Survivor describes ordeal

Survivor describes ordeal
NEW YORK -- Petra Nemcova talks about her harrowing experience and the death of her boyfriend, Simon Atlee, in the pounding waters of the Asian tsunami, in an interview to air on ABC. "There are lots of things which I would love to tell him, but in some way, I also feel that I lost the person closest to me," the 25-year-old supermodel tells Diane Sawyer on "Primetime Live," airing tonight (10 p.m. EST). "And I got a second chance to live. So in a way I feel that I live for both of us ... and I will do my best." Nemcova and Atlee, a 33-year-old British fashion photographer, were vacationing at the resort of Phuket in Thailand when the waves swept through their beach hut on Dec. 26. Nemcova was pulled away from Atlee and eventually clung to a palm tree for nearly eight hours before being rescued. Nemcova, recovering in her native Czech Republic, says her pelvis was breaking "many times, I was just screaming at the top of my lungs." While clinging to the palm tree, Nemcova said, "the hardest thing is just, you know, not knowing if Simon's still somewhere. And needs help." Officials in Thailand said Tuesday that Atlee's body had been found and identified on March 3.
Elizabeth, husband split
LOS ANGELES -- Shannon Elizabeth, who starred in "American Pie," and husband Joseph Reitman have decided to split, People magazine reported Monday. "The couple will remain friends," spokeswoman Nicole King told the magazine. The two continue to share a Los Angeles home, she said. Elizabeth, 31, and Reitman, 36, also an actor, married in June 2002 in a ceremony on a beach in Mexico, People said. They have no children. Reitman has appeared in films starring Elizabeth, including "American Pie 2" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back."
'Cool' landing for Travolta
LONDON -- John Travolta provided his own definition of cool after he flew across the Atlantic in his private jet to attend the London premiere of his new movie, "Be Cool." "Yesterday we left the house, kissed the kids goodbye, then we went into the back yard, got in a jet and flew to London. That was pretty cool," Travolta said Monday. He was accompanied by his wife, Kelly Preston. Travolta plays mobster-turned-movie producer Chili Palmer in "Be Cool," the sequel to 1995's "Get Shorty." The film reunites him with Uma Thurman, with whom he shared a famous dance scene in "Pulp Fiction."
Thompson remembered
ASPEN, Colo. -- Johnny Depp and Bill Murray, who both portrayed Hunter S. Thompson in films, joined Sean Penn, Jack Nicholson and others over the weekend to remember the gonzo journalist at a private memorial. Depp, who played the part of Thompson in "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas," read a passage from the book in which Thompson rues the end of the '60s, according to a Rocky Mountain News reporter. The reporter was given permission by Thompson's family after Saturday's memorial to report on the event. The eccentric Thompson, 67, shot himself at his home near Aspen on Feb. 20 after weeks of pain from a host of physical problems that included a broken leg and a hip replacement.
Today's birthdays
Author Mickey Spillane is 87. Actress Joyce Van Patten is 71. Actor-comedian Marty Ingels is 69. Country singer Mickey Gilley is 69. TV personality Charles Gibson is 62. Chess player Bobby Fischer is 62. Actress Trish Van Devere is 60. Singer Jeffrey Osborne is 57. Country musician Jimmie Fadden (The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 57. Actress Jaime Lyn Bauer is 56. Newscaster Faith Daniels is 48. Actor-director Lonny Price is 46. Actress Linda Fiorentino is 45. Actress Juliette Binoche is 41. Rock musician Robert Sledge (Ben Folds Five) is 37. Rapper C-Murder is 34. Actor Emmanuel Lewis is 34. Actor Kerr Smith is 33. Rapper Chingy is 25. Actress Brittany Snow is 19. Rapper Bow Wow is 18. Actor Luis Armand Garcia is 13.
From Vindicator wire reports