newsmakers

newsmakers

Bone-marrow drive for ‘Lion King’ star

NEW YORK

A bone-marrow drive for an 11-year-old “Lion King” star with leukemia has turned out to be one of the hottest matinees on Broadway.

Some 385 people registered as bone-marrow donors Sunday in hopes of helping Shannon Tavarez beat leukemia.

Shannon played the role of Young Nala the lion cub in “The Lion King” for seven months before she was diagnosed with the life-threatening blood cancer in April.

Her best shot at recovering and returning to the theater is a bone marrow transplant, which requires a genetic match.

The bone-marrow registry DKMS had a bone marrow drive Sunday at St. Malachy’s Roman Catholic Church in the theater district.

Shannon won the role of Young Nala in an open audition — her first ever.

NY man says ankle monitor is for Lohan

BUFFALO, N.Y

Border agents say a New York man tried to explain away the ankle monitor he was wearing while returning from Canada by claiming it was a show of support for actress Lindsay Lohan.

Customs and Border Protection officers say they found the bracelet around Eugene Todie’s ankle July 9 after he tried to re-enter the United States using someone else’s passport. They say he’s on probation and not supposed to leave the country.

They say Todie told them a probation-officer friend gave him the bracelet to wear for Lohan, who’s had to wear an alcohol ankle monitor. Record checks showed the Buffalo man is on probation for criminal contempt.

Todie appeared in federal court July 13 on misuse of a passport and lying charges and must return with a lawyer Tuesday. There’s no telephone listing for him.

Gabor to have hip replacement surgery

LOS ANGELES

Zsa Zsa Gabor will have surgery to replace the hip she broke when she fell out of bed in her Bel Air home, her publicist said Sunday.

John Blanchette said the 93-year-old actress will undergo the procedure today.

Gabor remained in a Los Angeles hospital Sunday with her husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, and other family members by her side.

She was watching television in her Bel Air home when she reached to answer the phone and tumbled to the floor, according to Blanchette.

“She was watching her favorite show, ‘Jeopardy,’ when the phone rang,” he said. “She reached over to pick it up and fell.”

He said that several bones were broken, but that he didn’t know any other details of her injuries.

Von Anhalt called an ambulance, and Gabor was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

The hospital said early Sunday that family members were with her but did not disclose any other details.

The actress is partially paralyzed from a 2002 car accident that required her to use a wheelchair. She also reportedly had a stroke in 2005.

Gabor, a native of Hungary, appeared in films ranging from “Moulin Rouge” in 1952 to “Queen of Outer Space” in 1958. She also appeared on TV specials and game shows and as a guest on several television series, often playing herself.