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Busta Rhymes' bodyguard killed during video shoot

By wire services
Published February 6, 2006

NEW YORK - A Busta Rhymes video shoot ended with a hail of gunfire that killed the rapper's bodyguard in Brooklyn early Sunday, feet from some of the biggest names in hip hop - including 50 Cent, DMX and Mary J. Blige, police sources said.

At least a dozen bullets flew after bodyguard Israel Ramirez, 29, got into a scuffle during the shoot in a Greenpoint film studio that also drew Missy Elliot and Lloyd Banks, a member of 50 Cent's G-Unit. Police were investigating whether anyone involved was a member of any of the big-name rappers' entourages, sources said Sunday night. Amid the chaos, about 500 people - among them extras and dancers for the video's song, Touch It (Remix) - charged outside.

NEW YORK - Myron Waldman, an animator and illustrator who worked on such celebrated characters as Betty Boop, Popeye, Superman, and Casper the Friendly Ghost during his long career, died Saturday at New Island Hospital in Bethpage, N.Y. He was 97 and lived in Wantagh, N.Y. He is survived by his wife, Rosalie, and two sons, Robert, of New York, and Steve, of Hollywood, Fla.

THE WRITERS GUILD honored some big names at the 58th annual awards Saturday, giving Brokeback Mountain the nod for best adapted screenplay. The screenplay was written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and based on a short story by Annie Proulx. Crash, which won for best original screenplay, was written by director Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco.

ANNIE AWARDS: An eccentric, cheese-loving inventor and his four-legged companion are the toast of the animation industry as Wallace & Gromit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit cleaned up Saturday at the 33rd annual Annie Awards. The movie earned best animated picture honors, along with several other awards.

A veteran Academy Award nominee and a 14-year-old unknown will join the cast of J.K. Rowling's epic Harry Potter series as filming begins today on the latest movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, producers said. Daniel Radcliffe returns in the title role. The plot centers on the arrival of Dolores Umbridge, an unpopular new professor at wizard academy Hogwarts. She will be played by Imelda Staunton, nominated for a 2005 Oscar for her performance in the bleak period drama Vera Drake . New character Luna Lovegood will be played by Evanna Lynch. The new Harry Potter is to be released next year.

LOS ANGELES - Horror fans remained on the line for When a Stranger Calls , a remake of the scary movie about a terrorized baby sitter that debuted at No. 1 with $22-million over the typically sluggish Super Bowl weekend.

20th Century Fox's Big Momma's House 2 fell to second place with $13.35-million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The weekend's other new wide release, Something New , opened at No. 7 with $5-million.

[Last modified February 6, 2006, 01:09:14]