Oprah Winfrey feared launching OWN network

LOS ANGELES | Tue Dec 7, 2010 5:06pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey said launching her own cable TV network in 2011 has been the scariest thing she has ever done.

"I have never felt such fear in all my life...I was afraid of failing...I was afraid it wouldn't be what 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' has been, and has meant, for all these years," she told her own magazine "O" in an interview.

"What I realized is that I've never been afraid before. Not with any decision I've ever made," Winfrey added.

Winfrey's OWN:Oprah Winfrey Network, a much-delayed joint venture between her company Harpo Inc and Discovery Communications, launches on January 1. The lifestyle and female-oriented cable network will be available in 80 million homes on what is currently the Discovery Health Channel.

Winfrey, 56, regarded as one of the most influential women in America, has said she will end her top-rated daily chat show in ABC in May 2011 after 25 years.

In her interview for the January edition of "O" magazine, Winfrey said she dreamed up the OWN network as far back as May, 1992.

The line-up for the new network includes a reality series about Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, a daytime chat show from Rosie O'Donnell and a behind-the-scenes look at Winfrey's final season of "The Oprah Winfrey Show".

Advertisements for OWN began running in movie theaters last week with a theme song by Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am called "OWN It!"

Winfrey described OWN in her magazine as "a channel where people will see themselves, and their ideals and their values and their hopes, see their struggle, see who they are through the lives of others -- in a real way that enriches them."

O'Donnell, the controversial celebrity whose OWN show will start in the fall of 2011, told "O" magazine it would be "about real people and real issues...I envision the show being full of love and laughter."

Ferguson, the scandal-hit British royal whose reality program "Finding Sarah" will make its debut in mid-2011, said she hoped that by doing the show "I'll feel a peace I haven't felt in my whole life, free from my mind tormenting and judging and calling me names."

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Leonardo DiCaprio attacker gets two years in jail

LOS ANGELES | Tue Dec 7, 2010 8:08pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A woman who pleaded no contest to smashing a glass into actor Leonardo DiCaprio's face at a party five years ago was sentenced on Tuesday to two years in prison.

Aretha Wilson, 40, was given credit for the nearly one year already spent in jail and with time off for good behavior, she may be behind bars for about six more months, her attorney said outside the Los Angeles courtroom where she was sentenced.

The attorney, Freddy Sayegh, told reporters Wilson was pleased with the outcome, and a prosecutor said DiCaprio was happy the case was resolved before it went to a full trial.

Last month Wilson, a Canadian citizen, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon in the attack on June 17, 2005.

She and DiCaprio were both at a party in the Hollywood Hills. At a pre-trial hearing this past summer, a witness testified that Wilson was cursing at one of DiCaprio's friend when she hit the actor with a wine glass, opening a wound near his neck and ears that required 17 stitches to close.

Sayegh told reporters that after Wilson serves her remaining time in jail, she will be turned over to federal officials and deported to Canada.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Paul Reiser makes 'unusual suspect' for music album

By Bob Tourtellotte

LOS ANGELES | Tue Dec 7, 2010 2:57pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - You wouldn't know it when he talks because he jokes about it, and even his partner admits she investigated his claim before she believed it.

But comedian Paul Reiser, famous as a stand-up comic and star of 1990s TV sitcom "Mad About You," is a classically trained pianist, composer and recently he released his first album with British singer/songwriter Julia Fordham, called "Unusual Suspects."

The title seems appropriate.

He is an American TV star known for cracking jokes. She is a singer who in the late 1980s made U.K. record charts with songs such as "Happy Ever After." Yet, pair them up and they seem as comfortable as the black and white keys of a piano.

"Sometimes you just have to go with your instinct, and it did look a bit peculiar on paper, but it just had this really authentic and natural flow to it," Fordham told Reuters about their collaboration.

Reiser's characterization is a bit different.

"I wanted to drag Julia's career down," he joked in a joint interview. "She was doing so well, why not sully the water."

She laughs, as does he, and the truth is that, at least in person, the pair -- she the singer and writer of lyrics; he the composer of music melody and rhythm -- seem quite like a fit.

"Unusual Suspects" was released in November, featuring 10 contemporary arrangements for songs with titles such as "You Keep Me on My Feet," "Fine," "Stolen Kiss" and "Minefield."

Fordham showcases her sultry voice and wide vocal range, and Reiser puts his skills on the piano to work. He describes the songs as being melancholy and bittersweet, yet she says that in each, there lingers a sense of hope.

"Unsung Heroes," which is getting some support among fans, speaks to the losses endured by families of military men and women fighting wars overseas.

WAITING TO BREAK OUT

"Under every funny guy there's a melancholic chap longing to break out," said Fordham.

"And by the same token, in every beautiful chanteuse, there is Shecky Greene inside. Jerry Lewis lives inside," countered Reiser.

All teasing aside, Reiser, 53, studied music in college and learned about composition for the piano, but on summer breaks comedy was his gig. And he soon found himself making audiences laugh at his jokes.

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AIDS charity raises $1 million, reviving "dead" celebs

LOS ANGELES | Mon Dec 6, 2010 8:21pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - It took longer than many thought -- and comedians had a laugh at their expense -- but singer Alicia Keys and her celebrity friends raised $1 million for an AIDS charity and, with it, lived to tweet again.

Keys and her Keep a Child Alive charity co-founder Leigh Blake on Monday said their widely-followed "digital death" campaign reached its $1 million goal after pharmaceutical entrepreneur Stewart Rahr pitched in $500,000.

At stake, along with raising funds to help millions of children and families living with AIDs in Africa and India, were the digital lives of celebrities who vowed to stay off social networking websites Twitter and Facebook until the $1 million was raised.

The celebrities included Justin Timberlake, Ryan Seacrest, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian and Usher. Their campaign launched on World AIDS Day, December 1, amid great fan fare with the expectation it would quickly reach its goal.

After all, the celebrities all have millions of fans. Lady Gaga boasts 7.3 million followers on Twitter, alone. Justin Timberlake has 3.6 million, and Seacrest has 3.7 million.

Problem was, it took longer than many celebrity watchers thought, and as donations reached only $100,000 then $200,000, the stars became the butt of jokes on the Web, TV and radio. Their popularity -- or lack thereof -- was questioned, as was their fans' desire to keep them digitally dead.

But on Monday, the stars emerged from their coffins.

"So stoked to be back on twitter! Special shout out to Stewie Rah Rah for his generous donation," Seacrest tweeted.

"I'm back from the dead! Thank you all so much for your donations and contributions! I have missed u all so much!!!," Kardashian posted on Twitter.

For its part, Keep a Child Alive said, "although we never expected to raise $1 million overnight, we are completely blown away that we were able to achieve our goal in less than a week." The group said more than 3,600 people contributed.

Rahr owned and operated a New York-based pharmaceutical distribution business that he recently sold. He learned of Keep a Child Alive earlier this year, the charity said.

(Reporting by Bob Tourtellotte; Editing by Zorianna Kit)

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Depp, Jolie bring old Hollywood glamour to "The Tourist"

By John Irish

PARIS | Mon Dec 6, 2010 2:03pm EST

PARIS (Reuters) - If there were a perfect recipe for a hit movie, an Oscar-winning director setting the magnetic Johnny Depp and the mesmerizing Angelina Jolie against a Parisian and Venetian backdrop would surely do it.

"The Tourist," an action romance thriller, is the first foray into Hollywood for Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who came to prominence four years ago scooping an Oscar for best foreign film with "The Lives of Others."

Based loosely on French movie "Anthony Zimmer," the German director and screenwriter's Hollywood entry recalls Tinseltown's older traditions with beautiful sets, an elegant wardrobe and quirky dialogue, while keeping a European style.

"Some people say the glory days of the Hollywood era are over and that we don't have people like Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall," von Donnersmarck told Reuters ahead of the film's premiere on Friday.

"Of course we do. We have people like Depp, who are even cooler than Bogart, and Angelina Jolie, who is Betty Davis and Marilyn Monroe all in one."

Depp's character is a nerdy mathematics teacher who gets embroiled while on holiday in a web of deceit spun by Jolie's vulnerable femme fatale and chased by a dogged English detective played by "Da Vinci Code" bad guy Paul Bettany.

"I've done a number of things where these characters are considered a little bit out (of the ordinary), so I wanted to see what I could do with a normal guy put into radically intense situations with various ticks," said Depp, 47, whose character puffs constantly on an electronic cigarette.

DRESSED TO KILL

Hollywood studio Columbia Pictures brings together Depp and Jolie for the first time, but according to von Donnersmarck their fame didn't get in the way of filming. The pair had never met before making the film together.

"It doesn't matter if the actors are incredibly famous or not known outside, the work is the same," said the Russian literature and philosophy fan, who speaks five languages.

While a highlight may be Depp jumping over Venice's rooftops in just his pajamas, von Donnersmarck draws viewers in with an eye-catching Jolie dressed to kill in almost every other scene.

Jolie, known for performing daring stunts herself in films like "Salt" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," said she was a little "jealous" that Depp got all the action in The Tourist, but said getting to wallow in Grace Kelly-style elegance made up for it.

"We wanted something that was a pleasure and an escape that you wish Paris and Venice were and everyone feels this elegance for a moment," said Jolie, who uses an English accent for the role. "It felt like I was back in some of these old-time movies."

Adding to the classy flavor, Timothy Dalton, best known for playing suave secret agent James Bond in the late 1980s, makes a cameo appearance as a sort of secret service chief guiding an increasingly forlorn Bettany.

"I had a simple job in this ... you try to lend it a bit of weight, but somebody's got to do it," said the 39-year Bettany.

(Editing by Catherine Bremer and Paul Casciato)

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