NEWSMAKERS

March 19, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

NEWSMAKERS

’50s, ’60s TV star Fess Parker dies

SANTA YNEZ, Calif.

“Davy Crockett” and “Daniel Boone” star-turned-developer and vintner Fess Parker has died. He was 85.

Family spokeswoman Sao Anash says Parker died Thursday morning of natural causes at his Santa Ynez home near the Fess Parker Winery. His death comes on the 84th birthday of his wife of 50 years, Marcella.

Parker became every baby boomer’s idol in the 1950s when he starred as frontiersman Davy Crockett. Kids grabbed up Davy Crockett lunch boxes, toy Old Betsy rifles, buckskin shirts and trademark fur caps. The series theme song — “The Ballad of Davy Crockett” — became a hit with its line “Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee.”

Parker played Daniel Boone in the late-’60s television show. He later became a developer along California’s central coast and grew grapes for prize-winning wines.

Bullock cancels London appearance

LOS ANGELES

Sandra Bullock canceled her appearance at the London premiere of “The Blind Side” days after Internet reports alleged she was having trouble in her marriage and that she had left the couple’s Southern California home. Calls and e-mails to representatives for Bullock and her husband, celebrity motorcycle builder Jesse James, weren’t immediately answered.

People.com said Wednesday that Bullock had left the couple’s home just days before a report of infidelity by her husband surfaced. The couple were last seen together publicly at the Oscars. Though Bullock didn’t specifically thank James in her acceptance speech, they walked hand-in-hand on the red carpet, and he attended numerous award shows leading up to the Oscars with her.

The 45-year-old actress said in a statement by Warner Bros. UK that she cannot attend Tuesday’s premiere for “unforeseen personal reasons.” She canceled her appearance almost two weeks after winning an Oscar for her performance in the movie.

She and James were married in July 2005.