Deanna Durbin, Hollywood film star, dies at 91

Deanna Durbin, Hollywood film star, dies at 91

Deanna Durbin, one of Hollywood's biggest box-office stars in the 1930s and early '40s, has died aged 91.

Her son, Peter H David, made the announcement in a newsletter to her fans, saying she died "a few days ago".

In 1947 she was the highest-paid star in the United States. But she retired from the business the following year when she was just 27.

Durbin made her film debut in the 1936 MGM short Every Sunday, in which she appeared alongside Judy Garland.

Born Edna Mae Durbin in Winnipeg, Canada in 1921, Durbin was nurtured and promoted by producer Joe Pasternak.

Durbin starred in the Oscar-nominated Mad About Music which opened in 1938

Her first movie for the Universal studios, Three Smart Girls, was nominated for the best picture Oscar in 1937.

Durbin auditioned for the part of Snow White in 1936. But Walt Disney turned her down, saying her 15-year-old voice was too mature for the part.

In 1939, Durbin and fellow teen star Mickey Rooney were presented with Juvenile Academy Awards for their "significant contribution in bringing to the screen the spirit and personification of youth."

The success of her films, which reportedly saved Universal from bankruptcy in the late 1930s, was estimated to account for 17% of the studio's revenue during the decade.

In 1946 Durbin's salary of $323,477 made her the second highest-paid woman in America, just behind Bette Davis.

Winston Churchill watched her films before they were released to the general public in the UK, while Anne Frank hung a picture of Durbin on the wall of the attic in which she and her family hid from the Nazis.

In 1949, after 21 films and at the height of her worldwide fame, Durbin quit the movie business and retired to a village in France.

She shunned the spotlight with her third husband, the film director Charles David, who died in 1999.

Durbin rarely gave interviews but did send reporters a letter in 1958 in which she said she was "never happy making pictures".

"The character I was forced into had little or nothing in common with myself - or with other youth of my generation, for that matter."

News Source : www.bbc.co.uk

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HBO renews "Veep" for a third season

HBO renews "Veep" for a third season

"Veep" is getting another term in office.

HBO has renewed the political comedy starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus for a 10-episode third season, which will air next year, according to Deadline.

Joe Biden lunches with "Veep" star Julia Louis-Dreyfus
The pickup comes as the show hit a season-high in total viewers, drawing in 1.3 million watchers for last Sunday's episode. That's up from the 1.1 million viewers that tuned in on April 21 and the 1.2 million that watched the season premiere on April 14.

"Veep" stars Louis-Dreyfus as Vice President Selina Meyer, a role that earned her an Emmy Award last year. The cast also includes Tony Hale, Anna Chlumsky, Reid Scott, Matt Walsh, Timothy Simons and Sufe Bradshaw.


News Source : www.cbsnews.com

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Detective Says Michael Jackson's Personal Doctor Would 'Do Whatever He Needed to Get Paid'

Detective Says Michael Jackson's Personal
Doctor Would 'Do Whatever He Needed to Get Paid'

Los Angeles police detective Orlando Martinez testified in Michael Jackson's wrongful death trial on Wednesday, May 1. Martinez told the jury that Conrad Murray, the cardiologist who is convicted of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death, was "in desperate financial straits" when serving as the pop star's personal doctor.

Martinez, who investigated Jackson's death, said Murray had unpaid student loans, credit card bills, home loans, and child support obligations which made a total of nearly $1 million. Martinez revealed that Murray had eight children whom he had to support, and without the big payday from being Jackson's doctor, the cardiologist would be having bigger financial trouble.

"Focusing on the financial aspect may have been important for Dr. Murray's willingness to disregard his Hippocratic Oath for financial gain," Martinez testified, and said that in order to get the $150,000 a month, Murray might "break the rules, bend the rules, to do whatever he needed to do to get paid."

In the trial, Martinez also revealed Murray phoned his girlfriend, Nicole Alvarez, when the doctor was in the ambulance that carried Jackson from the singer's house to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He later explained to jury that he interviewed Alvarez and found something suspicious when searching at her house.

"I found one piece of paper with Dr. Murray's name -that had fallen behind the door of a cabinet- in the entire apartment [Murray had] been staying at at least two months," Martinez said. "He was living there, and none of his stuff was there." Martinez assumed that Murray asked Alvarez to cover his tracks.

Jackson's mother, Katherine Jackson, filed the wrongful death suit against AEG Live. She accused AEG Live, the promoters behind Jackson's "This Is It" gigs, of ignoring her son's life-threatening health concerns and for not properly investigating Murray, who was responsible for administering the dose of anaesthetic propofol which killed the "Thriller" singer.

News Source : www.aceshowbiz.com

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