Free Republic

There aren’t many churches in Christendom where the person sitting next to you is likely a star of stage, screen or television. St. Malachy’s Church, located on 49th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue, founded in 1902, is a little jewel box of a church and an essential and important aspect of New York City’s theatrical community.Because of its location in the midst of the Theatre District — and the number of actors who have graced its precincts — it has come to be known as the Actors’ Chapel. Prior to 1920, St. Malachy’s was a working-class Irish-Italian parish....

He defeats main rival Anne-Marie Johnson with 44% of the vote while his coalition consolidates its power on the national board, winning a majority of the 22 seats up for grabs on the 69-member board. Ken Howard scored his second big win this week. Screen Actors Guild members elected the veteran character actor, who on Sunday won an Emmy for his role in HBO's "Grey Gardens," as the group's new president, capping a bitter election campaign that divided Hollywood's largest union. Howard soundly defeated "In the Heat of the Night" actress Anne-Marie Johnson, SAG's first vice president, who was backed...

Go ahead, yuk it up. Actor Paul Giamatti has signed on to replace Sean Penn as Larry in the Farrelly brothers' new movie version of “The Three Stooges." Penn dropped out of the film earlier in the year citing personal reasons. Director Peter Farrelly recently confirmed that Giamatti had assumed Penn's role. Giamatti will join Benecio Del Toro, who will play Moe, and a yet-to-be-cast Curly. There were reports that Jim Carey was set to play Curly, and the actor's appears on the Internet Movie Database alongside that role. He was even said to be gaining weight in preparation for...

The star of the Streets of San Francisco (with Michael Douglas), died today, according to FOX News Shep Smith.

After a year of nasty infighting, members of the Screen Actors Guild decided by a large margin that the show must go on. The Guild said Tuesday that 78 percent of voting members decided to ratify a two-year contract covering movies and prime-time TV shows made by the major Hollywood studios.

Film director Ron Howard is “very optimistic” about the future of America, so long as the nation makes an “adjustment,” to fulfill his hope a “more progressive” nation will mean “at a certain point I don't think we'll be so consumed with being the pre-eminent super-power and, you know, driven by sort of militarism and this need to export, you know, democracy.” Howard's reasoning, on Friday night's Real Time with Bill Maher, came in response to Maher's formulation that America has “seen better days. We're sort of in place that has made a lot of people nervous. Some people would...

A slideshow of actors that lean right. There is no sense to post left leaning actors, so I thought I would pass this on.

Friday night, and Ray Winstone has just spent several hours on a train and is on his way to finish up a couple of jobs. But he's knackered and the only place he wants to be is behind the wheel of his classic E-type Jag, pulling into the pebbled drive of his Essex home. So it's no wonder that he's having what he calls "a bit of a moan."

by Eric "Mr. EPluribus" PorvaznikWe've definitely got a one of the good guys on our side Once upon a time, there was a man named Michael Moore. For far worse than better, he liked to get under people's skin, from local school board members to, quite honestly, just about anyone who merely happened to disagree with his (and only his) way of thinking. He released a few pieces of fiction posing as documentaries, proposed very few (if any) solutions to the problems he illustrated (or invented) in his movies, and became the darling of the cinematic world, even garnering enough recognition...

Two Saudi actors and a Kuwaiti singer faced an awkward situation at a charity event for orphans when the organization manager refused to accept their donations under the pretext that their job is forbidden by religion. The two comedians Hussein Useiri and Fayez al-Malki and Kuwaiti singer Abadi al-Gohar received an invitation from the Saudi magazine Sayedati to attend an iftar, the sundown meal that breaks the day-long Ramadan fast. With more than 80 kids expected to attend the iftar hosted by the Prince Thamer bin Abdul-Aziz Charity Organization, the three entertainers came several hours in advance to hand out...

Actor Ernest Borgnine: America 'an Amazing Country' By Justin McCarthy (Bio | Archive) August 12, 2008 - 15:37 ET    Veteran actor Ernest Borgnine, still acting at age 91, does not represent the mainstream ideology of the Hollywood elite, or even a potential first lady named Michelle. Borgnine, unlike most of his fellow Hollywood elitists, believes America is "an amazing country" and that one has to "prove" one is "a good American by being an American."Appearing on the August 12 edition of "Good Morning America," Borgnine promoted his new autobiography. When given the opportunity, Borgnine, the son of Italian...

Maybe bohemian New York has a fighting chance after all.This morning came the news that the United States has nearly two million artists — more than the numbers of lawyers, doctors, police officers or farm workers — and that many of them, no surprise here, are struggling. We also learned that Representative Anthony D. Weiner, Democrat of Brooklyn and 2009 mayoral aspirant, wants to make it easier for fashion models to get visas to work in the United States.Senator Charles E. Schumer — who before being elected to the Senate in 1998 held the House seat that Mr. Weiner now...

CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C., May 16, 2008 – The road to Hollywood is rarely paved with combat boots and camouflage, but a Hollywood of sorts is exactly where one soldier landed. Army Capt. Gavin McCulley hugs his TV “wife” while playing an extra in Lifetime Network’s top-rated "Army Wives." Typically, McCulley can be found making sure all the extras are accurately portraying Army life. Defense Department photo by Samantha L. Quigley   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. Army Capt. Gavin McCulley, assigned to 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group, out of Fort Bragg, N.C., thought he’d use...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DELTA, Iraq, May 7, 2008 – Actors from the popular Iraqi sitcom “Mud House” performed the first comedic play since 2003 in Iraq’s Wasit province on May 4. The play “People and People” is performed in front of a packed house at the Kut Municipality Hall, in Kut, Iraq, May 4, 2008. Courtesy photo by James O’Gara  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. “People and People” portrayed Iraqi life from a comedic perspective to entertain the audience and to give them hope and optimism for the future, said the actors, Anam al-Rubayai, Ali Dakhil and Majid...

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The final epilogue to the tumultuous writers strike has been written, but Hollywood is bracing for a possible a sequel to the costly walkout -- this one starring film and television actors. While the TV industry has rushed to bring derailed shows back on the air since screenwriters returned to work three weeks ago, the threat of renewed labor unrest by actors in the months ahead has put movie studios in a tenuous situation. Filmmakers are reluctant to launch any production that cannot be completed before the expiration of the Screen Actors Guild's major film and...

I don't normally write about celebrities and entertainment,. I find it mostly boring and almost invariably unserious and unimportant. But when my wife pointed out the story about Martin Sheen's disgusting (and equally leftist) son Charlie, and the vile things he said to Denise Richards, it raised a question. First, read the recent nastiness: For example, on Aug. 22, Sheen wrote to the mother of his children: "You are a pig. A sad, jobless pig who is sad and talentless and, um, oh yeah, sad and jobless and evil and a bad mom, so go [expletive] yourself, sad, jobless pig."...

If only it was the beginning of a media trend. Studio execs know that people from both sides of the political spectrum watch their shows. Considering the statistics, two-thirds of the country doesn't pay attention to politics, ever, so your actors are more likely to lose you money and advertisers when they spout off, then attract any net gain, (unless bad publicity is considered a gain). Just blacking out their inappropriate remarks helps keep attention on the actual show, not some self-important actors latest pet project. If the actor has a problem with that, go on the news and talk...

Rell backs incentives to boost state's film industry Gov. M. Jodi Rell talks with John Travolta at Putnam Park in Redding on Thursday. Rell traveled to the film set of Disney Films "Old Dogs", starring Travolta and Robin Williams, to sign into law an expansion of film tax credits. REDDING -- Gov. M. Jodi Rell was joined by actor John Travolta on Thursday as she signed into law incentives to help promote the burgeoning film industry in the state. "Connecticut already has one of the best programs in the country to draw movie production to our state, and this...

American actor, Sean Penn applauded Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez as “a model for what an American president should be.” The 46-year-old actor, who won an academy award for his role as a murderer in “Mystic River” and who has built a financially rewarding Hollywood career playing lowlifes and criminals, met privately for two hours with Chavez. The admiration between the two men was mutual. Chavez praised Penn as being "brave" for urging Americans to impeach President Bush. “Taking on a president in one’s own country is the act of a bold and brave man,” Chavez boasted. “In my country, a...

SANTA MONICA, Calif. —  Charles Lane, the prolific character actor whose name was little known, but whose bespectacled face and crotchety persona made him instantly recognizable to generations of movie-goers, has died, his son said Tuesday. He was 102. The actor's son, Tom Lane, said he was talking with his father Monday evening. "He was lying in bed with his eyes real wide open," the younger Lane said. "Then he closed his eyes and stopped breathing." Lane, whose career spanned more than 60 years, appeared in such film classics as "It's a Wonderful Life," "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" and "Twentieth...

In the early days of women’s “liberation,” many activists saw abortion as a necessary and even desirable component of the sexual revolution of the sixties. Freed from childbearing, women could engage in numerous relationships without consequences.  However, like many of the tenets of feminism itself, such attitudes no longer prevail. In the grueling battle over abortion, there is growing public perception of antipathy to the barbarous practice. There is a certain remorse surrounding the issue that even its most ardent supporters find difficult to overcome.  Such a perception represents a psychological victory on the part of those pro-life forces whose...

What Actors/Actresses can you name that if in a well written movie or tv show you would absolutely refuse the watch? And what Actor/Actresses would you watch in a movie/tv show now matter how cruddy the production.

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2007 – Reality met Hollywood last month when the cast and crew of the Lifetime Network’s new series “Army Wives” hosted a picnic honoring real Army wives in Charleston, S.C., where the series is filmed. The cast members of Lifetime TV’s new series “Army Wives” enjoy hosting some of their real-life counterparts for a day of pampering in Charleston, S.C., May 5, 2007. It was a chance for the cast to get a better understanding of the real people they’re representing, cast members said. Courtesy photo by Allison Perkins  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The...

ANZER KASERNE, Germany — Actor and musician Gary Sinise prepares to fire a M-24 sniper rifle with Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne) during a firepower demonstration here May 11. Sinise is visiting the Stuttgart area with his band, the Lt. Dan Band, as part of a USO tour to perform concerts for service members stationed overseas. (Department of Defense photo by Navy Lt. Cmdr. Corey Barker) In this picture supplied by the USO, US actor Gary Sinise (R) listens to US Army CW 4 Leif Neely (L) of Woodbridge, Virginia, tell about how he was...

This isn't Sorbo's first time playing a man of God. He portrays a priest in the upcoming Sci Fi Channel movie "Something Beneath," he guest-starred as a former priest on UPN's "Love, Inc," and played a priest in the indie film "Clipping Adam." Sorbo, best known for playing the title role in "Hercules: The Legendary Journeys," also starred in "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda."

I have a play -- a very loose (EXTREMELY LOOSE) adaptation of Shakespeare -- and I'm trying to get it produced. Does anyone know where I can find companies that do Shakespeare parodies and actors to perform it?

...I think the worst thing that happened to the movies was the 1960s. That was the first decade in the history of the world in which parents wanted to grow up to be just like their children, thus turning the natural order of things on its head...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30, 2006 -- Servicemembers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center here and the Pentagon weren’t imagining things yesterday; they actually were seeing stars. Emmy-winning actor Ed Asner studies the panel representing the Defense of Freedom medal that's part of the Pentagon's 9/11 memorial during a Nov. 29 visit to the building. Asner, who stars in the Hallmark movie "The Christmas Card," took a brief tour of the Pentagon with three of the movie's other stars. The group and Hallmark representatives spent two days in the area visiting wounded servicemembers at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda,...

The actress who was engaged to Jude Law when he cheated with the nanny now says monogamy is "overrated."Sienna Miller tells Rolling Stone that "monogamy is a weird thing" for her. She says it's a hard thing to maintain because we're all "animals." She's still with Law and is hoping they'll have babies. The 24-year-old British actress has been in Pennsylvania shooting the screen adaptation of Michael Chabon's novel "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh." She got into some hot water for comments she made about the city. "Can you believe this is my life?" she told Rolling Stone. "Will you pity...

Catch 'Your World' for more on this topic: Are you less likely to support actors and musicians who take vocal political positions that are opposed to yours? Yes No No opinion

A Los Angeles rabbi, who gained attention by inviting Mel Gibson to attend Yom Kippur services at his synagogue to apologize for anti-Semitic statements made during a July 29 arrest for drunk driving, has been rebuffed by the publicist for the actor and director, saying the public nature of the request has been inappropriate. Rabbi David Baron, of Temple of the Arts, this week told TMZ, the entertainment-focused website that first broke the story of Gibson's DUI arrest and anti-Semitic outburst, that Gibson had officially declined an invitation to apologize before his congregation. On Aug. 1, Gibson issued a statement,...

Actor Everett labels Starbucks a 'cancer' 11:39am 18th August 2006 Opposed: Rupert Everett is petitioning against plans to open a Starbucks on Lamb's Conduit Street in his Bloomsbury neighbourhood. The actor is backing a campaign to boycott a new branch close to his home in Bloomsbury, central London. It will be the first major chain to open on Lamb's Conduit Street, which is famed for its small, independent shops. Everett, 47, said: "Starbucks is spreading like a cancer. "Nobody in the neighbourhood wants it, including me. "There are plenty of diners and coffee shops there already." Petition Everett, who starred...

Mel Gibson has become the designated Hitler-of-the-Month for August 2006, displacing both Saddam Hussein and Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, the previous front-runners. However, conservative Christians, before rushing to condemn or defend their fallen hero, might ponder the incident for a moment, before presuming to form an opinion. To give credit where it is due, Zev Chafets, in his LA Times commentary “Slurring More than His Words”, makes several valuable points. To begin with, Mr. Gibson’s first line of defense—the Tequila made him do it—is absurd. As Chafets commnts, “Evidently Gibson wants people to believe that, although he personally loves Jews, the...

From Citizen Kane to All the President's Men, Hollywood has enjoyed an enduring love affair with newspapers. But now that relationship seems to be cooling. As film studios have undergone their own strains in recent years, they have increasingly turned away from newspaper advertising.During the first quarter of the year - the busiest time for film industry advertising because of the seasonal awards - spending on newspapers was $233m, according to the Newspaper Association of America, an industry trade group. That marked a steady decline from the same period three years ago, when newspapers hauled in $310m from Hollywood.For most...

"Titanic" director James Cameron, warning that Hollywood is "in a fight for survival," wants the movie industry to offer films in digital 3-D to counteract declining sales and rampant piracy. "Maybe we just need to fight back harder, come out blazing, not wither away and die," Cameron said during his keynote address Sunday at the National Association of Broadcasters' Digital Cinema Summit. "D-cinema can do it, for a number of reasons, but because d-cinema is an enabling technology for 3-D. Digital 3-D is a revolutionary form of showmanship that is within our grasp. It can get people off their butts...

Here's a speech we would like to hear from an Academy Award winner: I thank you for this wonderful award. Receiving an Academy Award gives the recipient an almost unique opportunity to speak to hundreds of millions people around the world, so I would like take this once-in-a-lifetime moment to say this:

SYDNEY, Australia — In a secret corner of a warehouse here, the biggest star of one of the biggest movies of 2006 was hidden away all of last summer. Outside eyes were not welcome and sunlight was blocked out to avoid its aging effects. But on one rainy day in June, the star's keeper allowed a rare visit. "Not a lot of people get to see this," she said with a conspiratorial whisper as her key clicked open the lock. Inside were 60 versions of a famous costume, all blue tights and red capes, but hardly identical. Some of the...

The Movie: Ronnie Earle, on a Mission from God The Texas DA is inspired by the Bible to prosecute Tom DeLay. A new film featuring Travis County, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle as he pursued the investigation that led to the indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay portrays Earle less as a partisan figure than as a messianic leader on a mission to rid American politics of the "evil" influence of money. A copy of the still-unfinished film, entitled The Big Buy, was obtained by National Review Online Friday. On several occasions in the film, Earle engages in monologues on...

<p>The next time you go to the movies/concert or buy a cd/dvd take a moment to consider if you really should just skip the middle man and hand your money straight to your favorite liberal organization. I don't know about you, but I'm ready to say enough is enough. There are some that will accuse me of blacklisting or being Un-American. They will say that everyone has the right to express their political opinions and they shouldn't be penalized because they are a celebrity. Well, I've decided that I shouldn't be penalized BECAUSE they are a celebrity.</p>

After more than 40 wars, Dale Dye knows his stuff--and those are just the battles he has fought in films. The veteran of Platoon , Saving Private Ryan, and Band of Brothers began his military-movie-consulting career after racking up three Purple Hearts in the Marines in Vietnam. At age 60, he tweaks scripts, whips actors into shape, directs, and acts; he plays himself on HBO's Entourage, training the main character to be "Aquaman." Not only does he appear as a general in The Great Raid, starring Benjamin Bratt and based on the World War II mission to save 500 American...

It’s down to the wire. The U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA)—the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement—by July 28. CAFTA is a regional agreement between the U.S. and six Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic. CAFTA is another flawed trade deal that will sell out America's jobs and do nothing to pull people out of poverty in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Like its predecessor, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), CAFTA promises to “help” the United States economy and reduce...

WASHINGTON – Clark Gable enlisted at the age of 41 and took his cameraman into the Army with him as a fellow private. Pfc. Steve McQueen served 30 days in the brig after going AWOL from the Marines. Pfc. Elvis Presley served a full hitch in the Army despite a fan's plea to first lady Mamie Eisenhower to have the king of rock 'n' roll released early. Lt. Henry Fonda earned a Bronze Star as a Navy combat pilot over the Pacific in World War II. On Saturday, the National Archives for the first time opened the military records of...

Actor Warren Beatty, who has been considered a potential candidate for California governor, said on Saturday he does not want to run in next year's election, even as he lashed out against incumbent Arnold Schwarzenegger's policies. Beatty, invited to speak to graduates of the University of California at Berkeley's public policy school, has never held public office, but he has been a trusty supporter of Democratic presidential candidates for decades. In recent months, the two movie stars have sparred in separate public appearances that hinted at a possible political showdown. "I'm an opponent of (Schwarzenegger's) muscle-bound conservatism with longer experience...

I wrote this letter to send to Ani DiFranco, after her most recent music catalog made very anti-Bush comments. Please feel free to copy and send to your favorite liberal entertainer: Righteous Babe Records P.O. Box 95 Ellicott Station Buffalo, NY 14205 To Whom It May Concern: Please remove me from your mailing list. After reading your latest letter on the catalog, I think I’ve had enough. I have been very fond of Ani DiFranco’s music, but I cannot tolerate another musician who deems it necessary to force their politics down my throat. I really wish that just once I...

Despite initial controversy surrounding "The Kingdom of Heaven," Ridley Scott's new film about the Crusades, it is getting generally positive reviews from Muslims in the United States and in Arab countries. "It was really nice to go into a movie and feel so dignified, not feeling that you have to be ashamed or anything and feel proud of your history and your heritage," said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council of American-Islamic Relations, after seeing the film, which opened May 7. Laila al-Qatami of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Center in Washington also walked away happy. "He provided a...

Antipodean star RUSSELL CROWE has slammed JOSEPH FIENNES for his portrayal of legendary playwright WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE in OSCAR-winning film SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. The GLADIATOR actor liked the script of the 1999 MIRAMAX movie, which gave its stars DAME JUDI DENCH and GWYNETH PALTROW ACADEMY AWARDS, but was left unimpressed by Fiennes' casting. Crowe tells the American edition of GQ magazine, "It was a 100 per cent f**king home run except the central character of William Shakespeare was not a writer - he was not smelly enough. "He was not unshaven enough, and obviously he hadn't had enough to drink. "He...

NEW YORK (AP) -- The man who's probably best known as Lou Grant's boss has died. Mason Adams played Charlie Hume in the television show "Lou Grant" in the 1980s -- a spin-off from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show." He was nominated for three Emmys in that role. Adams was also known as the voice behind the Smucker's jelly commercials, voicing the tag-line: "With a name like Smucker's, it has to be good." Adams worked in film as well. He had several small roles in movies like "F/X" in 1986 and "Houseguest" in 1995, and worked steadily on stage in...

Hollywood hunk Mark Wahlberg has slammed Eminem, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for giving a false impression of tough, impoverished childhoods in their music and films. The Italian Job star has lambasted Damon, his co-star in new movie The Departed, for romanticizing difficult upbringings in Good Will Hunting, his debut film with Affleck. Wahlberg--who blames his assault conviction 17 years ago on his harsh childhood--has also attacked rapper Eminem for idealizing his difficult formative years in his biopic 8 Mile, in an interview with Details magazine. The 33-year-old actor complains, "My childhood wasn't like some 8 Mile bulls**t where you...

Hollywood Needs A Heartland Wake Up Call By Kevin Fobbs February 23, 2005 Somehow I have to believe that comedian and actor Chris Rock the host of the upcoming 74th Academy Awards has gotten it at least half right when he said recently that America really should not take these awards too seriously. Of course the pundits of Hollywood struck back and tried to dethrone him before he could even ascend to the throne as host. The part Chris Rock did not cover is probably even more important to Heartland Americans than his rather obvious comments about the award's importance....

Here's an interesting news item from our local paper here about Gary Sinise, a real stand-up guy: Gary Sinise to perform for Operation Iraqi Children benefit Sinise was inspired to start the charity, Operation Iraqi Children, after a USO tour of Iraq, during which he visited with Iraqi school children. The Lt. Dan Band, named after Sinise's role in the film "Forrest Gump," will perform a benefit concert Jan. 30 at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills to raise money for the organization founded by Sinise. By Bridget Graham-Gungoren/Special to The Malibu Times The role of Lt. Dan in the...