Monitor
BIRTH
Two’s the lucky number for Numb3rs alum Diane Farr, 38. Twin daughters Sawyer Lucia and Coco Trinity arrived on Aug. 27 in L.A. The actress and her husband, Seung Chung, already have a 17-month-old son, Beckett.
MARRIED
James Gandolfini, 46, and fiancée Deborah Lin, 40, wed on Aug. 30 in Honolulu. The former Sopranos star, who’ll return to theaters in Spike Lee’s Miracle at St. Anna later this month, got engaged to the former model late last year; his first marriage, to Marcy Wudarski, ended in 2002.
COURTS
Mackenzie Phillips, 48, was arrested and charged with felony drug possession at Los Angeles International Airport on Aug. 27 after a routine security screening allegedly showed that she was carrying small amounts of heroin and cocaine. The actress was released on bail the next day…. Death Row Records co-founder Marion ”Suge” Knight, 43, was arrested on Aug. 27 in Las Vegas on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance, possession of dangerous drugs without a prescription, and battery domestic violence. Police say they found him with Ecstasy and prescription pills after observing him beating his girlfriend and threatening her with a knife. Knight was released the same day on bail…. An L.A. judge ruled on Aug. 27 that a promoter must pay Ne-Yo, 25, to the tune of $700,320. The R&B singer sued Rowe Entertainment in December, claiming that they owed him after abruptly cutting him from the opening slot of R. Kelly‘s 2007 tour. The judge sided with Ne-Yo after the promoter failed to respond to the lawsuit…. The FBI arrested blogger Kevin Cogill, 27, on Aug. 27 in Culver City, Calif. Cogill (who blogs under the name Skwerl) was charged with felony copyright violation for allegedly posting nine leaked tracks from Guns N’ Roses‘ long-delayed album Chinese Democracy. He was released after posting bail.
RECOVERING
The Horse Whisperer novelist Nicholas Evans, 58, and several family members were hospitalized while on vacation in Scotland after they ate wild mushrooms that turned out to be poisonous on Aug. 23. In a Sept. 2 statement, Evans’ literary agent said that after undergoing dialysis, the family was recovering well…. Amy Winehouse, 24, canceled a scheduled Aug. 29 performance at the Rock en Seine music festival in Paris due to an unspecified illness. A rep for the singer said she ”was taken ill at her house and wasn’t able to travel to France for the concert.”
DONATED
The annual telethon hosted by Jerry Lewis, 82, raised a record $65 million from viewers for the Muscular Dystrophy Association over Labor Day weekend.
DEATHS
Musician-actor Jerry Reed, 71, died of complications from emphysema on Sept. 1 in Nashville. Reed was already a Grammy-winning country singer and songwriter (for stars including Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash) when he took on the role of Burt Reynolds’ sidekick in the three Smokey and the Bandit films…. Voice-over artist Don LaFontaine, 68, who provided narration for countless movie trailers (The Godfather, The Terminator, The Simpsons Movie) and ads, of complications from a long illness, Sept. 1, in L.A…. Animation exec Morris F. Sullivan, 91, whose Sullivan Bluth Studios produced the hit films The Land Before Time and An American Tail, of natural causes, Aug. 24, in Toluca Lake, Calif. — with additional reporting by Beth Johnson
IN TREATMENT
The fallout from David Duchovny‘s admittance into rehab for sex addiction continues: His wife, Téa Leoni, 42, has canceled her scheduled appearances at this month’s Toronto Film Festival to promote her new movie Ghost Town. And rumors continue to swirl around Duchovny, 48, as one report suggests that a porn-watching habit was behind his decision to seek treatment. But one thing hasn’t changed: The cable hit Californication, in which the actor stars as a womanizing novelist, will return for its second season on Sept. 28. In a statement, Duchovny requested ”respect and privacy for my wife and children as we deal with this situation as a family.” The couple has two kids, ages 9 and 6. — SVL
GAVELS DOWN
The case that many in Hollywood said would embarrass the town’s biggest names ended with a whimper on Aug. 29. The six-year criminal probe into the dealings of Anthony Pellicano, 64, was resolved when the private investigator to the stars was convicted of two counts of conspiracy and wiretapping (this, on top of the 76 counts of racketeering and wiretapping he was found guilty of in May). These final charges stem from a 2002 job in which showbiz lawyer Terry Christensen, 67, hired Pellicano to tap the phone of Lisa Bonder, who was locked in a custody battle with former MGM owner Kirk Kerkorian. Pellicano is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 24, and could face four lifetimes in prison (that’s roughly 400 years) for all 78 counts. Ouch. — Vanessa Juarez
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