newsmakers

newsmakers

Mel Gibson booked on battery charge

LOS ANGELES

California authorities say Mel Gibson was booked and released on a misdemeanor battery charge as part of the criminal case involving his former girlfriend.

Jail records show the actor-director turned himself in Wednesday to the El Segundo Police Department.

He was fingerprinted, and his mug shot was taken, a requirement of a plea deal that resulted in his being on probation for three years and attending a year of domestic-violence counseling.

The 55-year-old Oscar winner was accused of striking his then-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva during a January 2010 fight, but his no-contest plea last Friday did not include an admission of guilt.

Gibson opted to turn himself in on the same night his film “The Beaver” premiered at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas.

Middleton’s dress sells for $125,871

LONDON

A revealing piece of royal history was sold Thursday for $125,871 when an unidentified buyer bought the infamous see-through dress Kate Middleton wore back in 2002 when she and Prince William were university friends.

Some reports maintain that the sight of Middleton in the transparent dress as she walked down the catwalk at a charity fashion show helped convince William that she was someone he wanted to get to know better.

Whether or not the see-through black dress was a major factor, they soon became boyfriend and girlfriend, starting a long-term romance that will bring them to the altar of Westminster Abbey on April 29.

The dress was supposed to be a skirt, but Middleton wore it as a dress showing her black underwear beneath.

It was bought by an unidentified male British buyer at a London auction Thursday.

No one would mistake the dress for high fashion. It was put up for sale by designer Charlotte Todd, who did not go into fashion but works at an aquarium.

“I’m completely shocked. I need to sit down and get my head round it,” Todd, 31, said.

Singer Ferlin Husky dies at age 85

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Ferlin Husky, a pioneering country-music entertainer in the 1950s and early ’60s known for hits such as “Wings of a Dove” and “Gone,” died Thursday. He was 85.

The 2010 Country Music Hall of Fame inductee died at his home, hall spokeswoman Tina Wright said. He had a history of heart problems and related ailments.

With his resonant voice and good looks, Husky was one of the most versatile entertainers to emerge from country music. He was a singer, songwriter, guitarist, actor and even a comedian whose impersonations ranged from Bing Crosby to Johnny Cash.

He was one of the first country musicians to bring the genre to television and helped spread its popularity in booming post-World War II California, an important step in country’s quest for a national audience.

He said in a 2010 interview with The Associated Press that he was buoyed by his Hall of Fame induction because he worried he’d been forgotten as his health failed over the years.

“The main thing I’m proud of, this is for my family and for the many people who want to see me go in there before I die,“ he said. ”It’s a great honor.”

Associated Press