Palm Springs street named for Kirk Douglas

Palm Springs streetnamed for Kirk Douglas
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. -- Actor Kirk Douglas will never be forgotten in this desert city, where he lived for more than 40 years.
The Palm Springs International Film Society and International Film Festival honored the 87-year-old "Spartacus" star Sunday by naming a six-block stretch near the city's airport after him.
Douglas lived in Palm Springs for more than four decades. His son, Joel, moved to the city two years ago and began a drive to name the street after his father.
The dedication ceremony was attended by Douglas, his wife Anne, and their three surviving sons, including Academy Award-winning actor and producer Michael Douglas.
"Every individual coming in and out of Palm Springs will go through Kirk Douglas Way," said Earl Greenburg, festival chairman, who also announced that Douglas will receive the film festival's lifetime achievement award on Jan. 8.
'South Park' co-creator raps undecided voters
SAN FRANCISCO -- "South Park" co-creator Matt Stone has a message for all you undecided voters.
"Stay home," said Stone. "It doesn't matter who you're gonna vote for. If you really don't know who you're gonna vote for, or are uninformed, or haven't really thought about it? Just stay home."
Stone and Trey Parker have teamed up for the puppet parody "Team America: World Police," which debuted in third place at the box office this weekend with $12.3 million. A parody of 1980s action movies, the film ridicules both Democrats and Republicans.
In person, Stone has little patience for those on the political fence.
"If you really don't know or you're just going to vote for George Bush because he's already in office, or you're gonna vote for John Kerry because he's on the cover of Rolling Stone, don't do that. That's lame. Just stay home. That's all we ever said," Stone told the San Francisco Chronicle in Sunday's editions.
Johnny Depp plays downimage as movie star
LONDON -- Johnny Depp reckons he's no great movie pinup -- he just has a "weird job."
Arriving for the premiere of his latest movie, "Finding Neverland," at London's Leicester Square, Depp played down his movie star image as fans lining the red carpet screamed his name.
"I wouldn't say I'm a heart throb," he said, as his wife, French singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, looked on. "I just have a very weird job."
Depp has been touted to win his first Oscar for his role as "Peter Pan" creator J.M. Barrie, but the 41-year-old actor dismissed such talk.
"I can't say that occupies my every thought or every moment," he said. "That's not my job to think about that, but if people want to say that, that is really sweet."
'Shrek' will be comingsoon to a Broadway stage
NEW YORK -- "Shrek," the tale of a lovable green ogre, was one of the biggest movies of the last several years. And its sequel was equally successful.
So what is left to conquer?
Broadway, says Sam Mendes, director of the Academy-Award-winning "American Beauty" and creative producer of the upcoming stage version of "Shrek."
Workshops of the musical will be held sometime in 2005, according to Mendes, whose Scamp Film and Theatre Ltd., will co-produce the musical, along with DreamWorks, which did the movies. No timetable has been set for the Broadway opening.
Jason Moore, who directed the Tony-winning musical "Avenue Q," is set to direct, while the book will be written by David Lindsay-Abaire, author of such offbeat comedies as "Fuddy Meers," "Kimberly Akimbo" and "Wonder of the World." A composer and lyricist are to been named.
Today's birthdays
Singer Anita O'Day is 85. Former Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., is 83. Rock-and-roll performer Chuck Berry is 78. Sportscaster Keith Jackson is 76. Actor Peter Boyle is 69. Football coach Mike Ditka is 65. Actor Joe Morton is 57. Playwright Wendy Wasserstein is 54. Actress Pam Dawber is 53. Author Terry McMillan is 53. Tennis player Martina Navratilova is 48. Actor Jean-Claude Van Damme is 44. Jazz musician Wynton Marsalis is 43. Actress Erin Moran is 43. Actor Vincent Spano is 42. Rock musician Tim Cross (Sponge) is 38. Tennis player Michael Stich is 36. Singer Nonchalant is 31. Rock musician Peter Svenson (The Cardigans) is 30. Country singer Josh Gracin is 24. Country musician Jesse Littleton (Marshall Dyllon) is 23. Actor Tyler Posey is 13.