Actor is hospitalized

Actor is hospitalized

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Owen Wilson was reported in good condition Monday, a day after he was taken from his home by ambulance, a hospital spokeswoman said. “I respectfully ask that the media allow me to receive care and heal in private during this difficult time,” the 38-year-old actor said in a statement released through publicist Ina Treciokas. Wilson was at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, said hospital spokeswoman Cynthia Harding. He was initially taken to St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. It wasn’t known why Wilson was hospitalized, but a neighbor said a police car, firetruck and ambulance were outside the actor’s gated house around noon Sunday.

Spector’s lawyer is out

LOS ANGELES — Phil Spector’s often-absent lead lawyer, Bruce Cutler, announced Monday that he is leaving the music producer’s murder case because of “a difference of opinion between Mr. Spector and me on strategy.” Cutler made the announcement as the trial resumed for what was expected to be the last day of testimony. It wasn’t immediately clear if he quit or if Spector fired him. Defense attorney Roger Rosen has stepped in as lead lawyer. Spector, 67, is charged with killing actress Lana Clarkson in his Alhambra mansion Feb. 3, 2003. The defense maintains that Clarkson, 40, was depressed and shot herself.

Commemorating Blakey

PITTSBURGH — Art Blakey has been honored with a historical marker that will be placed at his boyhood home in the city’s Hill District. Musicians followed Sunday’s unveiling ceremony with nearly two hours of music, including some of the jazz drummer’s work. “Pittsburgh played a part in that legendary history of jazz culture, [and] placement of this historical marker ... will build on a rich tradition,” said state Sen. Jim Ferlo. Blakey, a one-man “musical university” who nurtured stars such as Wynton Marsalis and Chuck Mangione, died of lung cancer in 1990 at age 71. He played most of his career with The Jazz Messengers, the band that came together under his leadership in 1954.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Ben Gazzara is 77. Actor David Soul is 64. Baseball manager Lou Piniella is 64. Singer Wayne Osmond (The Osmonds) is 56. Country singer Shania Twain is 42. Actor Jack Black is 38. Actor Jason Priestley is 38. Country singer LeAnn Rimes is 25.