People
‘Soul Train’ host dead at 75
LOS ANGELES — Don Cornelius, the silken-voiced host of TV’s Soul Train who helped break down racial barriers and broaden the reach of black culture with funky music, groovy dance steps and cutting-edge style, died early Wednesday of an apparent suicide. He was 75.
Police responding to a report of a shooting found Cornelius at his Mulholland Drive home around 4 a.m. He was pronounced dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound about an hour later at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, according to the coroner’s office. READ
Closing arguments delayed Brooks’ lawsuit against hospital
The judge and lawyers in Garth Brooks’ lawsuit against an Oklahoma hospital have been meeting to hammer out what jurors should consider as they deliberate the case. READ
Neil Young goes to Sundance
Neil Young recalls how his first concert film with director Jonathan Demme was a lush, stately tribute to country music. He says their latest, Neil Young Journeys, is more like an electric bolt, with a “grinding, blinding beauty to it.” READ
James ‘sang whatever was thrown at her’
On her last album The Dreamer, released just three months before her death, Etta James sings a mix of covers, from the R&B classic Misty Blue to the Ray Charles song In the Evening. READ
Plumbing at the Golden Globes
Canadian-born stage and screen legend Christopher Plummer has won the supporting-actor Golden Globe for his role as an elderly widower who comes out as gay in the father-son drama Beginners. READ
Allen content to burn on a low flame
The chimes may have tolled midnight in Paris, but in Hollywood, it’s the dawn of another career revival for Woody Allen after his biggest hit in decades and a new round of awards accolades. READ
Cronenberg’s son lauded for poise behind camera lens
Actress Sarah Gadon says David Cronenberg’s son Brandon is a confident force behind the camera, just like his famous father. READ
Peters' Christmas variety show a real family affair
When it comes to Christmas, Canada’s comedy giant Russell Peters is a traditionalist at heart. The standup superstar throws together an old-fashioned TV variety special this week featuring plenty of carols, mirth by the fire, wishes for Santa, and unabashedly cheesy skits involving his mother, Maureen, and baby girl, Crystianna. READ
Jackson's doctor jailed four years
The doctor convicted in the overdose death of Michael Jackson was sentenced to the maximum four years behind bars Tuesday by a judge who denounced him as a reckless physician whose actions were a “disgrace to the medical profession.” READ
Beyonce worried baby secret would be revealed at concert
It’s tough to keep a pregnancy a secret when you’re in the public eye, and for a while, Beyonce thought the jig was up. READ
Bronze sculpture by Giacometti fetches world record $104 million
LONDON — A life-size bronze sculpture of a man by Alberto Giacometti was sold Wednesday at a London auction for 65 million pounds (US$104.3 million) — a world record for the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction, Sotheby’s auction house said. READ
British reality TV star Jade Goody battles cancer on camera
LONDON — A brash British reality show star whose ups and downs captivated the nation is approaching her death the same way she has lived — on television. READ
