Oscar-winning composer John Barry, who wrote the scores for "Out of Africa" and numerous Bond films including "Goldfinger", has died at the age of 77, his family said Monday.
He died on Sunday in New York, reportedly of a heart attack, and leaves behind his wife of 33 years, Laurie, four children and five grandchildren.
Full StoryLionel Dhulmanawuy, an Aboriginal dancer from a remote tropical island off northern Australia, points to his cracked lips and dry skin: Beijing's winter is "powerfully cold", he says.
Dhulmanawuy and his fellow Chooky Dancers, who became a YouTube sensation with a quirky "Zorba the Greek" number, left Australia for the first time in January to perform in China's televised Spring Festival gala, seen by millions.
Full StoryBritish actor Anthony Hopkins gets to battle with the devil in his latest movie, a film in which he plays a possessed priest -- but insists it's good to face up to one's inner demons.
In "The Rite" the veteran star plays Father Lucas, tasked with teaching a young US priest studying exorcism in Rome about Good and Evil -- but who ends up needing the devil cast out of himself.
Full StoryTroubled U.S. actor Charlie Sheen was rushed to hospital Thursday with severe abdominal pains, his spokesman said after a reported "wild" party at his home outside Los Angeles.
The TMZ celebrity website said the 45-year-old actor -- nickname "Good Time Charlie" -- had suffered a hiatal hernia and quoted neighbors saying they heard loud partying, which had gone on for 36 hours, until early in the morning.
Full StoryFor those not acquainted with the phrase "yellow journalism," it refers to sensationalizing the news with overly dramatic headlines intended to grab readers and sell the most papers.
That's the subject of "What The Public Wants," a comedy by Arnold Bennett that satirizes tabloid journalism in 1906 London. The play opened Thursday night at the Mint Theater in a witty, well-acted production; director Matthew Arbour is faithful to the original material, which is clever and surprisingly contemporary more than a hundred years after Bennett wrote it.
Full StoryJames Blunt prefers to think of his enduring first hit, "You're Beautiful," as a blessing, not a curse.
True, none of his songs have attained the massive success that "You're Beautiful" did when it hit the No. 1 spot five years ago in the U.S. and beyond. But Blunt, 33, is happy to have that song on his musical resume, so long as people understand there's a lot more to his achievements.
Full StoryJean Paul Gaultier mashed up high-stepping French cancan with street-wise London punk and his signature horizontal stripes on Wednesday on the final day of the Paris summer haute couture shows.
Ditching the usual throbbing techno soundtrack, the ever-innovative French designer had the recorded voice of Catherine Deneuve soberly introduce each look by number and technical description.
Full StoryJo Shapcott has been named as the surprise winner of Britain's Costa Book of the Year award for her slim volume of poetry in part inspired by a battle against breast cancer.
It is the second year in a row that poetry has picked up the 30,000-pound (47,000-dollar, 35,000-euro) honor and commentators said the result was evidence of a "renaissance" in the genre's fortunes.
Full StoryThe invites haven't been sent yet — but some European royals seem to have been given a quiet tap on the shoulder.
The crown prince of Serbia and ex-King Michael of Romania say they're among the hundreds of privileged guests expected at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London on April 29.
Full StoryThe "Sex and the City" sequel and the third installment of teen vampire series "Twilight" were top of the flops, as nominees for Hollywood's Oscars spoof -- the Razzies -- were revealed Monday.
Renowned Hollywood actors and actresses Jennifer Aniston, Ashton Kutcher, Robert Pattinson, Miley Cyrus and Barbra Streisand were also nominated for their parts in 2010 major studio productions by the Golden Raspberry Award Foundation, which organizes the annual salute to the worst of the worst.
Full Story