Saturday, September 29, 2012
newsmakers
Parton withdraws from water park
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
Dolly Parton says she won’t be involved in a planned water and snow park project in Nashville.
The country legend’s withdrawal from the project comes after shareholders for Gaylord Entertainment voted to reorganize the company as a real- estate investment trust. The company was going to be a partner in the venture.
The park was touted as a $50 million venture and was projected to open as early as summer 2014.
Parton said Friday that “Gaylord makes decisions that they feel are good for their company and their stockholders, and I have to make decisions based on what is best for me and the Dollywood Company.”
Parton’s Dollywood theme park and Splash Country water park in eastern Tennessee attract about 4 million visitors a year.
Jeanne Cooper still thrives on daytime TV
LOS ANGELES
Betty White isn’t the only woman of a certain, ahem, older age still thriving on television.
Jeanne Cooper is right there with her.
Cooper plays Katherine Chancellor on “The Young and the Restless,” which aired its 10,000th episode Thursday. She joined the CBS soap a few months after it debuted in March 1973, and is its longest-tenured cast member.
Cooper, who turns 84 next month, shows no signs of slowing down.
She said this week: “What would I do? I’m no good at crocheting. My fingers would bleed.”
Like White, who is 90, Cooper authored a book about her career titled “Not Young, Still Restless.”
“The Young and the Restless” has been TV’s top-rated soap since December 1998.
Associated Press