Tom Cruise was named the highest paid actor in Hollywood on Tuesday, on his 50th birthday -- but the "Mission Impossible" star has little to celebrate.

Days after his wife filed for divorce, apparently taking him by surprise, questions are stacking up about the role of his controversial Scientologist faith at the end of his five-year marriage to Katie Holmes.

Actor Andy Griffith, 86, a beloved icon of U.S. television for programs including "The Andy Griffith Show" in the 1960s and the popular legal drama "Matlock," died Tuesday.

President Barack Obama led tributes to the star, calling him "a performer of extraordinary talent," adding that he "was beloved by generations of fans and revered by entertainers who followed in his footsteps.

Katie Holmes was spotted in New York on Monday without her wedding ring after filing for divorce from fellow actor Tom Cruise.

The 33-year-old Hollywood star left a shoot for a television series in Times Square, her hair pulled back conservatively in a sleek pony tail and wearing a navy ensemble. Throngs of television satellite trucks and paparazzi were camped outside the Manhattan building where she was staying.

CNN presenter and journalist Anderson Cooper outed himself as gay Monday, saying he "couldn't be any more happy, comfortable with myself, and proud."

The 45-year-old confirmed what for many was common knowledge in an email to a journalist for The Daily Beast online who had asked Cooper to comment on the issue of celebrities coming out.

Sculpted in organic body-armor of glinting copper, acrylic or leather, a cast of graceful aliens stepped out in their finest attire at the Iris Van Herpen haute couture show in Paris on Monday.

The avant-garde young Dutch designer draws much of her inspiration from the natural world, using computer-assisted design to create intricate 3D patterns that are then painstaking assembled by hand.

Jessica Kahawaty, a Lebanese, has won the 2012 Miss World Australia crown at a ceremony held at Uluru over the weekend, news reports said.

Jessica, 23, a former Miss Lebanon 2010 candidate and Miss Lebanon Emigrant, beat 23 other stunning Australian beauties.

With all the star power at the BET Awards — Kanye West, Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce and Samuel L. Jackson, to name a few — the most stirring moment came not from a superstar, but from the mother of one.

Whitney Houston's mother Cissy provided the emotional highlight of Sunday's ceremony as she sang "Bridge Over Troubled Water" in tribute to her late daughter, leaving audience members like Beyonce and Soulja Boy in tears.

"Ted," a comedy starring Mark Wahlberg and his raunchy teddy bear pal, topped the North American box office this weekend, besting the male strippers of "Magic Mike," industry estimates showed Sunday.

"Ted" -- a film directed by "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane in which Wahlberg's childhood toy comes to life -- earned $54.1 million in its debut, according to box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Versace got the haute couture ball off to a bold start Sunday night in Paris, as the Italian house sent out creations of aerial chiffon, body-hugging leather and rich crystal embroidery.

For the first of two dozen haute couture shows taking place until Wednesday night, the platinum blonde, perma-tanned designer Donatella Versace said she drew inspiration from the imagery of tarot cards.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch weighed in on the Tom Cruise-Katie Holmes divorce story Sunday, saying he thinks Scientologists are "creepy" and possibly even evil.

The News Corporation chief urged his Twitter followers to watch the story, which broke on Friday when Holmes announced she was filing from divorce from Hollywood A-lister Cruise, a prominent member of the Church of Scientology.