Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Pryor bowl nets thousandsfor animal group in Ohio
SOUTH RUSSELL, Ohio -- A ceramic bowl painted by Richard Pryor raised $7,099 in an online auction benefiting an Ohio animal rights group.
The bowl, in which Pryor painted a self-portrait before he died, was sold to GoldenPalace.com, an Internet-based casino company known for buying items online for charity and publicity, including a grilled cheese sandwich displaying a purported image of the Virgin Mary and Pope Benedict XVI's old Volkswagen.
Pryor sent the bowl to the Geauga Humane Society weeks before his death on Dec. 10. The actor-comedian, who was 65, died of a heart attack. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis.
His profanely personal insights into race relations made him one of Hollywood's biggest stars.
The portrait was surrounded by the painted words, "Little Black Man in Big White World." The side of the bowl has Pryor's signature and drawings of a martini glass, lips and a cigarette.
Members of the group gathered around a computer at a fundraising dinner Saturday night and celebrated as the eBay auction ended.
"Richard and I were both there in spirit and I know he did everything he could to help the auction along," Pryor's widow, Jennifer, said in a statement. "I couldn't be more delighted that he's still helping animals."
South Russell is about 20 miles east of Cleveland.
Anderson buys a condoin Vegas luxury high-rise
LAS VEGAS -- Pamela Anderson has bought a condo at a $1 billion luxury high-rise under construction just west of the Las Vegas Strip, its developer said Monday.
The former "Baywatch" star bought a 2-bedroom penthouse unit with more than 2,000 square feet and views of the Strip facing north, south and east, said Laurence Hallier, chairman of Hallier Properties LLC, which is developing Panorama Towers. Similar units sell for more than $2 million, he said.
"Spiderman" actor Tobey Maguire and "The Aviator" star Leonardo DiCaprio also are reported to have bought into the development, the first tower of which is expected to be complete by midsummer.
Hallier said confidentiality clauses prevented him from disclosing his list of celebrity clients, although Anderson did not impose such a restriction.
On house arrest, rapperawaits murder retrial
GRETNA, La. -- The rapper who once went by the stage name of C-Murder has been put in a house arrest program to await a retrial on a second-degree murder charge.
Corey Miller was freed from jail Monday after posting $500,000 bond on the charge and meeting a $500,000 bond set by a judge in Baton Rouge on two unrelated charges of attempted murder.
Miller was put into a home incarceration program, said Col. John Fortunato, a spokesman for the Jefferson Parish sheriff. During house arrest, Miller will wear a monitor so that authorities can track his whereabouts.
Miller, 35, is charged with the fatal shooting of Steve Thomas, 16, on Jan. 12, 2002, during a fight at a now-closed nightclub in Harvey.
A jury convicted Miller, who faced a mandatory life prison sentence without parole, but a judge tossed the conviction after ruling that prosecutors hid the criminal backgrounds of some state witnesses from the defense.
Authorities in Baton Rouge allege that Miller tried to shoot a nightclub owner and a security guard on Aug. 14, 2001, after he was told he would have to be searched before entering the club.
Today's birthdays
Actor Karl Malden is 94. Pantomimist Marcel Marceau is 83. USA Today founder Allen H. Neuharth is 82. Composer-lyricist Stephen Sondheim is 76. Actor William Shatner is 75. Actor M. Emmet Walsh is 71. Singer-guitarist George Benson is 63. CNN newscaster Wolf Blitzer is 58. Composer Andrew Lloyd Webber is 58. Sportscaster Bob Costas is 54. Actor Matthew Modine is 47. Actress Kellie Williams is 30. Actress Reese Witherspoon is 30. Rock musician John Otto (Limp Bizkit) is 29.