In the news
Beyonce to sing Super national anthem
By wire services
Published January 7, 2004
NEW YORK - Beyonce will sing the national anthem before the Super Bowl in her native Houston, the NFL announced Tuesday.
Super Bowl XXXVIII is scheduled for Feb. 1 at Reliant Stadium.
A week later, on Feb. 8, Beyonce is up for six Grammy Awards, including record of the year for Crazy in Love featuring her boyfriend, Jay-Z. Her album, Dangerously in Love, has sold 5-million copies.
The 22-year-old Destiny's Child singer joins a wildly varied group of performers who have sung The Star-Spangled Banner before the Super Bowl, including Charlie Pride, Barry Manilow, Kathie Lee Gifford and the Backstreet Boys.
Michael J. Fox to appear on "Scrubs'
NEW YORK - Michael J. Fox will appear in two episodes of NBC's Scrubs next month as a doctor who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder.
The sitcom veteran, whose television appearances have been limited because of his Parkinson's disease, is reuniting with Bill Lawrence, executive producer of Scrubs and creator of Fox's last series, Spin City.
"His presence gives great credibility to the show," Lawrence said.
Scrubs airs at 9:30 p.m. Thursdays.
Ex-Beatle's estate sues doctor
NEW YORK - A doctor forced a weakened George Harrison to autograph a guitar for the physician's teenage son two weeks before the ex-Beatle died of cancer, a lawsuit filed Tuesday alleges.
Filed by Harrison's estate, the suit alleges that the musician tried to resist the request by saying, "I do not even know if I know how to spell my name anymore."
The suit alleges that Dr. Gilbert Lederman responded by saying, "Come on, you can do this," and held Harrison's hand as the musician wrote his name on the guitar "with great effort and much obvious discomfort."
The estate seeks possession of the guitar and two cards it says Harrison signed as he was treated by Lederman, a Staten Island-based expert in treating large tumors with high doses of radiation. Harrison died in November 2001 after battling lung cancer and a brain tumor.
"This lawsuit is strictly allegations. Frankly, I think it's absurd," Lederman's attorney, Wayne Roth, said Tuesday. "He didn't coerce Mr. Harrison."
The estate also accuses Lederman of violating Harrison's privacy by orchestrating invasive media coverage in the interest of promoting his medical practice.
Lederman conducted interviews about Harrison with several news outlets, many within hours of the ex-Beatle's death, the suit charges.
Renowned fashion photographer dies
NEW YORK - Fashion photographer Francesco Scavullo, who shot covers for Cosmopolitan magazine for more than 30 years, died Tuesday (Jan. 6, 2004) of heart failure, his companion said. He was 81.
Mr. Scavullo was preparing for an assignment when he complained of feeling weak, and then collapsed, Sean Byrnes said.
Known for works ranging from enamel-on-canvas photo silkscreens to portraits of celebrities such as Grace Kelly and Elizabeth Taylor, Mr. Scavullo was also recognized for his photographs of children. One of the most famous was his 1975 portrait of a young Brooke Shields.
Born Jan. 16, 1921, on Staten Island, as a youth Mr. Scavullo got a job assisting the fashion photographer Horst and learned much of his craft from him.
He later worked for Vogue and Seventeen magazines before launching a lucrative and lengthy career that included photographing covers for Cosmopolitan, Harper's Bazaar and other magazines. At the peak of his career he commanded as much as $10,000 a sitting.
FOX TV entertainment boss calls it quits
LOS ANGELES - Fox Television Entertainment Group chairman Sandy Grushow, whose responsibilities included the ratings-challenged Fox broadcast channel, has resigned.
Grushow is leaving to form his own production company based at 20th Century Fox, called Phase Two, effective immediately, it was announced Monday.
"This was a very complicated decision for me to make," Grushow said in a statement. He concluded it was better to exercise a production option in his contract rather than sign another executive agreement, he said.
Grushow's contract was to expire this summer. A successor was not expected to be named immediately.
Former "Friends' star is expecting
Courteney Cox has found a way to fill her spare time after Friends. The star is expecting her first child with husband and fellow actor David Arquette, reports E!Online. No other details were released by the couple's publicist.
It's great news for the camera-friendly twosome, who met on the set of 1996's Scream and have been married almost five years. The couple have talked publicly about their infertility woes and just recently denied a report that Cox was with child.
[Last modified January 7, 2004, 01:33:45]
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