Family-friendly movie suits Hilary Duff just fine

Family-friendly moviesuits Hilary Duff just fine
LOS ANGELES -- Teenage actress Hilary Duff couldn't be happier that she's in a family-friendly film this holiday season.
In "Cheaper by the Dozen," a remake of the 1950s comedy of the same name, Duff is one of 12 children in a zany household made even more chaotic by their parents' demanding careers.
The dad, Steve Martin, lands his dream job as a college football coach at the same time that the mom, Bonnie Hunt, writes a best-selling book that takes her cross-country to promote it.
"I love that this movie is coming out on Christmas Day because it's always been a tradition in our family that we eat together and then we all go see a movie," Duff told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Playing a supporting role was a nice change for Duff, 16, who stars in "Lizzie McGuire" on the Disney Channel. She also portrayed the character on the big screen in "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" and is on a nationwide concert tour performing from her debut solo album "Metamorphosis."
Tammy Faye to headlinebingo benefit for AIDS
DURHAM, N.C. -- Former televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker Messner will headline a drag bingo benefit for AIDS here next month.
The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, which serves people with HIV and AIDS in Durham, Orange and Wake counties, is organizing the fund-raiser at the Durham Armory on Jan. 2.
The headliner was a source of surprise to at least one group official.
"When they told me, I said, 'Oh, this is not going to work' -- far right and all that," acting executive director Jacquelyn Clymore said Friday. "I have to say it has completely changed my perception of her.
Messner and ex-husband Jim Bakker helped build the world's three largest Christian networks, only to lose everything amid scandal. Her ex-husband was convicted of fraud and served five years in federal prison. Messner was never charged.
In a telephone interview, Messner said her AIDS work was nothing new.
"Everyone has a right to be who they are. I believe that," she said. "I think people are just people. God does not put labels on people. People put labels on people. And it's none of my business what goes on in people's bedrooms."
Eminem, label search forperson who stole tracks
Eminem and his record label are conducting a "witch hunt" to find out who stole three of the rapper's unfinished tracks and tried to sell them on eBay, music insiders have told The New York Post.
"Eminem is in the studio right now doing his new album," a source who spoke on condition of anonymity told the Post. "About a week and a half ago, somebody copied three unfinished raps onto CDs and tried to sell them on eBay."
Thankfully for Eminem, the eagle-eyed execs at Interscope, his record label, saw the tracks up for auction and contacted eBay.
"EBay immediately took the auction down and has promised Interscope the tracks will never be auctioned on its site, but the problem is every time they shut the auction down, it pops back up," the Post's source said.
EBay is trying to find out the identity of the seller, but meanwhile, Interscope has taken things into its own hands.
"Every single person in Em's entourage is being interviewed," the Post's source said. "Every one of Em's managers, friends or advisers who had access to the recording studio is now under surveillance."
A rep for eBay confirmed the Post's story and noted that the company is investigating.
Notable death
Hope Lange, 70, who starred opposite Hollywood's top actors over a decades-long career and earned an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in the 1957 film "Peyton Place," has died. Lange died Friday after suffering an infection caused by an intestinal inflammation known as ischemic colitis, said her husband, Charles Hollerith.
Today's birthdays
Actor Gerald S. O'Loughlin is 82. Actor Ronnie Schell is 72. Emperor Akihito of Japan is 70. Actor Frederic Forrest is 67. Actor James Stacy is 67. Rhythm and blues singer Eugene Record (The Chi-Lites) is 63. Actor-comedian Harry Shearer is 60. Singer-musician Adrian Belew is 54. Actress Susan Lucci is 54. Rock musician Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) is 45. Rock singer Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) is 39. Actor Corey Haim is 32. Rock musician Jamie Murphy is 28. Actress Estella Warren is 25.