Entertainment

Barry Humphries, the Australian satirist best known for his onstage and TV drag persona Dame Edna Everage, and for his character Sir Les Patterson, died on Saturday at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, where he had earlier been admitted due to ongoing complications from hip surgery, according to ABC Australia. Humphries created the Dame Edna character in the 1950s but gained worldwide fame through television programs in the 1980s and 1990s. He also voiced the kangaroo in the 1995 live-action children’s film Napoleon and he recurred on Ally McBeal in 2001-02 as eccentric lawyer Claire Otoms, both credited as Dame Edna Everage…

Dick Van Dyke, the 97-year-old stage, screen and TV sitcom star, is set to make his daytime drama debut in the long-running NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives sometime this fall. Van Dyke credits his gym partner, Days actor Drake Hogestyn, with whom he’s been casually joking about joining the show for years, for getting him the gig, “I have played old men before, but comedy old men,” the legendary actor tells Access, adding that his dramatic turn as a mysterious new character with amnesia is an exciting change of pace.”…

Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole has been tapped to star in the real-time BBC thriller series Nightsleeper, according to Deadline. He’ll co-star with Alexandra Roach in the drama from Nick Leather. Filming is underway in Glasgow, Scotland…

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Len Goodman, the long-serving head judge of Dancing with the Stars, has died at 78, his manager told ABC News.

“Len died on Saturday evening surrounded by his family in a hospice in Kent. He has bone cancer. He kept his sense of humor throughout his illness and was a ‘true gentleman,'” his manager said in a statement Monday.

Goodman, who was also a judge on the British reality competition Strictly Come Dancing, stepped down as head judge on Dancing with the Stars in November 2022.

“I’ve been with the show since it started in 2005 and it has been a huge pleasure to be a part of such a wonderful show,” he said at the time.

He added, “But I’ve decided I’d like to spend more time with my grandchildren and family back in Britain.”

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The Super Mario Bros. Movie continues to dominate the domestic box office, grabbing an estimated $58.2 million in its third week of release. The video game adaptation — starring the voices of Chris Pratt, Jack Black, Seth Rogen, Charlie Day and Anya Taylor-Joy — has earned a total of $434.33 million domestically and $871 million worldwide.

Evil Dead Rise settled for a second place finish in its opening weekend, conjuring up an estimated $23.5 million in its opening weekend. The horror film added an estimated $16.8 million overseas and $40.3 million globally.

Guy Ritchie‘s The Covenant, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, debuted in third place with an estimated $6.3 million.

Landing in fourth place was John Wick: Chapter 4, delivering and estimated $5.7 million. Its five-week North American total now stands at $168.8 million — already topping the first and second chapters and closing in on Parabellum‘s $171 million. Chapter 4 is already the franchise’s highest-grossing film worldwide.

Rounding out the top five was Ben Affleck‘s Air, earning an estimated $5.5 million in its third week of release. Its domestic gross currently stands at $41.3 million and $68.4 million worldwide.

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The special prosecutors’ decision to drop the charges against Alec Baldwin over the fatal on-set Rust shooting was made, at least in part, because investigators found the gun that fired to be mechanically improper, a source familiar with the matter told ABC News.

Baldwin, 65, had been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the New Mexico set of the Western in October 2021. The actor was practicing a cross-draw when the gun discharged, mortally wounding Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Investigators effectively conducted an autopsy of the Colt-style .45 revolver, and found there were worn joints and that the trigger control was not functioning properly, according to the source, who said it became evident to prosecutors the gun could fire without pressure on the trigger.

Baldwin told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an exclusive interview in the wake of the shooting that he had “no idea” how a live bullet got onto the set or into the pistol’s chamber instead of an inert “dummy” round.

He insisted to Stephanopoulos, “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never.”

Baldwin’s attorneys said Thursday they were pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Baldwin and “encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident.”

Kari Morrissey and Jason Lewis were appointed special prosecutors in the case last month after Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and state Rep. Andrea Reeb stepped down.

After they formally declared the involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin dismissed, they added, “This decision does not absolve Mr. Baldwin of criminal culpability and charges may be refiled. Our follow-up investigation will remain active and ongoing.”

Two counts of involuntary manslaughter leveled against the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, were
unchanged, they added.

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Let’s see: Jennifer Lopez is a movie star, a chart-topping recording artist, a beauty mogul, a fashion icon, a mom to two great kids, a multimillionaire, and she’s married to an Oscar-winning actor and director. But it turns out there’s yet another reason to be jealous of J.Lo, and you can blame her husband, Ben Affleck, for spilling the beans about it.

Appearing on The Drew Barrymore Show on Friday, Affleck told Barrymore, “Let me tell you something that’s gonna upset you. Jennifer just eats whatever she wants.” 

As a look of shock slowly crept over Barrymore’s face, he continued, “Whatever she wants. Pizza, cookies, ice cream … everything.”

“Is it the working out?” Barrymore asked. “She works out,” Affleck confirmed. “I mean, I work out too, but I don’t magically appear to be 20 years old, you know what I mean, with perfect skin and the whole thing.”

He continued, “There’s no taking away the work ethic. The work ethic is real, the discipline is real, but also the superhuman thing is real. She’s the most gorgeous woman in the world, she looks spectacular.”

At that point, Drew laid down on the couch she was sitting on and closed her eyes. “Did I put you to sleep?” Affleck asked.

“No, I’m swooning,” she laughed. “This is me living vicariously through romance and men appreciating women and all of it!”

Of course, Ben may not be paying close attention. Earlier this month, Women’s Health collected all the things that J.Lo and her trainers have said about her diet. In reality, she allegedly only eats organic whole foods, drinks water all day long, avoids alcohol and caffeine, eats a lot of leafy greens, and snacks on fruits and vegetables.

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There’s a line in Iron Man 2 when Tony Stark sarcastically asks Gwyneth Paltrow‘s Pepper Potts what she thinks about Stark Industry’s new hire, Scarlett Johansson‘s Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow.

“I thought that you two didn’t get along?” Robert Downey Jr.’s Stark asks. “No, that’s not so,” Paltrow’s Potts responds.

Turns out, in real life that was the rumor, too.

“Is that a rumor?” Johansson asked in disbelief on Paltrow’s Goop Podcast. “You were so nice to me on that movie. I was so petrified … You could’ve been awful. I had no idea — I was so out of my comfort zone on that movie. I’d never done anything like that before.”

For her part, Paltrow added, “I was so happy to have another woman around.”

“You kept telling me that,” Johansson responded, giggling. “When I did Avengers I was one of the few [women].” She added that, excepting Cobie Smulders, who played Maria Hill, the movie was “a big sausage party.”

She added, “Doing Avengers was so much fun. I was 26, I was single … I didn’t have any responsibilities.”  

ScarJo compared her time on the Marvel movies to “an adult summer camp,” adding they were “some of my best experiences.” But she noted, “I’m done. That chapter is over. I kind of did all that I had to do.”

Once again, Paltrow’s famously flawed Marvel memory failed her, with her asking, “Was I in Avengers?!”

She was.

ScarJo added Paltrow could come back, however. “As 64-year-old Pepper Potts?” Paltrow joked.

Johansson added, “One hundred percent that’s happening. I can see it … break out that wig, baby.”

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Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant isn’t the usual Guy Ritchie film. Gone are the hyperkinetic cinematography and edit jumps, trading up for grounded, measured combat and razor-tense action sequences. But one thing remains: Ritchie’s knack for focusing on imperfect characters, which is where Jake Gyllenhaal and Dar Salim come in.

“These guys begrudgingly are heroes to each other,” Gyllenhaal tells ABC Audio.

The war drama puts Gyllenhaal’s U.S. Army Sgt. John Kinley on a rescue mission to save his Afghan interpreter, Ahmed, played by Salim. Both are put in extraordinary circumstances during the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan. They’re from very different backgrounds and thrown into situations they would rather avoid, but it’s their debt to each other that holds strong when the Taliban goes on the hunt for them.

“I also think that’s what really makes it human in a lot of ways,” Gyllenhaal adds. “Ultimately, that’s what really moves me because I think the fabric of humanity is made from these types of actions.”

“It’s a reluctant relationship. It’s an unsentimental relationship,” Salim tells ABC Audio. “It shows how much unites us more than divides us. It was important for me to portray a guy that you could relate to even though he’s from that part of the world.”

Gyllenhaal is no stranger to military portrayals onscreen, having played a real-life Marine in 2005’s Jarhead, a movie praised for its accuracy of military personnel and combat tactics. Gyllenhaal tells ABC Audio that sort of realism and those expectations are also on display here. “It’s always an honor and also I think puts an extra pressure on you because you want to be able to deliver for them, you know?” he says.  

Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant is in theaters now.

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The longest-running game show on TV, The Price is Right, is going to the dogs … and cats starting on Monday, April 24. Host Drew Carey and stars from CBS shows will be promoting the importance of pet adoption on every show through April 28.

On Monday, The Young and the Restless stars Tracey Bregman and Christian LeBlanc will showcase a senior dog; Tuesday will see Lucky Dog cast members Eric Wiese and Rashi Khanna Wiese highlighting pups up for adoption from Los Angeles shelters; and Wednesday will see Scott Clifton of The Bold and the Beautiful spotlighting adorable kittens.

On Thursday, Price‘s own spokesmodel James O’Halloran will welcome a rescue dog, and on Friday, Natalie Morales and Akbar Gbajabiamila from The Talk close out the event.

Luckily, all the pets shown during next week’s shows have already found their forever homes, but the event is designed to highlight opening yours to the many animals in your local shelter who need love.

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Before the former became an Academy Award and two-time Emmy-winning actress, Kate Winslet and Yellowjackets star Melanie Lynskey were nearly inseparable.

They met on the Oscar-nominated 1994 romantic crime drama Heavenly Creatures, which was co-written and directed by the man who would soon direct the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, Peter Jackson.

The based-on-real-life movie had the pair playing best friends who become romantically involved, which leads to a murder.

“It was more intense than some love affairs that I have had in my life,” 45-year-old Lynskey once told Time of Winslet, now 47.

“We would write each other letters and talk on the phone all the time,” she expressed. “We were in constant contact for so long. Then around the time of Titanic, her life got crazy because she became a superstar.”

She added, “I admire her so much, though.”

To the Happy Sad Confused podcast on Thursday, Lynskey elaborated, “When I lost touch with Kate, it was more heartbreaking than some breakups that I’ve had. It was so painful, and it wasn’t like anything happened. It’s just she became a gigantic, international movie star and … suddenly, she’d be in Los Angeles and not have time.”

She added, “It happens in relationships. People kind of drift apart, but that was so painful for me.”

That said, Lynskey has had a successful career of her own: She starred in the Drew Barrymore hit Ever After; spent years stealing scenes as Charlie Sheen‘s obsessed neighbor Rose on Two and a Half Men; scored Emmy and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Yellowjackets, which netted her a Critics Choice Award; and was seen as the calculating Kathleen in HBO’s The Last of Us.

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Friday marked Mark Consuelos’ first full week as wife Kelly Ripa‘s co-host following Ryan Seacrest‘s departure from LIVE with Kelly and Ryan.

To Us Weekly, the other half of the newly rebranded LIVE with Kelly and Mark is giving the Riverdale veteran a thumbs-up. “I had no concerns about how well he was going to do and he really proved me right,” Kelly tells the magazine. “I’m so proud of him, but I was never worried.”

Ripa, 52, also shared the words of advice she had for the guy she’s been married to since 1996, just before they made their first official appearance as co-hosts: “The advice I gave him was to just keep being yourself, enjoy every moment and be present. He took it from there.”

And while the first week is in the history books, the ratings book took note, as well: The magazine says Mark’s debut as co-host saw double-digit increases in viewership with female audiences.

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