Report of Depp’s death is hoax, publicist says

Report of Depp’s death is hoax, publicist says

LOS ANGELES — A publicist says Johnny Depp is still very much alive after being the subject of an online hoax. Robin Baum, who represents the 46-year-old actor, said Monday that Internet reports of Depp’s death over the weekend in France were a horrible rumor. Baum calls the hoax the work of an irresponsible and unconscionable person, especially since children and families are involved. Depp has two children with his partner, Vanessa Paradis.

Damaged Picasso painting to be restored at Met

NEW YORK — An important Picasso painting accidentally damaged by a visitor last week will be repaired in time for a large exhibition of the artist’s works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in April. “The Actor,” a painting from Picasso’s rose period, will be restored at the museum’s on-site conservation laboratory, the Met said Monday. The museum described the damage as an irregular 6-inch tear to the lower right-hand corner of the painting, Conservation and curatorial experts “fully expect” that the restoration “will be unobtrusive,” the museum said in a statement released Sunday. The artwork is nearly 6 feet by 4 feet, and depicts a standing acrobat in a pink costume and blue knee-high boots striking a pose against an abstracted backdrop.

Longtime actor on ‘All My Children’ dies

LOS ANGELES — James Mitchell, who for nearly three decades played gruff patriarch Palmer Cortland on the ABC soap opera “All My Children,” has died, his longtime partner said Sunday night.

Mitchell died Friday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, partner Albert Wolsky said. Mitchell had suffered from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease for years, complicated by a recent bout of pneumonia.

Mitchell appeared in more than 300 episodes of the popular soap from 1979 until a 40th anniversary episode this month. He was a regular on the show until 2008.

Mitchell enjoyed playing the icy, wealthy Palmer, who wielded power over his children and the show’s fictional town of Pine Valley.

Today’s birthdays

Sports announcer-actor Bob Uecker is 75. Actor David Strathairn is 61. Singer Lucinda Williams is 57. Guitarist Eddie Van Halen is 55. Comedian Ellen DeGeneres is 52. Gospel singer Kirk Franklin is 40.