'Babette's Feast' director receives French award

'Babette's Feast' directorreceives French award
COPENHAGEN, Denmark -- Gabriel Axel, the Danish director of the Oscar-winning "Babette's Feast," has received France's Legion of Honor for his contribution to international film.
The 85-year-old Axel, who has directed movies and television series in Denmark and France, received the award Thursday in a ceremony at the French Embassy in Copenhagen.
French Ambassador Regis De Belenet said Axel "found artistic references in both cultures."
Born in Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city, Axel grew up in Paris. He returned to Denmark at 18 and graduated from the Danish Royal Theater Actors' School in 1945. Soon afterward, he returned to Paris, where he joined the theater troupe of famed French actor Louis Jouvet.
Axel had his international breakthrough in 1988 when "Babette's Feast" won the best foreign-language Oscar.
Blanc honors his fatherwith 'Baton' lithograph
LOS ANGELES -- When Mel Blanc died in 1989, his legacy for providing words from the mouths of animated characters such as Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig was passed to son, Noel Blanc.
From Bugs Bunny's signature "Eh, what's up, Doc?" and Porky Pig's stuttering "Th-th-that's all, f-f-folks" to the staccato, high-pitched "Huh-huh-ha-HA-ha" laugh of Woody Woodpecker and the distinctive "Meep-Meep" of the Road Runner, Mel Blanc is credited with inventing the profession of animated voice acting.
"Sometimes it was hard to tell where my dad's personality left off and his characters began," Blanc said Tuesday. "He was a method actor and taught me that I had to 'become' the character in order to effectively do the voice."
"He always said that there was a physiological transfer that came across by becoming the character, even for just a single sentence or sound," Blanc said.
Noel Blanc is honoring his father with a limited-edition lithograph featuring Warner Bros. characters that Blanc helped make famous.
The poster-size "Passing the Baton: A Tribute to Mel and Noel Blanc" lithographs are numbered, signed and will be personalized by Noel Blanc. Produced by Warner Bros. for Great American Ink, they cost $495.
TV show's co-anchormulls gubernatorial run
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. -- Pat O'Brien, co-anchor of the syndicated "Access Hollywood" entertainment show, says he'd like to run for governor of South Dakota -- someday.
"I have always said I would like to come back and run for something there, participate in government," he told the Sioux Falls Argus Leader in a phone interview from his California home. "I am not quitting my job, but someday I would like to come back and run for governor.
"This is a well-thought-out idea, not a whim."
His political aspirations first came to light in an interview in the upcoming issue of GQ magazine.
O'Brien, 55, is a graduate of the University of South Dakota.
Today's birthdays
Former ambassador to Russia Robert S. Strauss is 85. Columnist Jack Anderson is 81. Author John le Carre is 72. Artist Peter Max is 66. Actor Michael Gambon is 63. Actor John Lithgow is 58. Former National Organization for Women President Patricia Ireland is 58. Talk-show host Charlie Chase is 51. Singer Jennifer Holliday is 43. Rock singer-musician Todd Park Mohr (Big Head Todd and the Monsters) is 38. "South Park" co-creator Trey Parker is 34. Comedian Chris Kattan is 33. Rock singer Pras Michel (The Fugees) is 31. Actor Omar Gooding is 27. Country singer Cyndi Thomson is 27. Actor Benjamin Salisbury is 23.