Lennon lyrics are sold at auction for $833,654

Lennon lyrics are sold at auction for $833,654

LONDON — Christie’s auction house has sold John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to “Give Peace a Chance” for $833,654.

The lyrics were written during Lennon’s 1969 Bed-in protest for peace at the Queens Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal. Christie’s spokeswoman Zoe Schoon said Lennon gave the sheet to 16-year-old Gail Renard during the eight-day Bed-in.

Lennon wrote the lyrics and recorded the song in the hotel room with about 50 guests, who included singer Petula Clark and beat poet Allen Ginsberg.

Hawke, girlfriend wed

NEW YORK — Ethan Hawke has married girlfriend Ryan Shawhughes, the actor’s publicist said Thursday.

The couple, who are expecting a baby, were married last month in New York City, Mara Buxbaum said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. “No further details are available,” Buxbaum said.

Hawke, 37, has two children from his marriage to Uma Thurman.

Bruce Lee museum in old home proposed

HONG KONG — A developer who owns Bruce Lee’s old home in Hong Kong lobbied the government Thursday to turn the property into a museum.

Yu Pang-lin met Thursday with Hong Kong’s commerce and economic development secretary about his plans for the two-story house, currently used as an hourly motel.

The 86-year-old developer-turned-philanthropist had put the property on sale to raise money for victims of the recent earthquake in China’s Sichuan province, but changed his mind after fans of the late martial-arts star expressed worries about the building’s possible destruction.

Davis awarded damages in defamation lawsuit

SYDNEY, Australia — Judy Davis was awarded $134,000 in damages Friday from a newspaper that ridiculed her as heartless for opposing a plan to erect floodlights in a park near the actress’ harborside home in Sydney.

New South Wales state Supreme Court Judge Peter McClellan ruled that February 2006 articles in The Daily Telegraph had hurt the two-time Oscar nominee’s reputation and personal standing in the community by implying she was selfish and unreasonable.

Printing that Davis “was a heartless person in being indifferent to the risk of injury to hundreds of children, would inevitably diminish her reputation in the eyes of many people,” McClellan said in his judgment.

Davis, 53, had sued the Telegraph’s publisher Nationwide News Pty. Ltd., for articles about her behavior at a local council meeting.

Today’s birthdays

Actor Patrick Stewart is 68. Actor Robert Forster (“Banyon”) is 67. Singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn of The Byrds is 66. Actor Harrison Ford is 66. Actor-comedian Cheech Marin is 62. Actor-director Cameron Crowe is 51. Country singer-songwriter Victoria Shaw is 46. Actor Michael Jace (“The Shield”) is 43. Drummer Will Champion of Coldplay is 30.