newsmakers

newsmakers

Rocky’s house in South Philly is for sale

PHILADELPHIA

Want to live like Rocky Balboa? The Italian Stallion’s house is on the market.

The home in South Philadelphia was featured in the 1979 movie “Rocky II.”

In the sequel to the Oscar-winning smash, the fictional boxer played by Sylvester Stallone buys the house after he loses a bout to Apollo Creed but gains fame.

The 1,036-square-foot row house has three bedrooms and 11/2 bathrooms. Asking price: $139,000.

Real-estate agent Joe Bianco says the home is for sale because the woman who lived there since the time of filming recently died.

He says the house was chosen for “Rocky II” because the filmmakers “happened to like the front of the home and knocked on the door.”

Country music’s Jack Greene dies

NASHVILLE, Tenn.

Jack Greene, a longtime Grand Ole Opry star who earned fame with the hit “There Goes My Everything,” has died in Nashville at 83.

The song showed off his deep voice, made him a star and earned him the single of the year and male vocalist of the year awards from the Country Music Association in 1967.

Grand Ole Opry spokeswoman Jessie Schmidt said Friday that Greene died in his sleep Thursday night at home from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.

Greene performed regularly on the Grand Ole Opry beginning in 1967.

His other hits, mostly in the late 1960s, included “All the Time,” “You Are My Treasure,” “Until My Dreams Come True,” “What Locks the Door” and “Statue of a Fool.”

He was nominated for a Grammy award three- straight years.

Gomez in ‘awkward’ transition with film

LOS ANGELES

“A little awkward” is how Selena Gomez describes her transition from Disney girl to Disney girl gone wild in the new R-rated independent film “Spring Breakers,” in which she plays a bikini-clad and heavily armed college student bent on a good time with three friends and some drugs, sex and violence.

“I am getting a little bit older, so I wanted to push myself and kind of get into a little bit more of an indie world. And it was a really great experience for me. And at the same time it has been, of course, a little awkward, but great,” the 20-year-old Gomez said Thursday at the film’s Hollywood premiere.

Known for her role on Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place,” Gomez actually began moving to a faster track as Justin Bieber’s now ex-girlfriend. “Honestly, it’s been a weird transition. You never really know what’s right or wrong, and you can only do the best you can,” she said.

Directed by art-house favorite Harmony Korine and also starring James Franco and Vanessa Hudgens of Disney’s “High School Musical” fame, “Spring Breakers” follows four young women on a Florida-coast vacation romp they financed with a diner robbery.

Elton John cancels concert in Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Elton John has canceled a concert set for Friday night in Birmingham.

The British singer and piano player was supposed to perform at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex Arena. Ticketmaster announced the cancellation on its website hours before.

Officials at the arena say medical reasons are being cited for the cancellation, but they don’t have details.

A photo on the arena’s Facebook page shows the singer’s piano already was in place and ready for the show.

Ticketmaster says it is offering refunds for ticket purchasers.

Vindicator wire services