newsmakers

newsmakers

McEntire discusses tragic plane crash

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

More than 20 years after a plane crash killed seven members of her band and her tour manager, Reba McEntire can still clearly see the hotel room she was in when she got the news.

The emotion comes flooding back when she revisits that tragic day in 1991 on “Oprah’s Master Class” on the OWN network tonight. It’s a rare break in composure from the queen of country music.

“I don’t guess it ever quits hurting,” she says on the show, recalling how she tearfully followed husband-manager Narvel Blackstock room to room as he called people to let them know. “It’s the worst thing that’s ever happened in my life.”

From that tragedy, she learned to make each day count and not to put anything off until tomorrow. However, McEntire said after the crash, she built up a wall so she would not get close to anybody, and it took time for her to open up to members of her touring family again. She accepted support from industry friends such as Dolly Parton, who helped her put a new band together, and she took solace in her strong work ethic.

“I had a huge organization, and I needed to continue working, because that’s their paycheck also,” she told The Associated Press in a phone interview from just outside Dublin on Thursday. “I had to take care of the people who are still here. So it wasn’t a thing where I could quit. I had to go on with my life, my career for them, for my family, for my sanity.”

Hard work is a defining theme in McEntire’s life, and it has served her “tremendously” throughout her career. It’s something she learned early on from her father, Clark, when she was put to work as a kid on the family’s ranch in Oklahoma.

‘Hawaii Five-0’ star takes break from show

HONOLULU

A representative for Alex O’Loughlin says the “Hawaii Five-0” star is taking time away from the show to get treated for problems related to pain medication.

Rachael Wesolowski says in a report by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that O’Loughlin “ is taking a short break to receive supervised treatment for prescription pain medication due to a recent shoulder injury.”

Series producer CBS Television Studios and O’Loughlin representatives declined to comment on the nature of O’Loughlin’s injuries or his treatment.

O’Loughlin, who portrays crime fighter Steve McGarrett, is known for doing many of his own stunts on the action-packed show. The paper says he reportedly will be absent for at least one episode.

Philippines: No airport hassle for Taylor Kitsch

MANILA, Philippines

A Philippine official says “Friday Night Lights” star Taylor Kitsch was not hassled at Manila’s airport recently, as the Canadian actor indicated this week.

Kitsch said Wednesday on the “Late Show with David Letterman” that customs officers stopped him at the airport and ordered him back to Japan because his passport didn’t have enough pages to stamp his arrival. He was to finish filming Oliver Stone’s “Savages” in the Philippines.

Kitsch said he was let in only after proving with his iPhone that he was an actor.

Philippine Customs chief Ruffy Biazon wrote in his blog Friday that no airport records show Kitsch visited Manila, and that his officers do not stamp passports.

Kitsch is best known for his role as American football star Tim Riggins on the television series “Friday Night Lights.”

Associated Press