British Ballerina Precious Adams For Hello! Fashion Monthly, March 2021!
Hello! Fashion speaks with Precious Adams, one of English National Ballet’s foremost dancers, who holds the revered position of junior soloist.
Her talent for dance was discovered at the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet in Michigan, where she was raised, from there she travelled the world attending academies in Toronto, Monte Carlo and Russia. Although, despite living away from home at such a young age, she stresses she didn’t miss it, at all.
“I was just loving it. You're so busy and living with other people who are just as obsessed with dancing as you are, you almost don't have time to miss home. I wanted to be there so badly, there was no looking back. I was so happy to be living my dream. Especially as I grew older.”
Before joining English National Ballet in 2014, she became a double prizewinner at 2014's Prix de Lausanne - and since then she won the Emerging Artist prize at 2018's UK National Dance Awards and in 2019 was included on the BBC 100 Women list, an annual compilation of inspiring and influential women from around the world.
“It meant a lot. It just conveys that the path that I'm walking now is paving the way for future generations. And that my work is meaningful and not a self-prophecy, hopefully other people that come after me will benefit.”
And it was after Precious had her first promotion with English National Ballet that she became aware how, elsewhere, dancers of varying ethnicities were either wearing no tights or ones that complemented their own skin tones.
“That was something that was very common at Dance Theatre of Harlem, or dance companies that were used to more diversity. And also in neoclassical companies, where pink tights just don’t exist – and I knew that, aesthetically, they just didn’t always look great on me, anyway.”
So Precious met with her director to suggest, when appropriate, wearing brown tights instead. This was something that was supported from the offset. “I’m just really, really grateful that I work for a company where it was a safe space for me to say, ‘Oh, hey, there’s this other aesthetic that’s available. What do you think about this?’
“The floatier, the better”, is how she describes her favourite costumes, a love of femininity that fits perfectly with her new role as the ambassador for Zenith watches’ new Defy Midnight collection. “I’ve always been a lover of classic design. I think there’s nothing more flattering and beautiful than that. The Defy Midnight watch has such a timeless look, but with a modern twist.”
She would definitely say her and the other English National Ballet dancers are a close-knit group. “There’s no one with a malicious attitude. Those people don’t tend to last very long. I think the company culture has become so much more uplifting, kind and sensitive.
#RHOA: Porsha Williams Says Kenya Moore's Butt Isn't Real: 'It's Not Her Ass'!
"Whose is it?" asked Andy Cohen. The fake butt rumors that have plagued Kenya Moore ever since she joined "Real Housewives of Atlanta" were revived in a recent episode -- with costar Porsha Williams just gave her two cents.
On Sunday's new episode of the Bravo show, Moore confronted Marlo Hampton for making negative comments about her. "I talk about your fake butt and your skin," admitted Marlo, before Moore exclaimed, "I don't have a fake butt!"
"That's not real, you have injections," Marlo continued. "I don't have injections!" Kenya shot back, before Hampton said, "Something has been done to your body."
While the episode ended mid-fight, the conversation around Moore's posterior continued on "Watch What Happens Live," when a viewer asked Porsha whether she believed Kenya or Marlo.
"I thought we all had figured this out years ago," Williams replied. "It's not her ass. That's it. Stop asking, it's not her ass."
When Andy Cohen, who started laughing in shock, asked Porsha "whose is it," she added, "I don't know what's in there. All I know is that it is, it's ready to go back to where it came from."
The butt rumors are nothing new for Moore, with both Phaedra Parks and NeNe Leakes throwing injection accusations her way throughout her time on the series. During her last season on the show, Leakes often commented on Moore's "blow-up booty" -- which even led to a Twitter battle over the topic.
New episodes of "Real Housewives of Atlanta" air Sundays on Bravo.
#NewMusic from Jojo American Mood!
As we go through what feels like 100 world issues at once, one thing that can always bring the world together is the power of song. That’s why hearing a new ballad by soulful singer JoJo will always be something we’ll make time for.
With “American Mood,” JoJo speaks directly to those out there struggling through some sort of personal crisis. As she sings lines like “We got so much growing up to do,” it’s both heartfelt and very much heard. She isn’t even afraid to call out her own privilege, understanding that being a white woman in America right now comes with responsibility and a sense of understanding that, yes, now’s the time to open your eyes to what’s going on in the world. The message can be a tough one, but thankfully JoJo is the messenger and can deliver it with a beautiful serenade to assist.
Listen to “American Mood” by JoJo HERE
Hopefully this means more new music by the former 2000s teen sensation. Since her highly-publicized split with former label Blackground Records, also former home of late R&B icon Aaliyah, JoJo has been taking some time with her music projects and slowly reclaiming her space in the R&B world. It’s a great sight to see, and we hope she keeps pushing forward with quality music that showcases just how amazing her voice actually is and has always been. Respect!
#HipHopNews: Iconic Hip Hop Photographer & 'Fourth Beastie Boy' Ricky Powell Has Died!
Famed New York City photographer Ricky Powell, who was often referred to as the “fourth Beastie Boy,” has reportedly passed away. According to a source close to Powell, he died of heart failure on Monday (February 1) at the age of 59.
News of Powell’s passing started making the rounds on Twitter with The Roots’ Questlove being among the first Hip Hop artists to pay tribute to him by quoting a lyric from the Beastie Boys’ single “Car Thief” in which he’s mentioned.
“Homeboy Throw In The Towel …” he wrote. “#RIPRickster.”
Known mostly for his close relationship with the Beastie Boys’ Mike D, Ad-Rock and MCA, the prolific photographer also captured iconic images of Run-DMC, Chuck D, LL COOL J, Madonna, Eric B and Rakim, Keith Haring, Andy Warhol, Basquiat, actress Sofia Coppola, actor Vin Diesel and countless downtown Manhattan icons for over a decade. His work was featured in the New York Times, the Village Voice and more.
But anyone who knew Powell knew he lived hard and often struggled with substance abuse. In the 2020 documentary Ricky Powell: The Individualist, filmmaker Josh Swade didn’t shy away from addressing Powell’s demons, including his “excessive drug use, hoarding tendencies and heartbreaking relationship with his mother.”
As he said in the documentary, “I’m a bum-y ass motherfucker, but my photography happens to be high falutin.”
Despite Powell’s struggles, he still managed to carve out an illustrious career any photographer would appreciate. He hit the road with the Beasties and Run-DMC on the infamous Raising Hell Tour and many subsequent Beastie tours, including the Licensed To Ill Tour and Check Your Head Tour in the late ’80s/early ’90s.
Hip Hop is coming out in droves to pay their respects.
'Courtside Karen' apologizes, won't be banned after Hawks investigate heckling incident with LeBron James!
The Atlanta Hawks fan LeBron James dubbed “Courtside Karen” after a high-profile heckling incident Monday has apologized for her outburst.
She’s also been cleared to return to Hawks games along with the rest of her party that got kicked out of Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers. According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, the Hawks conducted an investigation into the incident and will not ban the four fans who were ejected on Monday from future games.
LeBron James' Hawks heckler issued an apology on Tuesday. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
The incident occurred in the fourth quarter of Monday’s Lakers win and prompted officials to halt play and call security when fans with sideline seats got heated with James. Juliana Carlos was particularly vocal and appeared to give James a middle-finger salute upon her ejection from State Farm Arena along with her husband and another couple.
She also dropped her mask to yell at James while she was still courtside.
After her ejection, Carlos — who appears to have social media influencer aspirations — took to Instagram with a profanity-laden tirade in which she said that she told James “I will f*** you up.” She accused James of cussing at her husband, which apparently sparked her anger.
The Athletic accessed courtside footage of the incident and determined that James uttered “Ol’ steroid ass” during the interaction.
‘I want to apologize for losing my cool’
On Tuesday, Carlos issued an apology on Instagram, noting that “things escalated quickly.”
James didn’t seem too upset about the incident after the game. In fact, he appeared to side with Carlos in appreciating a little back-and-forth with an opposing fan.
“There was a back-and-forth between two grown men,” James continued. “We said our piece. He said his piece, I said my piece. Then someone else jumped into it and said their piece.
“I didn’t think they should have been kicked out. But they might have had a couple of drinks, maybe. ... The referees did what they had to do.”
But James couldn’t resist taking a dig at Carlos after her outburst.
Michael B. Jordan Becomes Amazon's Alexa In Super Bowl LV Commercial!
Michael B. Jordan is Alexa.The 33-year-old Creed star is the physical embodiment of Amazon‘s smart device in the retail giant’s Super Bowl LV advertisement.
The video depicts a gorgeous female employee, who daydreams about the ideal physical form for “Alexa” and decides it has to be Michael, who was named People’s Sexiest Man Alive.
The commercial continues on, with the employee imagining herself in a variety of romantic and hilarious situations with Michael, and her husband is not impressed.
“The crazy thing about shooting this spot, there’s a lot of things that don’t make it to the (final) spot,” Michael shared with USA Today about some of the behind-the-scenes moments in the ad.
He added, “The guy that plays the husband is freaking hilarious. A lot of his reactions, just the way we were all working that day, it was pretty funny.”
WATCH
“You just have so many memorable Super Bowl commercials going back over the years,” Michael recalls, and “being a part of (one), it’s a bucket list type thing to check off, you know? Like, ‘OK, cool, I was part of a Super Bowl moment.’ … It’s pretty cool to be a part of that.”
Super Bowl LV will take place THIS Sunday, February 7.
Former Seahawks Lineman Chad Wheeler Pleads Not Guilty To Domestic Violence Charges!
Former Seattle Seahawks player Chad Wheeler pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of domestic violence and resisting arrest for a January incident with his girlfriend, a spokesman for a Washington prosecutor said.
Wheeler, an offensive lineman, is charged with two felonies -- first-degree domestic violence assault and domestic violence unlawful imprisonment, as well as misdemeanor resisting arrest, court records show.
According to court documents, prosecutors said, "(Wheeler) viciously attacked the victim in her bedroom, strangling her at times with both hands." Wheeler is also accused of strangling the victim twice until she lost consciousness.
The victim texted friends, her family and Wheeler's father to call 911, according to the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, and police officers who arrived forced entry after hearing her screaming inside. An officer attempted to use a Taser to subdue Wheeler "with little effect."
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The victim in the case was present in court and made a statement on his release conditions through a victim advocate, according to the statement from Casey McNerthney, spokesman for the King County Prosecuting Attorney. Specifically, she asked the court to return Wheeler to jail.
"Chad is out of custody staying in a hotel watching this play out on social media," she wrote in her statement to the court. "This current status places my safety at risk, and I do not believe that a protective order or a condition of release is sufficient to keep me safe," she added.
She asked the court to make Wheeler serve his home detention in his family home in Los Angeles if he is released.
"I object to him serving his time in Seattle, which places me at risk," the statement said.
Wheeler paid $400,000 bail the morning of January 26, four days after the incident.
King County Superior Court Judge Tanya Thorp said Wheeler is to remain in the King County area while on electronic home detention, according to McNerthney's statement.
Wheeler's next court date is a hearing set for February 11 in Kent, Washington, the DA's statement explained. A trial would start April 6.
Wheeler, a third-year offensive lineman, wrote on Twitter last week that "events happened over the weekend that transpired from a manic episode."
Wheeler's lawyers, Diego Vargas and Jon Scott Fox, told CNN last week in an email they are looking into the incident and "cannot comment until we have completed our investigation." They said Monday they had no comment on the arraignment.
As the allegations involve domestic violence, and Wheeler's partner has not spoken publicly about the incident,
Wheeler tweeted last Wednesday he is "deeply sorry for the pain and suffering that I have caused" to his partner.
"The most important thing right now is that (she) gets the care she needs and I get help," he said. "Both are happening."
Wheeler also apologized "for the turmoil that I have caused to my family, teammates, fans and those closest to me" and said he is "truly ashamed."
"It is time for me to walk away from football and get the help I need to never again pose a threat to another," Wheeler said.
The Seahawks said in a statement that Wheeler is a free agent and no longer with the team. The NFL listed Wheeler on its waiver wire last week.
Wheeler was undrafted out of the University of Southern California and played for the New York Giants from 2017 to 2019, starting 19 of 27 games.
In the 2020 season, he played in five games for the Seahawks.
Monique Samuels Confirms She'll 'Never' Return To #RHOP!
Monique Samuels will never again be seen on "The Real Housewives of Potomac."
During an interview with Hollywood Life on January 29 on their Instagram Live series, TV Talk," Monique confirmed that she is "not interested" in returning to the Bravo reality series after announcing her departure at the end of last year.
“I will never be back on that show because too much has happened," Monique said of the reason behind her decision to steer clear of the series in the future.
According to Monique, she believes that if her cast members were in a place of wanting to mend their relationships, they wouldn't have treated her the way they did during season five.
"To me, if people were really genuine and they really feel any type of remorse as they try to hold me accountable at a time that I wasn’t ready. Some of these ladies have done some really nasty, disgusting things and I’ve not had one apology in my direction. My husband has not been apologized too,” she explained.
Looking back at her final season of "The Real Housewives of Potomac," Monique said that she and her husband, Chris Samuels, felt that they weren't treated as equal members of the cast during the three-part reunion special.
“We don’t feel we were treated unfairly — We were treated unfairly,” Monique explained to Hollywood Life. “Without a shadow of a doubt, we were. If you could’ve heard some of the questions that weren’t shown, it was like guns a blazin’ in my direction.”
“After we filmed the reunion, [Andy Cohen] actually complimented me and said I did all 11 hours and didn’t break a sweat,” Monique said. “He was proud that I was able to hang in there for such a tough reunion and that was pretty much the last parts of the conversation. I have not heard or seen — nothin’.”
Regarding the final straw when it came to her decision to leave the show, Monique said the tip of the iceberg happened during the third part of the reunion.
“When they asked me to come back I was like, ‘Oh, OK, well let me go ahead and come back and redeem myself and have a great season 6,’ and I had the intention and hopes that they would show what really happened for the last, final part of the reunion. And when that didn’t happen, I was like, ‘Wow. Why am I here exactly?’ I’m not here for the money. I’m here for the platform. I’m like, ‘This is just to much!’" Monique explained.
Taraji P. Henson Says Dating Is the Furthest Thing from Her Mind Following Split from Ex-Fiancé!
Actress Taraji P. Henson ended her engagement to former NFL player Kelvin Hayden in October 2020. Since then, the “Empire” star has been on a journey to bettering both her physical and mental health.
During a recent interview with “Extra” host Cheslie Kryst, the 50-year-old talked about her Facebook Watch show “Peace of Mind.” The star also shared how therapy has helped her deal with suicidal thoughts during the pandemic, and how it’s also helped her cope with her breakup from Hayden.
“Well, you know, you take each moment,” Henson explained. “It’s not like I wake up every day and I’m happy but thank God I’m, I’m in therapy… and because I’m in therapy, I can now identify when I’m about to start to tip down.”
When asked when she’d be ready to jump back into the dating pool, the “Hidden Figures” star admitted that dating was the “last thing” she was worried about.
“I don’t mean that in a negative way, but I’ve always been the type of woman that when I get out of a relationship, I need to process,” she continued. “We were going to get married! That was five years of my life. I don’t just go, ‘Ohhhh. Okay. Next.’ I can’t, and I’m not judging — that’s just my process.”
The suspicion surrounding the status of Henson and Hayden’s relationship began to brew after the former Colts player was missing during Henson’s 50th birthday celebration in September 2020.
A month later, during an appearance on “The Breakfast Club,” the “Baby Boy” actress confirmed the news that her engagement from the former athlete was indeed called off. At the time, Henson said, “I haven’t said it yet, but it didn’t work out.”
She continued, “You know what I mean, and I tried. I was like therapy, let’s do the therapy thing, but if you’re both not on the same page with that, then you feel like you’re taking it on yourself. And that’s not a fair position for anybody to play in a relationship.”
The actress revealed there was some personal growth that both parties had to make, and “when one person is taking on the weight of the entire relationship, it’s never going to work.”
Henson and Hayden got engaged in 2018 after three years of dating. The former couple had initially planned to tie the knot in April, but the wedding was pushed back several times due to scheduling conflicts and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dustin Diamond Hoped to Appear in Season 2 of Saved by the Bell Reboot Before His Death!
Dustin Diamond was hoping to revisit his iconic Saved By the Bell character one final time before his tragic death.
Diamond — who died on Monday at age 44, three weeks after being diagnosed with cancer — was in talks to join season 2 of the Saved By the Bell Peacock reboot and reprise his role as the lovable nerd Screech after being excluded from the first season.
"He was upset that he wasn't asked to be a part of the reboot, but he talked to one of the executive producers about possibly coming to appear on the second season and he was happy about that," the actor's longtime manager, Roger Paul, tells PEOPLE.
Diamond found fame at a young age while playing Screech on the original NBC series. After Saved by the Bell concluded in 1993 following four seasons on the air, Diamond went on to star in spinoffs The College Years (1993-94) and The New Class (1993-2000).
In the years after the show went off the air, Diamond had a complicated relationship with the series and his former costars, including Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Lark Voorhies, Mario Lopez, Tiffani Thiessen and Elizabeth Berkley.
Paul says that Diamond initially struggled to move on from his character and the legacy of the show before finally learning to "embrace" it.
"He played such an iconic character and he just became pigeonholed for that. He wanted to play different kinds of characters but he couldn't break through. It was tough," he says.
"He fought it, but then he learned to embrace his character. He realized how important Screech was to so many kids," Paul continues. "And he helped so many kids who were bullied over the years, helped them use humor."
And with Diamond now unable to reprise his character, Lopez told Variety that he hopes the show will find a way to pay tribute to the actor moving forward.
"We were really hoping he'd make an appearance on season 2," Lopez said. "Now I'm really going to push for some sort of tribute. I would love a whole episode dedicated to some of his most iconic moments or something like that. We have a lot of very creative minds who can try to figure it out, but I haven't had those conversations yet."
Calling Diamond "an integral part of the chemistry and the comedy" of the original series, Lopez admitted, "I don't know if [the show] would have worked without him."
Paul confirmed the actor's cancer diagnosis to PEOPLE last month. A week later, on Jan. 21, he said Diamond had started chemotherapy for stage 4 small cell carcinoma, a cancer that commonly occurs in lungs, but can also manifest in the prostate or gastrointestinal tract.
In a lengthy statement announcing Diamond's death on Monday, Paul said while the cancer "spread rapidly throughout his system," he "did not suffer."
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DJ Spinderella Says Exclusion From Salt-N-Pepa Film Made Her Feel “Inferior”!
DJ Spinderella opened up about exclusion from Salt-N-Pepa’s biopic and her relationship with Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton.
During her interview with Hollywood Unlocked, Spinderella, whose real name is Deidra Muriel Roper, revealed that the fallout from being left out of the film had triggered emotional issues within herself, including depression.
“I was very upset. This played out in different ways for me,” Spinderella revealed. “I’ve definitely had depressions about it, bouts. I’ve had self-esteem issues. I had confidence issues. It was trickling into my relationship, and thankfully, I have a great, supporting partner, and he knew.”
The DJ replaced Salt-N-Pepa’s original DJ in 1987 when she was just 16-years-old. Since then, she toured with them and even produced several songs of theirs. Her long history with the group and her exclusion from the film left the now 49-year-old feeling inferior to James and Denton.
“It makes you feel less than a person. It makes you feel inferior. You have an inferior complex. You have confidence issues. You have low self-esteem — never believing that I was good enough, always having to prove, overprove. And never getting that acknowledgment, so yeah, those are the effects of that behavior.”
Despite how her former groupmates made her feel, Spinderella says that she has moved forward from the group’s decision to exclude her and likes “not being in an abusive relationship” with them. She also reiterated that her speaking out was merely her truth and not a publicity stunt.
She also addressed not being honored along with Salt-N-Pepa for their lifetime achievement award.
“You’re going to tell it like I wasn’t there when I was? This is why the viral attention is happening because people’s memories are being f*cked with. History is being written right now, and you’re okay with re-writing it to satisfy whatever your ego tells you I did to hurt you. I don’t know what that is. There was no issue that should warrant that behavior.”
Spinderella initially blasted the film in January in a flurry of tweets.
“Back when Salt n’ Pepa was building our legacy, which is rooted in empowering women, I could not have dreamed that this same group would one day disempower me,” she said in one of her tweets.
Jeff Bezos steps down as Amazon CEO!
Jeff Bezos said Tuesday that he will step down as chief executive of Amazon, leaving the helm of the company he founded 27 years ago.
Bezos will transition to the role of executive chair in the third quarter of this year, which starts July 1, the company said. Andy Jassy, the chief executive of Amazon Web Services, will take over as CEO of Amazon.
In a memo to employees, Bezos said the transition will give him "the time and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, the Bezos Earth Fund, Blue Origin, The Washington Post, and my other passions."
Andy Jassy, chief executive officer of web services at Amazon.com Inc., speaks during the Amazon Web Services Summit in San Francisco, on April 19, 2017.David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images file
The announcement set off alarm bells on Wall Street and throughout the business community, though the transition does not necessarily portend any significant change to Amazon’s business. Amazon reported a year of record growth on Tuesday, including a 38 percent increase in net sales from 2019, netting the company $21 billion in income, nearly double from the year before. Investors didn’t seem fazed by the news, either. Amazon's share price was up about 1.5 percent following the announcement.
Bezos steps away from Amazon at a time when its market value hovers around $1.7 trillion, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world.
It remains to be seen how active Bezos will be in Amazon’s business in his new role. Several major tech executives have stepped down as CEO and remained intimately involved in their companies’ business, including Larry Ellison at Oracle and Bill Gates at Microsoft. Bezos remains one of Amazon's biggest shareholders.
"I will reiterate [Jeff Bezos] is not leaving," Brian Olsavsky, chief financial officer of Amazon, told investors on Tuesday. "He's going to be executive chairman, super important role, super active in the Amazon success story."
In Jassy, Bezos is tapping a longtime Amazon employee who joined in 1997 and built the company’s cloud services business, which started as a small addition to its e-commerce operations but has grown in recent years to account for roughly 60 percent of operating profit and has become one of the leaders of the cloud computing industry.
The move is a major turning point in one of the most successful entrepreneurial runs in American history. Bezos founded Amazon in 1994 as an online bookstore, survived the dot-com bubble in the early 2000s, and built the company into one of the largest employers in the U.S. with a network of facilities touching almost every part of the country. Bezos is one of the world's richest people, having recently been edged out of the top spot by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
"The question I was asked most frequently at that time was, 'What’s the internet?,'" Bezos said in the employee memo about the early days of Amazon. "Blessedly, I haven’t had to explain that in a long while."
Amazon's success moved it quickly from a quirky internet upstart into one of the most watched — and scrutinized — companies in the country. Amazon’s size and business practices have raised antitrust questions from both U.S. and European Union regulators about how it has used its dominance to edge out competitors. Bezos was called before the House Judiciary Committee last year where he faced questions about the company's competitive practices, including accusations of pricing out competitors on its platform and using third-party seller data to inform the sale of its own products.
In addition to dedicating time to his space exploration company Blue Origin and to The Washington Post, which he owns, Bezos said he plans to focus on his philanthropic efforts including the Day 1 Fund and the Bezos Earth Fund, which are focused on helping homeless families and starting preschools in low-income communities and climate change, respectively.
“I’m super passionate about the impact I think these organizations can have,” he wrote in his note to employees.
In an interview with NBC News this week, outgoing Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron commended Bezos for his ownership of the paper.
“It's not just money, it's not financial capital,” Baron said. "It's intellectual capital. He’s someone who understands consumer business and consumer behavior. That is really important to us."
Bezos has faced some accusations that he has been slow to share his fortune. His former wife, MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and author who divorced Bezos in 2019, has given away more than $6 billion in the past year. As part of the divorce, Scott received a 4 percent stake in Amazon.
Bezos' move sparked reaction from many of his fellow tech chiefs, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai.
"Congrats @JeffBezos, best wishes for Day 1 and Earth fund," Pichai tweeted
Legendary Actor Hal Holbrook, Known For His Portrayal Of Mark Twain, Dies At 95!
Emmy and Tony winner Hal Holbrook, an actor best known for his role as Mark Twain, whom he portrayed for decades in one-man shows, died on Jan. 23. He was 95
Holbrook’s personal assistant, Joyce Cohen, confirmed his death to The New York Times on Monday night.
Holbrook played the American novelist in a solo show called “Mark Twain Tonight!” that he directed himself and for which he won the best actor Tony in 1966. He returned to Broadway with the show in 1977 and 2005 and appeared in it more than 2,200 times (as of 2010) in legit venues across the country. He began performing the show in 1954
He received an Emmy nomination for a TV adaptation of “Mark Twain Tonight!” in 1967, the first of multiple noms. He won four Emmy Awards.
He also drew an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for his role in the film “Into the Wild” in 2008. At the time of the nomination, the 82-year-old Holbrook was the oldest performer to ever receive such recognition.
Holbrook’s craggy voice and appearance lent itself to historical portrayals and other parts that required gravitas. Indeed, he also played Abraham Lincoln, winning an Emmy in 1976 for the NBC miniseries “Lincoln” and reprising the role in the ABC miniseries “North and South” in 1985 and its sequel the following year. Moreover he won his first Emmy, in 1970, for his role as the title character in the brief but highly regarded series “The Bold Ones: The Senator.” He played the commander in chief in the 1980 film “The Kidnapping of the President”; a senior judge tempted into vigilante justice in “The Star Chamber”; and John Adams in the 1984 miniseries “George Washington.” Much later, he played the assistant secretary of state on a couple of episodes of “The West Wing,” and most recently he played a conservative Republican congressman in Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln” and a judge in the 2013 historical drama “Savannah.”
In 1978 he was nominated for an Emmy for his role in a TV adaptation of Thornton Wilder’s “Our Town” as the Stage Manager, another role with which he is strongly associated.
Earlier, he drew an Emmy nomination for a noted role as a man who reveals his homosexuality to his son, played by Martin Sheen, in the ahead-of-its-time ABC 1972 telepic “That Certain Summer.”
He recurred on the late ’80s Linda Bloodworth sitcom “Designing Women” as the boyfriend to his real-life wife, Dixie Carter; his character on that show was killed off so he could take one of the starring roles in another CBS-Bloodworth effort, the Burt Reynolds starrer “Evening Shade,” in which he played Reynolds’ irascible father-in-law. He appeared in 79 episodes of the show from 1990-94.
Holbrook also directed four episodes of “Designing Women.”
In 2006 the actor guested on “The Sopranos” as a terminally ill patient who imparts some wisdom to the hospitalized Tony Soprano.
Holbrook’s inimitable voice, full of a world-weary integrity, was inevitably attractive to documentary makers and feature film directors requiring narration or voiceover. He narrated docus such as “The Might Mississippi” and “The Cultivated Life: Thomas Jefferson and Wine” and movies including 2011’s “Water for Elephants.” He won an Emmy in 1989 for narrating the “Alaska” segment of the “Portrait of America” documentary series.
The actor made a deep impression on the big screen as well, playing Deep Throat in “All the President’s Men” — it was he who intoned the famous words “Follow the money!”; a power-mad police lieutenant in the Dirty Harry movie “Magnum Force”; and, in a brief and underappreciated performance, a stockbroker warning of the dangers of ethical lapses in Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street.”
Harold Rowe “Hal” Holbrook, Jr. was born in Cleveland; his mother was a vaudeville dancer. He was raised in South Weymouth, Mass., and graduated from Ohio’s Denison U., where an honors project about Twain led him to develop “Mark Twain Tonight.” Serving in the Army in WWII, Holbrook was stationed in Newfoundland, where he performed in theater productions including the play “Madam Precious.”
Ed Sullivan saw him perform “Mark Twain Tonight” and gave the young thesp his first national exposure on his television show in February 1956.
Holbrook was a member of summer stock legit troupe the Valley Players, based in Holyoke, Massachusetts, and opened its 1957 season with a performance of “Mark Twain Tonight.” The State Department sent him on a tour of Europe that included appearances behind the Iron Curtain, and Holbrook first played the role Off Broadway in 1959. Columbia Records recorded an album of excerpts from the show.
On Broadway, Holbrook played the role of the Major in the original production of Arthur Miller’s “Incident at Vichy” in 1964. In 1968 he was one of the replacements for Richard Kiley in the original Broadway production of “Man of La Mancha” despite limited ability as a singer.
As Holbrook approached his mid-80s, he remained a busy actor, including multi-episode appearances on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy” and NBC’s “The Event.” In 2011 he was also in an independent film, the thriller “Good Day for It,” in whose conception he was intimately involved, and he appeared as a science teacher who knows the truth in Gus Van Sant’s anti-fracking film “Promised Land.”
Holbrook’s memoir “Harold: The Boy Who Became Mark Twain” was published in September 2011.
In 2014, Holbrook was the subject of the documentary “Holbrook/Twain: An American Odyssey,” directed by Scott Teems, which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival and depicted Holbrook’s career portraying Twain. Holbrook appeared as Red Hudmore on the final season of “Bones” in 2017, and appeared in an episode of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Hawaii Five-0” that same year. In September 2017, Holbrook announced his retirement from “Mark Twain Tonight.”
Holbrook was married three times. He and Carter were married in 1984 and remained together until her death in 2010.
He is survived by his three children and two stepdaughters, as well as two grandchildren and two step-grandchildren.
R. Kelly Co-Defendant Pleads Guilty to Bribing Woman to Stop Her from Testifying Against Singer!
A co-defendant of R&B singer and alleged sexual abuser Robert Sylvester Kelly pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bribery. Richard Arline, Jr. admitted in court that in May and June 2020, he tried to get a woman identified as Jane Doe to not go forward with testimony or give any electronic evidence against Kelly. He said that what he did was wrong, and he that is sorry.
Illinois federal and state prosecutors, as well as New York federal prosecutors, say Kelly was a prolific abuser of women and girls. He and his henchmen allegedly tried to clamp down on evidence of wrongdoing. For example, one manager allegedly called in a shooting threat to prevent a screening of the Surviving R. Kelly docuseries; another man allegedly lit an SUV on fire outside of a victim’s home.
Arline’s case stems out of Kelly’s racketeering case out of Brooklyn. He reached out to Jane Doe, according to the criminal complaint. The woman responded at the direction of law enforcement. Eventually, they settled on a possible number of $300,000, but at the time, investigators said it was unclear if Kelly or others authorized Arline to negotiate. The bottom line, however, is that Arline tried to coordinate a bribe payment in exchange for her to not cooperate with law enforcement.
Authorities said they got evidence that Arline voiced concerns to a person identified as Individual 5 over what Doe knew.
“Rob, if I had talked to Rob on the phone and Rob got the money, he gonna pay [first name of Jane Doe] to be quiet,” Arline said in documents. “Like if I had a way to talk to Rob, being next to him, and telling him what’s going on, without nobody listening to, no feds, nobody, he gonna pay her ass off to be quiet. She got too much. She got too much.”
Sentencing is set for June 9.
Mariah Carey's Estranged Sister Sues Her For Emotional Distress!
Mariah Carey’s estranged sister, Alison Carey, is suing the singer for $1.25 million, claiming she suffered emotional distress from allegations made in Mariah's memoir, The Meaning of Mariah Carey.
According to multiple outlets, Alison filed the lawsuit in New York on Monday (February 1). Per her filing, which was obtained by Us Weekly, she “will demand an amount no less than $1.25 million” from Mariah for the “intentional infliction of emotional distress caused by statements” made in the book, which was published in September 2020.
In the memoir, Mariah alleges, amongst other things, that Alison "gave her Valium, tried to pimp her out and threw a cup of boiling hot tea on her causing third-degree burns," TMZ reported.
“I know my sister was deeply wounded,” Mariah wrote in her memoir. “She is the most brilliant and broken person I have ever known. I may never understand what hurt her so badly that it made her hurt others in return, but to me, she was her own most permanently damaged victim.”
Alison's lawsuit claims that Mariah "presented no evidence to substantiate these serious allegations.” She also claims that Mariah “used her book to humiliate and embarrass [her] as stories about the memoir appeared in newspapers around the world, on TV, and across the internet.”
As reported by Us Weekly, Alison, who said she was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression, additionally called the allegations made against her in Mariah's book “cruel and outrageous.” She also slammed Mariah for using her “status as a public figure to attack her penniless sister.”
Elsewhere in the lawsuit, Alison said she has “become severely depressed and uncharacteristically tearful since the publication of [Mariah’s] book and now struggles, after a long time clean, with alcohol abuse.”
AND FINALLY FROM “THE CRAZY PEOPLE SHOPPING AT WALMART” FILES
‘MULLETOV COCKTAIL’
Someone better recognize what’s up real f’in soon and open up a new lane before it gets real ugly up in there because power mullets like this don’t wait in line for nothing or nobody!
HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL!!!
EFREM
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