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Sir Roger Moore: James Bond actor ‘beaten up by first two wives’

In a candid television interview, the 84 year-old claimed his first wife, Doorn Van Steyn, whom he married in 1946 aged 19, repeatedly punched and scratched him and also threw a teapot at him.

The ice skater, real name was Lucy Woodard who died in 2010, also left him with scars and also punched his doctor as he treated him for a slashed hand, he said.

The 007 legend also claimed that his second wife, Dorothy Squires – whom he married shortly after divorcing Van Steyn in 1953 – was also violent and attacked him after learning he had been unfaithful.

He told Piers Morgan’s ITV1 show Life Stories that during his marriage to Squires, whom he divorced in 1968, he also claimed she hit him over the head with a guitar.

In remarks released to newspapers ahead of its screening on Friday, he told the former newspaper editor about his first wife’s altercation with the doctor: “It made a change because normally she punched me.”

When asked if she physically abused him, he said: ”She would scratch me. She threw a pot of tea at me.

“I’d been sunbathing in the garden, I came up and I’d taken off my pants and I gave her some smart Alec answer and this teapot came hurtling at me. I said, ‘right, that’s it, I’m leaving’.

”She storms off out of the room and I hear the bath running. I thought, ‘What a cow, I’m leaving her and she’s having a bath’.”

Sir Roger, the longest running Bond, added: ”So I smashed the bathroom door open and she had all my clothes in the bath and said, ‘now leave me’. I waited for them to dry. The marriage was doomed.”

Speaking about Squires, who died in 1998 aged 83, he described one particular “confrontation”.

He said: “I remember, to avoid confrontation, I used to strum the guitar and one day I was sitting on the edge of the table strumming and she was ranting on about something and I wasn’t taking any notice.

”Next thing I know, it was like slow motion, I could feel the guitar coming out of my hands and I could see it up above my head and… bash, it came down. She ruined the guitar. She had a great temper.”

But the Welsh vocalist also attacked him after learning he was having an affair with Luisa Mattioli, a young Italian actress who he would marry in 1969.

He added: “Dorothy was not happy. She threw a brick through my window. She reached through the glass and grabbed my shirt and she cut her arms doing it.

“The police came and they said, ‘Madam, you’re bleeding’ and she said, ‘It’s my heart that’s bleeding’.

He divorced Mattioli, who he has three children with, in 1996 and is now happily married to Christina Tholstrup, a 71 year-old Danish-Swedish socialite he married in 2002.

He said: ”It’s a tranquil relationship, there are no arguments.” He also praised Daniel Craig, 42, as a “brilliant” Bond.

He once described his three former wives as “lovely ladies with bad taste in men”.

via Sir Roger Moore: James Bond actor ‘beaten up by first two wives’ – Telegraph.

Elvis Presley crypt pulled from auction

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The crypt in which Elvis Presley was first buried has been withdrawn from a Los Angeles auction after protests it should be kept as a shrine.

More than 10,000 fans signed a petition against the sale of the tomb at Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee.

Julien’s Auctions said it would not sell the crypt until the cemetery “finds a plan that best suits the interests of the fans while respecting and preserving the memory of Elvis”.

The crypt has been empty since 1977.

Presley was temporarily interred there alongside his mother, Gladys, for two months after he died before being reburied at his Graceland home.

via BBC News – Elvis Presley crypt pulled from auction.

TV star Richard Dawson dies at 79

Can’t sleep tonight, so I’m catching up on the news. This is sad. Survey says.. Rest in peace.

TV star Richard Dawson dies at 79
BBC NEWS | JUNE 3, 2012
http://pulse.me/s/9UzFW

–Richard Dawson won an Emmy Award in 1978 for best game show hostRichard Dawson, the English-born actor and TV host who found fame in the US at the helm of game show Family Feud and in sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died.

A former husband of actress Diana Dors, Dawson was 79.

Born in Gosport, Hampshire, he played Corporal Peter Newkirk in World War II comedy Hogan’s Heroes for six years.

He became a panelist on TV show Match Game before hosting Family Feud for 10 years. Family Feud was copied in the UK under the name Family Fortunes.

His son Gary wrote on Facebook on Saturday: “It is with a very heavy heart that I inform you that my father passed away this evening from complications due to esophageal cancer.

“He was surrounded by his family. He was an amazing talent, a loving husband, a great dad, and a doting grandfather. He will be missed but always remembered.”

Dawson hosted a spoof episode between Ronald Reagan, played by Johnny Carson, and the Queen (Rose Carr)

After starting his career as a stand-up comedian, Dawson married the English pin-up Dors in 1959. The couple settled in California but he was devastated when she walked out on him and they divorced in 1967.

By then, he was known as the Cockney prisoner of war in Hogan’s Heroes, which ran on CBS from 1965 to ’71.

He became Family Feud’s host when it launched on the ABC network in 1976 and won a daytime Emmy Award in 1978 for best game show host.

At its height, Family Feud was one of the most popular programmes on US TV, airing 11 times a week – five in daytime and six in the evening.

Known for giving the female contestants a kiss, he met his second wife Gretchen when she appeared on the programme with her family in 1981.

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President Obama speaks to Will Smith’s son about extraterrestrials

Men in Black 3 star Will Smith today told BBC Radio 1 host Chris Moyles that his 13-year-old son Jayden himself a Hollywood star put President Obama on the spot recently during a private tour of the White House. The subject of Jayden’s enquiry – aliens!Remarkably, Obama anticipated Jayden’s question before the young star even had chance to ask it, and the President’s response was suitably tantalising:“The aliens, right? OK, I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of extraterrestrials but I can tell you if there had been a top secret meeting and if there would have had to have been a discussion about it, it would have taken place in this room.”

Watch the video of Will Smith’s accounting of his son’s Presidential UFO encounter here…

via Silver Screen Saucers: President Obama tells Will Smith’s son: “I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of extraterrestrials”!.

Peter Jackson unveils new Hobbit footage

Director Peter Jackson has unveiled 10 minutes of footage of The Hobbit to a mixed reaction at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas.

The prequel to his Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings trilogy, starring British actor Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, is due out in cinemas in December.

The new film has been shot at a rate of 48 frames per second, compared with the industry standard of 24 frames.

However some attendees claimed the scenes looked like low-budget TV.

In a video introduction, Jackson told the audience that using 48 frames per second produced a smoother image.

“The movement feels more real – it’s much more gentle on the eyes,” he said.

The footage included scenes featuring Bilbo Baggins lost in Gollum’s cave, trolls engaged in battle and Sir Ian McKellen and Orlando Bloom reprising their roles as Gandalf and Legolas.

Jackson said the new approach would take time to adjust to and some attendees agreed, branding the footage as a failure in digital technology.

The Los Angeles Times said the footage was “hyper-realistic”: “An opening aerial shot of dramatic rocky mountains appeared clearer than the images in most nature documentaries.

“But the effect was different when applied to scenes with actors dressed in period costume, whose every move – and pore – was crystal clear,” it added.

One projectionist told the newspaper it “looked like a made-for-TV movie”.”It was too accurate – too clear. The contrast ratio isn’t there yet – everything looked either too bright or black,” they said. …

via BBC News – Peter Jackson unveils new Hobbit footage.

Dick Clark dies of heart attack aged 82

One of America’s best-known veteran television personalities, Dick Clark, has died aged 82.

Clark, who presented the long-running music show American Bandstand and an annual New Year’s Eve special, had a heart attack, his agent said.

He had continued working even after suffering a debilitating stroke in 2004.

ABC’s American Bandstand show introduced stars ranging from Buddy Holly to Michael Jackson to Madonna.

Paul Shefrin, Clark’s spokesman, said the presenter had a heart attack on Wednesday morning at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica.

He had gone to the facility the day before for an outpatient procedure.

Clark was often referred to as “the world’s oldest teenager” because of his youthful appearance.

He made his 40th appearance on ABC TV’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve programme on 31 December 2011.

Clark was born Richard Wagstaff Clark in a New York City suburb in 1929, and began working in the mail-room of a radio station in the city in 1945.

In his 1976 autobiography, Rock, Roll & Remember, he said he had idolised his older brother, Bradley, who was killed in World War II. Radio, he said, helped eased his loneliness.

Clark’s production company, Dick Clark Productions, created films, game shows, music programmes and beauty contests, including The $25,000 Pyramid, TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes, and the American Music Awards.

At one time during the 1980s, Clark had shows running on all three main US networks – ABC, CBS and NBC – and he ranked among the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans.

He was also a partner of the United Stations Radio Network, which provided content to thousands of stations.

In 1985, Clark told the Associated Press news agency: “There’s hardly any segment of the population that doesn’t see what I do.

“It can be embarrassing. People come up to me and say, ‘I love your show’, and I have no idea which one they’re talking about.”

Clark married three times and had three children.

via BBC News – Dick Clark dies of heart attack aged 82.

NY judge tells woman: Stay away from Alec Baldwin

NEW YORK (AP) — A Canadian actress accused in New York City of stalking “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin has been told to stay away from him.Montreal resident Genevieve Sabourin was arraigned Monday, a day after being arrested on charges of stalking and aggravated harassment.

The Manhattan district attorney’s office says a judge released Sabourin on her own recognizance and issued a temporary order of protection for Baldwin.

Police say Baldwin was at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on April 5 when Sabourin showed up and was removed by security. They say she turned up at his Long Island home days earlier.

Baldwin told police he met her a few years ago. He says she has called him repeatedly and professed her love for him.

Her attorney hasn’t returned a phone call seeking comment….

http://pulse.me/s/7ZQgD

George Clooney arrested for demonstrating against Sudanese crisis

Actor George Clooney was a free man Friday afternoon following his arrest in Washington during a protest at the Sudanese Embassy, just two days after dining with the president at a White House state dinner and testifying before Congress about a mounting humanitarian crisis in the African country.

Also arrested were two Democratic members of Congress — Massachusetts Rep. Jim McGovern and Virginia Rep. Jim Moran — Clooney’s father, Nick, NAACP president Ben Jealous and Rabbi Steve Gutow, president of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

The men were arrested by the Secret Service, which protects the embassies in the District of Columbia, and were charged with disorderly crossing of a police line, a Secret Service spokesman said. If convicted, the charge will likely result in a small fine.

Shortly before the arrest, Clooney spoke against the violence in Sudan.

He said he appeared in front of the embassy to ask “the government in Khartoum to stop randomly killing its own innocent men, women and children, stop raping them, stop starving them,” according to a video posted online by MSNBC.

Clooney and his fellow protesters were transported to the Metropolitan Police Department’s 2nd District for processing and were held in the same cell.

“It was really rough, you can imagine,” he joked. “Have you ever been in a cell with these guys?”

In high spirits and still speaking passionately about the Sudan crisis, Clooney said this was his first time being arrested.

“And let’s hope it’s my last,” he said.

Clooney had appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, testifying that a humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the border region between Sudan and South Sudan, which won its independence from Sudan in 2011. But violence has persisted along the border of the two countries, and Clooney argued that it is not getting enough attention, acknowledging that Americans have “misery fatigue” after wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with violence in Syria, Libya and elsewhere.

Gutow, speaking before he was arrested, sharply criticized “the inhumane cruelty” of Sudan President Omar Ahmed Hassan al-Bashir.

“With one hand he assaults his own people while with the other he holds back those who would seek to help,” Gutow said. …

via George Clooney arrested for demonstrating against Sudanese crisis (photos, video).

 

Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk

Kirk’s success was no fluke, either. His style of command demonstrates a keen understanding of leadership and how to maintain a team that succeeds time and time again, regardless of the dangers faced. Here are five of the key leadership lessons that you can take away from Captain Kirk as you pilot your own organization into unknown futures.

1. Never Stop Learning

“You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no such thing as the unknown– only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.” …

2. Have Advisors With Different Worldviews

“One of the advantages of being a captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it.” …

3. Be Part Of The Away Team

“Risk is our business. That’s what this starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her.” …

4. Play Poker, Not Chess

“Not chess, Mr. Spock. Poker. Do you know the game?” …

5. Blow up the Enterprise

“‘All I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by.’ You could feel the wind at your back in those days. The sounds of the sea beneath you, and even if you take away the wind and the water it’s still the same. The ship is yours. You can feel her. And the stars are still there, Bones.”

via Five Leadership Lessons From James T. Kirk – Forbes.