Mary-Kate Olsen: Ledger was a friend

Mary-Kate Olsen:
Ledger was a friend

NEW YORK — Mary-Kate Olsen calls Heath Ledger a “friend” in a brief statement released Friday, the first word from the “Full House” star since the Australian-born actor’s death. Released by her publicist, the statement, in its entirety, reads: “Heath was a friend. His death is a tragic loss. My thoughts are with his family during this very difficult time.” Police said the masseuse who found Ledger’s body Tuesday spent nine minutes making three calls to Olsen before dialing 911 for help. The masseuse called Olsen a fourth time after paramedics arrived. At some point during the frenzy, Olsen, who was in California, summoned her personal security guards to the apartment to help, police said. Police told The Associated Press on Friday that they do not want to interview the actress in connection with the calls. Olsen’s whereabouts were unknown Friday. A private viewing was scheduled for Friday at the Frank E. Campbell funeral home in Manhattan, and Ledger’s family was flying to the U.S. from his native Australia.

Suspect: Saudi ordered
theft of Picasso painting

SAO PAULO, Brazil — A suspect in last month’s brazen theft of two paintings by Pablo Picasso and Candido Portinari told detectives the paintings were to be delivered to a Saudi collector, authorities said Friday. Picasso’s “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” and “O Lavrador de Cafe” by Portinari, an influential Brazilian artist, were stolen Dec. 20 from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art by three men who used a crowbar and car jack to force open one of the museum’s steel doors. The framed paintings were found Jan. 8, covered in plastic and leaning against a wall in a house on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, South America’s largest city. The suspect, Moises Manoel de Lima Sobrinho, who briefly hosted a cooking show on a local TV channel, provided the information after he turned himself in Thursday, but a public safety department spokeswoman said she did not know whether Lima Sobrinho named the Saudi collector.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Paul Newman is 83. Cartoonist Jules Feiffer is 79. Sportscaster-actor Bob Uecker is 73. Singer Jean Knight is 65. Activist Angela Davis is 64. Rock musician Corky Laing (Mountain) is 60. Actor David Strathairn is 59. Singer Lucinda Williams is 55. Rock singer-musician Eddie Van Halen is 53. Reggae musician Norman Hassan (UB40) is 50. Actress-comedian Ellen DeGeneres is 50. Hockey star Wayne Gretzky is 47. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jazzie B. (Soul II Soul) is 45. Gospel singer Kirk Franklin is 38. Rock musician Chris Hesse (Hoobastank) is 34. Actress Sarah Rue is 30. Country musician Michael Martin (Marshall Dyllon) is 25.