The Daily Blog

Comedian Katt Williams Arrested in Assault on Tractor Driver.

PALMDALE, Calif. (KTLA) — Actor and comedian Katt Williams will be in court Tuesday, after being arrested in a standoff with a tractor driver at a home in Palmdale.

Williams was arrested Saturday afternoon for felony intimidating a witness.Police say several women on the property allegedly pelted a tractor driver with rocks.

When the driver tried to leave the property, Williams allegedly blocked the exit with his SUV, and would not move until Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies arrived.

Deputies arrested the three women for assault with a deadly weapon and Williams for felony of a witness.

James Arness, Iconic ‘Gunsmoke’ Lawman, Dead at 88.

James Arness, a bigger-than-life actor who kept the peace as Marshal Matt Dillon on ‘Gunsmoke’ for its 20-year run, died Friday of natural causes at his home in Brentwood, Calif., his family told the Los Angeles Times. He was 88.

‘Gunsmoke’ debuted on CBS in 1955 and ran until 1975, in the process making Arness one of the more enduring stars on television and the Matt Dillon character one of its most beloved and trusted.

The 6 foot 7 Arness towered over the cast, including Dillon’s deputy, Chester, played by Dennis Weaver. Other supporting stars included Amanda Blake as Kitty and Milburn Stone as Doc Adams.
By the time Arness got the part of Dillon, he had been a WWII combat veteran and appeared in several films, most notably the science-fiction classics ‘Them!’ and ‘The Thing From Another World,’ in which he played an alien.

The Minneapolis native’s younger brother, actor Peter Graves, who died last October, encouraged him to get into acting. He cut his Western teeth in four John Wayne film, including ‘Hondo’ and ‘Big Jim McLain.’

It was Wayne that recommended Arness for ‘Gunsmoke’ and an on-air endorsement from the film great himself. “I knew there was only one man to play in it, James Arness,” Wayne told viewers (watch video below). “He’s a young fella and may be new to some of you. But I’ve worked with him, and I predict he’ll be a big star. So you might as well get used to him, like you’ve had to get used to me.”

The role of Marshal Dillon proved a complex one and became a focus of the show, but Arness is said to have pushed producers to move the focus off him and onto the large ensemble cast.

When ‘Gunsmoke’ ended in 1975, appeared a string of TV shows including the miniseries ‘How The West Was Won’ and in the early 1980s, turned leading man again in cop drama ‘McClain’s Law.’

He brought Matt Dillon back for five ‘Gunsmoke’ movies starting in 1987’s ‘Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.’

Arness is survived by his wife, Janet, two sons and six grandchildren.

‘Grease’ Actor Jeff Conaway Dead at 60.

‘Grease’ actor Jeff Conaway died Friday at age 60, Radar Online reports and The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The news comes just a day after reports that the star would be taken off life support.

Radar calls it “the end a long, sad road of addiction that made him one of Hollywood’s cautionary tales.” Conaway, known for his roles as Bobby Wheeler on ‘Taxi’ and T-Bird Kenickie in 1978’s iconic ‘Grease,’ was a New York native who battled substance abuse for much of his career.

Conaway was checked into an L.A. hospital on May 11. As of May 26, he was reported to have been experiencing no brain activity. A source told Radar that Conaway’s feeding tube had been removed as of Thursday afternoon and that “Jeff is in no pain whatsoever.”

Conaway rocketed to fame in 1978 with his starring role in ‘Grease’ and in the same year began a three-year run on ‘Taxi.’ Roles dried up in the 1980s as his addictions worsened, but Conaway later found steady work on the sci-fi hit ‘Babylon 5.’

Conaway, who had no children, was married twice — once to Olivia Newton-John’s sister Rona from 1980 to 1985, and again to Kerri Young in 1990.

In 2008, a disheveled and unhealthy Conaway joined celebrity doctor Drew Pinsky’s VH1 show, ‘Celebrity Rehab,’ to address his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Sadly, his sobriety attempt failed and last year, the actor was injured in a fall while under the influence of OxyContin and methadone.

This time, in May of 2011, it was originally reported that Conaway was hospitalized due to a prescription drug overdose, but Pinsky later insisted the star was suffering from pneumonia and sepsis, a dangerous blood infection. Pinsky tweeted on May 21, “We all need to pray for him. Not doing well today suddenly.”

Of his televised problems with addiction, Conaway told THR in 2009, “I think people are just enamored with other people’s problems because they have enough of their own, and they want to stop thinking about their own and think about somebody else’s for a while. I think that’s what television is all about, really.”

Earlier this year, Conaway and on-and-off-again girlfriend Victoria Spinoza filed restraining orders against each other. The night before Conaway was hospitalized, Spinoza paid him a visit that ignited controversy within the star’s family.

Conaway’s sister, Carla Shreve, filed a May 18 restraining order against Spinoza, alleging that after a recent breakup, Conaway feared for his life.

“He had just secured an apartment … and was calling friends and family anxious to start this part of his life without her,” reads Shreve’s restraining order request, obtained by PEOPLE.

The magazine calls Conaway’s rocky relationship with Spinoza “volatile,” noting restraining orders each filed against the other earlier in 2011. Spinoza’s friend and spokesperson, Aubry Fisher, tells PEOPLE Spinoza cared for Conaway for seven years and deems the new restraining order “horrible and wrong.”

“When Vikki went to visit Jeff in the hospital, she sat by his side,” Fisher said, referencing the day before the restraining order went through. “They were in the process of reconciling.”

Former Child Star Jackie Cooper Dies at Age 88.

Jackie Cooper, the first child actor to receive an Academy Award nomination and the gruff editor in the four Christopher Reeve ‘Superman’ films, has died at age 88.

Cooper died Tuesday at a convalescent home in Santa Monica. “He just kinda died of old age,” his attorney, Roger Licht, told Reuters. “He wore out.”

Thanks to the Hal Roach ‘Our Gang’ comedies, the actor was the most widely recognized child star of the early 1930s and so popular he was known as “America’s Boy.”

Cooper acted in 15 ‘Our Gang’ short films between 1929 and 1931 before his uncle, director Norman Taurog, cast him in the title role in ‘Skippy.’ Cooper received his first Oscar nomination for the role at age 9 and is still the youngest performer to be nominated for Best Actor.As he grew older, he found parts harder to come by and, after a wartime stint in the Navy, eventually left Hollywood for Broadway.

While in New York, he worked in live TV as actor, producer and director of ‘The People’s Choice,’ in which he played a city councilman with a talking basset hound, and ‘Hennesey,’ as a naval medical officer.

In the 1960s, he transitioned behind the scenes to serve as vice president of program development at Columbia Pictures Television. He began to direct episodic TV, wining Emmys for his work on ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘The White Shadow.’

He returned to the big screen in 1978 as Perry White, editor of the Daily Planet, in ‘Superman,’ a role he reprised in the three sequels.

He retired from showbiz in 1989, saying, “I’m 67 and worked 64 years.” Soured by his experiences as a child actor, Cooper discouraged his four children from acting.

Porn Star Health Clinic Closes After Slew Of Controversies.

LOS ANGELES — A health clinic that catered to porn stars in the San Fernando Valley has closed following a series of recent controversies, including complaints from an HIV-infected actor that he received inadequate care.

The Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation is now shuttered, according to Free Speech Coalition executive director Diane Duke. Her group is a trade association for porn.

The clinic was a preferred medical provider of many actors in the multibillion-dollar porn industry, providing a discreet environment for frequent HIV tests.

There is at least one other clinic that caters to porn stars, including Talent Testing Service, which is headquartered in Florida and has a clinic in Northridge.

The shuttered clinic’s executive director, former porn star Sharon Mitchell, told industry news outlet AVN that the clinic is officially closed “over financial hardship,” declining further comment.

Calls to the clinic went unanswered and a call to the clinic’s lawyer was not immediately returned.

Last month, the clinic was accused of medical privacy violations after patient information appeared on a website. At the time, the clinic said substantial amounts of the information posted to an online wiki were not available in their database.

The clinic faced criticism from state and local health officials for failing to cooperate with an investigation into porn actor Derrick Burts’ HIV-positive diagnosis there in December.

The 24-year-old said he contracted the disease after a few months in the business, and instead of getting information from the clinic about how to get follow-up care, he was told to avoid media, change his phone number and leave town.

Later in December, the clinic was forced to close for improper state licensure, and reopened in February after getting its paperwork in order.

Burts came forward through the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, an advocacy group has long campaigned for the use of condoms in pornography.

“Performers were poorly served by (the clinic) and are poorly served by an industry that places profits above worker safety,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein.

Duke said the trade group’s board of directors will brainstorm solutions to continue providing STD screenings and care for performers. Duke said groups like AHF and public health officials have targeted the clinic for political gain and have lost sight of the service the clinic provided.

“If they were really concerned about the health and welfare of the performers, they would have been much more supportive (of the clinic),” said Duke.

Ja Rule Faces Jail Time for Guilty Plea on Tax Charges.

Rapper and actor Ja Rule, whose real name is Jeffrey Atkins, pleaded guilty Tuesday to failing to pay federal income taxes on more than $3 million earned between 2004 and 2006. He faces up to three years in prison for the charges, as well as penalties.

The plea agreement comes after an investigation into Atkins’ failure to pay taxes from 2004 through 2008. Assuming that Atkins meets the conditions of his plea agreement, the government will drop two additional counts against him for failing to pay taxes in 2007 and 2008.

Atkins’ income in 2007 and 2008 was significantly less than in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Atkins’ income peaked in 2005 after the November 2004 release of Ja Rule’s sixth studio album R.U.L.E, which debuted at No. 7, selling 166,000 copies in its first week of release. The album’s lead single was “Wonderful,” featuring R. Kelly and Ashanti — it peaked on the Billboard Top 100 Singles chart at No. 5.

This isn’t Atkins’ first run-in with the law. In 2003, he allegedly punched a man in Canada; the matter was settled out of court. The following year, Atkins was arrested for driving with a suspended license and possession of marijuana.

In 2007, Atkins was arrested again on drug possession charges, along with fellow rapper Lil Wayne. Police also found a gun at the scene; Atkins eventually pleaded guilty to the weapons charges and received a two-year jail sentence. Atkins has not served time on the weapons charge; his attorney is expected to ask to have the tax evasion sentence served concurrently with the weapons sentence.

Atkins has promised, through his attorney, to pay the delinquent taxes. He’s scheduled to be sentenced June 13 on the three tax evasion charges and faces up to a year in prison and $100,000 in fines on each count.

Atkins’ attorney has said, about the rapper’s problems, “He’s been working on addressing these issues for some time, and he’s taking full responsibility.”

James Franco in Early Talks for ‘Oz’.

Is there anything James Franco can’t do?

The 32-year-old isn’t just an Academy Award nominated actor, he’s the upcoming Oscar host, proven soap star, knockout drag queen, published author and a soon-to-be professor of a class about himself. (Way to make the rest of us feel like underachievers, James.)

And now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the renaissance Hollywood man is in talks to star in ‘Oz, the Great and Powerful,’ Disney’s prequel-like take on ‘The Wizard of Oz.’

Robert Downey Jr. was slated to play the character, but that fell through two and a half weeks ago. Then Johnny Depp was up for the elusive part, but the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ actor passed on the opportunity Thursday night.

And now it looks like it’s the former ‘Freaks and Geeks’ star who’s being considered to play the young illusionist bound for the land of Oz.
Sources claim no dealmaking has begun and the casting is far from a done deal. The film ‘Oz’ doesn’t have a start or release date yet, but the production is said to be a high priority for the studio.

Franco is currently nominated for the ‘Best Actor’ category of the Academy Awards for his role in ‘127 Hours.’ If the guy can convincingly act out amputating his own limb, he can totally pull off the role of being a majestic wizard in-the-making!

Hugh Jackman Packs on ‘6,000 Calories a Day’ for Role.

Hugh Jackman’s diet these days is rivaling that of an Olympic athlete — and it’s all for an upcoming flick, according to the LA Times. Director Darren Aronofsky has reportedly asked the actor to bulk up for the next installment of ‘Wolverine.’

“Right now, I’m at 210 [pounds],” Jackman said. “I was at 190 … and [Aronofsky] said with the last one, ‘Hey you looked great, but you’re so tall that in those long shots you looked kind of like Clint Eastwood, and that’s not Wolverine.’”

This isn’t the first time the director has asked an actor to extremely alter his or her weight for a role. He recently had Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis shed a whopping 20 pounds for their roles in ‘Black Swan.’ But for his new role, Jackman needed to pack on every pound he could.
“[Aronofsky] said that Wolverine, in the comics, is powerful, stocky, you know, he’s short and thick. So he said, ‘I want you to go there, get bigger,’” Jackman said, adding that his new diet isn’t easy. “It’s 6,000 calories a day, it’s rough.”

The actor claims he’s going for a “bulldog” look to accompany his Wolverine character, referencing boxer Mike Tyson as inspiration.

“Sometimes [Tyson] was a full foot shorter than his opponents and bent over [with this] massive build … There’s real power,” he said, joking that this role may not be best for his health. “If I have a massive heart attack first, well, you tell everyone what I was going for.”

Gary Collins, ‘Six Million Dollar Man’ Actor, Arrested in $59 Dine and Dash.

Gary Collins, a 72-year-old actor with a long Hollywood career, was charged Tuesday night following an alleged dine-and-dash — over a $59 bill.

On Tuesday night, Collins was eating at Jazzeppi’s, an Italian restaurant in Biloxi, Miss., when he apparently skipped out on the $59.35 check. Jazzeppi’s employees tried to get him to pay the bill, even following him into the parking lot, but Collins headed home, where police caught up with him. Collins was expected to have a court hearing on the charge today.

Collins began working steadily in the entertainment business in the early 1960s, appearing on numerous TV shows. He starred in a ’70s thriller series, “The Sixth Sense,” and did stints on “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Perry Mason,” “The Love Boat” and “Charlie’s Angels.” In the ’80s, he hosted a syndicated talk show called “Hour Magazine.” Later, he showed up briefly on “Baywatch Nights,” “Saved by the Bell: The New Class” and other shows.

Unfortunately, this isn’t Collins’ first brush with the law. Last month, he paid a $500 fine for leaving the scene of an accident, and he has previously been caught driving under the influence.

Here was Gary Collins in a scene with Joan Crawford on his show “The Sixth Sense.”

Veteran actor Bill Erwin has died of natural causes at 96.

Veteran actor Bill Erwin has died of natural causes at 96. Erwin’s name might not be familiar, but millions know his legendary performance as grumpy Sid Fields on ‘Seinfeld.’

Erwin received an Emmy nomination for his performance in ‘The Old Man’ episode. In the show, Jerry Seinfeld volunteers to spend time with Fields through the Foster-A-Grandpa Program, but things don’t quite go as planned.

Erwin is also well-remembered for his role as Arthur the bellman in the 1980 fantasy film ‘Somewhere in Time.’ His television credits include roles on the ‘The Twilight Zone,’ ‘The Andy Griffith Show,’ ‘Gunsmoke,’ ‘ER’ and ‘The Golden Girls.’The Los Angeles Times reports that William Lindsey Erwin was born Dec. 2, 1914, in Honey Grove, Texas, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism at the University of Texas at Austin in 1935. He performed theater in California for decades and received a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award in 1983 for his performance in ‘Old Friends’ at the Actors Forum.

Erwin’s son tells the Times the actor died Wednesday at his home in Studio City of age-related causes.