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus.
Roberts voiced the wise spider in the 2006 film adaptation of “Charlotte’s Web.” She’ll next be seen in the drama “Charlie Wilson’s War,” directed by Mike Nichols, which is scheduled for release later this year.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actress Gena Rowlands is 77. Actress Phylicia Rashad is 59. Singer Ann Wilson of Heart is 57. Actress Kathleen Turner is 53. Country singer Doug Stone is 51. Singer-dancer-choreographer-“American Idol” judge Paula Abdul is 45. Actress Robin Tunney is 35. Actor Paul Dano (“Little Miss Sunshine”) is 23.
Contributing: Jill Vejnoska 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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Bye-bye to Buckhead’s boozy nights
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
More than 11,000 people bade the Buckhead party scene a final farewell Saturday, according to Steak Shapiro, a morning host for organizer radio station 790/The Zone, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Sure, most of the clubs and bars are already closed to make way for future high-end development. But when Buzz visited the crossroads of Bolling Way and Buckhead Avenue on Saturday night, the streets were packed with 30-somethings waxing nostalgic about their club-hopping days. Or at least trying to.
“They’re all kind of fuzzy memories,” said Christi Peterson, 33, of Peachtree City. But she did appreciate how “you could float around and not be confined to one club.” She also recalled consuming mucho alcohol out of Lulu’s Bait Shack’s infamous but now long-gone fishbowls.
Mark Callachan, a 39-year-old teacher who lives in Tucker, said that when he first moved to Atlanta from Boston in the mid-1990s, he hit the Buckhead clubs and his actions would have made Colin Farrell blush.
“As a bachelor, I lived the high life here,” said Callachan, who resided in Buckhead until, now hitched, he moved to the burbs two months ago.
As he gabbed, his wife, Shannon, walked up and overheard his claims of studly glory. She rolled her eyes and chuckled. “You know, I don’t want to hear this!”
Bye-Bye Buckhead photos | 10 years of 790/The Zone
OPERA’S NEW NOTES
Nightclubs are also disappearing in Midtown. But the former Eleven50 club has just reopened as Opera, an homage to its roots as an opera house.
The owners spent a whopping $2.5 million to renovate the space to better evoke its past. The new club features a more open dance floor, elegant chandeliers, more bars and expanded VIP areas on the second floor. Theater capacity is 1,700, up from 900. Cool features include VIP opera booths, a DJ booth above the stage and the entrance, which allows visitors a bird’s-eye view of the entire club the minute the door opens.
“It’s a lot more open now,” said Jason Leung, 28, a former Eleven50 regular. “The VIP area used to be really cramped. There was no point going up there. But now it looks great!”
Already, companies ranging from MTV to IBM have set dates for private events there.
Robb Cohen/robbsphotos.com More JoJo photos
“We are an events facility first, a nightclub second,” co-owner Terry Barbu noted Saturday after an early-evening Q100 concert featuring teen popster JoJo (“Too Little Too Late”) and rap-rock band Gym Class Heroes (“Cupid’s Chokehold”).
OUT OF ‘KITCHEN’
When Julia Williams, an ex-Waffle House cook from College Park vying to win Fox’s deliciously fun “Hell’s Kitchen,” told Buzz a couple of weeks ago that she didn’t even know fellow contestant Eddie Langley was also from metro Atlanta, we figured one of them wasn’t going to be around long.
Surprisingly, Langley was the one ousted last week, despite far stronger cooking credentials, including stints at the Ritz-Carlton and Grand Hyatt. His sins? Messing up spaghetti and risotto and not speaking up enough.
While Langley sounded suitably sorry on the air, he told Buzz that he was “pretty sure” his cooking was sabotaged by fellow contestants: “They were moving around me really fast and supposedly trying to help me out.”
Langley also had mixed feelings when he found out that chef Gordon Ramsay had mocked Langley’s small stature behind his back, even naming a fish after him. “He has some insecurity issues,” Langley said, stating the obvious.
POST-BUBBLE CD
Atlanta pop-punk band Cartel escaped from 20 days in the Dr Pepper “Band in a Bubble” structure on a New York pier with a new CD and without killing one another.
“If anything, we left even better friends,” lead singer Will Pugh told Buzz on Saturday, four days after leaving the bubble. If sponsor MTV, which aired four episodes on the experience, wanted more drama among band members, “they should have gotten Metallica,” Pugh joked.
Highlights, he said, included producing a song with Wyclef Jean and the main window shattering during a storm, allowing the band to briefly breathe fresh air.
Pugh hopes fans turned off by the gimmick will give the CD a chance when it comes out July 24. “We want to sell a jillion records!” he said.
WALK THIS WAY?
In a noble but possibly futile effort — along the lines of telling Americans to lose weight or watch less TV — radio and TV consumer guru Clark Howard is asking Atlantans to ditch their cars for one day this week in a clean air campaign called “Give Your Car a Day Off.” The plea: walk, bicycle, take public transportation or work from home. To set an example, Howard recently commuted six miles (each way) by foot to and from work at WSB radio. “The walking thing is kind of idiotic,” Howard admitted to Buzz. “But I love doing it.” The walk takes more than three hours back and forth, so he
gabs on his cellphone the whole time.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Musician Paul McCartney is 65. Movie critic Roger Ebert is 65. Actress Isabella Rossellini is 55. Country singer Blake Shelton is 31.
Contributing: 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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Jessica Alba’s Spanx plug is priceless
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As it turns out, even a smokin’ in-shape superhero needs a little support.
During an interview Friday on “The View,” “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” actress Jessica Alba discussed that clinging Lycra “FF” dark blue outfit she wore while portraying Sue Storm, the Invisible Woman, in the sequel out this weekend. “It’s really unforgiving, especially if it’s that time of month,” Alba conceded to “The View” crew. “I wore Spanx [underneath].”
Of Atlanta businesswoman Sara Blakely’s climb to the top trying to convince businessman of the virtues Spanx (control-top footless pantyhose), Alba gushed: “The tenacity that woman has. I really can appreciate that.”
At press time Friday, Buzz was still trying to calculate what ABC could have charged for the plug on the network’s daytime hen party had it come during an actual commercial break.
Present, absent
Two Jermaine Dupri-related events happened this week, but Atlanta’s music mogul only showed for one: the second anniversary celebration of his Buckhead restaurant, Cafe Dupri. Curiously, Dupri chose to hold it at Halo, the Midtown nightclub. And there wasn’t a turkey burger, Tomatoes Dupri (fried green tomatoes with blackened crawfish) or any other food in sight as he welcomed his parents, Island Def Jam Music Group chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid, rapper Da Brat, producer-songwriters Dallas Austin, Johnta Austin and LRoc, 95.5 The Beat’s CJ, V-103’s Tangi, Shamari DeVoe of the R&B group Blaque and BET’s “Black Carpet” crew. (Omnipresent photographer Jimi Flix captured it all.)
Dupri didn’t exactly say why he was a no-show at the media preview of Studio 72 nightclub Tuesday in Tucker. And when asked if he would be at the grand opening Saturday night, he just smiled.
Boortz enshrined
WSB-AM yakker Neal Boortz is now in the Georgia Association of Broadcasters’ Hall of Fame. The GAB convention held this month at Callaway Gardens presented Boortz with two GABBY Awards (as they’re nicknamed) for best air personality and best radio program. Boortz is the 53rd person elected into the hall of fame housed at the University of Georgia.
Book learning
“I thought I was a really good father until I read the book,” R&B legend Eddie Levert of the O’Jays told an audience at the Shrine of the Black Madonna this week.
He was referring to “I Got Your Back: A Father and Son Keep It Real About Love, Fatherhood, Family and Friendship,” which he co-wrote with his late son Gerald, also an R&B singer, and Lyah Beth LeFlore.
Levert went on to explain that he didn’t know that things like missing his son Sean’s wedding or not knowing how to tell his children that he was getting remarried to a younger woman had affected them so. But he concluded, “It is never too late, as long as you’ve got a breath, to redo these things.”
Quote of the day
“There are some things that we’ve been able to discuss that we weren’t able to discuss with Rosie, like heterosexual sex.”
“The View” creator Barbara Walters on Dunwoody High grad Ryan Seacrest’s KISS-FM radio show this week in Los Angeles, speaking about the post-Rosie O’Donnell era of “The View.” The program’s ratings were bolstered by O’Donnell’s feud-fueled tenure.
High five
Television: This week’s top OnDemand programs selected by metro Atlanta Comcast subscribers
1. “The Sopranos,” “The Blue Comet” (Episode 85)
2. Lil Mama, “Lipgloss” music video
3. “SpongeBob Square-pants, “Camping” episode
4. Beyonce, “Get Me Bodied” music video
5. “South Park,” “The Losing Edge” (Episode 905)
Source: Comcast OnDemand
Celebrity birthdays
Saturday: Songwriter Lamont Dozier is 66. R&B singer Eddie Levert is 65. Actress Joan Van Ark is 64. Actor Eddie Cibrian (“Invasion”) is 34. “American Idol” runner-up Diana DeGarmo is 20.
Sunday: Actor Peter Lupus (TV’s “Mission: Impossible”) is 75. Singer Barry Manilow is 61. Director Bobby Farrelly (“There’s Something About Mary”) is 49. Actor Thomas Haden Church (“Spider-Man 3”) is 46. Actor Greg Kinnear is 44.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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‘Turned Funny’ … again
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As the entire original “Turned Funny” cast and crew re-assembles at Theatre in the Square in Marietta this week for final rehearsals, actors Linda Stephens, Ric Reitz, Jill Jane Clements and director Fred Chappell are getting some special assistance. As readers will recall, the world premiere play based on our late AJC colleague Celestine Sibley’s memoir sold out its entire run when it was originally staged last year. For fans who couldn’t get in to see the first production, the show is back for an encore, starting Sunday through July 29. To aid in the summoning of Celestine, Sibley’s daughter Susan Bazemore has loaned the cast a pair of her mama’s trademark horn-rimmed glasses.
“In all my years of doing theater, I’ve never had the opportunity to restage a show with the exact same cast,” Chappell marveled to us Thursday. “Like Celestine’s writing, it’s a tremendous gift. And the audiences for this show have really become an additional character for us. They know Celestine on such an intimate level, it never fails to amaze us. Everyone has a story to share.”
Chappell, a former artistic director at the Alliance Theatre in the 1970s and 1980s, had a few stories of his own as well. Chappell, who heads the master of fine arts directing program at Florida State University, was delighted when the Alliance scored its Tony on Sunday. An added bonus? Actress Jane Alexander served as the award’s presenter. “I directed Jane in the title role of [‘Antony and Cleopatra’] at the Alliance and when she mentioned that as she presented the Tony to the Alliance, I couldn’t believe it!” Chappell said. “I’m absolutely thrilled for them.” For “Turned Funny” tickets, go to www.theatreinthesquare.com or call 770-422-8369.
CLARKSON CANCELS TOUR, GWINNETT STOP
The nation’s first “American Idol,” Kelly Clarkson, has suffered a setback as she gears up for the release of her adventurous new album, “My December,” on June 26. Her arena tour, including an Aug. 28 gig at Gwinnett Arena, has been scrapped. “Ticket sales have not been what we anticipated,” LiveNation CEO Michael Rapino said via a statement sent to Buzz on Thursday. On her Web site, Clarkson added: “The fact is, touring is just too much too soon … but I promise you that we’re going to get back out there as soon as humanly possible.” Refunds are available at point of purchase.
PAISLEY DAYS: IN THE AIR, ON THE AIR PAISLEY
To promote a CD and fuel sales, musicians will often crisscross the nation, hitting as many radio stations as possible in a week or two. Country star Brad Paisley is cutting out the actual radio station visit by doing his promotional concerts at airplane hangars around the country. On Wednesday he was at the airport in Peachtree City for Kicks 101.5.
“It’s quicker and easier than getting a limo service to go to the radio station,” he told about 100 lucky Kicks listeners who won tickets. “And I’ll never forget this!” From his private jet, he was taxied to the hangar in the back of a vintage World War II SBD-5 Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber. “This isn’t Kenny Chesney’s plane, but it’ll do,” he cracked.
Over the next hour, Paisley played several of his greatest hits intermingled with new cuts from his latest CD, “5th Gear,” out next Tuesday. While some of his tunes are sweet and sentimental, he’s probably best known for his wittier songs, including “Celebrity,” a mockery of pop culture stars, with a video starring the likes of Jason Alexander and William Shatner, and his latest top 5 hit called “Ticks.” (Believe it or not, it’s a love song.)
Paisley, who’s married to actress Kimberly Williams, just shot another video with Alexander and Shatner for his next single, “Online.” “With computers,” he said, “it’s a fantasy world. The slogan of this song is ‘Be all that you can be.’ ” In other words, he noted, “you can get on a chat room and be anybody you want to be.”
Kicks 101.5 co-host Bill Celler then requested “He Didn’t Have to Be,” a ballad Paisley hadn’t sung for awhile. Midway through the song, he stopped, looked up and asked the crowd, “What’s the second verse?” As fans laughed, a couple of diehards helped him fill in the blanks.
Paisley, whose upward career trajectory has rewarded him headliner status the past couple of years, will be at HiFi Buys Amphitheatre Sept. 20.
OVERSCENE
Tool lead singer Maynard James Keenan dining at One Midtown Kitchen. We’re told that the rocker even arrived with his own brand of wine from his Arizona-based business, Merkin Vineyards and Caduceus Cellars, for staffers to taste. There was no immediate word whether One Midtown staffers added a corkage charge to Keenan’s bill. …
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Actor Jim Belushi is 53. Actress Helen Hunt is 44. Actress Courteney Cox Arquette (“Friends”) is 43. Rapper-actor Ice Cube is 38. Actress Leah Remini (“King of Queens”) is 37. Actor Neil Patrick Harris (“Doogie Howser, M.D.”) is 34. Guitarist Billy Martin of Good Charlotte is 26.
Contributing: Rodney Ho and news services
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.