Reeves seeks stability with marriage proposal

Reeves seeks stabilitywith marriage proposal
Keanu Reeves has proposed to his actress girlfriend Autumn MacIntosh, Ireland On-Line reports.
The star of the "Matrix" series -- who reunited with MacIntosh after a brief fling in the early '90s -- asked the actress to be his wife in a Los Angeles restaurant. Friends say Reeves is ready for stability in his life after the past 12 years of tragedy and loss.
"Keanu and Autumn have known each other for years," says a friend. "In May they got together again and over the past few months, Keanu started thinking about settling down. He has spent weeks building up to going down on one knee.
"It will just be a simple ceremony -- Keanu hates fuss and attention."
Until he reunited with MacIntosh, Reeves had been single since his long-term love Jennifer Syme -- who tragically gave birth to the actor's stillborn child in 1999 -- was killed in a car crash in 2001.
He has devoted much of his time since to caring for his sister Kim, who is battling leukemia in a hospital Reeves spent $5.4 million converting from a Hollywood mansion.
Actress fights for cover
Clad in a spiffy couture gown, actress Reese Witherspoon looks pretty pleased with herself on the cover of September's Vanity Fair magazine. But the New York Observer reports that it took the threat of a lawsuit from the jut-jawed pixie and her minions to get that cover onto newsstands.
Word is that Witherspoon had long been scheduled for the September front thanks to her star turn in the new movie version of "Vanity Fair," the 19th-century comic novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. Then editor Graydon Carter saw photog Bruce Weber's shots of U.S. Olympic hopefuls and decided he wanted swimmer Michael Phelps on the cover.
"But Reese's people got involved and started sending letters and threatening legal action, so Vanity Fair went back to Reese," a publishing source told the Observer.
Nancy Reagan refusesto support PETA campaign
Nancy Reagan and PETA are battling it out over the image of her late husband, reports MSNBC.com.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals was planning to use Ronald Reagan's picture in a campaign promoting vegetarianism as a way to prevent Alzheimer's disease. "Win one for the Gipper" read the ad, which showed a smiling photo of the 40th president. "Animal fats DOUBLE your risk of Alzheimer's."
PETA president Ingrid Newkirk recently wrote to Nancy Reagan, outlining the research that supports those conclusions.
"We hope that you will be happy that we chose your husband's powerful image [we have purchased the photograph] and used it most respectfully to capture people's attention," Newkirk wrote. "We realize that you are exceedingly busy, but if you could spare a few moments, this campaign would be helped significantly by a brief note of support from you."
Nancy Reagan not only didn't send back a letter of support, her people also fired off a cease-and-desist letter.
"Discontinue any use of President Reagan's name, signature, quote, image or likeness," came a missive from Kirby Elizabeth Hanson, director of business development for the Ronald Reagan Foundation.
Notable deaths
Acquanetta, a famed B-movie actress best known for her role in the 1946 film "Tarzan and the Leopard Woman," died Monday. She was 83.
Award-winning Australian author Thea Astley, whose books often chronicled life in small Outback towns, died Tuesday after suffering a heart attack, her agent said. She was 78.
Today's birthdays
Former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger is 87. Actress Shelley Winters is 84. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter is 77. Movie director Roman Polanski is 71. Actor Robert Redford is 67. Singer Johnny Preston is 65. Actor Christopher Jones is 63. Actor Henry G. Sanders is 62. Actor-comedian Martin Mull is 61. Singer Nona Hendryx is 59. Actor Patrick Swayze is 52. Country singer Steve Wilkinson (The Wilkinsons) is 49. Actor Denis Leary is 47. Actress Madeleine Stowe is 46. Actor Craig Bierko is 39. Rock singer-musician Zac Maloy (The Nixons) is 36. Hip-hop artist Everlast is 35. Actor Christian Slater is 35. Actor Edward Norton is 35. Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner is 34. Rock musician Dirk Lance is 28. Actor Mika Boorem is 16. Actress Parker McKenna Posey is 9.