Entertainment

Judy Tenuta, the popular comedian who called herself “The Love Goddess” while playing the accordion, has died, her publicist confirms to ABC News.  She died of ovarian cancer on Thursday afternoon in Studio City, CA. She was 72.

Tenuta, who got her start in Chicago comedy clubs, broke out nationally in 1987 thanks to the HBO special Women of the Night, which also starred Ellen DeGeneres, Paula Poundstone and Rita Rudner. 

Between 1987 and 1988, the quirky Tenuta toured with George Carlin, won the inaugural “Best Comedy Club Stand-Up Comic – Female” honor at the American Comedy Awards and starred in a series of Diet Dr. Pepper commercials, which you can see on YouTube.  Her over-the-top stage shows included outrageous outfits, her signature greeting “Hi, Pigs!” and sarcastic references to herself as “The Love Goddess,” and to her own religion, “Judyism.”

A gay icon, Tenuta was nominated for two Grammys, wrote two books, starred in stand-up specials on Showtime, HBO and Lifetime and appeared in TV shows and movies including General Hospital, Material Girls, Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist, The Weird Al Yankovic Show and many more.

Last year, Tenuta shared her health issues in a comedic viral video called Kicking Cancer’s A**.

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The first look at the highly anticipated The Super Mario Bros. Movie is finally here.

Nintendo and Illumination, the studio behind the Despicable Me and Minions films, released the first teaser for the movie on Thursday at 4:05 p.m. ET during a Nintendo Direct presentation specifically focused on the film.

While revealing more about the movie’s story, the trailer also debuted Guardians of the Galaxy star Chris Pratt‘s voice as the iconic Italian plumber, one of the most popular and instantly recognizable video game characters of all time.

Joining Pratt is The Queen’s Gambit actress Anya Taylor-Joy as Mario’s beloved Princess Peach and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor Charlie Day as Mario’s sidekick and brother Luigi.

Also in the film’s cast are Jack Black as Bowser, Keegan-Michael Key as Toad, Seth Rogen as Donkey Kong, Fred Armisen as Cranky Kong, Kevin Michael Richardson as Kamek and Sebastian Maniscalco as Spike.

Charles Martinet, who has voiced Mario since the ’90s, will also be featured in “surprise cameos.”

Some fans expressed apprehension upon learning Pratt would voice Mario. However, the actor has since addressed this directly and provided insight into his approach to the role. “I worked really closely with the directors [Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic] and [tried] out a few things and landed on something that I’m really proud of and can’t wait for people to see and hear,” he told Variety in June.

“It’s an animated voice-over narrative. It’s not a live-action movie. I’m not gonna be wearing a plumber suit running all over,” Pratt continued. “I’m providing a voice for an animated character, and it is updated and unlike anything you’ve heard in the Mario world before.”

The Super Mario Bros. Movie hits theaters on April 7, 2023.

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“Sure, I may look like an immortal Norse god,” Chris Hemsworth says humbly in the new trailer to an upcoming National Geographic special, “but I know the clock is already ticking.”

The Australian Thor star is trying to literally beat the clock in the Disney+ series Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, which will have him spanning the world, meeting with experts and doing what apparently scares the heck out of him, all in an effort to see how we all can live longer.

Directed by Oscar-nominated Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky, the series will have Hemsworth enduring “six of the biggest tests” of his life, including conquering a fear of heights atop a skyscraper, fasting for four days, and surviving underwater training with his hands and feet bound.

“I want to unlock the secrets to how we can all live a longer, healthier life,” Hemsworth says.

“Oh good luck with that,” his brother Liam jabs in reply.

The “longevity experts” don’t make it easy on him — at one point Chris looks like he’s cracking under the pressure. “Why am I doing this?” he asks himself.

The series is lavishly shot, but it might be worth it just for the sight gag of seeing the cinematic god of thunder hobbling around in a suit that simulates the limits of old age.

“It’s a battle against what time can do to us. So here goes,” he says.

The series begins November 16.

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As one of the biggest stars in the world, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is often handed things by fans, but Wednesday night in Mexico City, he got something he wasn’t about to autograph: a baby.

On his Instagram, Johnson posted footage of the moment, part of his “electric, emotional” tour promoting his upcoming movie Black Adam. 

The video shows a baby girl being passed from fan to fan, over their heads, until she reached the stage. Johnson, with tears in his eyes, scooped up the tiny child in his giant arms while the crowd went bananas. “Oh my God,” he said.

He told his 340 million Instagram followers, “People do cry and they hand me things – I was NOT surprised to be handed this beautiful little baby. Her father caught my attention because he had tears in his eyes when he held her up high and gestured for me to hold her.” He continued, “I honestly thought he was holding a toy doll he wanted me to have as a gift.” Johnson added the “beautiful, serene, present and trusting angel” was named Luciana.

The star added, “One day, I bet she’ll inspire all those around her. And whatever this moment meant for her emotional father – means it meant something special for me too.”

Johnson closed with, “Love you back MEXICO and the mana is strong,” referring to the Polynesian phrase for magic and spiritual energy.

The father of two girls himself, Johnson closed with, “Girl dads ROCK.”

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While Hilary Swank said she was thrilled to announce she was pregnant with twins on Good Morning America, leave it to the internet to try to bring things down.

One troll apparently decided that the 48-year-old, two-time Oscar winner was too old to be a mom-to-be and told her that on her Instagram.

“AREN’T YOU LIKE 50?” the troll replied in all caps. “MIGHT live to see their wedding, maybe,” the user added.

That didn’t sit well with Swank’s fans, including her You’re Not You co-star Emmy Rossum, who had a three-letter response: “GFY.” That’s, of course, text shorthand for a three-word reply of which two of the printable words are “Go” and “Yourself.”

Rossum’s response drew nearly 200 likes.

Notwithstanding the rude comment, Hilary’s announcement, complete with a pic of her cradling her baby bump, was met with thousands of replies in support, including those from a host of her famous friends Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Katie Couric, Sharon Stone, Kate Hudson and more.

Hilary is expecting twins with her husband, entrepreneur Philip Schneider.

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(NOTE LANGUAGE) Jamie Lee Curtis has been the face of the franchise since 1978’s Halloween — but apparently, that doesn’t mean that Universal Pictures trusts her.

In a cheeky chat with the BBC America’s The Graham Norton Show, Curtis explained the studio hooked her up with her own screening of her final chapter, Halloween Ends, except she had an unwanted date.

“I watched it in an empty theater,” the actress explained on the chat show. “But I swear to God, they insisted on having a guard in the room so that I wouldn’t pirate my own f****** movie!” she said to laughs.

“I was like, ‘Wait, what?!’ she recalled.

The actress explained she turned away from the screen for most of the movie, which she watched with the volume down — perhaps to spare herself from the scares — but she knew what it was delivering.

“My entire movie, I turned my head, but I heard him, and he was going ‘Oh! Oh! Oh no! Oh no!” Curtis recalled.

Halloween Ends debuts both in theaters and on Peacock on October 14.

(Interview video contains uncensored profanity)

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That long-awaited Frasier revival is officially returning to TV in a reboot for Paramount+, ABC Audio has confirmed. Aside from Kelsey Grammer, who played the titular psychologist and radio show host on the Cheers spin-off NBC sitcom that ran from 1993-2004, no other casting has been announced. Plot details have also yet to be revealed. In the announcement, Grammer noted, “Having spent over 20 years of my creative life on the Paramount lot, both producing shows and performing in several, I’d like to congratulate Paramount+ on its entry into the streaming world. I gleefully anticipate sharing the next chapter in the continuing journey of Dr. Frasier Crane.”…

Variety reports horror production company Blumhouse is developing a film adaptation of the popular video game series Five Nights at Freddy’s. The game is set in a Chuck E. Cheese-like children’s restaurant called Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, where the animatronic creatures within go on a killing rampage after closing time. The Wind helmer Emma Tammi is set to direct, and Jim Henson‘s Creature Shop will handle the creation of the scary mascots. Filming is scheduled to begin in February 2023…

Former first lady Michelle Obama on Wednesday announced a star-studded list of guest moderators who will join her on her upcoming book tour in support of The Light we Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times. The tour kicks off in Washington, D.C. on November 15-17 with Ellen Degeneres moderating the first two nights. Other moderators include David Letterman and Oprah Winfrey. Guest speakers will include Gayle King, Hoda Kotb, Tyler Perry, Conan O’Brien and Tracee Ellis Ross. Tickets and a full list of tour dates are available at michelleobamabooks.com…

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The new Peacock miniseries A Friend of the Family debuts October 6 on Peacock. It’s based on the true story of the Broberg family, whose daughter Jan was kidnapped, twice, in the 1970s by a family friend.

The real-life Jan is an executive producer on show and despite some embarrassing revelations about her parents, they decided as a family to be “completely honest, vulnerable and exposed.”

“If that can help one person see the predator who lives in their family or their congregation or their neighborhood and prevent their child from suffering this kind of abuse, then it’s worth it,” she shares.

The story was the basis of the wildly popular 2017 Netflix docuseries Abducted in Plain Sight, which A Friend of the Family star Mckenna Grace tells ABC Audio she used as research to prepare for playing the teenage version of Jan, leaving her “mind boggled.”

“There’s so much that this family went through, and the fact that Robert Berchtold was just such a master manipulator and put them through so much. It was just really insane,” she recalls. “And it was incredible to see Jan’s resilience and the amazing person that she is today.”

Grace says the series reinforced for her that as a woman, you always have to be on guard, something her mother tells her constantly.

“Last night we were walking through a parking lot together and I was looking down at my phone and she was like, ‘You need to get off of your phone while you’re walking through a parking lot at night. You need to be more aware of your surroundings,'” says 16-year-old Grace.

“That’s the unfortunate situation, is that I can’t go for a walk at night by myself.”

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Thor: Love and Thunder made a mint at the box office, taking in more than $760 million worldwide. But the Taika Waititi film also has the dubious distinction of being the lowest audience-rated Thor movie on Rotten Tomatoes.

Now, in an interview with GQ, Christian Bale, who played the heavy Gorr The God Butcher, is venting.

Bale recalled thinking, “‘This looks like an intriguing character; I might be able to do something with this, who knows?”

He added of Waititi’s previous Thor film, “…I’d liked Ragnarok. I took my son to see Ragnarok. He was climbing like a monkey all across [the seats] and then he was like, ‘Oh, I’ve had enough now, let’s get on.’ I was like, ‘No, no, no. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.’ I was just like, ‘I want to finish it.'”

That said, Love and Thunder‘s reliance on computer-generated effects was apparently not for Bale. “That’s the first time I’ve done that,” he says of acting against green-screen sets. “I mean, the definition of it is monotony. You’ve got good people. You’ve got other actors who are far more experienced at it than me. Can you differentiate one day from the next? No. Absolutely not. You have no idea what to do.”

“I couldn’t even differentiate one stage from the next,” he continued. “They kept saying, ‘You’re on Stage Three.’ Well, it’s like, ‘Which one is that?’ ‘The blue one.’ They’re like, ‘Yeah. But you’re on Stage Seven.’ ‘Which one is that?’ ‘The blue one.’ I was like, ‘Uh, where?'”

Thor: Love and Thunder is now streaming on Disney+.

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A recent post from Kanye West about his custody situation with ex Kim Kardashian brought the protective little sister side out of Khloé.

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the Kardashians, they recently threw a birthday party for Chicago West, Kim’s 4-year-old daughter with Ye.

Ye complained the reality show clan “is [keeping] me from seeing my daughter,” and he “didn’t know where my child was on her birthday.”

Khloé replied, “Again with the birthday narrative. Enough already. We all know the truth and in my opinion, everyone’s tired of it. You know exactly where your children are at all times and YOU wanted separate birthdays. I have seen all of the texts to prove it. And when you changed your mind and wanted to attend, you came.”

She also pleaded, “Ye, I love you. I don’t want to do this on social media but YOU keep bringing it here. You are the father of my nieces and nephews and I’m trying to be respectful but please STOP tearing Kimberly down and using our family when you want to deflect.”

For his part, Ye screencapped Khloe’s response and posted in all-caps, “You are lying and are liars yall basically kidnapped Chicago on her birthday so she could remember her father note being there.”

He then said, perhaps of Kylie Jenner‘s baby daddy Travis Scott or Kourtney Kardashian‘s husband Travis Barker, “Trav game the address of my childs [sic] party thats how yall play with black fathers.”

Kanye also claimed the Kardashians threw a birthday party for his youngest son with Kim, Psalm, while he was “flying home from Japan” to see him. “The first I heard about it was seeing pics of the party online,” he said.

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