Sarah Jessica Parker: The former Sex and the City star rode her popularity gained from that HBO series to the box office championship over the week. She and Matthew McConaughey star in Failure to Launch, the story of a thirties man who needs a reason to move out of his parent's home. Even though Roger Ebert panned it with a one-star review and other critics scoffed at the movie, it made its debut with an estimated $24.6 million in ticket sales. Two more new flicks round out the top three -- Tim Allen's remake of The Shaggy Dog ($16 million) and the horror remake The Hills Have Eyes ($15.5 million). Fourth place went to Bruce Willis' action thriller 16 Blocks with $7.3 million, followed by fifth place winner Madea's Family Reunion with $5.8 million.
Maureen Stapleton: In 1982, the actress won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Warren Beatty's epic Reds. Stapleton died today of natural causes at the age of eighty. She was also nominated by the Academy in 1959 for Lonelyhearts, in 1971 for Airport and in 1979 for Interiors. An Emmy winner in 1968 in the Best Actress category for Among the Paths to Eden, Stapleton was also known as one of the best thespians on the stage, winning several Tony Awards in the Best Actress category, including for The Rose Tatoo and for The Gingerbread Lady. Her son, Daniel Allentuck, did not release any funeral or memorial information today.
Bruce Willis: Old habits die hard ... for actors and addicts, so it's time to examine the argument between Willis and Colombia's Ambassador to the United States, Andr�s Pastrana. While moonlighting as a politician recently to promote 16 Blocks, Willis suggested that the American government should do whatever is necessary to end the lucrative drug business in Columbia, which includes the use of force. Last week, Pastrana sent a letter to the actor that blames the drug traffic from his country to the United States on Americans who are users. As long as drugs are illegal in America, taxpayers will spend billions each year on law enforcement to battle the problem. As long as drug lords are allowed to run wild in South America, they will continue to be a problem. Legalize drugs via the prescription route and both problems disappear. Money can then be spent on treatment instead of enforcement and Columbian drug lords can go legit in the coffee business.
John Lennon: The latest issue of Parade Magazine states that the late singer/songwriter earned $22 million last year, which means that there is gold in them there hills when Lennon's name is mentioned. Case in point: On April 24, In Demand Pay-Per-View television will broadcast a 90-minute special called The Spirit of John Lennon that will feature psychics around the world in a joint seance session to find out if he has a new song or two for his fans and other information. State of the art infra-red cameras will be in place for the entire seance, so any wandering spirit that drops by to get the skinny from Lennon will be on display for all the paying world to see.
Michael Jackson: What's up with the former king of the music world and his sister, Super Bowl star Janet Jackson? Are they too famous to be respectful to their friends. On Saturday, the man who played drums for the Jackson 5 more than fifteen years was buried. Johnny Jackson Jr., no relation to the Jackson family, was stabbed to death on March 1 in Gary, Indiana. Tito, Marlon, Jermaine, Jackie and Randy Jackson attended the weekend funeral services in Gary to say their last goodbyes to their former comrade in rock who once lived with them in Los Angeles. Michael and Janet were no-shows ... no-shows with no class.
Alicia Silverstone: She's pretty, talented and the networks seem to be clueless about the type of series that Silverstone can turn into a hit. NBC had her heading up a matchmaking service in Miss Match, which tanked in 2003 after eleven episodes aired. ABC announced this month that she will headline a comedy pilot called Pink Collar that focuses on the female experience in corporate America. Comedies, light relationship dramas ... has everybody forgotten how menacing the actress was in the 1993 stalker drama The Crush with Cary Elwes? If "Pink" tanks too, Silverstone's agent should start looking for a good mystery or medical drama. She can handle the load.
Bill Paxton: The actor's new HBO series, Big Love, centers around his marriage to three women and he is already acting like the man in the house off the set. Last Wednesday (March 8), Paxton and his co-stars, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Chlo� Sevigny and Ginnifer Goodwin, dropped by the set of ABC's The View to discuss the Sunday night premiere of their series. When co-host Joy Behar asked Sevigny about her oral sex scene with Vincent Gallo in Brown Bunny, you could see Paxton's blood begin to boil. When he and the stars finished and went backstage, he made it clear in no uncertain terms that he will never appear on The View again. It will be interesting to see if his three women can beat the lovely ladies on ABC's Grey's Anatomy Sunday at 10pm.
Sharon Stone: Most of the headlines about the actress last week focused on her admission that she did go nude again for Basic Instinct 2. She turned forty-eight on Friday, so I won't mention that. She isn't the only actress past forty to buff-it -- think Kathy Bates in About Schmidt and Diane Keaton in Something's Gotta Give for starters. What's more interesting about Stone is her statement to the Sunday Times in London about her near-death experience when she was battling brain cancer. She said, "I did see people I knew had died, as close and real as any living being. I felt I only had to step over a narrow line and I�d have joined them." It's good that she didn't make that leap. Her fans would miss her and I would never be able to ask her if the folks she saw wore clothes.
George Clooney: Score one for the actor and minus one for Page Six, which recently reported that Teri Hatcher's decision to go public about being sexually abused as a child was prompted by her alleged relationship with the ER veteran. Clooney told Access Hollywood, "It is to Teri's credit that she's telling a very courageous story to help others. As for the tabloid part of the story, she would never say that. I know the story is attractive but it isn't true ... and it takes away from her brave decision." With friends like him and her castmates on Desperate Housewives, Hatcher will weather the storm and make a difference in other victims' lives.
