Bebe Neuwirth ( Lilith on Cheers and Frasier ), behind me at the checkout line of my neighborhood Food Emporium. She was seemingly enthralled by the cover of a magazine on the checkout rack, a tabloid perhaps. Among her food items: a box of Ritz crackers and Oreos. Bebe is currently starring in the revival of Chicago on Broadway.

Kitty Carlisle Hart, legendary actress, arts advocate and socialite, whose career spanned Broadway, opera, television and film, passed away today at the age of 96.

Christopher Hart said his mother “passed away peacefully” at home. “She had such a wonderful life, and a great long run, it was a blessing.”

An advocate for the arts, Hart served 20 years on the New York State Council on the Arts and in 1991 was awarded the prestigious National Medal of Arts from the first President Bush.

Hart was born September 3rd, 1910 in New Orleans, Louisiana and moved to New York in 1932 after being educated abroad.

She began her acting career on Broadway and her film roles include the classic Marx Brothers movie “A Night at the Opera,” “She Loves Me Not” and “Here Is My Heart,” opposite Bing Crosby, Woody Allen’s “Radio Days” and “Six Degrees of Separation.”

In 1967 she made her operatic debut at the Metropolitan Opera in “Die Fledermaus,” and created the role of Lucretia in the American premiere of Benjamin Britten’s “Rape of Lucretia.”

From 1956 to 1967, she appeared on the classic CBS prime-time game show “To Tell the Truth”. The popular show also had runs, in daytime and in syndicated versions.

Hart’s late husband was Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Moss Hart, who wrote “You Can’t Take It With You” and “The Man Who Came to Dinner” with George S. Kaufman and won a Tony for directing “My Fair Lady” on Broadway.

Source: Variety

Christina Ricci will be joining Emile Hirsch in the Wachowski brothers’ live-action adaptation of the 1960s cartoon “Speed Racer”. Ricci will play Trixie to Emile’s Speed, with John Goodman and Susan Sarandon playing Speed’s parents.

In these clips Ricci and Hirsch discuss the upcoming production, which is scheduled for a May 9, 2008 release.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

I’ll take The #2 Combination Platter

A 440 pound Nile crocodile at the Shaoshan Zoo in Taiwan bit off a veterinarian’s arm when the vet tried to retrieve a tranquiliser dart from the reptile’s lair. The croc complained he was hungry one hour later.
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

Hello Scary

In somewhat related news, Hello Kitty Air comes complete with Hello Kitty meals and just about Hello Kitty everything! Pilots are forced to wear bulky Hello Kitty costumes, making Hello Kitty Air the most crash prone airline in history.
Sources: Eva Air, Rojaks

And finally…

Do They Make Manolos In My Size?

If you think tourists on public beaches are annoying now, just wait a few million years. A worker at the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board was given a shark as a dinner gift by a fellow fisherman. It wasn’t until the worker was getting ready to prepare the shark for her family that she noticed it had two legs complete with webbed feet.

The worker said “she dared not cook the fish after consulting her husband,” who told her that according to Chinese belief “eating fish with unusual features could bring disaster or ill luck.” Words to live by.

You have to admire Chinese philosophy, it’s so dead-on insightful -as if the two legs sticking out of the shark wouldn’t make anyone think twice.
Source: The Star Online

Drew Barrymore will be joining Queen Latifah and Molly Sims as the newest face of CoverGirl cosmetics. The deal will include Barrymore co-directing her own commercial which will debut January of 2008.

“To be chosen not only as the newest face of CoverGirl, but also as a co-creative director of my first TV commercial is truly amazing,” Barrymore said.

That’s most excellent Drew, but now can we please move on to filming that Grey Gardens movie which has been stuck in development hell forever?

Entertainment Tonight

Later that night the McDougals were enjoying their cocktail hour, which generally lasted from 5pm to last man standing…

-Sex and the City, Season 3, Episode 47: “What Goes Around Comes Around.”

Here’s a first look at Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway in the film version of the classic TV show Get Smart. Carell stars as secret agent Maxwell Smart with Hathaway as his partner, Agent 99. The cast also includes Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Terence Stamp, Academy Award winner Alan Arkin and Borat’s sidekick Ken Davitian.

Filming began March 21, 2007 in Los Angeles, and will continue with locations in Washington, D.C. and Montreal. Get Smart is slated to open in theaters June 20, 2008.

Source: Coming Soon

Rosario Dawson and Rose mcGowan get nekkid for the cover of Rolling Stone to promote their upcoming Tarantino flick Grindhouse.

Don’t Cry For Me H&M

Vandals in Shoreditch, London defaced a 250 foot tall advertisement for clothing store H&M featuring an image of Madonna promoting her new line of sportswear designed exclusively for the international fashion chain. The culprits climbed a scaffolding to which the banner was attached, cut a hole in one of the 48-year-old pop icon’s eyes and poured green paint through it - now we know what Guy Richie sees when he wakes up in the morning.

No one has taken responsibility for the work of art, but Madonna was recently criticized by anti-fur protesters for wearing a coat made of chinchilla skins. Despite a huge advertising campaign, sales of the Material Girl’s new clothing line are said to be below expectations. The sabotaged poster will be replaced at the cost of $12,000, but something tells me they could make their money back several times over ( and cover their losses for Madonna’s failed fashion venture ) if they sell that thing on eBay.

Source: This Is London

Halle-Wood

Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry was awarded her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame yesterday morning. Upon receiving the star, Halle addressed the audience with the following statement:

“I cannot tell you how good it feels inside me right now. I wish you all could be inside me right now to know how it feels.”

Following the ceremonies, hundreds of enthusiastic spectators including presenter Samuel L. Jackson, took Berry up on her offer. Hurray for Hollywood.

Source: World of Wonder