REST IN PEACE BERNIE MAC

CHICAGO - Bernie Mac, the actor and comedian who teamed up in the casino heist caper “Ocean’s Eleven” and gained a prestigious Peabody Award for his sitcom “The Bernie Mac Show,” died Saturday at age 50. Read more

Official: Mary Kate Olsen silent on Ledger OD

NEW YORK - NEW YORK (AP) — Federal investigators want to question actress Mary Kate Olsen about how Heath Ledger got two powerful painkillers that contributed to his accidental overdose death, but she wants immunity or she won’t talk, a law enforcement official said Monday.

Olsen’s lawyer has twice refused requests to have her sit down with investigators probing the death of the scene-stealing star of “The Dark Knight” earlier this year in a Manhattan apartment, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation has not been concluded.

The official confirmed a report that Olsen — a close friend of Ledger who learned about the 28-year-old actor’s death in a frantic phone call from a masseuse — wants a promise of immunity before she speaks to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The activity demonstrates that federal authorities are still actively trying to figure out how Ledger got some of the drugs that killed him.

DEA investigators suspect the painkillers oxycodone and hydrocodone found in his system were obtained with phony prescriptions or other illegal sources, the official said. Oxycodone is sold as OxyContin and hydrocodone as Vicodin.

The other drugs that resulted in what the medical examiner called “acute intoxication,” including anti-anxiety and sleeping pills, were prescribed legally by doctors in California and Texas, the official said.

Authorities have obtained a subpoena that could force Olsen to appear before a grand jury if negotiations with her lawyer fail, the official said. Other potential witnesses all have answered questions voluntarily, including doctors, Ledger’s ex-girlfriend Michelle Williams and anyone who was in his apartment around the time of his death, the official added.

The DEA’s New York office declined comment on the stalemate, first reported Monday by the New York Post. There was no immediate response to a message left with a spokeswoman for Olsen.

The masseuse discovered Ledger’s body on Jan. 22 after the actor had completed filming his role as the Joker in the new Batman film.

Police say the masseuse spent nine minutes making three calls to Olsen before dialing 911 for help, then called the “Full House” actress a fourth time after paramedics arrived. At some point during the flurry of calls, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help, police said.

Shortly after the Australian-born actor’s death, Olsen issued a statement that read: “Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss.”

Christina Applegate treated for breast cancer

LOS ANGELES - Christina Applegate is undergoing treatment for breast cancer, but the disease was caught early and the actress is expected to fully recover, her publicist said.

The Emmy winner’s cancer was detected through an MRI ordered by a doctor and is not life-threatening, publicist Ame Van Iden said in a statement Saturday.

Applegate is scheduled to appear on a one-hour television special, “Stand Up To Cancer,” to be aired on ABC, CBS and NBC on Sept. 5 to raise funds for cancer research.

The 36-year-old actress has been nominated for an Emmy and a Golden Globe for the show “Samantha Who?”, in which she plays a woman who wakes from a coma with no memory of who she is.

The show, which debuted last October, marked a return to series television for Applegate, who helped establish the Fox network in 1987 as ditzy teenager Kelly Bundy on “Married … With Children.” The raunchy comedy ran 11 seasons and has been airing in syndication since.

“I’m really grateful that acting is the job that was chosen for me,” Applegate told The Associated Press in April. “I get really lost when I’m not working. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with myself. Thank God for dance class and the New York Times crossword puzzle and ‘American Idol.’ But acting is what I really have to do.”

Applegate won an Emmy as outstanding guest actress in a comedy series in 2003 for her role as one of Jennifer Aniston’s younger sisters in “Friends.” She was nominated for a Tony in 2005 for the Broadway musical “Sweet Charity.”

Applegate began acting in films and television as a child and has appeared in such shows as “Quincy,” “Family Ties,” “21 Jump Street,” “Charles in Charge” and Steven Spielberg’s “Amazing Stories.”

Soon after “Married … With Children,” she starred in “Jesse,” playing a single mother raising a young son. The show lasted two seasons.

Her films include “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” “Wild Bill, “Wonderland” and “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.

Morgan Freeman Seriously Hurt in Crash

Read more

Interview:Seiko From BET’S BALDWIN HILLS

Read more

Hancock The Black SuperHero Selling Wayne Times 100

Will Smith has done it again. Read more

Next Page »