JILL JACKSON’S HOLLYWOOD
By Jill Jackson
HOLLYWOOD … Betcha don’t know that besides being an actor, producer and director, Clint Eastwood plays the piano and the trumpet. He also is a composer and has written the score for many of his films. All this, plus being the mayor of Carmel, Calif., and the father of several. He recently confessed to David Letterman on The Late Show that he is 78 years — young.
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This sounds like fun. John Cusack joins the cast of “Hot Tub Time Machine,” wherein a group of men become frustrated with their adult lives, so they return to the ski lodge where they partied as teenagers. Here they are transported back to 1987. Wouldn’t it be great if in real life we could be transported back to when we had the best of times!
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Aside to Beatrice R. of Detroit: No, Brad and Angelina are NOT the first married couple to be Oscar nominated in the same year. There were several others. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, Sir Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh, Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner … and I’m certain there are more that I can’t pull up at the moment.
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Amazing what a trip to a plastic surgeon can do. Come September, Barbara Walters will be 80. She recently appeared on The Late Show looking very young and very beautiful. Check old pictures, and the answer is “Hello, Doc.” The same could be said for Martha Stewart. Me, I’m too chicken when it comes to knives and doctors, so I’ll just take what the years dish out.
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And how’s this for a plot? It’s titled “Within,” and it’s about a couple whose marriage is threatened when the person hired to help with their baby becomes obsessed with wanting the baby and the husband for herself. As yet there is no cast announcement, but you can bet your bottom buck several big names are clamoring for the roles.
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At the moment, things aren’t coming up roses for Bruce Willis. His production company is being sued for $4 million for breach of contract. I don’t know all the details, but it has to do with a film titled “Three Stories About Joan,” in which he was supposed to star and direct. Willis “took a powder,” in straight talk meaning walked out on the project. More later.
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It’s a whole different Paris. Miss Hilton has been making the rounds of the talk shows looking very businesslike, very ladylike, beautifully dressed and coiffed, and MOST impressive. I sincerely hope that by the time you read this, things will not have changed. … And Rosie O’Donnell seems a bit more subdued these days, which is always a plus.
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BITS ’N’ PIECES: While looking for the right role to come along, Candy Bergen is writing another book. … Angela Bassett is making her directorial debut helming “United States,” a feature film based on the book with the same title. Her production company also will produce the flick. … Felicity Huffman really made the rounds promoting her film “Phoebe in Wonderland” — talk shows, screenings, parties, etc., etc. … Have you noticed when our new president signs something, it’s with his left hand? Obviously a “southpaw,” and so are Julia Roberts, Kim Novak, Goldie Hawn, Olivia de Havilland and Joanne Woodward.
© 2009 King Features Synd., Inc.