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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Belgian martial artist and actor Jean Claude Van Damme took to the Web on Wednesday to deny reports he had suffered a heart attack on the set of his latest movie "Weapon."
"Hours ago, I read a rumor online about me suffering a heart attack," Van Damme, 50, said on his Facebook page.
"Please do not believe all what you read from rumors on any unofficial JVCD sites. Jean-Claude Van Damme is 100 percent healthy, training well for taking the fight and sending his fans and friends much love," the post added.
A similar post on the actor's official website, www.musclesfrombrussels.be, said "JCVD is in better shape than ever and preparing for his fight in July. He did not suffer from a heart attack on the set of 'Weapon' as reported on some websites!"
One of Van Damme's representatives in Hollywood had no immediate comment, and another did not immediately return calls, which appear to have stemmed from a little-known movie website Twitch, citing postings by Van Damme fans.
Twitch said the action hero was admitted briefly to a hospital in New Orleans before shooting scenes for the movie there. The report said Van Damme was released, had returned to Belgium and would make a full recovery. It was not clear when the reported incident had taken place.
"Weapon" -- an action movie about rival assassins fighting a drug cartel -- is expected to be released some time in 2011.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - First he gave an unexpected endorsement to Jon Stewart's upcoming "Rally to Restore Sanity." Now President Barack Obama is giving Stewart's satirical talk show the ultimate television "get" -- himself as a guest.
Obama will appear on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Wednesday, October 27, in the middle of a week of special episodes taped in Washington ahead of the November 2 mid-term elections, which will culminate on Saturday, October 30, with the talk show host's rally on the National Mall.
Stewart's program is calling the DC-based shows -- set to air October 25 - October 28 -- "When Grizzlies Attack: A 'Daily Show' Midterm Teapartyganza," referring to the Republican Tea Party political movement and former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's labeling conservative women politicians as "Mama Grizzlies."
The appearance gives Obama a chance to appeal to the popular show's core young viewers just days before the vote, in which Republicans are widely expected to seize his fellow Democrats' majority in the U.S. House of Representatives and cut into their majority in the Senate.
Republicans also are expected to do well in races for state governor. "The Daily Show" is watched by about 1.8 million people every night, and is particularly popular with viewers under age 35. The appearance is Obama's latest bid to appeal to young voters -- earlier this month he appeared at a youth town hall that was shown live on MTV and two other television networks, CMT and BET.
It would be Obama's second appearance on "The Daily Show," which has won consecutive Emmy awards as the best U.S. variety, music or comedy series, but his first as U.S. president.
Other political figures scheduled to appear on the show next week include Austan Goolsbee, chairman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisors and Delaware Senator Ted Kaufman.
Obama gave the rally an unexpected endorsement last month during a meeting with voters in Virginia, which the show later played gleefully during a program.
"Jon Stewart, you know, the host of 'The Daily Show,' apparently he's going to host a rally called something like Americans in favor of a return to sanity, or something like that," Obama said during the meeting at a crowded community center in Richmond.
"And his point was 70 percent of the people -- it doesn't matter what political affiliation -- 70 percent of folks are just like you. They go about their business. They work hard every day. They're looking after their families. They don't go around calling people names. They don't make stuff up. They may not be following every single issue, because they just don't have time. But they are just expecting some common sense and some courtesy in how people interact. And having those voices lifted up is really important."
The White House did not say whether Obama would make an appearance at the rally itself.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Tom Bosley, whose career spanned five decades and included his role as the father of a typical American family on popular 1970s TV comedy "Happy Days," has died after a long battle with lung cancer, age 83.
The actor died at his home just outside Palm Springs, California on Tuesday, his family said in a statement.
Bosley's everyday manner and looks helped him forge a career in Hollywood as a character actor and guest star in a number of popular 1960s television shows such as "Route 66," "Dr. Kildare," "Marcus Welby, M.D." and "Bonanza."
But it was on the long-running "Happy Days" that he enjoyed his biggest success, playing the father of the show's central character Richie Cunningham, who was a teenager growing up in the 1950s.
"Happy Days" ran from 1974 to 1984 and was a smash hit series that made Henry Winkler (Fonzie) a major Hollywood star and sparked the adult success of Ron Howard, who played Richie and would later go on to a career as a film director.
Winkler told a local Los Angeles radio station that the cast and crew were "a family" and that Bosley was "one of the dads on set."
"I spoke to him just a few weeks ago, and he seemed to be getting his strength back and doing really well," Winkler said.
Howard called him "a great father and husband, and a wonderful artist (who) led by example, and made us all laugh while he was doing it."
When the show ended, Bosley returned to character work on TV with roles in numerous popular series such as "The Love Boat" and "Murder, She Wrote." He continued working well into the 2000s with parts in series such as "That '70s Show."
Bosley was born in October, 1927, in Chicago and he served in the U.S. Navy during World War Two. He began his career on stage following the war and worked in theater for more than a decade before moving to television.
He is survived by his wife, Patricia Carr, a daughter from his first marriage and her children.
The television licence fee, which funds the BBC, is to be frozen for the next six years at �145.50, it has emerged.
The BBC will also take over the cost of the World Service, currently funded by the Foreign Office, as well as the Welsh language TV channel, S4C.
There had been a proposal to make the BBC pay the cost of free TV licences for the over-75s, but it is understood this will now not happen.
A formal announcement will be made on Wednesday during the Spending Review.
The BBC is refusing to comment, but insiders say that this is a significantly better settlement than the proposal to force it to pay the cost of free TV licences.
It will mean a 16% real terms cut in the BBC's funds over the next six years as opposed to a 25% cut over four years if they had been obliged to cover the licence fee costs.
Ministers are expected to present the freeze as "reining in" the corporation's costs, but Gerry Morrissey, general secretary of broadcasting union Bectu, said he was "alarmed ".
"It seems as if the BBC is now doing the government's dirty work. They have thrown in the towel, so they will now have to justify the cuts to staff," he said.
"How can you cut 16% off your costs without affecting jobs or services? Morale at the BBC is already at rock bottom, but now there is little or no confidence in the management."
The BBC has been embroiled in a row with staff and unions over changes to its pensions provision, and last week it announced that the post of deputy director-general was being axed to cut costs.
The BBC Trust earlier warned the government it would fight any move to force the corporation to meet the cost of free television licences for the over-75s.
A trust spokeswoman said it would be "unacceptable" for licence fee payers to foot the bill.
'Cavalier and short-termist'
Last month, Foreign Secretary William Hague told MPs the World Service was of "huge importance" but could not expect to be immune from cost-cutting.
"Can the BBC World Service make itself more efficient and therefore contribute to the spending round? Yes, I think it can and it thinks it can," Mr Hague told the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.
But shadow foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said she was concerned about the announcement.
"It is alarming that only 24 hours before the spending review, the funding of the World Service has been completely up in the air," she said.
"Although editorially independent, the World Service is a key component of UK diplomacy and does important work promoting British values and open debate across the world.
"Jettisoning it from the Foreign Office at this late stage, without serious consultation or a strategy for its future, is cavalier and short-termist."
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport currently funds S4C to the tune of just under �100m a year.
Along with the channel, the BBC will also take over the cost of BBC Monitoring, which monitors, translates and analyses media coverage from around the world.
My last conversations with Tom reflected the love of life and peace of mind that he always maintained throughout his full and rewarding life. I miss him already"
End QuoteRon HowardHappy Days co-star
"He was a loving husband, a doting father and a fantastic grandfather. He will be so missed but never forgotten by the Winkler Family or the world."
Film director Ron Howard, who played Bosley's son in the show, said: "Tom's insight, talent, strength of character and comic timing made him a vital central figure in the Happy Days experience.
"A great father and husband, and a wonderful artist, Tom led by example, and made us all laugh while he was doing it.
"My last conversations with Tom reflected the love of life and peace of mind that he always maintained throughout his full and rewarding life. I miss him already."
Marion Ross, who played his wife Marion Cunningham on the show for 11 years, said: "He was so smart he could fix the end of a joke or a scene on the spot.
"We made a perfect couple. I played piccolo to his tuba."
'Wonderfully interesting'
Scott Baio, best known for playing Chachi Arcola in the popular sitcom, said Bosley took "tremendous pride" in playing the part of Richie Cunnigham's father.
"He loved it and I think it was one of the true loves of his life was doing that character. He was a wonderful, suffering, sort of jovial, happy guy and he took to it like a fish takes to water."
After Happy Days, Bosley had a string of roles in TV shows, most notably as a crime-solving priest in The Father Dowling Mysteries.
Angela Lansbury played Bosley's unfaithful wife in the 1964 Peter Sellers film The World of Henry Orient.
Then, from 1984 to 1988, Bosley played a recurring role in Lansbury's long-running TV series, Murder, She Wrote.
"He was a wonderfully interesting actor, and very much a part of the early success of Murder, She Wrote," Lansbury said.
"Working with him in the early days of the show gave me tremendous confidence."
Happy Days began in 1974 and ran for 11 series, becoming a worldwide hit.
In an interview in 2000, Bosley said he thought the key to the show's success had been because "kids were watching their parents grow up, and parents were watching themselves grow up".
The actor initially turned down the Happy Days role, but after re-reading the pilot script he had a change of heart.
"I changed my mind because of a scene between Howard Cunningham and Richie. The father/son situation was written so movingly, I fell in love with the project," he once said.
In 2004, Bosley's Howard Cunningham character was listed at number nine in a list of the 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time by TV Guide.
Before his TV career took off, Bosley had started out on Broadway and his Fiorello! performance eventually earned him the best actor in a musical Tony award.
For two years, Bosley stopped the show every night when he sang in several languages.
The production was also awarded with the Pulitzer Prize.
It was not until 1994 when Bosley returned to Broadway when he originated the role of Belle's father in Disney's production of Beauty and the Beast.
Bosley married dancer Jean Eliot in 1962 and the couple had one child, Amy.
Two years after his wife's death in 1978, Bosley married actress-producer Patricia Carr, who had three daughters from a previous marriage.
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He used to say that the manuscripts earned the awards so it is right that they should be together"
End QuoteLady Antonia Fraser
The British Library said Pinter's Nobel Prize in Literature medal, which he won in 2005, would sit alongside handwritten notes and 19 typed drafts of his acceptance speech which are already in the collection.
"He was extremely proud of his awards but even prouder of his manuscripts, already in the British Library," Lady Antonia said.
"He used to say that the manuscripts earned the awards so it is right that they should be together."
Awards including his 1960 Evening Standard play of the year award for The Caretaker, and his Moliere d'honneur medal are in the collection.
The medals, plaques, medallions and original artwork won by Pinter - who died in 2008, aged 78 - include the 2004 Wilfred Owen Prize, awarded after he wrote controversial poems opposing war in Iraq.
Under the acceptance in lieu scheme, people can transfer important works of art and heritage items into public ownership instead of making inheritance tax payments.
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