Recently in celebrity deaths Category
Cameron Diaz was back on the red carpet last night, for the first time since her dad's death last month. The actress took to the spotlight alongside co-star Ashton Kutcher, at the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie, What Happens in Vegas.
A smiling Cameron
laughed and interacted with the crowd, but chose not to attend the after-party at the Whiskey Blue in the W Hotel.
"I think she's holding up as well as anyone can imagine," the film's producer Shawn Levy told People.com. "We're trying to give her space and be respectful."
Hang in there, Cam!
Cameron Diaz continues to mourn the loss of her beloved father at home with her family, which meant skipping a press junket on Saturday, for her new movie with Ashton Kutcher, What Happens In Vegas.
But, Ashton showed up to the premiere with a hand-written note from his costar, thanking everyone for all of their love and good thoughts during this tough time. Here's what it said:
First of all I want to thank all of you for your support over the years.
So many films, so many weekends discussing films. I was really looking forward to this weekend getting to talk to my friends about a film that I am so proud of.
Due to the loss of my father I have chosen to be with my family this weekend. But it was important for me to convey to all of you how much I love this film. We really did have the best time, most fun and laughs making it. I know that the stories Ashton, Rob [Corddry] and [Director] Tom [Vaughan] share with you will illustrate that point. I was fortunate to work with a group of truly gifted individuals that share the common denominator of a generous heart and wickedly sick sense of humor.
This weekend I am screening What Happens in Vegas for my family. It was a unanimous decision that we all needed to share a good laugh. After all that's why we make films like these. So people can leave behind their worries for a couple of hours. Have a good laugh.
I picture all of your smiles and it makes me happy.
Thank you for your continued support. It is much appreciated.
Cameron
For those of you who have been keeping Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda Ledger in your thoughts, I thought I'd share this photo of the two girls with you. M&M went out for a stroll on Saturday in Brooklyn, NY -- where the weather was absolutely beautiful.
While we're sure that not a day goes by where they both don't miss the dearly-departed Heath Ledger, it's nice to see them out and about.
Isn't Matilda just the spitting image of her dad?
Cameron Diaz and her family held a memorial service for Cameron's dad, Emilio Diaz, this weekend, and two of Cam's ex-boyfriends showed up to lend their girl some support.
Justin Timberlake and John Mayer arrived at Mahe in Seal Beach separately, and paid their respects to Cam, along with the other guests who came to honor her dad's free-spirited life.
"Most people started arriving at 1:30 and hardly no one wore black," says a source."Lots of people were wearing Hawaiian shirts. It looked more like a party."
The boys stayed until about 4, when most of the guests began to leave, and after Cameron had made a speech about her late father, who died suddenly of pneumonia last week.
If you want to show Cameron that you care, the family has suggested sending donations to Surfrider.org or Reefcheck.org in Emilio's name, in lieu of flowers.
Cameron Diaz has released a statement to UsMagazine.com, about her father's untimely death:
"My mom, sister and I are deeply appreciative of the overwhelming outpouring of love and support during this difficult time for us and all of our family. My dad was loved by so many people and his humor and spirit will always live on in our hearts."
Cam's dad sadly passed away Monday, after a bout with the flu turned into pneumonia. He was 58.
Sad news for Cameron Diaz, who's dad passed away suddenly Tuesday morning.
According to TMZ.com, Emilio Diaz, 58, recently developed the flu which then turned into pneumonia. Before this, Cam's dad was said to be "terrific health."
A source says that production on Cameron's new film, My Sister's Keeper, has been shut down for now.
Our condolences to Cameron and her family.
Monk star Stanley Kamel has died. The actor, who played Dr. Charles Kroeger on the Tony Shaloub series, was found dead in his Hollywood Hills home on Tuesday, says Access Hollywood. The cause of death is unknown. He was 65.
A rep for the USA network released this statement regarding the sad news:
“USA is deeply saddened by the news of Stanley Kamel’s passing. Stanley was an amazingly talented and extremely kind man, and an important member of the USA family. He will be sorely missed.”
I didn't recognize the name, but when I saw the photo of him, I realized I totally know of him! He played Dylan's wife's dad, Anthony Marchette, on 90210.
So sad.
Big screen legend Charlton Heston died at his home in Beverly Hills on Saturday night. He was 84. His wife of 64 years, Lydia, was by his side when he passed.
"Charlton had made an announcement of his Alzheimer's diagnosis in 2002 and had very much retired from public life," a family spokesperson told People.com. "He had been at home most of the past years."
The actor's family also paid tribute to him in a statement they released on Sunday:
"Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. He was known for his chiseled jaw, broad shoulders and resonating voice, and, of course, for the roles he played. Indeed, he committed himself to every role with passion, and pursued every cause with unmatched enthusiasm and integrity.
"We knew him as an adoring husband, a kind and devoted father, and a gentle grandfather, with an infectious sense of humor. He served these far greater roles with tremendous faith, courage and dignity. He loved deeply, and he was deeply loved.
"No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country. In his own words: 'I have lived such a wonderful life! I've lived enough for two people.'"
R.I.P
A story broke earlier in the week that Heath Ledger may have fathered a child when he was 17. Now, the woman who was said to maybe be the mother to a second Heath baby is speaking out -- and she's not saying what you might have thought.
"I'm not answering anything," the unnamed woman told The Daily Mail. "I think it's very, very rude that I'm being posed all of this. I really do. I can't talk about anything."
The woman says her main concern is that of her daughter, who may or may not be Heath's. "When you are considering an 11-year-old girl who has to go to school and be a part of society, that is my main concern," she said. "You have no proof, there's no background, there's no grounds, there's no nothing."
Props to this lady for not wanting to cash in on the possibility that her maybe-babydaddy was a movie star.
The woman's husband supports his wife's claims that Heath is not the girl's father. "The whole thing with that is no," he said. "No way. No can be. It would probably be a great thing if she was, but no."
Interesting -- totally not the way I saw that going.
Matilda Ledger may have a sibling somewhere in the world.
According to Heath Ledger's estranged uncle, Haydn Ledger, the actor may have fathered a child when he was just 17. Well, thats what he's telling the Australian media, anyway.
Haydn says that Heath had a relationship with a 25-year-old woman, when the deceased actor was a teen, and the woman learned she was pregnant after they had broken up. As the story goes, the unnamed girl was living with another man at the time of the affair, but Heath's uncle says, "there is a very real possibility that Heath was the father."
Why does this matter now?
It's all about the Benjamins. If Heath did father this child, I'm sure someone is going to come looking for money. Though Heath's will was created before he and Michelle Williams had Matilda, his family has assured the world that Matilda will be taken care of -- which means, if he did have another child, she would entitled to some cash, too.
It's a sad world.
Sad news this morning from London, as singer Corinne Bailey Rae's ("Put Your Records On") husband was found dead in an apartment on Saturday.
Jason Rae, who was a saxophonist and only 31, was found after police were called to the home. He died of a suspected overdose, but toxicology reports are still pending. According to authorities, an unnamed man was arrested on suspicion of supplying controlled drugs, but has since been released on bail.
Corinne met her husband met when she singer as a coat room attendant at a jazz club in Leeds, England. They married in 2001. Her record label released this statement:
"EMI Records would like to offer its sincere condolences to Corinne Bailey Rae and the Rae family at this tragic time. We ask that the media respects Corinne's privacy and that of her entire family."
Our condolences, as well.
Hollywood is in shock over the sudden death of beloved director Anthony Minghella, and some of the Oscar winner's friends and colleagues are speaking out on what an incredible person and talent he was.
Nicole Kidman: "I’m devastated, there is really no way to put it into words. He was a gift to the world.”
Gwyneth Paltrow: "He was incredibly talented and so interested in art and making the world better for art. He was very specific and very loving. He was very sweet to his actors. He would kind of massage everybody while he was talking – very tactile and warm.”
Ralph Fiennes: “Anthony possessed a sensitivity and alertness to the actor’s process that very few directors have. He directed most of The English Patient with an ankle in plaster, never losing his gentle humor and precision. He delighted in the contribution of everyone – he was a true collaborator. His films deal with extreme aloneness and the redemptive power of love, even at the moment of death. I will remember him as a man who always wanted to get to the heart of the matter.”
What a loss.
Such sad news.
Oscar-winning director for The English Patient, Anthony Minghella, passed away this morning, after suffering from a sudden brain hemorrhage. He was just 54. The director had been in a hospital in London, recovering from an operation he had last week, for a growth in his neck, which "seemed to have gone well."
In addition to The English Patient, Anthony directed movies such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, starring Jude Law, Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow, and Cold Mountain, which won Renee Zellweger an Oscar.
Jude released this statement on the director's death:
"I am deeply shocked and saddened to hear of Anthony's untimely death. I worked with him on three films, more than with any other director, but had come to value him more as a friend than as a colleague. He was a brilliantly talented writer and director who wrote dialogue that was a joy to speak and then put it onto the screen in a way that always looked effortless. He made work feel like fun. He was a sweet, warm, bright and funny man who was interested in everything from football to opera, films, music, literature, people and most of all his family whom he adored and to whom I send my thoughts and love. I shall miss him hugely."
R.I.P.
As a tribute to Heath Ledger, his fellow actors opened up to the April issue of Interview magazine, about what the talent was really like.
In her first interview since his death, Michelle Williams, Heath's former fiancée and mother to his child, refers to her ex as "vulnerable."
"I think the interesting thing about Heath, which maybe people have only really fully discovered in his death, is how vulnerable he was,” Michelle said. “You can pick it up on it in his performances, but it’s easy to overlook because he was so physical and beautiful and strong and masculine, but there was always that underlying sensitivity. That’s who he was.”
Michelle said Heath, who died on a an accidental overdose of prescription meds, including sleep aids, always had trouble shutting his thoughts off. “For as long as I’d known him, he had bouts with insomnia,” she says. “He had too much energy. His mind was turning, turning turning — always turning.”
“He had a talent for everything that he put his mind to," she remembered. "He didn’t know limits."
The details of Heath Ledger's will have been revealed, and it seems the actor had left all of his possessions to his parents and sister.
According to the NY Daily News, the three-page will was written before Heath took on his role in Brokeback Mountain -- which means it was done before her met former fiancée Michelle Williams and had daughter Matilda Rose.
Heath's family, who have been quite open with the press since the actor's accidental death in January, were quick to assure the world that they have no intentions of leaving Matilda high and dry.
"Matilda is our absolute priority and Michelle is an integral part of our family," Heath's father Kim Ledger said in a statement. "They will be taken care of and that's how Heath would want it to be."
The Ledgers seem like such good people -- my heart is still broken for them.
It's official -- 18-month-old daughter of Anna Nicole Smith has been declared the sole heir to her mom's estate.
A Los Angeles judge established a trust in Dannielynn's name, with her dad, Larry Birkhead acting as co-trustee with the creepy Howard K. Stern.
Howard, who is the executor of Anna's estate, wanted to clarify the model's intentions in the will she drafted five years before Dannielynn was born in 2006. "We and Mr. Stern always believed that Anna Nicole never intended to disinherit her daughter,"' a lawyer for Howard said, after Tuesday's hearing. "I'm pleased to say this chapter in the saga is closed."
Dannielynn could get the millions of dollars that her mom's late husband, J. Howard Marshall, had left Anna, but the old man's affairs are still in limbo, as his family continues to fight to keep the money from anyone even close to Anna.
Millions of bucks -- that's nice, but it's still not going to bring back her mom or her brother.
It's a sad day in The Hills for real, as Heidi Montag mourns the loss of her step brother.
Heidi's bro, Eric O'Hara,was working on the roof of the Steamboat Grand Resort Hotel in Colorado when a piece of ice broke loose and he fell off the building to his death. He was 24.
Eric had just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan, where he was serving as a member of the 82nd Airborne Division for the past three years.
"I just loved him more than anything," Heidi told Usmagazine.com "He couldn't wait to meet Spencer."
Heidi and Eric became family when the reality TV star's dad married Eric's mom, when Heidi was seven.
So sad.
I feel so bad for Heath Ledger's dad. For the obvious reasons, of course, but on top of that, the grieving father is trying to get his son's affairs in order, and now has to deal with the fact that one of Heath's most prized possessions has been stolen.
Heath's well-loved 1975 green Komi van seems to have been missing since three days before the actor's death, and now Kim Ledger is asking for it back. Kim filed a report with Australian police last Friday declaring the van missing, according to Australian website News.com.au.
The vintage van, now valued at $70,000 was in the care of Heath's friend,Trevor DiCarlo, when it was reportedly stolen.
Unfortunately, I doubt the thieves feel any sympathy for Heath and his family and will feel inclined to return the van strictly for sentimental purposes, but you never know.
We told you earlier in the week that that the movie Heath Ledger was working on at the time of his death is scheduled to go on, with three big actors taking over his role.
Colin Farrell in one of the men on tap to assume Heath's last role, and the Irishman says he considers it an "incredibly painful tribute." The actor says he was flattered to be asked to help complete The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus and tells the Sydney Daily Telegraph, "I will be honored to be part of that. It makes me feel uncomfortable to think about it too much and to get into it really here, but it's an incredibly painful honor... and an honor I wish wasn't bestowed (on me), but an honor none-the-less. It's about getting Heath's work out there... He's too good for any of his work not to be seen, you know, and I'm really keen and looking forward to doing it and just doing the best job I can do."
Johnny Depp and Jude Law are also scheduled to finish the scenes that Heath did not film.
In a new interview with New York magazine, Lindsay Lohan is speaking out on her friend Heath Ledger's death, and how tough being in the Hollywood limelight really is.
The actress, who posed nude, a la Marilyn Monroe in "The Last Sitting", spoke of the icon's death, calling it "tragic" and adding, "you know, it’s also tragic what just recently happened to someone else.”
Asked if she was referring to her friend Heath, Lilo said, “They are both prime examples of what this industry can do to someone.”
Lindsay, who was photographed crying after the word of Heath's death got out, says that she's not about to let the same demons get her. “I'm not them … I sure as hell wouldn’t let it happen to me."
Let's hope she keeps that in mind when she's out at the clubs.
It takes big names to fill the shoes of the dearly-departed Heath Ledger, as Jude Law, Johnny Depp and Colin Farrell will take over Heath's final role, in the unfinished movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
A rep for Jude said that these three superstars are tapped to play the role of Tony, but that she was unaware of how it would be done. One rumor speculates that each actor will play a different version of the character, and the footage that Heath shot before his death will also be included.
Heath was shooting the movie in London, when he left on a break and went back to New York, where he died. His co-star Christopher Plummer told People.com of the actor before his death, "Heath was in very high spirits. He was just enjoying himself tremendously. It's a rather fanciful script, and he was wonderful in this role."
Seeing the movie should be wild -- and sad.
Michelle Williams gave an interview to the British magazine Wonderland last month, just before her ex-fiance Heath Ledger's death, and the issue is just hitting newsstands now. In the piece, Michelle opens up about her split from Heath, how motherhood has changed her, and why she wasn't at former Dawson Creek co-star Katie Holmes' wedding to Tom Cruise.
On her break up with Heath:
"When you’re in a relationship with somebody who is also a public personality then it doubles the attention from the media. When you minus that equation it’s just less enticing. That’s been a real bonus. It’s the plus side of the break-up for me. It was so pervading, it got bad there for a while. Every time I walk out of the door I still worry. That’s what is so silly about it: even if the paparazzi aren’t there, you wonder if they are. I’m not good at that stuff. I need to get better at it. It really used to affect me."On having daughter, Matilda:
"I feel like I didn’t have any relationship with my body before Matilda. Well, I did, but it was just a bad one. After having my daughter I can’t judge myself in the same way. My body has done this totally miraculous but utterly ordinary thing. The downside is that my vocabulary has shrunk to the size of a pea. Since having a kid I just don’t have the same access to the world. I don’t see as many shows, I don’t go to many movies and I hardly read any books anymore. I’m lucky to make it through a book a month. So you start to develop in a much more non-verbal way, which can be so frustrating. Also there’s been a lot going on in my personal life and part of me is… I don’t know. I shouldn’t talk about it but it’s like I’m re-emerging back into the world or something."On her future:
"I don’t really have a concept of my 30s. Obviously so much has changed for me in the last few months that I don’t really have an idea of what my life is going to be. I thought I knew certain things and it turned out that I didn’t so I don’t really try and anticipate so much anymore. I’m not making any bets on the future. I feel like I’m just starting to catch up to my age. 27 years old sounds about right now. For a long time I didn’t really relate to my age because I was working so much when I was 16 and I had a child at 24. I always felt way too young for my situation. Now it’s starting to even out."
On Katie Holmes' wedding:
"Everybody wants to know that. No, I didn’t go because I was working on The Tourist. To be honest, we’re not really in touch."
What an emotional scene this must have been.
Heath Ledger's friends and family gathered at one of the actor's favorite spots, Cottesloe Beach in Australia, to honor their lost loved one. After a very sad and subdued funeral, many of the mourners, including Heath's ex-fiancee, Michelle Williams, made their way into the water, as a tribute to the man they loved.
Some people stripped down to their underwear, others just went for it, taking a dip in their clothes. "It's exactly what Heath would have wanted," one attendee said.
As the people closest to Heath celebrated his life in the water, the actor's dad watched from the balcony of a restaurant on the beach and cheered, "Hip hip hooray! Hip hip hooray!" giving two thumbs up in the air.
As the sun began to set, everyone stood together silently, with linked arms. "The sun goes down on our love," another mourner said. "But it will never go down on Heathy."
May he rest in peace.
The cause of death for actor Brad Renfro has been ruled an accident, due to a heroin overdose that had been injected.
The actor was found dead in his apartment on Jan.15, after a night of partying with friends. He had a history of drug use, but had been trying to get clean, sources said.
Drugs are bad.
It's the one year anniversary of Anna Nicole Smith's death, and Larry Birkhead has updated his website for the first time since November.
Dannielynn's daddy has written this tribute to his former girlfriend:
"Anna Nicole Smith
I LOVE YOU AND HOPE YOU ARE PROUD OF OUR BEAUTIFUL BABY GIRL. PLEASE WATCH OVER US AND GUIDE US ON OUR JOURNEY THROUGH LIFE. WE MISS YOU.
2-8-07
LOVE,
LARRY AND DANNIELYNN"
Anna Nicole Smith: Her Life in Photos
In what is bound to be the most touching and emotional performance of the night, Kanye West is reportedly putting together a tribute to his late mom, Donda West, to perform at Sunday's Grammys.
The rapper, who lost his mom only three months ago, was said to be rehearsing a medley of his songs "Stronger" and "Hey Mama" at