Broadway's Nina Arianda tapped for Janis Joplin film

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The makers of a planned film about rock icon Janis Joplin have tapped recent Tony Award winner Nina Arianda to play the part of the 1960s singer in a biographical movie directed by Sean Durkin, a spokesman for the director said on Tuesday.

The independently-produced film, titled 'Joplin,' looks at the last six months in the life of the raspy-voiced singer who died in 1970 of a drug overdose following chart success with classic rock hits such as 'Down on Me' and 'Piece of My Heart.'

Producer Peter Newman told show business news website Deadline that 'Joplin' would have a production budget under $20 million and it would be in production early next year.

Arianda won raves in 'Venus in Fur,' a sex comedy in which she portrays a struggling actress named Vanda who staggers into an audition late then proceeds to put on the performance of her life. The role won her Broadway's Tony for best actress, and she recently appeared in Woody Allen movie, 'Midnight in Paris.'

Durkin is best known for making 2011 independent film 'Martha Marcy May Marlene,' which led to the director's award at last year's Sundance Film Festival.

Joplin, who died at age 27, had a short career but lived a full life and was iconic for the Woodstock generation.

She gained rock stardom as the lead singer of the psychedelic-acid rock band Big Brother and the Holding Company, then cemented her fame with backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band.

Newman said Arianda will sing all the songs in the film.

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Bernard Orr)



This article is brought to you by FREE DATING.

New Malcolm Gladwell book will explore the power of underdogs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bestselling author Malcolm Gladwell is writing a book called 'David and Goliath' that is being billed as an exploration of what happens when underdogs confront the powerful.

Little, Brown will publish the book in 2013. Gladwell, 48, is a New York Times best-selling author whose books include 'The Tipping Point'.

Little, Brown is a division of Hachette Livre, a subsidiary of the Lagardere Group.

(Reporting By Christine Kearney, editing by Piya Sinha-Roy)



This article is sponsored by medical case study.

Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes reach divorce settlement

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise and his actress wife Katie Holmes settled their divorce on Monday in what her lawyer called a 'speedy resolution' to a case that prompted questions over the raising of their daughter and the Church of Scientology.

'The case has been settled and the agreement has been signed. We are thrilled for Katie and her family and are excited to watch as she embarks on the next chapter of her life,' Holmes attorney Jonathan Wolfe of New Jersey-based firm Skoloff & Wolfe said in a statement to Reuters.

A representative for Cruise, who rose to stardom in 1983's 'Risky Business' and became a top draw with 1986's 'Top Gun', also confirmed the settlement.

Holmes, 33, filed for divorce from the 'Mission: Impossible' star Cruise, 50, on June 28, ahead of the long Independence Day holiday week in the United States.

Cruise was filming in Iceland, and a source near the A-list movie actor said the divorce filing in New York took him by surprise.

Celebrity media outlets have speculated that Holmes had whisked 6-year-old daughter Suri away from the couple's Beverly Hills home to New York City because she did not want the girl raised in the Church of Scientology, of which Cruise is a key member.

But representatives and lawyers for the pair have declined to comment on Holmes' intent, and the only public words from either star about the divorce case came in a statement Monday in which they said they were trying to settle issues privately.

'We are committed to working together as parents to accomplishing what is in our daughter Suri's best interests,' the pair said in a joint statement. 'We want to keep matters affecting our family private and express our respect for each other's commitment to each of our respective beliefs and support each other's roles as parents.'

In the end, the statement from Holmes' attorney seemed to indicate that attorneys and the couple had worked all last week to reach an agreement. Wolfe thanked Cruise's attorneys for 'their professionalism and diligence that helped bring about this speedy resolution.'

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte in Los Angeles; Editing by David Gregorio)



This news article is brought to you by STOCK MARKET BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.

Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine dead at 95

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Ernest Borgnine, whose barrel-chested, bulldog looks made him a natural for tough-guy roles in films like 'From Here to Eternity' but who won an Oscar for playing a sensitive loner in 'Marty,' died on Sunday at age 95, his publicist said.

The real-life U.S. Navy veteran who became a household name during the 1960s by starring as the maverick commander of a World War Two patrol boat in the popular television comedy 'McHale's Navy,' died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, longtime spokesman Harry Flynn said.

Borgnine, who continued to work until very recently, had been the oldest living recipient of an Academy Award for best actor, Flynn said.

A statement from the actor's family said he 'had been in excellent health until a recent illness.' Flynn said Borgnine recovered from unspecified surgery he underwent a month ago but his condition deteriorated rapidly after he visited the hospital on Tuesday for a medical checkup.

His last screen credit was the lead role of an aging nursing home patient in a film set for release later this year, 'The Man Who Shook the Hand of Vicente Fernandez.' The performance earned Borgnine a best actor award at the Newport Beach Film Festival, where it debuted in April, Flynn said.

With his burly profile, gruff voice and gap-toothed leer, Borgnine was on the verge of being typecast as the bad guy early in his career, following a string of convincing performances as the heavy in such films as 'Johnny Guitar' in 1954 and 'Bad Day at Black Rock in 1955.'

Borgnine's most memorable turn as a menacing tough guy was his breakout role in the 1953 Oscar-winning film 'From Here to Eternity' as the sadistic Sergeant 'Fatso' Judson, who terrorizes and eventually kills Frank Sinatra's character, Private Angelo Maggio.

UGLY DUCKLING ROLE

But Borgnine broke free from the bad-guy rut and won his own Oscar with a rare leading-man role in 1955's 'Marty,' playing a warm-hearted New York butcher who lamented, 'One fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain't got it.'

In addition to his Academy Award, Borgnine's work in 'Marty' led to more sympathetic roles in such films as 'Jubal' (1956) and 'The Best Things in Life Are Free' (1956).

Critic Bosley Crowther described Borgnine's Oscar-winning performance in 'Marty,' a film version of a television play by Paddy Chayevsky, as 'a beautiful blend of the crude and strangely gentle and sensitive.'

Some critics hinted that Borgnine was a 'Marty' in real life, but the actor, who was married five times, took exception by saying, 'I'm no playboy, but I'm no dumb slob either.'

'Marty' also won Oscars for best picture, best director and adapted screenplay.

'Ernie is the nicest man I've ever worked with,' said Sidney Lanfield, who directed him on the TV sitcom 'McHale's Navy.' 'When he says, 'Hello! How are you?' or 'Glad to see you!' you can bet the line has not been rehearsed.'

The television show, in which he starred as the skipper of a misfit PT boat crew skirting Navy regulations while chasing Japanese submarines, ran on ABC from the fall of 1962 until August 1966 and reinvigorated Borgnine's career. Funnyman Tim Conway co-starred as McHale's ensign.

He starred again as Lieutenant Commander Quinton McHale in a 1964 big-screen adaptation of the TV show, and returned to supporting character work in such movies such as 'The Flight of the Phoenix' (1965), 'The Dirty Dozen' (1968), Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch' (1969) and 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972).

He appeared in dozens of films in all.

NAVY SERVICE

He was born Ermes Effron Borgino in Hamden, Connecticut, and did not take up acting until after a 10-year hitch in the U.S. Navy, including a stint during World War II as a gunner's mate on a destroyer in the Pacific.

'I just couldn't see myself going into a factory where I saw these pasty-faced fellows walking in and walking out after stamping their cards,' Borgnine once said.

Using money he earned from the G.I. Bill, Borgnine studied at the Randall School of Dramatic Arts in Hartford and performed on stage for several years at a Virginia theater.

His first Hollywood job was a low-budget picture, 'China Corsair,' in 1951, starring in ethnic makeup as the Chinese proprietor of a gambling club.

He made his Broadway debut in the 1949 Mary Chase comedy 'Harvey,' and after a trio of early-'50s films appeared on Broadway again in 1952 in another Chase production, 'Mrs. McThing,' this time opposite Helen Hayes.

Hayes ended up being a godmother to the eldest of Borgnine's three children, daughter Nancee, by his first wife.

Borgnine returned to series television as co-star of the mid-1980s action film 'Airwolf.' And in 1988 he portrayed a mafia chief in the big-screen film 'Spike of Bensonhurst.'

Working well into his 90s, Borgnine earned an Emmy nomination for his 2009 guest appearance on the final two episodes of the television hospital drama 'ER,' playing the husband of a dying elderly woman. The following year, he notched a cameo role as a CIA records keeper in the spy thriller 'Red.'

He performed voice work for animated productions late in his life, including 'SpongeBob SquarePants' and 'All Dogs Go to Heaven.'

Borgnine's 1964 marriage to singer-actress Ethel Merman barely lasted a month. He said it broke up because fans paid more attention to him than her during their honeymoon.

The longest of Borgnine's five marriages was his last - to Tova Traesnaes, whom he married in 1973. Despite his rough looks, Borgnine appeared in ads touting the face-rejuvenating powers of beauty products from a company she started.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman.; Editing by Bill Trott and Christopher Wilson)



This news article is brought to you by HIKING-BACKPACKING - where latest news are our top priority.

Oscar-winning actor Ernest Borgnine dead at 95 in L.A

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Ernest Borgnine, whose bulldog appearance made him a natural for tough-guy roles in films like 'The Wild Bunch' but won an Oscar for playing a sensitive loner in 'Marty,' died on Sunday at the age of 95, his longtime publicist said.

Borgnine, who also starred as a maverick World War Two patrol-boat skipper in the popular 1960s television comedy 'McHale's Navy,' died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, where he had gone for a medical checkup on Tuesday, spokesman Harry Flynn said.

With his gruff voice and gap-toothed leer, Borgnine was on the verge of being typecast early in his career. That followed a string of convincing bad-guy roles in 'Bad Day at Black Rock' in 1955, 'Johnny Guitar' in 1954 and 1953's 'From Here to Eternity,' in which his sadistic Sergeant Fatso terrorized and eventually killed Frank Sinatra's character.

But Borgnine broke the stereotype with a rare leading-man role in 1955's 'Marty,' playing a warm-hearted New York butcher who lamented, 'One fact I gotta face is that, whatever it is that women like, I ain't got it.'

Critic Bosley Crowther described Borgnine's Oscar-winning performance as 'a beautiful blend of the crude and strangely gentle and sensitive.'

Some critics hinted that Borgnine was a 'Marty' in real life, but the actor, who was married five times, took exception by saying, 'I'm no playboy, but I'm no dumb slob either.'

'Ernie is the nicest man I've ever worked with,' said Sidney Lanfield, who directed him in 'McHale's Navy.' 'When he says, 'Hello! How are you?' or 'Glad to see you!' you can bet the line has not been rehearsed.'

Much of Borgnine's other work was as a character actor in more than 60 movies. They included 'The Vikings' (1958),' 'The Flight of the Phoenix' (1965), 'The Dirty Dozen' (1968), Sam Peckinpah's 'The Wild Bunch' (1969) and 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972).

He was born Ermes Effron Borgino in Hamden, Connecticut, and did not take up acting until after a 10-year hitch in the U.S. Navy.

'I just couldn't see myself going into a factory where I saw these pasty-faced fellows walking in and walking out after stamping their cards,' Borgnine once said.

Using money he earned from the GI Bill, Borgnine studied at the Randall School of Dramatic Arts in Hartford and performed on stage for several years at a Virginia theater.

His first Hollywood job was a low-budget pirate picture, 'China Corsair,' in 1951. After two more movies, he appeared on Broadway with Helen Hayes in 'Mrs. McThing' in 1952.

In addition to his Academy Award as best actor, Borgnine's work in 'Marty' led to more sympathetic roles in such films as 'Jubal' (1956), 'The Best Things in Life Are Free' (1956) and 'The Badlanders' (1958).

He returned to the sea on the big screen as a naval officer in 'Torpedo Run' (1958) and, after a string of less successful movies, 'McHale's Navy' (1964), based on his TV series co-starring Tim Conway.

In 1988 he portrayed a mafia chief in the movie 'Spike of Bensonhurst' and co-starred in the television action series 'Airwolf' in the mid-1980s.

Borgnine's 1964 marriage to singer-actress Ethel Merman barely lasted a month. He said it broke up because fans paid more attention to him than her during their honeymoon.

The longest of Borgnine's five marriages was his last - to Tova Traesnaes, whom he married in 1973. Despite his rough looks, Borgnine appeared in ads touting the face-rejuvenating powers of beauty products from a company she started.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman.; Editing by Bill Trott and Christopher Wilson)



This news article is brought to you by FREE ROMANTIC DATING SITE BLOG - where latest news are our top priority.

Autopsy of RFK Jr's wife finds antidepressants but no alcohol

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The estranged wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. had three antidepressants but no alcohol in her system when she committed suicide in May, a New York medical examiner's office said on Saturday.

Results of toxicology tests completed in June revealed that Mary Kennedy, 52, had the antidepressants Trazodone, Desmethylvenlafaxine and Venlafaxine in her blood when she died, a representative of the Westchester County Office of the Medical Examiner said. There was no alcohol found, the report said.

Her family could not be immediately reached for comment.

Mary Kennedy, who has been described by friends and relatives as having long struggled with depression, was found hanging in a barn behind the family's home in the New York City suburb of Bedford on May 16.

The cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation by hanging and the manner of death was suicide, according to her autopsy.

Mary Kennedy had four children with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer and environmentalist and the son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy. The couple filed for divorce in 2010, but it had not been finalized.

Her death was the latest tragedy to strike the Kennedy family. President Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 and his brother, Robert, suffered the same fate five years later. JFK's son, John F. Kennedy Jr., died in a 1999 plane crash along with his wife and sister-in-law.

Two of RFK's sons died unexpectedly - David Kennedy of a drug overdose in 1984 and Michael Kennedy in a 1999 skiing accident.

(Reporting By Lily Kuo; Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Paul Simao)



This news article is brought to you by SEXUAL HEALTH NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.

Feds say Dr. Drew was paid to promote antidepressant

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Dr. Drew Pinsky has come under fire for helping to market an antidepressant for uses not approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

A Boston judge on Thursday approved a record $3 billion guilty plea by British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, which paid the 'Celebrity Rehab' doctor - known as Dr. Drew - $275,000 to tout Wellbutrin, approved by the FDA to treat depression, as a drug to treat other conditions including obesity, addictions and sexual dysfunction.

At one point, Pinsky, then hosting sex and romance radio program 'Loveline,' told a woman that ingredients in the drug explained her having 60 orgasms in one night, a by-the-books talking point from Glaxo in what the federal government called its 'nationwide scheme' to market the drug for alternative uses.

In a statement to Forbes, Pinsky defended his comments about the drug, claiming they were in line with his clinical observations of its side effects.

'In the late 90s I was hired to participate in a 2 year initiative discussing intimacy and depression which was funded by an educational grant by Glaxo Wellcome,' he wrote in the e-mailed statement. 'Services for the non branded campaign included town hall meetings, writings and multimedia activities in conjunction with the patient advocacy group the National Depressive and Manic Depressive Association. My comments were consistent with my clinical experience.'

But the Justice Department's complaint against Glaxo alleged that Pinsky highlighted the drug's libido-enhancing effects without revealing that he was a paid spokesman.

It is unclear whether Pinsky will face any legal issues.

Neither Pinsky nor Glaxo responded to emails and calls from TheWrap for comment.



This news article is brought to you by GADGETS NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.