We were talking about that over on DST Blvd. in the Soul Food thread. She was trying hard to hide it for the last season, but it didn't work too well. It was only a little pouch, but it was still there. She is too slim not to notice.

I saw her on 106 and Park and thought she was pregnant before she announced it, but I did not pick up on it when the show was on.

Jay-Z Taking It 'Way Back To The Roots' On New Album
 

NEW YORK — With his Roc the Mic Tour starting Wednesday night (June 25), Jay-Z won't have much time for the studio, but Jigga said his next and allegedly final LP, The Black Album, is already under way.

"I just started, and it's going all the way back to the roots," Jay said at the opening of his 40/40 Club in Manhattan last week. "I'm bringing y'all back before '96, [the year of] my first album. I just did something with Rick Rubin, and Mike D was in the house. [Mike] ain't doing nothing on the album, but just his spirit and his presence was in there. I'm bringing it back, not all the way old-school, but I'm bringing it back."

Jay is also bringing back some of the producers he's made classic material with. A source working on the project told MTV News that Ski, who produced on Jay's early albums, would probably be banging out beats for the new disc, and Pharrell Williams and DJ Premier have confirmed their participation.

"He wants me to do two joints," Primo said recently. "He wants me to do the intro to the album and another song. Jay reminds me of Guru in that Guru always gives me the title to all the songs and I make the tracks what he gives the title to. Jay is the same way: 'I'mma do a song, and when it gets to this part I want it to do this.' He's well thought out about what he wants to do. He says he wants to explain it to me, but he wants to do it face-to-face."

Another person that may pop up on The Black Album is Pain in Da Ass, known for his impressions of movie gangsters on some of Jay's album intros.

"We were just in the studio the other day," Pain said at the 40/40 opening. "I had to come back, you know, get the street essence. Jay is at the beginning; it's time to do 360 degrees, full circle, ya heard. Ain't nothing gonna be Reasonable Doubt — that's your first album, that's the baby. But I think it'll come pretty close. He's hungry now."

—Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Minya Oh and Terrell Battle

Uh-Oooh — Things Are Moving Quickly For Lumidee
 

NEW YORK — Her album came out Tuesday, she has one of the hottest songs on radio, and her first video just hit the airwaves.

This is what Lumidee Cedeño has dreamed about doing for many of her 19 years, but even she will admit that sometimes it seems like things are moving too fast.

Three months ago, the Spanish Harlem native didn't have a record deal with a major label; six months ago, performing in front of more than 50,000 people at Summer Jam was just a dream. And when it happened, the reality was Lumi had to overcome stage fright for what was only her third concert ever.

"I've been recording like two and a half, three years, but [my producers] didn't really try to shop [for a record deal] because I wasn't ready mentally," said the lifelong around-the-way girl. "I could record, but I was too scared to perform in front of people. So they was like, 'You gotta break out of that because things could change from one day to the next. What if people want to sign you?' "

The prophecy of her producers Trendsetta and DJ TedSmooth panned out just as her hit club banger "Never Leave You (Uh-Oooh)" started taking off in February. Incorporating Lumi's now signature "Uh oh, uh oh" croons and the same irresistible Diwali riddim that fueled Sean Paul's "Get Busy" and Wayne Wonder's "No Letting Go," the record has become one the most played in the clubs this year and is climbing the charts.

" 'Uh oh,' I can't take credit for that," she admitted, sitting in New York's Right Track studios. "The song was too short and Ted said, 'Write a bridge.' He was like, 'Just say "Uh oh." ' I recorded it and I hated it. But it's just so catchy. I think it just blew up like that because it's different. It's like, 'What is she singing?' Either you not gonna like it or you gonna love it. Some people be like, 'I hate this sh--.' And the people who like it really like it. I don't know, I don't have such a strong voice, but it's different. I don't sing like I came straight from church, but it's different. Whoever likes it wants to hear something new."

While fans of the song may be falling in love with how it mixes R&B, reggae and smidgens of freestyle to create a fresh sound, they're actually hearing an old song. Lumi recorded it almost a year ago just to give TedSmooth something to spin in the clubs. As it picked up during Smooth's gigs, he passed it along to his fellow turntablist friends, and eventually it popped on radio.

Smooth, who signed Lumi to his Straight Face label, was soon fielding offers from heavyweights like Def Jam, Roc-A-Fella, Epic and Arista. They eventually decided to go with Kedar Massenburg and Universal in late April, leaving Lumi to quickly master multitasking. People were clamoring to book her for shows, but she also had to abruptly turn around and record most of her debut, Almost Famous, in a matter of weeks to make the June 24 release date. She said doing both put a strain on her voice, but she worked through it.

"We have to rush," Lumi said in early May, two weeks after signing with Universal. "I was always recording, so that's good or I would have been real stuck. A lot of stuff was reference tracks, so we went back and re-recorded everything."

Lumi did have a little help on the mic. She already had a song with Nore, the probable second single "Crashin' a Party," and Busta Rhymes and Fabolous reached out to her to be on the remix of "Never Leave You."

"I was loving her song," Fab said. "I had the chance to call up and speak to her one day and she said she'd love to have me on the song. We made it happen from there."

"All these people, of course I would look to them to be on my songs, but we ain't got Busta and Fab money," she said. "We don't have Nore money. They just hollered at us like, 'Yo, that is hot; I want to get on that.' All this is just amazing."

—Shaheem Reid

http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news...s_2003_uni.jpg

Lighter Latifah

If it looks like Queen Latifiah is walking with a lighter bounce in her step, it's because she is. These days the singer-turned-actress is carrying a much lighter load -- and it's mostly due to breast reduction surgery. According to World Entertainment News Network, the voluptuous star who wowed audiences last year with her sultry voice and ample cleavage in "Chicago" has decided to cut her bust size down from a cumbersome DD cup to a highly manageable C.

And get this, in a refreshing twist on public relations, the Queen's spokesperson admits to it. "It was mainly for her health," says Amanda Silverman. "Queen works with a trainer and does a lot of kickboxing, and working out was difficult for her. She was suffering from back pain and felt this was the best solution. She's absolutely thrilled with the results."

In addition to losing the bothersome boobs, she's also stayed true to exercise and has dropped close to 40 pounds. In case you preferred Latifah's previous bosom bounty, I'm afraid you're out of luck. You won't be able to view those bodacious breasts again unless you taped the March 23 Academy Awards, where she graced the red carpet in a form-fitting blue Escada gown in all her DD glory.

I'm glad to read that Queen did have the reduction and lost the weight for health reasons. But being that she is in Hollywood, I hope that she didn't fall prey to the stick-insect syndrome.

LMBO @ stick-insect syndrome. ST, you are too funny!!! :D

Re: Uh-Oooh — Things Are Moving Quickly For Lumidee
 

I have to say I am one of the people who hates this song. To me she sounds even worse than Adhanti. Sorry to anyone who is a fan.

Dang, is Minnesota that slow?!!! I have not heard this song-EVER!

Re: Re: Uh-Oooh — Things Are Moving Quickly For Lumidee
 

I like the song since the beat is the same as Wayne Wonder, but I wouldn't call myself a fan OR buy the album.

WHUH? You all need to thaw out! LOL

Just watch MTV2, BET, or MTV...you'll see her and hear the song. I'm tired of the song! It's NOT ALL THAT! IMO

You won't remember it nor LUMIDEE in 5 years. LOL

Sex and Extortion
 

Mystikal was sentenced to 5 years of probation for the case of the sex crime against his hairstylist.

4-1-1 ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 26, 2003

Cedric The Entertainer is leaving the Fox Network. The Fox network has pulled the plug on the show Cedric The Entertainer Presentshttp://www.handykult.de/plaudersmili...n/cheering.gif Cedric wants to pursue his movie career. We will see unseen episodes of the show next fall.

Luther Vandross has been moved to a rehab hospital. Luther suffered a devastating stroke on April and he is undergoing a long recovery. Luther is currently topping the charts with the No. 1 LP in the country “Dance with my Father”.

Are we going to see a new J-Lo in the future? According to published reports Jennifer Lopez’s fiancé Ben Affleck wants her to undergo a makeover. Apparently Ben wants to see more class and less ass. He’s tired of her image as a demanding oversexed diva. Jennifer recently fired her manager saying she wants to go in a new direction. Ben wants to go into politics once his acting career dies down and friends say he wants Jennifer to look and act like a politicians wife.

Actor Mekhi Phifer is not making friends on the set of the NBC show ER. I hear he treats his co-workers like dirt because he wants to be the next breakout star on the show. Mekhi wants to be the next George Clooney. Mekhi has a way of pissing people off, his recent interview in Honey Magazine about his ex wife did not endear him to a lot of people. Mekhi was married to Actress Malinda Williams (Bird on the Showtime series SoulFood). Mekhi admitted cheating on Malinda and said it was her fault. They have a young son, in the interview he did praise her as a mother but he also made some embarrassing comments about her.

Dr J, Julius Erving has resigned as Senior Vice President of the Orlando Magic. Dr J was with them for six years, he says he is leaving to pursue other interests. Maybe he’ll come back and work with the 76ers in some capacity? Just wishful thinking.

American Idol Winner, Ruben Studdard is coming to the movies. Ruben will have a part in the new Scooby Two Movie Monsters unleashed. The movie comes out next March, Ruben is playing the lead singer in a band he’ll be singing Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘Shining Star’. In other Idol news the new Kelly Clarkson/Justin Guarini movie From Kelly to Justin bombed at the box office.

Prince is coming out with a live DVD later this year, “Prince Live from Las Vegas”.

New Edition is gearing up for their 20th anniversary. They have a new L.P. coming out in September and they are working on a movie and a book. Ralph, Ricky, Johnny, Ronnie and Mike will not be joined by Bobby Brown. Bobby may join them occasionally on tour.

See I know I'm hallucinating, right? It IS 1AM :eek:

1. Ben wants to run for office? He doesn't want to marry J-ho then does he?
LMAO@ more class, less ass! :D

2. Mekhi wants to be the next "breakout" actor.Ummmmm, you have been in the game for a lonnnnnnnggggg time. It's about time for you to retire, right? :confused: Sit your azz down nucca! :mad:

3. Ruben, don't do it! You see what happened with Kelly and Justin. They said their movie was the WORST movie musical EVER. I guess it made Grease 2 look like that shiznit! LOL

4. Bobby...oh Bobby...give it up! Stay at home!

To add on to what Afrochic posted J. Lo and Ben will have a special on NBC on July 17th.

De De from the Doug Banks morning show reported that:

1. There will definately be a second season of America's Next Top Model. :D

AND

2. Solange Knowles, Beyonce's little sis, may be joining Destiny's Child as the fourth member. :eek: :( :o :mad:

Destiny's Child May Get A New Member Next Year
 

Alright, here is the official article to my last post:

Another child may be on her way to Destiny.

When Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams reconvene next year, the independent women will likely be joined by another singer.

Destiny's Child manager Mathew Knowles said Thursday (June 26) he's considering adding his other daughter, Solange, to the group.

Solange has been in the group before, when she temporally filled in after Rowland broke two toes in the fall of 2000. She's also opened for Destiny's Child as a solo act and collaborated with Beyoncé and Rowland in the studio.

If Beyoncé's sister joins the group, it won't be the first time Destiny's Child have been a quartet. The group started with four members —
Beyoncé Rowland, LaToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson — in the early '90s. In early 2000, Luckett and Roberson were controversially replaced by Williams and Farrah Franklin, who left five months later.

Mathew told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday he was definitely adding a fourth member, but later told MTV News he was just throwing the idea out
there to see what kind of reaction he would get. "And judging by what I've heard, it seems like a good idea," he said.

Destiny's Child will likely test the waters with Solange by collaborating on a song for a soundtrack later this year, he said.

In the meantime, Solange is recording her second solo album, which is due early next year. The project will include a duet with Bow Wow, who is
co-starring with the singer in a movie due around the same time.

Mathew said Destiny's Child will reconvene at the start of 2004, while Beyoncé said last week it could be next September. However, no matter how successful her solo venture is or whatever else might happen in the interim, Beyoncé said the group will definitely not split.

"The point is I love Kelly and I love Michelle, and we're friends and I love performing with them on the stage," she said. "We support each other.
And I love being in Destiny's Child. That's why I've been in Destiny's Child for nine years. I don't care how many records I sell. I'm still doing another album with them because I enjoy being in the group and I enjoy being in the studio. And the only way I won't [record with them] is if we aren't friends anymore, and I don't see that happening."

While Beyoncé promotes Dangerously in Love and Rowland stars in "Freddy vs. Jason", Williams will record her second gospel album.

"It's going to be different," Williams said at Tuesday's BET Awards. "I'm working with a lot more producers that I want to work with, so I'm very excited about that. I'm working with a producer by the name of Tommy Simms who [co-]penned the song 'Change the World' for Eric Clapton, so I'm kind of going for a more earthy, inspirational type."

Williams, who has songs already finished, is also working with her brother, producer Aaron Williams, and writing much more of her own material, which will cover more about relationships, including looking for love.

"Just about stuff people my age are going through," she said. "I know my market is gospel, but at the same time, just because it's gospel doesn't mean I can't talk about a breakup or a heartbreak or whatever has happened, you know, from a woman's perspective and how God has helped me through that."

—Corey Moss

More News From the Doug Banks Morning Show
 

1. Chris Tucker is considering doing Rush Hour 3 for $20 million.

2. The entertainment segment reported what we had already heard, that Brand and husabnd Robert are in fact separating. It was also reported that Brandy is 8 months pregnant. :eek: :o

YEAH!!!!!!!
 

HOORAY!!!!

*insert clapping smilie here!!*

Re: More News From the Doug Banks Morning Show
 

Yeah :rolleyes: They're going to remain friends and raise the kids BUT I heard on NY HOT 97.1 that the real reason why Robert is bouncing is because Sy'rai (or whatever the child's name is) isn't his!!! Can someone find out if this is true????


DRAMA!!!!

Re: More News From the Doug Banks Morning Show
 

1. :cool:

2. STFU :eek: :eek:

Re: Re: More News From the Doug Banks Morning Show
 

http://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/crap.gifhttp://www.handykult.de/plaudersmilies.de/eek2.gif

I just be dayumed. Brandy should go on Maury to find out who the real baby faaaava is. I know Sonja is trippin'

Re: Re: More News From the Doug Banks Morning Show
 

SCANDALOUS! :eek:

This is what I get for staying up late last night. :o I get a call at 9am, mind you, I'm still sleep. HC the person on the other end says I'm not on my job b/c I didn't say that Brandy was preggers. Shyyyyyyyyytttttt....I ain't know. :eek:

LAWD ya'll....DRAMA for the home team!

I think I'mma pull up that thread from last year. :o

Could this be why she and mommy parted way? Hmmm.......

I don't believe that she would drop another bundle of joy so soon after the first baby. I just don't believe it. Sorry. Can't do it.

NEW EDITION!!! That's what I'm talking about. Who needs Bobby?

I'm ready for Rush Hour 3!!

Another season of "Top Model"? YESSSSS!!!!

What made Justin and Kelly think that they would be a hit at the box office? They don't have it like that! Never have... never will!

SOLANGE WILL BE THE BANE OF DESTINY CHILD'S EXISTANCE!! How can she be coming out with a second album when the first was a flop?

SYAD SOLANGE!
 

Kelly and Michelle better watch out!

My Predictions:
Solange joins the group
Solange and Beyonce begin to sing the lead parts
Kelly joins Michelle as the other back-up singer
DC puts out the 2 CDs required according to their contract (probably a studio then a Greatest Hits :rolleyes: )

Beyonce leaves the group (concentrates on movies, TV and her status as a solo artist)

Then there were 3: Solange (lead vocalist) and the 2 back-ups Kelly and Michelle IF Kelly stays with the group.

All of this could happen by 2005. :eek: :o

My prediction. :cool:

Re: SYAD SOLANGE!
 

Things that make you go hmmm..... I think you're on to something, 2D. I think that prediction has possibilities.

Mystikal pleads guilty to sexual battery
Associated Press

-----------------------------

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana (AP) -- Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal pleaded guilty Thursday to charges that he forced his hairstylist to perform sex acts on him and two bodyguards.

Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Tyler, had been charged with aggravated rape, which carries a sentence of life in prison if convicted. He agreed to plead guilty to extortion and a sexual battery charge.

He was sentenced to five years probation for extortion and has a September 25 sentencing date for the second charge, sexual battery of the infirmed.

Prosecutor Sue Bernie said Tyler confronted his hairdresser in his Baton Rouge apartment last July and accused her of stealing checks from him. Tyler told the woman he would not tell police about the checks if she did something "degrading" for him, Bernie said.

Tyler told her to perform oral sex on him and Leland "Pokie" Ellis, 37, and Vercy "V" Carter, 35, Bernie said. The men videotaped the sex acts, which Bernie said included intercourse.

Tyler`s attorney, David Bourland, said his client did not agree with all the allegations, but agreed that sexual battery took place.

"I`m glad that it`s getting behind me," the rapper said after his guilty plea.

Extortion charges against Ellis and Carter were dropped as part of plea agreements. Ellis and Carter also pleaded guilty to sexual battery and will be sentenced September 25.

Mystikal`s record "Tarantula" was nominated for a best rap album Grammy in January.

Ok, my mouth is hanging open about Brandy being 8 months pregnant...WTH:eek: , and the first baby may not be her husbands....oh my:eek: :eek:

2D , I think you are definitely on point with your prediction about Destiny's Child.........

And, Hell to the Yeah...bring on my boys New Edition, Bobby don't ever have to come back to the group...Ya Heard!!

Booby is prolly too busy smoking marijuana for his bi-polar disorder and stuh to even think about performing.:rolleyes:

Re: Re: More News From the Doug Banks Morning Show
 

Girl, THIS IS DRAMA FOR YO' MAMA!! :eek: :D :eek:

Brandy......
 

In all her DRAMA glory....

Let me be the first to say that I am SHOCKED :eek: and APPAULED :eek: because even though she was preggo before she got married, you know, we can understand that (not saying that its right), but ok

Now, the baby daddy aint the husband. :rolleyes: What is that about? Remember on her special when she was outside after the photo shoot and she was talking to Robert and she was like, you should have wore a condom! She was putting her business out there.

Well what does that say about her sleeping around. I think she should go on Ricki. Aint no telling who the daddy is.

Anyways, I did think she looked preggo in that picture with Kelly, but 8 months I think is pushing it. I think maybe about 5-6 months at the most IF she really is.

I guess I will have to wait to see how this unfolds because inquiring minds wanna know.

Peace
Q

LA's Kobe Bryant gets set to be free agent

NEW YORK - Kobe Bryant has decided to become a free agent after the next National Basketball Association (NBA) season and might leave the Los Angeles Lakers, ESPN reported here Thursday (early Friday in Manila).


Bryant, the talented playmaker who combined with center Shaquille O'Neal to lead the Lakers to three NBA titles in a row, reportedly said he wants to be a free agent for the first time since age 17.


The report said Bryant would decide his future on three issues -- how well O'Neal is playing, what moves the Lakers have made to improve and the medical status of coach Phil Jackson.


Jackson said he planned to be back next season despite heart problems during the playoffs. He also wondered about Bryant announcing his decision so far ahead of time.
abs-cbnNEWS.com monitor

I doubt this. Who would be able to pay Kobe the same amount of caiche as the Lakers? It's probably a ploy to see if Blaquille can get his weight and body fat down.

I was thinking the same thing.

Dang...she went there!

Lil' Kim's Jewelry Recovered at Airport
Sat Jun 28, 3:19 PM ET Add Entertainment - AP to My Yahoo!

By The Associated Press

NEW YORK - Rapper Lil' Kim got her bling-bling back. An estimated $250,000 worth of jewelry belonging to the hip-hop performer and producer was recovered Friday at Kennedy International Airport, where it had disappeared one week earlier.


The missing jewelry, including her signature diamond-encrusted "Queen Bee" necklace, was found wrapped inside a rag by a United Airlines worker in a locker room for airline employees, her attorney Mel Sachs said Saturday. Diamond-covered platinum dog tags were also recovered.

The rapper, whose real name is Kimberly Jones, was catching a flight to Los Angeles on June 20 as she headed out for the Black Entertainment Television awards.

She had a carry-on bag containing the jewelry. An error at the airline check-in counter caused the carry-on piece of Louis Vuitton luggage to get mixed in with the rest of the rapper's luggage.

When the bag was recovered, the jewelry was missing, police said.

Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority, which operates the airports, said Saturday no arrests were made. The investigation was continuing.

ETA
Nick Cannon Squeaks Into 'Garfield' Pic
Fri Jun 27, 3:21 AM ET Add Movies - Reuters to My Yahoo!


By Zorianna Kit

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Entering the world of animation for the first time, "Drumline" star Nick Cannon (news) will provide a mouse's voice in Fox's live-action/CGI feature adaptation of "Garfield."

The project sees Bill Murray (news) provide the voice of the rotund orange-and-black-striped cat, with Breckin Meyer (news) and Jennifer Love Hewitt (news) starring as Jon Arbuckle and his love interest, respectively. Cannon will provide the voice of Louis, a city mouse who befriends Garfield and ends up saving his life at one point. Peter Hewitt will direct.

Cannon was most recently added to the cast of Miramax Films' "Shall We Dance?" opposite Jennifer Lopez (news), Richard Gere (news) and Susan Sarandon (news). He will then segue into an August start on the studio's action comedy "Underclassman." The actor will next be seen in Warner Bros. Pictures' "Love Don't Cost a Thing," which opens in theaters Dec. 12, while his first rap album is due Aug. 19 from Jive Records.


Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Re: Destiny's Child May Get A New Member Next Year
 

Was her first album a hit? Why are they trying again? Solange is no Beyonce...they need to accept that and move on. It's a shame that have that girl out there releasing those horrible songs and telling her she's going to be like her sister. The most I see coming from her is a spot in DC.

This is about business at this point. They have a contract to complete. You don't get to decide that you aren't going to do your job because you aren't friends with your coworkers. That's how people get sued. For her sake, I hope they remain friends, cause that would be a sorry testimony in the trial..."your honor, I didn't want to do anymore albums because we weren't friends." That just sounds so juvenille :rolleyes:

R.I.P. Katharine Hepburn
 

Hollywood Loses Katharine Hepburn

Photos

E! Online Photo



Sun Jun 29, 8:25 PM ET


Four-time Oscar winner Katharine Hepburn--the 20th century's most celebrated screen actress, one-half of the century's most storied offscreen love story and an enduring role model for generations of women--died Sunday afternoon. She was 96.

Cynthia McFadden, the ABC News reporter and executor of Hepburn's estate, said the actress died at 2:50 p.m. at her Connecticut home, surrounded by family and friends. Hepburn, who had been in ill health in recent years, simply succumbed to old age--an atypically quiet end to an extraordinarily feisty life. Per her wishes, there will be no funeral or memorial service.

Hepburn was the Academy Awards' gold standard. She set the record for most acting nominations, 12, a mark only eclipsed this year by Meryl Streep. And Hepburn still owns the record for acting wins, four.

Her résumé is its own classic film festival: The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, Little Women. Visit for more:

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She took Best Actress awards for 1933's Morning Glory, 1967's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, 1968's The Lion in Winter and 1981's On Golden Pond. Never one for Hollywood schmoozing, Hepburn accepted not one of those Oscars in person. In fact, she attended the Academy Awards ceremony just once--in 1974--to present the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award to producer Lawrence Weingarten. (And, yes, she wore pants.)

In 1999, the American Film Institute selected Hepburn as the 20th century's greatest screen actress. (Her male counterpart was Humphrey Bogart, her old African Queen shipmate.)


In all, she appeared in 58 films and TV movies. Nine of those films shared bills with Spencer Tracy, her real-life lover of 35 years.

"He was a baked potato: solid, and you can have them without salt and pepper or butter. I was a fancy dessert: mocha-chip ice cream," Hepburn once remarked of their relationship.

Onscreen, Tracy and Hepburn crackled in genre-defining romantic comedies such as Woman of the Year (1942) and Adam's Rib (1949). Their pairing guaranteed a fair-fight-style battle of the sexes. In a Tracy-Hepburn film, she wore pants, too.

Offscreen, their chemistry was just as strong. Hepburn and Tracy met on the set of Woman of the Year. He was a fortysomething, two-time Oscar winner. She was a thirtysomething, one-time Oscar winner. She wore heels at their first confab. He promised to cut her down to size.

There were complications, the biggest of which was his marriage: Tracy had a wife and two kids. Mrs. Tracy was a Catholic who didn't believe in divorce. And so, Mr. Tracy was a married man who never divorced. Not that his social life suffered.

Hepburn and Tracy were Hollywood's most married unmarried couple until his death in 1967, days after they completed work on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, the socially minded race drama that brought Tracy his ninth (and final) Best Actor Oscar nomination and Hepburn her second Best Actress statue.

While the couple's love affair was an open secret, it wasn't until playwright and friend Garson Kanin's 1971 memoir, Tracy and Hepburn, that it was definitively outed.

In later years, Hepburn broke her silence on the subject in her autobiographical books, Me (1991) and The Making of the African Queen (1987).

A prototype of the thoroughly modern "That Single Girl," Hepburn never apologized for her love of another woman's husband. She never gushed about it, either. Kate was Kate.

Katharine Houghton Hepburn was born May 12, 1907, in Hartford, Connecticut, prime breeding ground for the high cheekbones and can-do-Yankeeism that were integral to her persona.

Ever blunt, Hepburn once said of her early ambition: "I didn't have any desire to be an actress or two learn how to act. I just wanted to be famous."

Apparently to help ensure success, the resourceful Hepburn slashed two and a half years off her age, passing herself off to studio execs, columnists and biographers as being born in November 1909. It was a fib she perpetuated for more than 50 years.

Of undeniable fact is that Hepburn made her film debut in 1932, in the melodrama A Bill of Divorcement. A year later, she had the Oscar for Morning Glory. But what came fast went almost as fast.

A string of flops (chiefly 1935's cross-dressing Sylvia Scarlett) and a notorious Broadway bomb (1934's The Lake, which prompted wit Dorothy Parker to crack, "Miss Hepburn runs the gamut of emotions from A to B") had her courting the dreaded "box-office poison" label.

She took her tattered career into her hands. In 1938, she bought herself out of her RKO contract rather than be forced to appear in the thespian hell that was Mother Carey's Chickens. That same year, she snapped up the film rights to her old stage hit, Holiday. With costar Cary Grant, the film became a classic of the screwball comedy form. Hepburn's bad-luck run at the box office continued unabated, however. Holiday bombed.

Undeterred, Hepburn used a similar hands-on approach with the comedy The Philadelphia Story. The role of icy socialite Tracy Lord was one she had originated on Broadway. Hepburn again purchased the film rights--and, in the process, bought herself another classic screen role.

Few films have matched Philadelphia Story's star troika of Hepburn, Grant (as the ex-husband who wants her back) and Jimmy Stewart (as the reporter who plain wants her).

Hepburn worked steadily through the early 1960s, when she declined roles to care for the increasingly frail Tracy. By the time cameras rolled on Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in 1967, she had been away from the big screen for five years.

Following Tracy's death, she returned to Broadway to unleash her distinctive, quasi-singing voice on audiences in Coco, about designer Coco Chanel. For her spunk and usual gall, she received a Tony Award nomination.

To mark her stage career, nearly as storied as her film work, the lights will dim on Broadway at 8 p.m. Tuesday in her honor.

Hepburn's work ethic never wavered. She won her fourth Oscar at age 73 for On Golden Pond, which paired her with contemporary Henry Fonda in his final film.

In the 1990s, when her famed upper-crust voice quivered under the strains of old age (but not Parkinson's disease as was widely believed), she continued to venture before the camera, mainly in TV movies but also for a big-screen cameo in 1994's An Affair to Remember remake--Love Affair, with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening.

"This is the first time she has...looked small and frail," critic Roger Ebert wrote of that appearance. "Yet the magnificent spirit is still there--and the romantic fire."

Hepburn retired to her seaside retreat in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, in the late 1990s, only making headlines when various ailments--including arthritis and pneumonia--sent her to the nearby hospital in Hartford. In July 2001, she endured a one-week hospiital stay for a urinary tract infection.

Hepburn was legally married just once--in 1928--to businessman Ludlow Ogden Smith. The union ended in 1934.

But there was none of this no-regrets business for Hepburn. Of regrets, she said, she had more than a few. (And if you didn't have any, she suggested, "maybe you're stupid.")

But in the end, there were at least two things Hepburn never regretted--her love for Tracy and her non-love of the media that covered the two of them, separately and together, for decades.

"Death will be a great relief," she once said. "No more interviews."

Are 50 Cent & Mya an item?
 

From yahoo.com:

wish I had a dollar for all of rap superstar 50 Cent's women! Recently, we had him pursuing Beyonce Knowles, but the hip-hop Romeo's latest love is Mya. The pair was spotted together at the W Hotel in L.A., and she's often seen in his backstage dressing room and accompanying him on tour.

R.I.P. Buddy Hackett
 

Comic Buddy Hackett Dies
Jul 1, 9:02 AM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Comedian Buddy Hackett, known for his rubbery face and sometimes raunchy jokes, never strayed far from a punch line, often peppering friends and family with his humor.

"If I was going to a corporate job somewhere, I'd call him up, and he'd rattle off 10 jokes," his son, Sandy Hackett, 47, recalled. "He never called just to say, 'Hello.' He'd call and say: 'A guy walks into a bar....'"

The elder Hackett, who appeared for more than 50 years as a top act in nightclubs, in Broadway shows, on television and in movies, died at his Southern California beach house late Sunday or early Monday. He was 78.

The cause of death was not immediately known, but his son said Hackett suffered from diabetes.

Hackett began his career playing for small money on the Borscht Circuit for New York City vacationers in the Catskill Mountains, he learned to get laughs with his complaints about being short, fat and Jewish.

When "Curly" Howard, the one who got slapped in the comedy team The Three Stooges, suffered a stroke in 1946, Hackett was invited to take his place but declined, believing he could develop his own comedy style.

His career grew with appearances on the TV shows of Jack Paar, Arthur Godfrey and others. Soon he was making big money across the country, and audiences called for his most noted routine, the Chinese waiter.

In the beginning, his material was suitable for family audiences, but in later years nightclubs advertised his show "For Mature Audiences Only." His performances in those days were noted for their prolific use of four-letters words at a time when that just wasn't done.

"Compared to motion pictures, I'm very mild these days," he remarked in 1996.

In 1954, playwright Sidney Kingsley persuaded Hackett to appear on Broadway in "Lunatics and Lovers." Brooks Atkinson, writing in The New York Times, described Hackett as "a large, soft, messy comic with a glib tongue and a pair of inquiring eyes."

He also appeared on the New York stage in "Viva Madison Avenue" (1960) and "I Had a Ball" (1964).

Hackett made his film debut in 1953 with "Walking My Baby Back Home." His most notable roles came in "The Music Man," "The Love Bug" and "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World."

Among his other movies: "Fireman Save My Child," "God's Little Acre," "All Hands on Deck," "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm," "Muscle Beach Party," "Loose Shoes," "Scrooged" and Disney's "The Little Mermaid," as the voice of Scuttle. He played comic Lou Costello in the 1978 film "Bud and Lou."

On television, he starred in the short-lived series "Stanley" from 1956 to 1957 and made numerous guest appearances on other shows, appearing in recent years on "Just Shoot Me" and "Sabrina The Teenage Witch" and, in a recurring bit called "Tuesdays With Buddy," on "The Late Late Show With Craig Kilborn."

He was born Leonard Hacker in a Jewish section of New York City's borough of Brooklyn on Aug. 31, 1924. For a time he apprenticed in his father's upholstery shop, but at school he found he had a talent for making fellow students laugh. He used humor to offset the taunts about his roly-poly shape.

When he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame a few years ago, Hackett quipped that he had left Brooklyn "to get away from the subway" only to discover that his star had been placed above the one in Los Angeles.

"It's a damn circle," he joked.

After graduating from high school, he spent three years in the military during World War II, then reinvented himself as Buddy Hackett, standup comedian.

Hackett had flopped using joke writers, and he soon came to realize that only he could write for Buddy Hackett. Doing so, he moved on to Los Angeles, where he scored at a small showcase club.

Besides his son, Hackett is survived by his wife, Sherry, whom he met in the Catskills, and daughters Ivy Miller of Denver and Lisa Hackett of Los Angeles.

———

Shaq's Moms gets a degree, Tim Reid speaks
 

B-CC woos actor Reid, who counsels grads
Shaq also on hand to watch mom graduate

By RYAN JUSTIN FOX
Staff Writer

Last update: 28 June 2003


For a usually low-key summer graduation ceremony that barely fills an aging gymnasium, Bethune-Cookman College's commencement Saturday featured some high-profile participants.

Actor-director Tim Reid delivered the address and basketball and film star Shaquille O'Neal watched his mother graduate.

Perched directly behind the podium in the front row of honored guests was Reid, whom older generations might recognize as the outlandish Venus Flytrap on the hit television series "WKRP in Cincinnati." Younger people might know him as the uptight single father, Ray, on "Sister, Sister."

Behind Reid was his long-time business partner and wife, actress Daphne Maxwell Reid, whom most of the summer graduates probably would know from her work on TV's "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" as Vivian Banks -- the second one.

Tucked in the back corner of the stage, as inconspicuous as possible, sat 7-foot-1 NBA megastar O'Neal, on hand to support his mother, Lucille, who received a bachelor of science degree in business administration. "Mama Shaq" graduated cum laude. :D :D

The college played host to a luncheon for the Reids at a beachside resort Friday, partly in hope of cultivating an ongoing relationship with them.

"We're excited to have (the Reids) here," said B-CC's social science chairwoman, Dr. Sheila Flemming, during the luncheon. A group headed by Flemming is courting Tim Reid and his production company to film a documentary in honor of the college's centennial and founder, Mary McLeod Bethune.

Friday's luncheon featured B-CC's top brass as well as Volusia County officials, Daytona Beach Mayor Bud Asher and West Volusia Film Authority President and Lake Helen Mayor Mark Shuttleworth. .

"Having (the Reids) here is very gratifying," Shuttleworth said. "Filmmaking in Volusia County has struggled the past couple of years."

Shuttleworth recently donated a few props to B-CC from the acclaimed 1997 movie "Rosewood," which was shot in West Volusia.

Reid, who said his New Millennium Studios in Petersburg, Va., is the only black production studio in the country, has made it his agenda to mold a new generation of filmmakers.

"Today's filmmakers are probably the worst filmmakers in the history of filmmaking," Reid said during the luncheon. "We're trying to get them to be responsible for the images they perpetuate."

Saturday, however, belonged to the 81 graduates, who waited years for the day. After they listened to Reid preach about the importance of dreaming, the annoyance of constant whining, and the proper way for younger men to wear their pants, they received their diplomas. Some paused the procession to pose for quick snapshots for future family photo albums.



ryan.fox@news-jrnl.com