Buzz Briefs: Tom Hanks, Tyler Perry
Hanks To Attend Obama's Inauguration Even If He Needs Binoculars
Hollywood actor Tom Hanks wants to attend President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration even if he doesn't get a front-row seat. Or any seat at all.
"Look, I'll be in the back," the 52-year-old Oscar winner said backstage Tuesday night at a benefit for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television in Los Angeles. "I'll sit on the Lincoln steps and just watch it from the distance on a Jumbotron. I've never been to anything like that, and -- finally -- a guy I voted for won. That hasn't happened most of my life."
Hanks posted a video in May pledging his support for Obama on MySpace. In the video, Hanks said he was backing Obama because of his "character and vision, and the high road he has taken during this campaign." Hanks also said Obama "has the integrity and the inspiration to unify us, as did FDR and Harry Truman and John F. Kennedy and even Ronald Reagan when they ran for the job."
Tyler Perry Sued For Copyright Infringement
Tyler Perry went to court to face allegations that he stole material from someone else for his blockbuster film "Diary of a Mad Black Woman."
Donna West is suing the actor-screenwriter for copyright infringement in U.S. District Court and wants a jury to award her family all profits made from the film.
"I can't put my play on because the stories are basically the same and nobody wants to see that again," she said.
West testified Tuesday that she developed a script titled "Fantasy of a Black Woman" based primarily on her own experiences. With her in the starring role, the play was performed in July 1991 at the Junior Black Academy of Arts and Letters at the Dallas Convention Center.
Perry's movie, which earned some $50 million, came out in 2005. Jurors on Tuesday watched the film and listened to a reading of the script from West's play.
Fonda, Nicholson To Enter California Hall Of Fame
Hollywood stars Jane Fonda and Jack Nicholson are among the latest figures being inducted into the California Hall of Fame.
Musicians Dave Brubeck and Quincy Jones, fitness guru Jack LaLanne, sculptor Robert Graham and chef Alice Waters will also be inducted at the Dec. 15 ceremony in Sacramento.
"Dr. Seuss" author Theodor Geisel, photographer Dorothea Lange, architect Julia Morgan, scientist Linus Pauling and former Gov. Leland Stanford will be inducted posthumously.
First lady Maria Shriver started the program in 2006 to honor those who have helped shape the U.S. state.
Fonda was being inducted nearly 30 years after the state Senate rejected her nomination to the California Arts Council because of her campaign against the Vietnam War.
Beyonce Part Of Essence Fest Lineup In New Orleans
Beyonce is the first artist lined up for next year's Essence Music Festival in New Orleans.
Organizers of the festival announced Tuesday the singer has confirmed her participation.
The July event will mark the 15th anniversary of the celebration of black music and culture. The festival will include more than 12 musical acts a day.
The festival had one of its biggest turnouts this year with more than 270,000 attendees. Performers at the last event included Mary J. Blige and LL Cool J.
Naomi Campbell's Modeling Career Timeline On Display
Photographers clamored for a shot of Naomi Campbell on the red carpet Tuesday night, a fitting opening to a retrospective of photos from her two-decade modeling career.
The show, which features photos from top photographers such as Arthur Elgort and Steven Meisel, was organized by Art Photo Expo Miami. It is part of a larger exhibit called In Fashion Photo, which ends on Dec. 7. The show coincides with the international art fair Art Basel Miami Beach, running from Dec. 4-7.
"I feel very honored and flattered," Campbell said as she was bombarded by screams of photographers wanting her to pose. "It's like my timeline of my life really."
She said she didn't have a favorite photograph.
"I have been really fortunate to work with so many photographers over the course of 22 years and I still get to work with the photographers I worked with when I was 16. So, I am quite blessed and quite grateful," she said.
Jet Li: China Ready For Volunteerism "Explosion"
Jet Li said China is ready for an explosion of volunteerism amid its growing prosperity as he put aside his acting duties to discuss charitable efforts Wednesday at former President Bill Clinton's donor conference in Hong Kong.
Speaking at a panel discussion at the Clinton Global Initiative Asia conference, the 45-year-old action film star said volunteerism and charity are rare in China but are now on the rise as the country becomes more prosperous after two decades of capitalist-style economic reforms.
"Before the reforms, China's 1.3 billion people couldn't even fill their stomachs. The only way people could help others is a word of encouragement," Li said.
Now Chinese are eager to help others in need, Li said, saying he expects "an explosion of the Chinese people's generosity pent-up over the past 100 years."
Li, who founded the charity One Foundation, a partnership with the Red Cross Society of China, said he was particularly impressed with the number of volunteers that flocked to help victims of the earthquake in China's central Sichuan province in May.
Li's movie credits include "Lethal Weapon 4," "Romeo Must Die," "The Forbidden Kingdom" and "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor."
Austrian Protest Of "Sound of Music" Hotel Halts Plan
The Austrian city of Salzburg has blocked plans to open a hotel in a former home of the von Trapp family immortalized in "The Sound of Music" after protests by neighbors.
The "Villa Trap" had been expected to open this year in a quiet, upscale Salzburg neighborhood.
Area residents had feared tourists would tie up traffic and make a nuisance of themselves.
Hotel organizers say they will appeal Wednesday's decision by the urban planning committee.
The home once belonged to the von Trapps. The family was made famous in the 1965 movie in which Julie Andrews played a nun-turned-nanny who cared for a widower's seven children and fell in love with him during World War II. The film altered some details of the family's history.
Taiwan Leader Urges China To Screen Hit Film
President Ma Ying-jeou says China should not ban a Taiwanese hit film because it could help mainlanders better understand their neighbors on the self-governed island.
In an interview Wednesday with Radio Taiwan International, Ma praises "Cape No. 7" as a film that truly reflects ordinary people's lives. He says he hopes the Chinese will have a chance to view it.
China reportedly has reversed its decision to import the Japan-flavored film - about a Taiwanese rock musician's love for a Japanese woman - for fear it may be offensive to nationalist sentiment on the mainland.
Japan returned Taiwan to Chinese rule in 1945, four years before Taiwan and China split amid civil war.
Shubert Organization Left In Good Hands
The powerful Shubert Organization, Broadway's largest landlord, has looked to two of its longtime employees to run the company as well as its foundation, following the death of its chairman, Gerald Schoenfeld, last week.
Philip J. Smith has been named chairman of the organization, which owns 17 New York theaters. He will also head its multimillion-dollar foundation, which supports nonprofit theater and dance companies across the country.
The announcement was made Tuesday by the Shubert's board of directors, which also named Robert E. Wankel as president and elected him to the board of directors.
For more than a decade, Smith was the organization's president, working closely with Schoenfeld in producing shows and booking the company's many theaters.
Wankel, who has worked for the company for more than 30 years, was its chief financial officer and executive vice president.