Holmes doing well after colon cancer surgery

Monday, Dec. 27, 2004 | 10:29 a.m.

Harrah's entertainer Clint Holmes underwent successful surgery for colon cancer last week, according to a press release.

The small tumor was discovered during a routine colonoscopy earlier this month. He had surgery Wednesday at Southern Hills Hospital and is expected to make a full recovery, according to a statement from Kirvin Doak Communications, which handles Holmes' public relations.

"I feel extremely fortunate that this was found and treated at a very early stage," Holmes said in a prepared statement. "I'm already up and around and looking forward to spending the holidays with my family."

He will return to Harrah's in mid-January.

Holmes, who has performed at Harrah's since 2002, hit the Billboard charts in 1973 with "Playground in My Mind." He also hosted "Vegas Live! With Clint Holmes and Sheena Easton," a locally produced talk/variety show, from November 2003 to February 2004.

Powell in Times Square

Secretary of State Colin Powell will celebrate New Year's Eve in Times Square as the guest of honor at the 100th anniversary of the world-famous festivities.

Powell, a native New Yorker, will push the button to begin the New Year's Eve ball's descent as an expected 750,000 people swarm Times Square and more than a billion people worldwide watch on television.

TV personality-producer Dick Clark, who has hosted the New Year's Eve party for 32 years, will miss the celebration because he's recovering from a mild stroke. Daytime talk-show host Regis Philbin will fill in.

DVD helps attack victims

Proceeds from DVD sales of Prince Felipe's wedding have been donated to the families and victims of the Madrid, Spain, train bombings.

A palace spokesman said Friday that $230,375 had been sent to the Foundation for the Victims of Terrorism to be given to the victims of the March 11 attacks. Bombs tore through four early morning commuter trains in Madrid, killing 191 people and injuring some 1,800.

Prince Felipe and former TV anchorwoman Letizia Ortiz were married May 22. The wedding was filmed by Spanish Television with an agreement that proceeds from video sales be given to victims of the attack.

The family of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia have taken part in several fundraising events to benefit the victims.

Blanchett channels Hepburn

Cate Blanchett comes on strong when she first appears as Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's new Howard Hughes biopic, "The Aviator." She's talking a mile-a-minute in that Hepburn accent.

Blanchett says Scorsese wanted it that way.

"He wanted Hepburn to come into the film with a bang. And so the scene is constructed with her talking her head off," she told AP Radio in an interview. "It's quite an assault on the senses."

Blanchett says Scorsese wanted the audience to ask themselves: "Oh, my God. Is that her? Is that Katharine Hepburn?"

"The Aviator" has received six Golden Globe nominations, including best supporting actress for Blanchett.

Carlin entering rehab

George Carlin is entering a drug rehabilitation facility in Los Angeles to shake his dependence on wine and a painkiller.

"I'm going into rehab because I use too much wine and Vicodin," the 67-year-old Carlin said in a statement released today by his publicist Jeff Abraham. "No one told me I needed this. I recognized the problem and took the step myself."

The name and location of the facility weren't disclosed.

Carlin, who performs his standup comedy in Las Vegas showrooms, said he's never been treated in a rehabilitation facility.

"I know it isn't easy, but I'm highly motivated, and will do whatever's needed," Carlin said in the statement. "My levels of use are nowhere near the worst you hear about these days. I could easily have continued functioning at a good level for a while, but my use would have progressed.

"I would have been in deeper trouble and I didn't want to tolerate that."

His acting credits include "With Six You Get Eggroll," "Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey" and "Jersey Girl" with Ben Affleck.

Carradine inspired film

David Carradine says he inspired the title role in the "Kill Bill" movies, but the part was originally written for Warren Beatty.

Carradine explained during an interview with the Chicago Tribune earlier this year that Beatty initially landed the role but director Quentin Tarantino kept instructing him to act like Carradine.

"Then the part comes to me and it fits like a glove because it's actually written about me," Carradine said. "All I had to do was show up and learn the lines."

An excerpt of the interview, which was conducted while Carradine was promoting "Kill Bill Vol. 2," was published Sunday.

Carradine, however, dismissed rumors that Beatty was fired from the movie or walked off its set.

"He just understood the true destiny of the movie and what it would do for me. I mean, he's already gotten his Lifetime Achievement Award," Carradine said.

Actor freed from prison

Actor Erik Anthony Aude, who was freed from a Pakistani prison after serving two years on a drug charge, returned home to an emotional reunion with family and friends.

Aude, who had minor roles in the television show, "Reba" and the hit film "Dude, Where's My Car?" was freed last week from a jail in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

"I'm lucky to be here right now and I'm happy," Aude said upon his arrival Sunday night at Los Angeles International Airport.

Aude had missed a scheduled Christmas Day flight, but a throng of supporters returned Sunday to the airport to greet him.

"You really have no idea how lucky we are as Americans. We live like kings," he said. "I'm lucky to be here on American soil and I'll never take advantage of that again."

Aude, who declined to tell reporters about his prison ordeal, said he was looking forward to eating a chili dog.

Packing on pounds

Renee Zellweger isn't the only actress packing on the pounds for plum roles these days.

Sarah Steele, the 16-year-old who plays the overweight daughter of Adam Sandler and Tea Leoni in the comedy-drama "Spanglish," had to gain between 15 and 17 pounds for the role.

"And then I had my fat suit. It was cotton and spandex. It was pretty uncomfortable," the 5-foot-tall Steele told the Los Angeles Times.

Steele normally fluctuates between a size 1 and 2. She said she did not use a special diet to gain the weight because the food on the set was so good.

"I was the only actress who could eat it," she said.

Steele, a junior at a private Philadelphia high school, said playing the role of Bernice gave her an opportunity to explore teenage obesity for audiences who usually don't see it in movies.

Drug companies wary

Some pharmaceutical companies are telling their employees to look out for the scruffy guy in the baseball cap.

The Los Angeles Times reported that at least six drug companies have released internal communications telling employees to be wary of filmmaker Michael Moore.

Moore's targets have included General Motors ("Roger & Me"), the gun lobby (the Oscar-winning "Bowling for Columbine") and President Bush ("Fahrenheit 9/11").

Moore, normally seen sporting a beard and a ball cap, has now set his sights on the health care industry, including insurance companies, HMOs, the Food and Drug Administration and drug companies.

"We ran a story in our online newspaper saying Moore is embarking on a documentary and if you see a scruffy guy in a baseball cap, you'll know who it is," said Stephen Lederer, a spokesman for Pfizer Global Research and Development.

Other large drug companies recently instructed employees that questions posed by the media or filmmakers should be handled by corporate communications.