Austrian playboy chooses Carmen Electra as date

Austrian playboy choosesCarmen Electra as date
VIENNA, Austria -- An Austrian playboy who keeps the Viennese in suspense each winter over his date to the lavish Opera Ball says he's taking former "Baywatch" star Carmen Electra this year. Vienna businessman Richard Lugner confirmed Tuesday that Electra, who is married to former Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro, will be his guest to the Feb. 23 ball, the most prestigious event on Vienna's society calendar. Lugner's past dates have included another ex-"Baywatch" star, Pamela Anderson, actress Andie MacDowell, former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, singer-actress-model Grace Jones and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson. Tickets to the annual ball cost about $265 and usually sell out months in advance. With extras such as gowns and tuxedos, flowers, limousines, champagne and lavish dinners, the night typically runs $1,225 or more.
Pressly pulled from manyfor her 'Earl' character
PASADENA, Calif. -- Jaime Pressly says Joy, her breakout character on NBC's "My Name Is Earl," is more than a dozen characters from the South rolled into one. Specifically, Pressly says she modeled the way Joy talks from three states: a nasally tone she's heard from women in Virginia, the way she's seen some Arkansas women talk out of the side of their mouths, and her own fast-talking North Carolina accent. Pressly's feisty character, Earl's ex-wife, has become a hero for women who approach Pressly and say Joy says exactly what they would like to say. "I've thoroughly enjoyed playing her from the day I set foot on that set," the 28-year-old actress said recently. The range she's shown with Joy -- a gutsy woman who sometimes shows her insecurities -- has enabled her to break down stereotypes about her as an actress, she said. "They've never looked at me as someone who could play a vulnerable role," she said.
Actor on MTV show facescharge in fatal hit-skip
NEW YORK -- An actor who appeared in the MTV series "Undressed" has been charged with fatally striking a graduate student with his vehicle and then fleeing the scene. Wole Parks, who played Brett in the sixth season of the soap opera, pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and third-degree aggravated, unlicensed operation, officials said. The collision early Sunday killed 25-year-old Hannah Engle, a nonprofit management and Judaic studies student at New York University. Parks, 23, had a previous drunk-driving conviction and a suspended license, said prosecutor Jonathan Eisenberg. An officer on the scene claimed he smelled alcohol on the driver's breath and that Parks had an open can that smelled of alcohol in the car, according to the criminal complaint. The actor was "in shock" when he fled the crash, defense lawyer Marcia Seckler said at the Manhattan Criminal Court hearing. He later turned himself in at a police precinct.
Notable death
Janette Carter, the daughter of two members of country music's Carter Family who helped preserve folk and country music, died Sunday. She was 82.
Today's birthdays
Journalist-author Edwin Newman is 87. The former president of Georgia, Eduard Shevardnadze, is 78. Actor Dean Jones is 75. The former president of the Philippines, Corazon Aquino, is 73. Blues singer Etta James is 68. Movie director Tobe Hooper is 63. Actress Leigh Taylor-Young is 62. Actress Jenifer Lewis is 49. Actress Dinah Manoff is 48. Country musician Mike Burch (River Road) is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Kina is 37. Actress China Kantner is 35. Musician Matt Odmark (Jars of Clay) is 32. Actress Mia Kirshner is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Alicia Keys is 25.