John Travolta Considered Retirement After Son’s Death
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Universal, Drama, Political, Celebrity Gossip, New Releases
John Travolta considered retiring after his son died.
The Grease! actor and wife Kelly Preston were left devastated when son Jett passed away in 2009 and he admits it was only the support from his fans, loved ones and faith in Scientology which prevented him from turning his back on his career in the aftermath of the tragedy.
"I lost my son a few years ago and I had been having quite a time of that. And after three years of getting a lot of support from the church and a lot of support from people - fans and family - I decided that it was OK to go back to work. Because I even thought of retiring at one point, because it just felt like too much."
John - who is making his acting return in new movie Savages - admits he is still impressed by his "extraordinary" career achievements. "Grease! and Saturday Night Fever were the number one and two records in history until Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' came along. So for five years we held the crown for one and two! It was pretty extraordinary. And still I think that 'You're The One That I Want' [from Grease!] is the biggest duet in history," he added.
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Ann Rutherford Dies
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Warner Bros, Classics, Period, Romance, Celeb News, Obituaries
Gone With the Wind actress Ann Rutherford has died.
The Canadian star died at her home in Beverly Hills, California, last night aged 94. Ann's close friend and fellow actress, Anne Jeffreys, said she had been in declining health with heart problems.
Ann was best known for playing Scarlett's younger sister, Carreen, in 1939 film Gone With the Wind, and was one of its last surviving cast members. Ann was initially refused the chance to be in Gone With the Wind by MGM boss Louis B Mayer, who called her role a "nothing part," but after she burst into tears and told him what a huge fan of the novel she was, he reconsidered.
"I just wanted to watch the book come to life," she told the Los Angeles Times in 2010.
Speaking at the 70th anniversary of the film in 2009, she said, "That 'nothing part' turned my golden years into platinum."
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Anjelica Huston Finds Filming Cathartic
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Drama, Comedy, Celeb News, Filmmaking
Anjelica Huston liked appearing in 50/50 as it allowed her to "legally cry."
The actress took time out from her career following the death of her husband Robert Graham from a rare blood disease in 2008, and she admits she was glad to work on the comedy movie - about life and death and cancer - because she could get tearful.
"It was extremely cathartic. Every day I could legally cry, which was important to me. I was living it the way I lived it. My work has always reflected my life," she said.
Following his death Anjelica - who is also known for her relationship with Jack Nicholson - left Los Angeles and she thinks it helped her begin to get over her grief: "It takes me away from the pain I was going through in the last few years, with death and being in a house that I knew at some point I would have to move away from. Change is sometimes very painful. A new person emerges from the chrysalis of who you were and you go from feeling vulnerable to feeling that something brilliant has changed your life for the better."
The Dark Knight Rises Extra Dies on Set
Posted by Robin Paulson Categories: Warner Bros, Action, Adaptation, Noir, Sequels, Thrillers, Filmmaking, Upcoming Releases
Tragedy strikes during production of The Dark Knight Rises. Warner Brothers confirmed that an unidentified male extra passed away from natural causes on the set of the new Batman film.
"The studio can confirm that a male extra passed away while on a break during an off-set crowd rehearsal for a sequence with several hundred extras in early November. The production crew fully cooperated with the authorities' investigation, which established that he died of natural causes," a studio representative said.
Sources reveal that the man's unconscious body was found after he had walked away from the other extras; a medical crew was called immediately. "He was taken to the hospital straight away... It was during a period when the film was shooting a huge sequence with several hundred extras in the Wall Street area," a source said.
Read More 
| Daily Mail
Director Ken Russell Dies
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Celeb News, Filmmaking
Director Ken Russell has died. The Oscar-nominated filmmaker passed away in hospital at the age of 84 on Sunday night after suffering from a series of strokes, his son Alex Verney-Elliott confirmed.
"My father died peacefully. He had had a series of strokes. He died with a smile on his face," Verney-Elliott said.
Russell is famous for making several controversial films, including Women In Love - which became famous for featuring a scene in which Oliver Reed and Alan Bates wrestled naked and earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Director - religious drama The Devils, The Music Lovers, and The Who's iconic rock opera Tommy.
Tributes to him have started to pour in from the movie industry with his friend and fellow filmmaker Michael Winner, 76, describing him as an artist who "pushed the barriers completely." Winner - who had been friends with Russell since 1968 - said, "Among many achievements that spring to mind, he made British cinema less insular and self-referential. He was also a leading creative force in the history of British television. He will be widely mourned... He pushed the barriers completely and got away with it sometimes and didn't others, but he made some startling movies. He had an eye for the composition of each image on the screen - a great eye for imagery and then, of course, he had a great idea for the grotesque."
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Movie Icon Jane Russell Dies
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Obituaries, Videos
During her career in Hollywood, Jane Russell kept company with the likes of Marilyn Monroe, eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes and a host of other legendary personalities. She was best-known for her impressive, Amazonian figure -- which she always put to good use on the big screen. And now, she’s gone.
Jane Russell died on Monday in Santa Maria at the age of 89, 70 years after she was cast in her first Howard Hughes movie (The Outlaw). Her cleavage, amply displayed throughout the flick, created a huge controversy with censors. She did westerns with the Howard Hughes-owned RKO studios for several years in the 1940s before being cast as Marilyn Monroe’s brunette bestie in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The role gave Russell the chance to show off another of her assets -- her powerful singing voice. You can hear -- and see -- her talents on display in the video above, a clip of Russell's big solo from the movie.
Throughout the 1950s, she continued to star in films. Russell was paired onscreen with Clark Gable, Robert Mitchum and Frank Sinatra -- to name just a few. Russell spent the next years singing in nightclubs, making the occasional movie appearance until 1970.
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Read More | Yahoo! News
Remembering Tony Curtis
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Classics, Celeb News, Obituaries, Videos
Tony Curtis, an iconic film star of the 1950s and 60s, was one of Hollywood’s best-looking leading men, but his best-known roles were not the stuff of romantic heroes.
Curtis’s standout performances include the one where he played a woman (Some Like It Hot), the one where he was a dirty, angry escaped convict (The Defiant Ones) and the one where he was a dirty, abused slave (Spartacus).
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Read More | CNN
Sally Menke, Tarantino’s Film Editor, Dead at Age 56
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Celeb News, Obituaries, Videos
Sally Menke, the editor on every Quentin Tarantino film since Reservoir Dogs, passed away yesterday in California. She was 56 years old.
The two-time Academy Award nominee (Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds) had been out hiking in the record Los Angeles heat prior to her death. Temps in the area had reached a high of 113 degrees.
Click to continue reading Sally Menke, Tarantino’s Film Editor, Dead at Age 56
Read More | CNN
Titanic’s Gloria Stuart Dead at Age 100
Posted by Veronica Santiago Categories: Celeb News, Obituaries, Videos
Gloria Stuart, best known for dropping that large necklace into the water in Titanic, passed away on Monday. She was 100 years old.
Although she had been appearing in movies since the 1930s, Stuart finally made film history in 1997. That was when the then 87-year-old actress became the oldest Oscar nominee ever. (She received a Best Supporting Actress nod for playing the 101-year-old version of Rose in the hit James Cameron film.)
Gloria, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer a few years back, died in her Los Angeles home. She leaves behind a daughter, four grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren.
Read More | Washington Post
Fellow ‘Easy Rider’ Remembers Dennis Hopper
Posted by K.C. Morgan Categories: Celeb News, Obituaries
Following Dennis Hopper’s death, Easy Rider co-star Peter Fonda has come forward with a statement.
“Dennis [Hopper] introduced me to the world of Pop Art and ‘lost’ films. We rode the highways of America and changed the way movies were made in Hollywood. I was blessed by his passion and friendship,” Fonda said of his friend and co-star, who passed away on May 31 due to complications associated with prostate cancer.
Many credit Easy Rider as an historic film, which created a “new Hollywood” to help change filmmaking. Fonda produced the movie, with Hopper directing. The two, along with Terry Southern, were nominated for Best Screenplay in 1970.
Read More | Entertainment Tonight
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