NEWSMAKERS

NEWSMAKERS

Neil Patrick Harris to host Tony Awards

NEW YORK

Neil Patrick Harris will be back for his fourth turn as host of the Tony Awards.

Producers of the show announced Thursday that Harris, a stage veteran and star of the CBS sitcom “How I Met Your Mother,” will host the 67th annual awards to be presented June 9 at Radio City Music Hall in New York City. The show will air live on CBS.

Harris said he was excited to be back hosting the Tonys, adding: “The show will rock!”

The 39-year-old Harris has starred in three Broadway productions, including “Assassins,” “Proof” and “Cabaret.”

Jackson to leave ‘Idol’

LOS ANGELES

Randy Jackson, the lone original “American Idol” judge, says he won’t be returning to the Fox talent competition.

“To put all of the speculation to the rest, after 12 years of judging on ‘American Idol,’ I have decided to leave after this season,” Jackson said Thursday. “I am very proud of how we forever changed television and the music industry.”

The 56-year-old record producer and bassist called the experience a “life-changing opportunity.” He said he’s leaving “Idol” to focus on his record label and other business opportunities.

Changes worried metal singer’s wife

SAN DIEGO

The lead singer of the heavy metal band As I Lay Dying, who is suspected of plotting to kill his estranged wife, had grown obsessed with bodybuilding, was distracted around his children and was spending thousands of dollars on tattoos, his wife said in divorce papers.

Musician Tim Lambesis had changed during the past several months, falling asleep while caring for his three adopted children near a pool and spending endless hours at a gym, according to Meggan Lambesis, who questioned her husband’s ability to parent in divorce documents filed last fall.

A single felony count of solicitation of murder was filed against Tim Lambesis late Wednesday.

Police say Tim Lambesis tried to hire a hitman to kill Meggan Lambesis. But the would-be killer was actually an undercover detective taking part in a sting operation set up after law enforcement received a tip last week about the plot.

‘Monkeemobile’ designer dies at 80

LOS ANGELES

A celebrated car customizer who painted James Dean’s Porsche and made the “Monkeemobile” for “The Monkees” TV show has died. Dean Jeffries was 80.

His son, Kevin, told the Los Angeles Times that Jeffries died in his sleep on Saturday at his LA home.

In 1955, Jeffries custom- painted Dean’s Porsche 550SFlbSpyder. Dean died in a crash less than a month later.

Jeffries also painted many Indianapolis 500 cars.

For TV, he created the “Black Beauty” for the 1960s show “The Green Hornet” and built the Monkeemobile in just 10 days. He also built movie vehicles, including a moon buggy for the James Bond film “Diamonds Are Forever.”

Jeffries also was a stunt driver and stunt producer on films such as “The Blues Brothers” and “The Fugitive.”

Vindicator wire reports