Hot News : Who can buy photographs of Marilyn Monroe for $150K?

Hot News : Who can buy photographs of Marilyn Monroe for $150K?

Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson, June 1, 1926 – August 5, 1962; baptized Norma Jeane Baker) was an American actress, singer, model and film producer.
After spending much of her childhood in foster homes, Monroe began a career as a model, which led to a film contract in 1946. Her early roles were minor, but her performances in The Asphalt Jungle and All About Eve (both 1950) were well received, and as her career progressed she became known as a sex symbol. She was praised for her comedic ability in such films as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire and The Seven Year Itch, and became one of Hollywood's most popular performers.
The typecasting of Monroe's "dumb blonde" persona limited her career prospects, and she broadened her range. Her marriage to baseball player Joe DiMaggio failed. While married to playwright Arthur Miller, she studied at the Actors Studio and formed Marilyn Monroe Productions. Her dramatic performance in William Inge's Bus Stop was hailed by critics, and she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in Some Like it Hot.
The final years of Monroe's life were marked by illness, personal problems and a reputation for being unreliable and difficult to work with. The circumstances of her death, from an overdose of barbiturates, have been the subject of conjecture. Though officially classified as a "probable suicide", the possibility of an accidental overdose has not been ruled out, while conspiracy theorists argue that she was murdered.
In 1999, Monroe was ranked as the sixth greatest female star of all time by the American Film Institute.

A collection of photographs of Marilyn Monroe taken for Vogue magazine the year she died has been auctioned in New York for nearly $150,000.
A spokeswoman for Christie's auction house says the 36 photos taken by Bert Stern sold for $146,500 on Tuesday. The pre-sale estimate was $100,000 to $150,000.
Christie's says the photos from a 1962 shoot were the last professional images taken of Monroe before she died that year of a drug overdose. They ran in Vogue instead as a memorial.
They're among more than 100 Monroe images being offered for sale at Christie's. The sale continues Wednesday.
Also at Christie's Tuesday, four Helmut Newton photographs, titled "They're Coming, Paris (Naked and Dressed)," sold for $662,500.
The buyers were anonymous.

Marilyn Monroe-Death and aftermath

On August 5, 1962, LAPD police sergeant Jack Clemmons received a call at 4:25AM from Dr. Hyman Engelberg proclaiming that Monroe was dead at her home in Brentwood, Los Angeles, California. Sergeant Clemmons was the first police officer to arrive at the death scene. Many questions remain unanswered about the circumstances of her death and the timeline after Monroe's body was found.
The official cause of Monroe's death was classified by Dr. Thomas Noguchi of the Los Angeles County Coroners office as "acute barbiturate poisoning", which he recorded as a "probable suicide". Eight milligram percent of chloral hydrate and 4.5 milligram percent of Nembutal were found in her system after the autopsy.Her death was classified as "probable suicide", but because of a lack of evidence, investigators could not classify her death as suicide or homicide. Also, some conspiracy theories involve John and Robert Kennedy with her death, while other theories suggest CIA or mafia complicity. As a side note, toxicology tests revealed that Monroe also had a slight iron deficiency in her blood.
On August 8, 1962, Monroe was interred in a crypt at Corridor of Memories, #24, at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Lee Strasberg delivered the eulogy.

Hot News : Judge Jails Man Who Offered Winehouse Drugs?

Hot News : Judge Jails Man Who Offered Winehouse Drugs

A judge on Friday jailed a man who sold a newspaper footage that appeared to show Amy Winehouse taking drugs.

Johnny Blagrove and his girlfriend Cara Burton admitted offering to supply drugs, including cocaine and ecstasy, to the singer and other celebrities.

Judge Tudor Owen ordered Blagrove, 34, jailed for two years. Burton, 22, received two years' community service.

Amy Jade Winehouse (born 14 September 1983) is an English singer-songwriter, known for her eclectic mix of various musical genres including soul, jazz, rock & roll and R&B. Winehouse is best known for her soulful, powerful contralto vocals.

Winehouse's 2003 debut album Frank did well, both commercially and critically, in her native Britain. It was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Her 2006 follow-up album Back to Black led to six Grammy Award nominations and five wins, tying the record for the most wins by a female artist in a single night, and made Winehouse the first British singer to win five Grammys, including three of the "Big Four": Best New Artist, Record of the Year and Song of the Year. On 14 February 2007, she won a BRIT Award for Best British Female Artist; she had also been nominated for Best British Album. She has won the Ivor Novello Award three times, one in 2004 for Best Contemporary Song (musically and lyrically) for "Stronger Than Me", one in 2007 for Best Contemporary Song for "Rehab", and one in 2008 for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Love Is a Losing Game", among other prestigious distinctions.

Prosecutors say the pair covertly filmed Winehouse at a party and sold the footage to The Sun newspaper for 50,000 pounds ($75,000). In January the paper published the images, which appeared to show the singer smoking crack cocaine and snorting a substance from a card.

Detectives decided there was not enough evidence to charge Winehouse because it could not be proved what the substances were. But they charged the couple with offering to supply drugs.

Police who raided Blagrove and Burton's home found a list of celebrities they planned to film taking drugs, including Winehouse. The judge said there was no evidence they actually sold the singer drugs — a fact that saved them from longer sentences.

"Notwithstanding what is clearly visible in the video, there is no evidence of drugs being supplied or even used," he said.

Hot News :Dakota Culkin has died after being hit by a car in Los Angeles

Hot News : Dakota Culkin has died after being hit by a car in Los Angeles

The sister of former child actor Macaulay Culkin has died after being hit by a car in Los Angeles.

According to police, Dakota Culkin was struck by a car after she stepped off the curb while walking on the west side of Los Angeles on Tuesday night.

Dakota Culkin, 29, died from head injuries after she stepped into the path of a car on Tuesday.

Authorities said the driver stopped and tried to help her before was taken to UCLA hospital where she died yesterday of massive head injuries. She died a day later.

A spokeswoman for Macaulay Culkin, 28, said it was a “terrible tragic accident”.

The actor, who became one of the most recognisable child stars of all time after starring in the 1990 comedy Home Alone, has one other sister and four brothers – one of whom, Keiran, is also an actor.

The seven children were the subject of a highly-publicised custody battle in 1995 when their parents Patricia Brentrup and Christopher Culkin, who managed his son’s film career, broke up.

Culkin fell out with his father after making a Home Alone sequel and box office hits My Girl and Richie Rich during the Nineties.

At 14, he took a hiatus from acting and later said his father had driven him to make films that he didn't want to. At one point, the actor complained that he had made 14 movies in six years but had no access to his pay.

In an interview with The Times in 2003, he recalled the moment when he quit: “I told everyone, my representatives, my family, my friends: ‘I’m not doing this ever again. I hope you’ve all got your money, because it’s over!’"

In 2003, after a brief teenage marriage to actress Rachel Miner, he made a quiet comeback in the low-budget film Party Monster.

LAPD tells "Extra" the driver was not under the influence, stopped to aid Dakota, and is not being charged.

Macaulay's rep has released an official statement: "We can officially confirm that the victim is Dakota Culkin. This is a terrible tragic accident. We have no further comment at this time."

Dakota Culkin was the second eldest of the Culkin clan of seven.

Johnson died Friday at a senior-citizens home in Nyack, N.Y??

Actor Van Johnson, a Hollywood star during the 1940s and 1950s who performed alongside Humphrey Bogart in "The Caine Mutiny," died on Friday aged 92.

Johnson was born in Newport, Rhode Island; the son of Loretta (née Snyder), a homemaker, and Charles E. Johnson, a plumber and later real-estate salesman. His father was an immigrant from Sweden, and his mother had German-American Pennsylvania Dutch ethnicity. His mother, an alcoholic, left the family when her son was a child.

Johnson died at Tappan Zee Manor, an assisted living community in Nyack, New York, said a spokeswoman for the facility.

Johnson was ineligible to serve in World War Two because doctors had put a metal plate in his head after he was injured in a serious car accident. Instead, he became America's war film hero, starring in films including "A Guy Named Joe" and "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo."

According to a biography of Johnson by Ronald Davis, the actor became a heartthrob through his perennial leading man roles opposite actresses such as June Allyson, Esther Williams, Judy Garland and Janet Leigh.

Born in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1916, Johnson was also a Broadway star. In 1976 he was nominated for an Emmy for his role in television mini-series "Rich Man, Poor Man."

Johnson married Eve Lynn Wynn (née Abbott) on January 25, 1947, the day her divorce from actor Keenan Wynn was finalized. In his 2005 biography of Louis B. Mayer, Lion of Hollywood, Scott Eyman quotes her as saying, "Ours was a real marriage. I was in love with Van, but I wouldn't have married him if I'd known he was a homosexual." According to stepson Ned Wynn, the Johnsons separated in 1961, for that reason.Eve Johnson died in 2004 at the age of 90.

He was estranged from their daughter, Schuyler, born in 1948.

His trademark was wearing red socks.

Hot News : Tara Reid is in rehab??

Tara Reid is in rehab, her rep tells PEOPLE exclusively.

Tara Reid (born November 8, 1975) is a U.S. actress. She is known for her roles in the films The Big Lebowski (1998), Urban Legend (1998), American Pie (1999), American Pie 2 (2001), National Lampoon's Van Wilder (2002), My Boss's Daughter (2003), and Alone in the Dark (2005).

Reid began her career at the age of nine years in 1985 on the game show Child's Play. As a adult she had roles in a number of commercials for McDonald's, Crayola, and Jell-O. She grew up in New York City suburbs, and attended the Professional Children's School along with such celebrities as Christina Ricci, Ben Taylor, Jerry O'Connell, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Macaulay Culkin.^[2] Although her break-through role was in American Pie in 1999, followers of the 1998 cult film The Big Lebowski already knew her as Bunny Lebowski. Reid spent the late 1990s appearing more often on the cover of tabloid magazines than on screen. Her extroverted social life soon gave her a reputation as a party girl; in fact, U.S. magazine In Touch Weekly, recently voted Reid "top party animal". She played that image with her role on the N.B.C. comedy-drama Scrubs as Danni Sullivan, main character J.D.'s promiscuous drinking and smoking girlfriend.

During summer 2005, she was busy filming Incubus in Romania at an assortment of clubs with Bucharest's local socialites. Taradise, her half-hour television show on the E! network, premiered in September 2005; it was canceled the following month. The show was an up-dated incarnation of E!'s well-known series Wild On, in which a celebrity host traveled to exotic places to party. In January 2007, Reid filmed a commercial with Daniel Conn for Dodo, an Australian budget telephone and Internet provider. Reid appeared in the September 2007 issue of FHM magazine.

A publicist says Tara Reid has checked herself into AA. Jack Ketsoyan said Friday that the "American Pie" star went to the Promises Treatment Center. He did not specify what she was being treated for or when she entered the facility.

"Tara Reid has checked herself into Promises Treatment Center. We appreciate your respect to her and her family's privacy at this time," the actress's rep Jack Ketsoyan tells PEOPLE.

The rep would not reveal what Reid, 33, is being treated for.

A friend of the troubled actress says she headed to the treatment facility on Tuesday.

"Her friends and family are supportive of her decision," says the friend. "She checked in herself – it was her decision."

It is unclear if Reid, who launched the fashion line Mantra in September, will spend the holidays at Promises.

In an interview in October, Reid told PEOPLE she was a "social drinker" who enjoyed an occasional glass of wine with friends.

Asked if she was ever tempted to fall back into old habits, the actress said: "No. I've done it. Trust me. I've done enough for a lifetime of everything. I've had a great time. I partied. I had fun. I ate and drank whatever. I dated a million guys, but I'm so happy with where I'm at right now. I don't need to do anything anymore."

Hot News : Rapper DMX was arrested by federal authorities!

Rapper DMX is back behind bars again in Miami after he was arrested by federal authorities for allegedly skipping out on a court appearance.

Earl Simmons (born December 18, 1970), better known by his stage name DMX, is an American rapper and actor who rose to fame in the late 1990s. His stage name stands for Dark Man X, the name he used when he first started rapping in 1990. To date, his best-selling album was his 1999 album ...And Then There Was X, which featured the hit single "Party Up (Up in Here)". As an actor, he also starred in the films Belly, Exit Wounds, Cradle 2 The Grave, and Last Hour, and his own reality television series Soul of a Man on the American cable television network BET. In 2002, DMX wrote an autobiographical book titled E.A.R.L.: The Autobiography of DMX. He also has an extensive arrest record

The 37-year-old, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was arrested Tuesday afternoon on a warrant issued by a Phoenix judge after he wasn't in court Friday. Attorney Charles Kozelka says the entertainer been in and out of rehab in Florida for a couple of weeks.

DMX, whose real name is Earl Simmons, was being held at the Miami-Dade County jail. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of drug possession, identity theft and animal cruelty in Arizona.

DMX will be returned to Phoenix, where bond is set at $120,000.

Janet Jackson CONFIRMED not PREGNANT - Jermaine Dupri

Janet Jackson CONFIRMED not PREGNANT - Jermaine Dupri

Call off the bump watch: Janet Jackson, 42, is not pregnant.

Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American recording artist and entertainer. Born in Gary, Indiana and raised in Encino, Los Angeles, California, she is the youngest child of the Jackson family of musicians. She first performed on stage with her family beginning at the age of seven, and later started her career as an actress with the variety television series The Jacksons in 1976. She went on to star in other television shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including Good Times and Diff'rent Strokes.

Reports picked up in the New York Daily News and on PerezHilton.com are not true, Jackson's boyfriend, Jermaine Dupri, 36, tells Usmagazine.com exclusively.

"Does Perez know that lying destroys the credibility of a blogger?" Dupri quipped to Us on Sunday.

Rumors began to swirl after Jackson canceled a string of tour dates in October due to a mystery illness.

See stars who really are expecting.

Still, that doesn't mean Jackson and Dupri aren't excited about starting a family in the future.

Id love to have children, the singer has told Us. Its just up to Jermaine, what he wants to do.

Jackson also spoke about motherhood in an interview with Sister 2 Sister magazine.

"Everyone tells me that there will never be a good time, that I will always be busy, but I just think when the stars are aligned it will happen," she revealed.

Happy Halloween!! but.......

Halloween (or Hallowe’en) is a holiday celebrated on October 31. Halloween activities include trick-or-treating, ghost tours, bonfires, costume parties, visiting haunted attractions, carving jack-o'-lanterns, reading scary stories, and watching horror movies. Irish and Scottish immigrants carried versions of the tradition to North America in the nineteenth century. Other western countries embraced the holiday in the late twentieth century. Halloween is celebrated in several countries of the Western world, most commonly in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Puerto Rico, Japan, Australia, the United Kingdom, and at times in parts of New Zealand.

A 12-year-old boy has been shot and killed while celebrating Halloween in America.

The youngster was trick-or-treating with his family when he was gunned down in South Carolina.
They had approached a home at about 8.30pm local time and thought they heard fireworks, Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson said.But a man was firing from inside the property and hit the boy.The youth's father and brother were also wounded by the gunfire.They were taken to hospital but their injuries were not life-threatening.A suspect has been taken into custody.Mrs Patterson has not released the man's name or the victim's details.

The police chief said she was in disbelief and did not know why the shooting occurred.Elsewhere, in Tijuana, authorities banned Halloween masks on teenagers and adults amid rumours of possible attacks in a city plagued by drug violence.Police spokesman Juan Mora said that older people wearing masks in public would be detained and could be fined up to 1,000 pesos ($79 or almost £50).Assailants in Tijuana on the Mexico-US border and close to San Diego, California, often wear ski and other masks to commit crimes. More than 500 people have been killed in the city year.Officials blame the violence on cartels fighting over lucrative smuggling routes.

Breaking News : A handgun found near the Julian King body??

Breaking News : A handgun found near the Julian King body??

Julian King comes across as an adored little boy, hamming it up, on the MySpace pages of his mother, Julia Hudson.A smiling 7-year-old who was big for his age—standing about 5 feet tall and weighing 135 pounds. Enthusiastic about Blue, the dog from Blue's Clues. At Disney World, tenderly hugging Winnie the Pooh.Mostly, what comes across in the photographs is innocence.Round-cheeked and good-natured, Julian preferred reading and hanging out with his grandmother to playing outside, Julia Hudson said in making a plea for the return of the boy, who went by the names "Juicebox" and "Dr. King." She called him a "sensitive child" who "doesn't like to get hollered at."

A handgun found near the body of Jennifer Hudson's nephew is the same one used in the killings of the Oscar winner's family, according to a report. On Wednesday, officers found a .45-caliber handgun among thick weeds in an alley about a block from where 7-year-old Julian King was discovered shot to death inside a Chevy Suburban. The gun was sent to the Illinois State Police crime lab for testing. Unfired bullets in the gun matched shell casings recovered at the house where Hudson's mother Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother Jason Hudson, 29, were discovered murdered, sources tell the Chicago Tribune.King was taken from the home and his body was discovered three days later in a neighborhood in another part of town, also shot with a .45, according to the paper. Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond could not be reached for comment Friday. The estranged husband of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson, is being held as a "person of interest" in the case. William Balfour, 27, is currently being held on an alleged parole violation stemming from his 1999 conviction on attempted murder and carjacking.

Breaking News : Body found in SUV is Hudson nephew??

Breaking News : Body found in SUV is Hudson nephew??

Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981)is an American actress, singer and model. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She went on to star in the 2006 motion picture Dreamgirls for which she has won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and a SAG Award

A top FBI official said Monday that a body found in an SUV is believed to be that of Jennifer Hudson's missing 7-year-old nephew, the focus of a desperate search since the Oscar winner's mother and brother were found shot to death in their home three days earlier.

While the body has not been positively identified, FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole said authorities believe it to be that of Julian King, who also lived in the home.

Chicago police said the body of a black male child was found shortly after 7 a.m. in the rear seat of an SUV parked in a neighborhood of brownstone homes and apartment buildings about 10 miles from the family's home. An autopsy was planned for Tuesday.

The vehicle matched the one sought in an Amber Alert issued after Hudson's mother and brother were found slain Friday, police Cmdr. Wayne Gulliford said. The Amber Alert was canceled Monday.

In Washington, Pistole said at a news conference on child exploitation that authorities found a body "who we believe to be the missing victim in Chicago, the nephew of Jennifer Hudson. We are working with Chicago police to get a positive identification of the victim."

Hudson had offered $100,000 Sunday for information leading to Julian's safe return. He is the son of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson. Telephone and e-mail messages left Monday for Hudson's publicist, who had been releasing statements on behalf of the family, were not answered.

"We're just sad. We're going through this stage where we're just sad and in shock," Hudson's aunt, Dorothy Hudson, said Monday. Dorothy Hudson and her husband, John, own a Chicago funeral home that plans to handle arrangements for the family.

Chicago police have characterized the killings as "domestic related" and have been questioning William Balfour, who is the estranged husband of Julia Hudson and is being held in state custody on a parole violation. Balfour is not the boy's father and has not been charged in the slayings.

Lynette Louden, 47, said she called police about the SUV across the street from her house after her family's Chihuahua started barking at it early Monday. Some neighbors said they hadn't seen the vehicle before Monday, but Louden said it had been there since at least Saturday.

"I only hoped the body wasn't in there," she said. "When they said that it was, I cried."

Balfour, 27, was taken into custody Friday by Chicago police for questioning in the killings. On Sunday, he was transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections, which declined Monday to discuss his parole violation.

Records from the Corrections Department show Balfour is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Balfour's mother, Michele Balfour, has said Hudson's mother kicked Balfour out of the family home last winter. She denied her son had anything to do with the killings.

Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said Balfour would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where Balfour was being held, and it was unclear whether Balfour had an attorney.

Hudson, who won an Academy Award in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls," was in Chicago during the weekend. The medical examiner's office confirmed Hudson, 27, identified the bodies of her mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and 29-year-old brother, Jason Hudson. The deaths were ruled homicides.

Neighbors and well-wishers brought stuffed animals and other items to a makeshift memorial outside Donerson's two-story white clapboard home as news of Monday's discovery spread.

"Everybody knows Jennifer Hudson, but I would be here even if it was little Suzy on the corner," said Tacara Juarez, 26, who doesn't know the family but lives in the neighborhood.

On Sunday, Hudson appealed to the public for help, offering the reward and asking any information be given to Chicago police.

"Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian," said a statement from her publicist.

Breaking News : Julian King body discovered in Chicago??

Breaking News : Julian King body discovered in Chicago??

On October 24, 2008, Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, and her 29-year-old brother, Jason, were shot dead inside Donerson's home, in Chicago, Illinois. Likely shot before 3 p.m., they were discovered by Jason's cousin.An AMBER Alert was issued for Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, after Hudson's elder sister, Julia, reported him missing.

On October 24, Chicago police arrested a suspect, William Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia, but he was not charged with any crime.Balfour is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. The Illinois Department of Corrections' records reveal one of Balfour's addresses to be the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were murdered.

On October 27, 2008, the body of a young boy was found in a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban parked on a street in Chicago's West Side area. The license plate and the vehicle's description matched that of the AMBER Alert.

Police have discovered the body of a child in Chicago but they have not confirmed if it is the nephew of "Dreamgirls" star Jennifer Hudson, officials said Monday.

The body was discovered on the city's west side, but the victim has not yet been identified, said William Taylor a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's officer.

Local media report that police fear the child could be Hudson's nephew because the body was found in the same white sports utility they were looking for in connection with his disappearance.

Hudson's family had made a desperate plea for the safe return of the seven-year-old boy, Julian King, who vanished after his grandmother and brother were murdered at the family's home on Friday.

"Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian," the family said in a statement on the star's website.

King disappeared from his grandmother's home on Friday, a home he shared with his mother, Julia Hudson (the singer's older sister), his grandmother and uncle.

His grandmother Darnell Donerson, 59, and uncle Jason Hudson, 29, were found by a family member shot dead in the home, according to authorities.

At the weekend, Julia Hudson pleaded for the return of her son.

"Give me my baby back. That's all I ask," a tearful Julia Hudson, 31, told reporters Saturday at a Baptist church on the South Side of Chicago.

"I know he's out there. Put him on the side of the street. Just let him go."

Autopsies showed that the pair died from multiple gunshot wounds, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said Saturday.

Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Hudson identified the bodies of her mother and brother at the morgue shortly after jetting back to her home town from Florida late Friday, the Chicago Sun-Times said.

The actress, whose star turn in "Dreamgirls" earned her an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007, was in Florida promoting her latest movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," when she got word of the tragedy, according to the Chicago Tribune.

On her MySpace web page the family pleaded for help in finding Julian King and posted pictures of the boy.

"Once again thank you all for being there for us through this tough time," the message said.

Chicago police issued an Amber Alert, or child abduction bulletin, for King on Friday. On Saturday, authorities called in the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help with the search in case the boy had been taken over state lines.

"We're doing that as a precautionary measure," Chicago Police superintendent Jody Weis told CNN. Weis said the slayings and the child's disappearance appeared to be a domestic matter.

The police initially identified William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson and step-father of Julian King, as a suspect in the case.

The 27-year-old baker has convictions for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections. He was released from prison in May 2006 and is still on probation.

Chicago police had taken him into custody by late Friday for questioning, but at some point on the weekend he stopped cooperating with authorities and was transferred to an undisclosed state facility for violating the conditions of his parole for a 1999 conviction for attempted murder, the Tribune reported.

It said police declined to name Balfour as a suspect, saying they were only interviewing him and that he has not been charged with the murders.

Balfour had split up with Julia Hudson and moved out of the home she shared with her family, friends and neighbors said.

Jennifer Hudson has shunned the spotlight since returning to the Windy City. The 27-year-old was riding high with a new movie and a number one hit on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop charts from her recently released self-titled debut album, until the family tragedy upended her life.

Breaking News : Jennifer Hudson's nephew Julian King found dead ??

Breaking News : Jennifer Hudson's nephew Julian King found dead ??

On October 24, 2008, Hudson's 57-year-old mother, Darnell Donerson, and her 29-year-old brother, Jason, were shot dead inside Donerson's home, in Chicago, Illinois. Likely shot before 3 p.m., they were discovered by Jason's cousin.An AMBER Alert was issued for Hudson's 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, after Hudson's elder sister, Julia, reported him missing.

On October 24, Chicago police arrested a suspect, William Balfour, 27, the estranged husband of Hudson's sister Julia, but he was not charged with any crime.Balfour is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen vehicle. The Illinois Department of Corrections' records reveal one of Balfour's addresses to be the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were murdered.

On October 27, 2008, the body of a young boy was found in a 1994 Chevrolet Suburban parked on a street in Chicago's West Side area. The license plate and the vehicle's description matched that of the AMBER Alert.The FBI later confirmed the body was of Julian King.

Police searching for actress Jennifer Hudson’s missing seven-year-old nephew say they have found the body of a young black boy in a sports utility vehicle.

The missing child, Julian King, has not been seen since Friday, when Hudson’s mother and brother were found shot to death.

The bodies of Julian’s grandmother, 57-year-old Darnell Donerson, and his uncle Jason Hudson, 29, were discovered lying in the home they shared on the city’s South Side. Police issued an Amber Alert search notice for Julian and were looking for a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban.

Hudson offered a $100,000 reward for her nephew’s safe return.

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s office and Chicago Police Department sent officials to the scene of a white SUV on the city’s West Side early today. There was no confirmation of the identity of the body, and police have so far refused to comment.

Television footage showed police vehicles escorting a flatbed tow truck as it took the SUV away from the scene. Police later said that the number on the license plate on the vehicle matched the number listed in their earlier alert.

Julian is the son of Jennifer Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson. The police initially identified William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson and stepfather of Julian King, as a suspect in the case. The 27-year-old baker has convictions for attempted murder, carjacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle, according to the Illinois Department of Corrections.

He was released from prison in May 2006 and is still on probation. He was not living with his estranged wife at the time of the shooting. The couple had recently fought because Mr Balfour had sold Ms Hudson’s car without her permission, according to local media reports.

On Friday, Chicago police had taken Mr Balfour into custody for questioning over the deaths but the missing boy was not with him.

“We are doing that as a precautionary measure,” Superintendent Jody Weis, of the Chicago police, said in a television interview.

He added that the murders and the child’s disappearance seemed to be part of a domestic dispute. “From what we know right now, it appears to be some type of domestic situation but that is very preliminary. We just have to follow the evidence.”

Yesterday, Mr Balfour was transferred to the Illinois Department of Corrections “based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation.”

Januari Smith, a Corrections spokeswoman, said that he would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where he was being held.

Meanwhile, Mr Balfour’s mother protested her son’s innocence. “This is not my son that did this,” a distraught Michele Balfour said. “You cannot say my child did this. He loved Julia. He loved Julia’s mother.”

Julia Hudson, who drives a school bus for a living, made no mention of her estranged husband on Saturday as she addressed the world’s media at Pleasant Gift Mission Baptist Church in the Kenwood district of Chicago. Flanked by Greg King, 29, the father of the missing boy, she pleaded over and over again for her son to be brought back home.

She described the child as a sensitive boy who preferred reading a book or doing some “schooling” to playing outdoors, and said that her Oscar-winning sister had been at her side since flying back to Chicago. “She flew in right away and we have been together ever since,” Ms Hudson said, adding: “We are still in a state of shock. It’s hard. We are together. We sit and we pray. Nothing else to do but pray.”

Ms Hudson, 27, had reportedly encouraged her mother to leave Englewood, the gritty South Side neighbourhood where she grew up, and where her mother had lived for two decades, but her mother had steadfastly refused.

The actress, who crashed out of the US reality series American Idol but went on to win an Oscar for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in Dreamgirls, was in Chicago with her family during the weekend, her sister said. It was she who identified the bodies of her mother and brother.

Last night, Hudson's publicist Lisa Kasteler said: “Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian.”

Records from the Corrections Department show that Mr Balfour is on parole after spending nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, carjacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Mr Balfour, 27, has not been charged over the killings. He is not the boy’s father.

Police said they did not have a motive for the double murder but called the case “domestic related”.

Januari Smith, a Corrections spokeswoman, said that Balfour would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where he was being held.

“We are doing that as a precautionary measure,” Superintendent Jody Weis, of the Chicago police, said in a television interview.

He added that the murders and the child’s disappearance seemed to be part of a domestic dispute. “From what we know right now, it appears to be some type of domestic situation but that is very preliminary. We just have to follow the evidence.”

Breaking News : DREAMGIRLS AUDITIONS POSTPONED - Respect for the film's star JENNIFER HUDSON

In November 2005, Hudson was cast in the prized role of, "Effie White," the role originally created in a legendary Broadway performance by Jennifer Holliday, for the film adaptation of the musical Dreamgirls, which also starred Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles and Eddie Murphy. This role marked Hudson's debut screen performance. She won the role over hundreds of professional singers and actresses, including Raven-Symoné and American Idol winner Fantasia Barrino.^[19] Hudson said in an interview on The View that Fantasia called her and said: "Girl, you stole my part."Filming of Dreamgirls began on January 9, 2006, and the film went into limited release on December 25, 2006, and national release on January 12, 2007.

Hudson has won particular praise for her show-stopping onscreen rendition of the hit song, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", the signature song of the role, which had earlier been recorded, and had already reached the status of musical standard, because of the definitive performance of Jennifer Holliday. The New York Observer described Hudson's performance of the song as, "five mellifluous, molto vibrato minutes that have suddenly catapulted Ms. Hudson... into the position of front-runner for the best supporting actress Oscar."Newsweek said that when moviegoers hear Hudson sing the song, she, "is going to raise goose bumps across the land." Variety wrote that Hudson's performance, "calls to mind debuts like Barbra Streisand in Funny Girl or Bette Midler in The Rose, with a voice like the young Aretha."

Auditions for the lead roles in a new stage version of hit musical DREAMGIRLS have been put on hold out of respect for the film's star JENNIFER HUDSON, after her mother, brother and nephew were murdered.
Open castings to the show's stars were scheduled to begin on 1 November (08), but theatre bosses have postponed them until 22 November.
Producer John Breglio, who is overseeing the new Dreamgirls U.S. national stage tour, says the project is too closely linked to Hudson - who won an Oscar for her portrayal of ousted girlgroup star Effie White - for the auditions to go ahead.
He says, "Our prayers and thoughts are with Ms. Hudson and her family at this tragic time. Due to this horrific tragedy, we feel this is not the time for a talent search for a role that is so closely connected with Ms. Hudson."
Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and brother, Jason Hudson, were shot dead at their Chicago, Illinois home on Friday (24Oct08).
The postponement of the Dreamgirls auditions comes just a day after the singer/actress reportedly identified the body of her missing seven year old nephew, Julian King, who was found dead in the back of a car on Monday (27Oct08).
William Balfour, who was once married to the child's mother, Julia Hudson, is being questioned by police over the killings.

Breaking News: $100,000 reward offered by Jennifer Hudson to get her nephew back!!

Hudson auditioned for the third season of American Idol, in Atlanta, Georgia. In her audition she commented that she had been singing on Disney Cruise Lines for the past few months (as one of the Muses from Hercules); and contestant judge Randy Jackson said, "We're expecting more than a cruise ship performance from you." Jennifer delivered and all the judges agreed it was the best voice they had heard so far in the competition. She was a member of the first group of semifinalists in the Semifinals. She was not voted through to the final round, although she was brought back on the wild card round and put through as a "Top 12" finalist by Jackson.

Breaking News: $100,000 reward offered by Jennifer Hudson to get her nephew back!!

Investigators and community members pressed their search for Jennifer Hudson's missing nephew on Monday, hoping a $100,000 reward offered by the Oscar-winning actress for the 7-year-old's safe return might turn up clues to his whereabouts.

Julian King hasn't been seen since Friday, when Hudson's mother and brother were found shot to death in their home. Police on Sunday ramped up search efforts for Julian around the Englewood neighborhood, where Hudson grew up, and transferred custody of a "person of interest" in the killings to state authorities.

On Sunday evening, in a statement from publicist Lisa Kasteler, the singer appealed to the public for help, offering the reward and asking any information be given to Chicago police.

"Jennifer and her family appreciate the enormous amount of love, support and prayers they have received while she and her family try to cope with this tragedy and continue the search for Julian," the statement said.

Hudson, who won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls," was in Chicago with her family during the weekend, her sister said. Hudson's publicist did not disclose her whereabouts, but the Cook County medical examiner's office confirmed she identified the bodies of her mother and brother.

An Amber Alert remained in effect Sunday for Julian, the son of Jennifer Hudson's sister, Julia Hudson. The bodies of his 57-year-old grandmother, Darnell Donerson, and 29-year-old uncle, Jason Hudson, were found in the home they shared on the city's South Side on Friday. The deaths were ruled homicides.

"Detectives are working 24 hours on this case," said Chicago police spokeswoman Monique Bond. "There's a lot of forensic evidence. We have to work the evidence and try and solve this case. Most importantly, we want to find the child."

The Amber Alert listed William Balfour, the estranged husband of Julia Hudson, as a suspect in a "double homicide investigation."

Police said they did not have a motive for the killings but called the case "domestic related." Bond said Balfour, who had been in police custody since Friday, was transferred Sunday to the Illinois Department of Corrections "based on his active parole violation unrelated to this investigation."

Balfour has not been charged in the slayings.

Records from the Corrections Department show Balfour, 27, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle.

Corrections spokeswoman Januari Smith said Balfour would probably remain in state custody until the Illinois Prisoner Review Board looked at his case. She would not say where Balfour was being held.

It was unclear whether Balfour had an attorney Sunday, but his mother, Michele Balfour, has denied he was involved the killings or in Julian's disappearance.

Breaking News: Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother killed??

Jennifer Kate Hudson (born September 12, 1981) is an American actress, singer and model. She first gained notice as one of the finalists on the third season of the FOX television series American Idol. She went on to star in the 2006 motion picture Dreamgirls for which she has won numerous awards, including an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA and a SAG Award.

Breaking News: Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother killed??
The mother and brother of Jennifer Hudson were found shot dead Friday at a South Side home, and police were looking for a missing child who is the nephew of the singer and Oscar-winning actress.

A man suspected in the deaths was in custody Friday night, but the 7-year-old boy had not been located, according to published reports.

William Balfour was being questioned, but Julian King's whereabouts were not known, law enforcement sources told the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times. Balfour has not been charged.

Police spokeswoman Monique Bond said investigators were talking to "a number of people in custody" but she declined to elaborate.

An Amber Alert issued Friday said Balfour was a suspect in the double homicide of Darnell Donerson, 57, and Jason Hudson, 29, whose bodies were found Friday afternoon in a South Side home.

Jennifer Hudson's personal publicist, Lisa Kasteler, confirmed the deaths.

"We can confirm that there is an ongoing investigation concerning the deaths of Jennifer Hudson's mother, Darnell Donerson, and her brother, Jason Hudson," Kasteler said in a statement. "No further comment will be made and the family has asked that their privacy be respected at this difficult time."

The deaths appeared to be the result of domestic abuse, Bond said. The Cook County medical examiner's office said autopsies for Donerson and Jason Hudson were pending.

Deputy Chief Joseph Patterson said a family member entered the home around 3 p.m. Friday, found a woman shot on the living room floor and left to notify authorities. Responding officers found a man shot in the bedroom, Patterson said. There was no sign of forced entry.

Police tape blocked access to the large, white house, where a crowd gathered outside. Investigators with dogs and flashlights searched foliage surrounding a church that faces the home.

Authorities issued the Amber Alert for King and sought a 1994 white Chevrolet Suburban. The child was the grandson of the female victim, officials said.

The alert said the child was possibly abducted and could be accompanied by Balfour, who was considered armed and dangerous and called a suspect in the double homicide investigation.

Records from the Illinois Department of Corrections show Balfour, 27, is on parole and spent nearly seven years in prison for attempted murder, vehicular hijacking and possessing a stolen vehicle. Public records show one of Balfour's addresses as the home where Donerson and Jason Hudson were shot.

The alert said the boy could also be in a teal or green Chrysler Concorde with a temporary license plate, a left front headlight hanging out and scratches on the left side of the vehicle.

The tragedy comes as Hudson, who grew up in Chicago, continues to reach new heights in her career. Her song "Spotlight" is No. 1 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop charts and her recently released, self-tiled debut album has been a top seller. She was featured in this year's blockbuster "Sex and the City" movie and is also starring in the hit film "The Secret Life of Bees."

She won an Academy Award for best supporting actress in 2007 for her role in "Dreamgirls." In an interview last year with Vogue, Hudson credited her mother with encouraging her to audition for "American Idol," which launched her career.

The singer, whose father died when she was a teenager, described herself as very close to her family. In a recent AP interview she said her family, which includes older siblings Julia and Jason, helped keep her grounded.

"My faith in God and my family, they're very realistic and very normal, they're not into the whole limelight kind of thing, so when I go home to Chicago that's just another place that's home," she said. "I stand in line with everybody else, or, when I go home to my mom I'm just Jennifer, (so she says), 'You get up and you take care of your own stuff.' And I love that; I don't like when people tell you everything you want to hear, I want to hear the truth, you know what I mean."

Hudson recently announced her engagement to David Otunga, best known for his stint on VH1's reality show "I Love New York."

Hudson's representatives would not disclose her whereabouts Friday. She had been scheduled to appear Monday in Los Angeles to collect an ensemble cast honor at the Hollywood Awards for "The Secret Life of Bees" with co-stars including Alicia Keys, Queen Latifah and Dakota Fanning.

Breaking News: Jennifer Hudson's mother, brother killed??

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Breaking News : Raffaello Follieri Gets Smacked With 54 Months!

Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is a American actress. She made her acting debut in the 1999 television series Get Real, but her first prominent role was in Disney's family comedy The Princess Diaries (2001) starring opposite Julie Andrews, which established her career.

In 2004, Hathaway began a relationship with Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri. During their relationship, Hathaway took part in the development of the charitable Follieri Foundation, serving as a financial donor as well as a member of the foundation's board of directors until 2007.A Manhattan-based charity founded in 2003 focusing on programs such as providing vaccinations for children in Third-World nations, the organization had come under investigation in early June 2008 by the IRS, reportedly for failing to file tax papers required from non-profit organizations.Citing the fear that this and other ongoing legal issues involving Follieri would become detrimental to her acting career, as well as for her own ethical reasons, Hathaway ended her relationship with Follieri in mid-June 2008.
Follieri was arrested in June 2008 on fraud charges for allegedly fleecing investors out of millions of dollars in a scheme involving purchasing Catholic properties in the U.S. for re-development. Court papers state that Hathaway was an unwitting beneficiary of the stolen money which had in large part paid for Follieri's opulent lifestyle of jet-setting, shopping sprees and fine dining.It was reported that the FBI had confiscated Hathaway's private journals from Follieri's New York City apartment as part of their ongoing investigation into Follieri's activities,although Hathaway was not implicated in any wrongdoing from the events.

Breaking News : Raffaello Follieri Gets Smacked With 54 Months!

Anne Hathaway's former boyfriend was sentenced Thursday to 4 1/2 years in prison for cheating investors of millions of dollars by claiming he had Vatican connections that enabled him to buy Roman Catholic Church property at a discount.
''I dishonored my family name and embarrassed the church I love. I'll never be able to wash away that stain, and I will have to live with it the rest of my life,'' Raffaello Follieri, 30, said through an Italian interpreter before he was sentenced. ''I just hope someday those who have been hurt by my actions can forgive me.''
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl said Follieri had engaged in a significant fraud that hurt investors, will financially ruin him and will cause him to be deported after his prison term. The judge also cited Follieri's ''lavish personal expenditures,'' which prosecutors have said were financed with his investors' money.
Follieri said he started off with good intentions, determined to run an honorable business.
''Instead, I made some terrible mistakes,'' he said. ''I always thought I could repair the wrongdoing, but I was wrong.''
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Reed Brodsky said Follieri had lied about his education, his background, his wealth and his Vatican connections from the moment he solicited investors through his real estate business, the Follieri Group.
Those investors included Yucaipa Cos., which is controlled by supermarket billionaire Ron Burkle, a close friend of former President Clinton.
Follieri agreed to forfeit $2.4 million when he pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
Koeltl ordered Follieri Thursday to forfeit 15 watches and other precious metals and jewelry. The judge said he would impose a substantial amount of restitution at a future date.
Prosecutors have said Follieri falsely claimed he was the Vatican's chief financial officer and showed at least one business contact a phony letter Pope John Paul II purportedly wrote to him in 2002.
Follieri spent millions of dollars of investors' money on personal expenses, including flowers, cosmetics, clothes, wine, expensive dinners, dog-walking services, yacht rentals, a $37,000-a-month Manhattan condo and vacations for himself, his parents and Hathaway, prosecutors said.
They said he even he used $18,200 of investors' cash to settle a lawsuit over expenses he ran up on vacation with the ''Get Smart'' and ''The Devil Wears Prada'' star. The two dated for four years, until shortly before his arrest in June.
Defense lawyer Flora Edwards has pinned Follieri's troubles on his acquaintances with movie stars and celebrities, saying in court papers that he ''became intoxicated with it all.''
''Unfortunately, he lacked the resources to maintain the opulent lifestyle of his new friends,'' she wrote.
Edwards asked that Follieri be sentenced to three years in prison, even though he had agreed to serve at least four years and three months when he entered his guilty plea.
She noted that more than 100 letters had been written on his behalf, and she said his charitable acts and a gravely ill mother were reasons to lighten his sentence.
But Brodsky argued that Follieri made his charitable contributions with money he had stolen from investors and lied about his intentions almost from the moment he arrived in the United States six years ago.

Breaking News : Raffaello Follieri Gets Smacked With 54 Months!

Hot News : Kim Kardashian Spends Birthday in a Hospital Gown?

Hot News : Kim Kardashian Spends Birthday in a Hospital Gown?

In 2007, a pornographic home video she had made with then-boyfriend, R&B singer Ray J, was leaked. Vivid Entertainment was the distribution company against which Kardashian had pursued legal action for the ownership of the tape. Kardashian later dropped the suit and settled with Vivid Entertainment for US$ 5 million.
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Say what you will about Kim Kardashian, but there's no denying she's a good girlfriend.

Today is the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star's 28th birthday—only she's not exactly spending it in style.

Instead of celebrating in London as planned, Kim blogs that she's at boyfriend Reggie Bush's bedside in an Alabama hospital. Check out that lovely hospital gown she's rocking!

Her footballer boyfriend, who plays for the New Orleans Saints, is recovering from surgery after injuring his left knee during a game against the Carolina Panthers.

So how's the self-proclaimed princess handling her hospital birthday?

Suprisingly well.

"He's pretty bummed that the special birthday he planned in London couldn't happen, but as long as he is okay, I will have the best birthday ever!!!!" Kim writes. "And he is okay!"

Sounds like she's doing a great job playing cheerleader for her "hubby" as he heals.

We wish Kim a very happy birthday and Reggie a speedy recovery.

Breaking News : Gwyneth Paltrow helping her friend Madonna through breakup of her marriage.

Breaking News : Gwyneth Paltrow helping her friend Madonna through breakup of her marriage.

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (born September 27, 1972)[1] is an Academy Award-, Golden Globe- and double Screen Actors Guild Award-winning American actress. She is married to Coldplay frontman Chris Martin.

Paltrow was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Blythe Danner, an actress, and the late Bruce Paltrow, a film and television director, writer, and producer. Paltrow's father was of Ashkenazi Russian Jewish descent and her mother was raised a Quaker;Raised in Santa Monica, she attended Crossroads School before moving and attending Spence School, a private girls' school in New York City which was also attended by Emmy Rossum, Kerry Washington and Sally Pressman. Later she briefly studied art history at the University of California, Santa Barbara, before discontinuing her degree and committing herself to acting. Paltrow has a younger brother, Jake Paltrow, and is a cousin of actress Katherine Moennig, whose role include Jacqueline Pratt on Young Americans as well as Shane McCutcheon on The L Word. She is an "adopted daughter" of Talavera de la Reina (Spain), where at age 15 she spent a month as an exchange student and learned Spanish.Paltrow was childhood friends with Saturday Night Live's Maya Rudolph.

LONDON – Gwyneth Paltrow is helping her friend Madonna through breakup of her marriage.
The actress told reporters that she's supporting the pop star following Wednesday's announcement that she's separated from filmmaker-husband Guy Ritchie.
"She's a very good friend. I'm supporting her in all the ways that I can. I'm just there for her. I speak to her a lot," Paltrow said as she attended the premiere of her film "Two Lovers" at London's Film Festival.
Like Madonna, Paltrow — who's married to Coldplay singer Chris Martin — lives partly in London.
Madonna and Ritchie, who were married at a Scottish castle in December 2000, have two children: Rocco, 8, and David Banda, 3, who was adopted in Malawi in 2006. Madonna also has a 12-year-old daughter, Lourdes, from a previous relationship.
Madonna's publicist said Sunday that details of a divorce settlement are yet to be finalized, dismissing reports that the couple had agreed to a custody arrangement for the couple's children.
The couple own homes in London, Los Angeles and New York, and a 1,200-acre retreat in Wiltshire, England.

Breaking News : Fashion critic Mr. Richard Blackwell dies in Los Angeles??

Richard Blackwell (August 29, 1922–October 19, 2008) was a fashion critic, journalist, television and radio personality, artist, former child actor and former fashion designer, sometimes known just as Mr. Blackwell. He was the creator of the Ten Worst Dressed Women list, an annual awards presentation he unveiled in January of each year. He also published the "Fabulous Fashion Independents" list and an annual Academy Awards fashion review, both of which receive somewhat less media attention. His longtime companion, former Beverly Hills hairdresser, Robert Spencer, managed him. He wrote two books, Mr. Blackwell: 30 Years of Fashion Fiascos and an autobiography, From Rags to Bitches.

He began acting in theater in his teens, appearing in the original 1935 Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley’s Dead End. After relocating to the West Coast in the 1930s (where he went to school with Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney, among others) he adopted the name “Dick Ellis” and was signed by the studios to play small parts in the motion picture industry.In-between acting assignments, he worked as a messenger at Warner Bros. Studio in Burbank. Howard Hughes changed his name to Richard Blackwell when he signed him to RKO. He returned to Broadway in 1944 for Catherine Was Great, which starred Mae West, but eventually left acting for a short stint as a Hollywood agent. He discovered a talent for design while making his client’s stage costumes.

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LOS ANGELES – Mr. Blackwell, the acerbic designer whose annual worst-dressed list skewered the fashion felonies of celebrities from Zsa Zsa Gabor to Britney Spears, has died. He was 86.
Blackwell died Sunday of complications from an intestinal infection, publicist Harlan Boll said.
Blackwell, whose first name was Richard, was a little-known dress designer when he issued his first tongue-in-cheek criticism of Hollywood fashion disasters for 1960 — long before Joan Rivers and others turned such ridicule into a daily affair.
Year after year, he would take Hollywood's reigning stars and other celebrities to task for failing to dress in what he thought was the way they should.
Being dowdy was bad enough, but the more outrageous clothing a woman wore, the more biting his criticism. He once said a reigning Miss America looked "like an armadillo with cornpads."
A few other examples:
Madonna: "The Bare-Bottomed Bore of Babylon."
Barbra Streisand: "She looks like a masculine Bride of Frankenstein."
Christina Aguilera: "A dazzling singer who puts good taste through the wardrobe wringer."
Meryl Streep: "She looks like a gypsy abandoned by a caravan."
Sharon Stone: "An over-the-hill Cruella DeVille."
Lindsay Lohan: "From adorable to deplorable."
Patti Davis: "Packs all the glamour of an old, worn-out sneaker."
Ann Margret: "A Hells Angel escapee who invaded the Ziegfeld Follies on a rainy night."
Camilla Parker-Bowles: "The Duchess of Dowdy."
Bjork: "She dances in the dark — and dresses there, too."
Spears: "Her bra-topped collection of Madonna rejects are pure fashion overkill."
The critic acknowledged he had mixed feelings about appearing so publicly mean. Most of the women he put through the wringer, he said, were people he genuinely admired for their talent if not their fashion sense.
"The list is and was a satirical look at the fashion flops of the year," he said in 1998. "I merely said out loud what others were whispering. ... It's not my intention to hurt the feelings of these people. It's to put down the clothing they're wearing."
He told the Los Angeles Times in 1968 that designers were forgetting that their job "is to dress and enhance women. ... Maybe I should have named the 10 worst designers instead of blaming the women who wear their clothes."
Surprisingly, the woman who topped his worst dressed list for 1982 (announced in early 1983) was the newly married Diana, Princess of Wales. He said she had gone from "a very young, independent, fresh look" to a "tacky, dowdy" style. She quickly regained her footing and wound up as a regular on Blackwell's favorites list, the "fabulous fashion independents."
Blackwell had started out as an actor himself, having been spotted by a talent agent while still in his teens. He landed a job as an understudy in the Broadway production of Sidney Kingsley's heralded drama "Dead End."
Although he got to the play the role of the Dead End Kids' leader on stage only one time, it led him to Hollywood where he landed bit parts in such films as "Little Tough Guy" (uncredited) and "Juvenile Hall" (as Dick Selzer).
He abandoned his acting career in 1958 after failing to make it in movies and switched to fashion design. He claimed to be the first to make designer jeans for women, and his salon had begun to attract a few Hollywood names when he issued his first list covering the fashion faux pas of 1960. (Italian star Anna Magnani and Gabor were among his early victims.)
It quickly brought him the celebrity he had long coveted, and he quickly became a favorite on the TV talk show circuit. He also became for a time, in his words, "The worst bitch in the world."
He hosted his own show, "Mr. Blackwell Presents," in 1968 and appeared as himself in such TV shows as "Matlock" and "Matt Houston."
In 1992, he sued Johnny Carson for claiming that he had added Mother Teresa to his list, saying the comment exposed him to hatred and ridicule. NBC's response was that the "Tonight Show" host was obviously joking.
"Did you see what he said about Mother Teresa? 'Miss Nerdy Nun is a fashion no-no,'" Carson had said. "Come on now, that's just too much."
During his heyday the issuing of Blackwell's annual list was an eagerly anticipated media event.
On the second Tuesday in January he would assemble reporters at his mansion for a lavish breakfast before making a dramatic entrance for the television cameras.
By the turning of the millennium, however, the list had lost its juice and Blackwell took to issuing it by e-mail.
Born Richard Sylvan Selzer in 1922, Blackwell recounted in his autobiography, "From Rags to Bitches," a troubled, poverty-ridden childhood in which he was variously a truant, thief and prostitute.

Breaking News : Six more detained over melamine in China??

Testing for melamine and cyanuric acid in food

Until the 2007 pet food recalls, melamine had not routinely been monitored in food, except in the context of plastic safety or insecticide residue. This could be due to the previously assumed low toxicity of melamine, and the relatively expensive methods of detection.

Because melamine resin is often used in food packaging and tableware, melamine at ppm level (1 part per million) in food and beverage has been reported due to migration from melamine-containing resins.Small amounts of melamine have also been reported in foodstuff as a metabolite product of cyromazine, an insecticide used on animals and crops.

The Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides a test method for analyzing cyromazine and melamine in animal tissues. In 2007, the FDA began using a high performance liquid chromatography test to determine the melamine, ammeline, ammelide, and cyanuric acid contamination in food.Another procedure is based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).

Breaking News : Six more detained over melamine in China??

Police have detained six more people in the country's contaminated milk scandal amid increasing efforts to restore public trust in domestic dairy products.

The suspects were caught in Hohhot in the country's main dairy-producing area of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region after allegedly selling and mixing the industrial chemical melamine into raw milk, the city government said in a notice on its website Monday.

The detentions were made during an investigation into melamine contamination at Yili and Mengniu, two top-selling dairy companies based in the region, the notice said.

Powdered and liquid milk from the two companies were earlier found tainted with melamine, a chemical often used in plastic but banned by the food industry.

Making milk products seem high in protein during quality tests, it can cause kidney problems if consumed.

Melamine has been blamed for killing four babies and sickening more than 50,000 others.

The latest move in Hohhot follows the detention last week of 22 people in Hebei province suspected of involvement in a network producing melamine and selling it on to milk farms and collecting stations.

No charges have been lodged yet. Meanwhile, the country is struggling to restore public confidence in domestic dairy products by intensifying quality checks.

More than 5,000 inspectors have been posted at the country's dairy factories for round-the-clock inspections, Wang Yong, the new director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ), said on Sunday.

"Every batch of products must receive testing before leaving the factory," he said. Wang's predecessor Li Changjiang resigned soon after the dairy contamination scandal broke out on Sept 11.

The AQSIQ also said on Sunday no melamine was found in the latest tests of milk produced after Sept 14.

It said no problems were detected with products from top-selling brands such as Yili, Mengniu and Bright Dairy, whose goods were found contaminated with melamine in previous checks.

Individuals who have doubts over the dairy products they consume could also access testing at authorized centers starting from Monday, the first working day after the week-long National Day holiday.

The AQSIQ announced 45 authorized testing centers across the country for melamine testing on Sunday.

Last Thursday, 388 centers received authorization, according to a notice on the AQSIQ website.

A receptionist at the testing center of the Chinese Academy of Inspection and Quarantine, one of the authorized centers in Beijing, told China Daily the center had already fielded some individual testing requests but would not give specific numbers.

The receptionist, surnamed Zhang, said fees for melamine testing range from 600 to 1,000 yuan ($88-146), with results available within 10 days.

She said the tests require a minimum of 200 g of powdered milk or two bags of liquid milk, preferably in unopened packages.

Breaking News: China milk crisis to cost billions??

Breaking News: China milk crisis to cost billions??
China's milk crisis will likely cost billions of dollars, disrupt millions of livelihoods, and it could be a year before consumer confidence in dairy companies is restored, experts say.

Chinese officials are anxious to draw a line under the scandal that killed four infants and sickened more than 53,000 children after melamine, a chemical used to make plastic, was found in milk from leading dairies.

State media trumpeted on the weekend that samples from 31 brands of baby formula contained no trace of the chemical. Similarly, samples from hundreds of batches of liquid and powdered milk were also melamine-free.

In Shanghai, hip hop music blasted from a stage next to a giant inflatable cow as Guangming Bright Dairy -- one of more than 20 companies whose milk was tainted with melamine -- tried to woo back milk drinkers.

In southern Shenzhen, dairy firms Mengniu and Yili offered competing "buy one, get one free" promotions on crates of milk.

But despite the fanfare, consumers are likely to remain cautious and a number of countries around the world have banned or restricted imports of Chinese milk products.

"What you see in China with the melamine crisis right now is so widely spread that there is clearly a gap in the quality control system," said Bram Wouters, who is leading a project at Wageningen University in the Netherlands to help China improve milk quality.

"For sure that gap will be closed," he said by telephone. "But there is no guarantee consumers' confidence will return quickly."

It could take up to a year to repair the public's damaged faith, experts agreed.

In the meantime, the economic costs are mounting.

No official estimate has been released of how much the crisis cost China's dairy industry.

Companies whose products were contaminated saw sales plunge 60 to 70 percent last month from a year earlier, said Lao Bing, an analyst with Shanghai-based Mental Marketing Dairy Consulting.

Dairy sales for the full year are likely to be 20 percent lower than the 160 billion yuan (23.5 billion dollars) posted last year, said Bao, whose firm advises leading Chinese dairy brands.

"The industry had been growing at a pace of more than 20 percent over the past few years, but this year it's going to remain flat," he said.

About three million workers, mostly connected to the small dairy producers who account for 80 percent of China's milk production were affected, said Chen Lianfang, an analyst from Beijing-based Orient Agribusiness Consultant.

In parts of northern China's milk producing heartland, farmers were having to pour away milk at the peak of the crisis because no one would buy it, state media reported.

It is in these areas that experts believe the melamine may have been added to deliberately watered-down milk to make it seem richer in protein.

In the northern province of Hebei, one of the centres of the crisis, authorities have agreed to pay farmers 200 yuan for each cow as a subsidy to keep them in business.

But to restore confidence, authorities should work with these small producers to continue to improve hygiene, educate them and give them incentives to deliver quality instead of quantity, Wouters said.

"Let consumers know there is quality control exercised at all stages in the chain not only at the dairy plants and in the supermarkets but also at the producers' site because there the main problem for sure is at the farm level," said Wouters who was researching in northeastern Heilongjiang province last month before the scandal broke.

He estimated it could take anywhere from weeks to a year to establish quality control along the chain linking farmers to consumers.

"In China things can move fairly fast, it could be that quality control on this issue is exercised fairly quickly and put in place. It has a lot of attention at the moment," he said.

Breaking News: China milk crisis to cost billions??