newsmakers

newsmakers

Gotti grandson tries his hand at music

NEW YORK

The grandson of mobster “Dapper Don” John Gotti is launching a music career and says his album will include a tribute to the late Gambino crime family head. Carmine Agnello has dropped his given name and is recording a hip-hop album as Carmine Gotti.

The 24-year-old says he’s no longer the kid seen on the A&E reality show “Growing Up Gotti,” starring his mom, Victoria Gotti. He calls himself “matured” and “clean-cut.” He says his memory of his grandfather is of someone who was always there for him and his family. John Gotti died in 2002 while serving a life sentence for murder and racketeering. Carmine Gotti’s debut album is due out this summer. He also has cameo appearances in new videos for rappers Khia and Fat Joe.

Veteran soap actress dies at age 91

NEW YORK

Actress Helen Wagner, who played mild-mannered Nancy Hughes on the CBS soap opera “As the World Turns” for more than a half-century and spoke its first words, has died at age 91. She died Saturday, said the show’s New York-based production company, Tele- Next Media Inc.

Wagner opened “As the World Turns” when it premiered April 2, 1956, with the words: “Good morning, dear.” She held the Guinness World Record for playing the same role on television for the longest amount of time, 54 years, TeleNext Media said.

She was still part of the cast, though with a small presence, in December 2009, when CBS announced that “As the World Turns” was being canceled and its last episode would air in September 2010.

Singer Chely Wright announces she’s gay

WASHINGTON

Country singer Chely Wright is the latest celebrity to come out. Wright tells People she’s gay and that nothing in her life has been more magical than the moment she decided to reveal her sexuality.

The 39-year-old says she experienced a community in which homosexuality was shunned, and she “hid everything” for her music. Wright is releasing her memoir, “Like Me,” and her new album, “Lifted Off the Ground,” this week.

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