Tuesday, October 18, 2011
newsmakers
‘E! News’ co-host has breast cancer
NEW YORK
“E! News” co-host Giuliana Rancic says she has early stages of breast cancer. The 37-year-old made the announcement Monday on NBC’s “Today” show.
Rancic says the cancer was discovered during a mammogram while she was undergoing a third round of in-vitro fertilization in an effort to get pregnant.
Rancic says she will have surgery this week, followed by 61/2 weeks of radiation therapy. She is married to Bill Rancic, winner of the first season of “The Apprentice.”
Rancic says she still wants to get pregnant because “this baby will have saved my life.”
Clarence Clemons songs to be released
ASBURY PARK, N.J.
Fans of Clarence Clemons will get to hear the Big Man in time for Christmas.
Two Christmas songs recorded by the E Street Band saxophonist will be released at The Wonder Bar in Asbury Park, N.J., on Nov. 18. Clemons died in June at age 69 after a stroke.
Clemons sings the lead vocal on “There’s Still Christmas.” He also recorded a sax version of “The Christmas Song.”
The release party will be headlined by The Nick Clemons Band, which is fronted by Clarence’s son Clarence Clemons III.
Clemons’ booming saxophone solos became a signature sound for the E Street Band on many key songs, especially on Bruce Springsteen’s breakthrough album, “Born to Run.”
Clemons was known as the Big Man for his imposing 6-foot-5-inch, 270-plus-pound frame.
Shannen Doherty marries for 3rd time
NEW YORK
Shannen Doherty has married for the third time. Doherty’s publicist confirms the actress married wedding photographer Kurt Iswarienko on Saturday in Malibu, Calif.
The 40-year-old actress is most famous for her performance as Brenda Walsh on “Beverly Hills 90210.” She reprised the role in the CW “90210” spinoff.
She previously was married briefly to actor Ashley Hamilton in 1993 and Rick Saloman in 2002.
Saloman is known for making a sex videotape with then-girlfriend Paris Hilton that surfaced in 2003.
Iswarienko is a Los Angeles-based photographer who specializes in celebrity portraits.
Flynt brother’s suit alleges wrongful firing
CINCINNATI
The brother of Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt is seeking financial compensation in a lawsuit alleging he was wrongfully fired from his job with his brother’s company.
Jimmy Flynt says his brother stopped paying him his $250,000 annual salary in 2009 as part of an effort to squeeze Jimmy Flynt out of the business.
Larry Flynt’s publicist, Victoria Hurley, declined to comment Monday.
Jimmy Flynt is seeking at least $20 million in compensation and damages in the federal lawsuit filed last week in Cincinnati.
In May, a federal judge ruled that Larry Flynt is the sole owner of his pornography company, and his estranged brother is not entitled to half the business.
U.S. District Judge William Bertelsman said Jimmy Flynt provided no evidence he was ever a partner in the business.
Van Gogh death theory doesn’t sway museum
AMSTERDAM
Experts at the Van Gogh Museum say they remain unconvinced by evidence in a new book that says the 19th-century Dutch artist was accidentally shot by two teenagers and did not die from self-inflicted wounds.
The biography published this week of Vincent van Gogh by Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith says the artist, who suffered chronic depression, claimed to have shot himself to protect the boys and that “he was covering up his own murder.” He died two days later.
Leo Jansen, the museum curator and editor of Van Gogh’s letters, said the biography, “Van Gogh, A Life,” is a “great book.” But experts “cannot yet agree” with the authors’ conclusions about the painter’s death.
Jansen said Monday the book revives enough unanswered questions to warrant another look.
Associated Press