TMZ
TMZ's Funny Baby Face Contest -- Hysterical!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/funny-baby-face-photo-contest/
Andie MacDowell Shirley MacLaine Madonna Lee Majors Karl Malden
TMZ
TMZ's Funny Baby Face Contest -- Hysterical!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/funny-baby-face-photo-contest/
Andie MacDowell Shirley MacLaine Madonna Lee Majors Karl Malden
TMZ
Russell Brand -- First Photo Post-Split
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/russell-brand-katy-perry-divorce-photo/
TMZ
Hollywood Celebs on New Years -- It's All a Blur!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/celebrities-and-new-years-eve-its-all-a-blur/
TMZ
Katy Perry Divorce -- Singer Was Concerned About Upsetting Religious Parents
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/katy-perry-divorce-russell-brand-religious-parents/
Mia Farrow Farrah Fawcett Sally Field W.C. Fields Dame Margot Fonteyn
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-31-rochelle-wiseman-is-engaged
Danny Kaye Diane Keaton Michael Keaton Chaka Khan Larry King
TMZ
Lindsay Lohan -- First Shot Fired in Dubai War
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/lindsay-lohan-dubai-party-lawsuit-new-years-eve/
Mel Brooks Yul Brynner George Burns Ellen Burstyn Richard Burton
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-kathie-lee-gifford-doesnt-know-what-a-bj-is-on-the-today-show
Joni Mitchell Marilyn Monroe Yves Montand Demi Moore Rita Moreno
TMZ
Miss Geist from 'Clueless' -- I Once Got Recognized in a Weed Shop!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/30/miss-geist-clueless-weed-shop-video/
Diane Keaton Michael Keaton Chaka Khan Larry King Ben Kingsley
TMZ
Miss Geist from 'Clueless' -- I Once Got Recognized in a Weed Shop!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/30/miss-geist-clueless-weed-shop-video/
Elvis Costello Joan Crawford Bing Crosby Tom Cruise Tony Curtis
A second Victoria's Secret Angel announces that she too was pregnant during the lingerie runway show last month: Lily Aldridge is expecting her first child.
30 December 2011
Photo: Rex
Alessandra Ambrosio was not the only pregnant Angel on the Victoria's Secret runway last month: Lily Aldridge has announced she too is expecting.
Alessandra Ambr�sio was pregnant on the Victoria's Secret runway
"We are thrilled to announce that we are expecting our first child together," the Victoria's Secret Angel and her husband, Caleb Followill, lead singer for Kings of Leon told People magazine on Thursday.
"We can't wait to meet the new addition to our family," they added.
See pregnant and fabulous celebrities
The couple, who met at the Coachella music festival in 2007, tied the knot in California in May.
That makes two pregnant Angels, and three recent mothers (Miranda Kerr, Doutzen Kroes and Adriana Lima) walking down the runway in their underwear for Victoria's Secret.
Victoria's Secret fashion show 2011 in pictures
Ambrosio told US Weekly that she had considered pulling out of the show when she found out she was expecting her second child.
"When I first found out I was pregnant I thought, 'Oh my gosh I don't think I'm going to be able to walk on the show,' and I didn't tell anybody so no one knew at the show that I was pregnant," she said. "A week before, I told my booker I don't think I'm going to be able to fit into the clothes because I gained a few pounds already, but we were just quiet. I cut all the sugars and sweets 10 days before and I got my trainer - the one I usually get - and we were doing lots of glutes and arms and back exercises."
TMZ
What's the Big Frigin' Difference?!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/31/whats-the-big-frigin-difference-hunt-gallery-pictures/
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-kathie-lee-gifford-doesnt-know-what-a-bj-is-on-the-today-show
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-ti-dr-dre-to-release-f-da-city-up-on-new-years-day-2012
Chad Everett Douglas Fairbanks Morgan Fairchild Mia Farrow Farrah Fawcett
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-lindsay-lohan-will-not-spend-new-years-eve-in-dubai
TMZ
Lance Bass Stomachs the Beach Shirtless
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/30/lance-bass-shirtless-miami-beach/
Joan Crawford Bing Crosby Tom Cruise Tony Curtis Rodney Dangerfield
TMZ
Rihanna Flashes Barbados in See-Thru Bikini Top
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/30/rihanna-orange-bikini-barbados-body-wet-water-curves/
John Forsythe Jodie Foster Michael J. Fox Redd Foxx Anthony Franciosa
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-bridesmaid-actor-chris-o-dowd-engaged-to-dawn-porter
Piper Laurie Steve Lawrence Bruce Lee Gypsy Rose Lee Peggy Lee
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-warren-beatty-throws-dinner-in-honor-of-transgender-sons-bravery
He outlived both Tarzan co-stars, Weissmuller and actress Maureen O'Sullivan, who played Jane.
Like most Hollywood stars Cheetah's life was not without controversy. The Florida "Cheetah" is not the only chimpanzee to have claimed to be Tarzan's companion.
A chimp known as "Cheeta" who lives in California was for a long time claimed to be the chimp in the films, but, following research for a biography, that claim has been withdrawn.
Louis Jourdan Boris Karloff Danny Kaye Diane Keaton Michael Keaton
TMZ
Ryan Braun Says He WILL Address PED Allegations -- 'My Day Will Come'
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/30/ryan-braun-steroid-allegations-ped-talks/
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-vintage-salma-hayek
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-30-anna-paquin-new-movie-was-actually-shot-almost-seven-years-ago
Dyan Cannon Kate Capshaw Vikki Carr Diahann Carroll Ray Charles
TMZ
'Love and Hip Hop' Brawl #1,245 -- Blame It (On the Editing)
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/love-and-hip-hop-fight-tmz-on-tv-video/
Bert Lahr Ann Landers Michael Landon Stan Laurel Piper Laurie
Fur lovers Janet Jackson and reality TV star Kim Kardashian named the most animal-unfriendly celebrities of the year by Peta.
BY Olivia Bergin | 28 December 2011
Photo: REX
There's a first for everything, and 2011 marks Peta's (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) first 'Celebrity Grinch Awards'.
The organisation put the spotlight on singer Janet Jackson's collaboration with Blackglama , a fashion label which hand crafts garments made from "the highest quality mink in the world." Peta called Jackson "just plain nasty", justifying her listing as a Grinch on their blog by writing: "When Janet Jackson had her infamous 'wardrobe malfunction' during the Super Bowl, at least the flesh that popped into view was her own - unlike the stolen animal skins that she drapes herself with, which are as dead as her taste in fashion (not to mention her career)."
West Hollywood bans the sale of fur
Fur-loving reality TV "star" Kim Kardashian is also in the organisation's bad books, inciting this commentary: "Some have speculated that Kim Kardashian's wedding to NBA forward Kris Humphries was fake. Too bad the socialite princess doesn't have the same enthusiasm for faking her fur. Unlike her sweet sister Khloe, who starred in her own Peta anti-fur ad, Kim just can't seem to divorce herself from fur and say "I do" to a kind and compassionate wardrobe"
Film director Cameron Crowe was also singled out for using real animals instead of computer-aided animations to add to his latest film, We Bought a Zoo .
'Guilt-free' fur hits the catwalks
In contrast, it's our very own crooner Morrissey that's setting the best example of all. Peta UK named The Smiths singer their Person of the Year after the passionate vegetarian wore T-shirts with animal rights messages on stage and convinced festival goers in Belgium to go meat free on the day if his performance. Which leaves us wondering, who is Miserable Now?
Reese Witherspoon abandons her Chlo� bag after Peta backlash
Rock Hudson Engelbert Humperdinck Mary Beth Hurt Lauren Hutton Billy Idol
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-29-russell-brand-katy-perry-seen-without-their-wedding-rings
Lee Grant Peter Graves Joel Grey Robert Guillaume Buddy Hackett
TMZ
'Love and Hip Hop' Brawl #1,245 -- Blame It (On the Editing)
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/love-and-hip-hop-fight-tmz-on-tv-video/
Victor Borge Chef Boyardee David Bowie Max Brand Beau Bridges
Shortly after the photo shoot she said: "He?s bothered on so many levels. He doesn?t want other men looking at his wife like that. He thinks it?s harmful for the kids. And he thinks it's detrimental for the business.?
Earlier this year she admitted: ?He was appalled I'd posed in my underwear. He didn't speak to me for days. It's something we can't talk about, even now."
Mrs Mone, who was brought up in the east end of Glasgow and left school at 15, was also forced last year to deny rumours over her friendships with the rugby player Gavin Henson and the actor Shane Richie.
A statement released through the couple?s lawyers yesterday said: "It is with regret that we intimate that Mr Michael J Mone & Mrs Michelle G Mone OBE have decided to separate. There are no other parties involved and the split is amicable.
"Michael and Michelle's focus will be the welfare of their children, which is their main priority. They will continue to work together in their business MJM International.?
Mrs Mone and her husband launched MJM International in East Kilbride in 1996, and its popularity soared after Julia Roberts wore one of the company's bras in the film in Erin Brockovich.
The businesswoman and CEO, now divides her time between Glasgow and her home in Mayfair, London.
She said recently that the company, which has a turnover of around pounds42 million, had recorded a 34 per cent year on year increase in sales in December.
She added that the firm had been boosted by the Argentinian model Luisana Lopilato, the 24-year-old Argentinian wife of Michael Buble, and by deals with Debenhams and Tesco.
Helena Christensen, the ex-Spice Girl Mel B and the actress Kelly Brook have all appeared in Ultimo campaigns.
Jayne Mansfield Fredric March Dean Martin Chico Marx Groucho Marx
Cary Grant Lee Grant Peter Graves Joel Grey Robert Guillaume
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-29-the-smiths-might-reunite
The fake People cover, dated Jan 7 2012, was circulated on the internet over the holidays. It featured a picture of Lautner, 19, with text saying "Tired of rumours, the Twilight star opens up about his decision to finally come out."
Joni Mitchell Marilyn Monroe Yves Montand Demi Moore Rita Moreno
Diane Keaton Michael Keaton Chaka Khan Larry King Ben Kingsley
TMZ
L.A. Lakers Star Andrew Bynum Loses 2 More in L.A.
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/andrew-bynum-l-a-lakers-ticket-speeding/
Audrey Hepburn Pee Wee Herman Barbara Hershey William Holden Billie Holiday
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-28-new-couple-alert-bradley-cooper-zoe-saldana
Rodney Dangerfield Doris Day Sandra Dee John Denver Bo Derek
TMZ
OJ Simpson's Former Nephew Dodges Domestic Violence Bullet
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/oj-simpson-denise-brown-son-sean-domestic-violence-prosecute/
William Holden Billie Holiday Bob Hope Harry Houdini Rock Hudson
He outlived both Tarzan co-stars, Weissmuller and actress Maureen O'Sullivan, who played Jane.
Like most Hollywood stars Cheetah's life was not without controversy. The Florida "Cheetah" is not the only chimpanzee to have claimed to be Tarzan's companion.
A chimp known as "Cheeta" who lives in California was for a long time claimed to be the chimp in the films, but, following research for a biography, that claim has been withdrawn.
Margaux Hemingway Audrey Hepburn Pee Wee Herman Barbara Hershey William Holden
TMZ
Neil Diamond -- Awkward Moment With Chick Who Inspired 'Sweet Caroline'
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/neil-diamond-caroline-kennedy-sweet-caroline/
Danny Kaye Diane Keaton Michael Keaton Chaka Khan Larry King
TMZ
World Champion Eater Patrick Bertoletti-- King of the Jews' Booze
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/patrick-bertoletti-manischewitz-tmz-on-tv/
Ellen Burstyn Richard Burton Nicolas Cage Michael Caine Maria Callas
TMZ
Ben Stiller -- Ripped, Wet & Shirtless in Hawaii
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/ben-stiller-ripped-buff-shirtless-wet-hawaii-46-zoolander-blue-steel/
Howard Cosell Elvis Costello Joan Crawford Bing Crosby Tom Cruise
TMZ
Ben Stiller -- Ripped, Wet & Shirtless in Hawaii
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/ben-stiller-ripped-buff-shirtless-wet-hawaii-46-zoolander-blue-steel/
TMZ
Jerry Sandusky -- Hey Oprah, Wanna Talk??
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/jerry-sandusky-oprah-barbara-walters/
TMZ
Rachel Uchitel -- I'M PREGNANT!!!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/28/rachel-uchitel-pregnant-matt-hahn-tiger-woods/
Mike Douglas Patty Duke Faye Dunaway Bob Dylan Sheena Easton
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"; s+='"; s+=" TMZ
TMZ's Funny Baby Face Contest!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/tmz-funny-baby-face-contest-pictures-prizes-winner/
Howard Cosell Elvis Costello Joan Crawford Bing Crosby Tom Cruise
That, he thinks, has always been the reason for the programme?s existence: its examination and promotion of the work of artists and performers working today. ?I think we do the great dead artists pretty well in television,? he says, ?and we do arts magazines shows well. The Culture Show is pretty good. But I am going to do big contemporary people. I just like saying here is someone we think is doing good work and we are going to spend time on them.?
Bragg displays a work ethic that would fell a lesser man. He combines his broadcasting commitments with regular attendance at the House of Lords, where he tries to vote on issues he is concerned about, such as trying to defeat the recent health service reform proposals. He gets up at 5am when he is writing and has a new book planned for next year.
?I have always had this sort of life since I started to work,? he says. ?This might be psychobabble, but my parents worked all the time. They had a little pub from the time I was nine or 10, which was open every single day including Christmas. So they worked every single day of their lives, and I helped them. That was the context and it didn?t seem strange.?
Bragg still seems driven by the intellectual curiosity that propelled him from Wigton in Cumbria to Oxford and then to a career which ended with him as head of arts at LWT as well as the face of the South Bank Show. His willingness to tackle the biggest subjects has led to television series about science, the English language and The Book of Books, his recent tome about the King James Bible.
Talking about that at literary festivals around the country, he has been struck by a similar hunger for knowledge in a great swath of the population. ?Not just middle-classish people like me.? These are the people who have made In Our Time such a great success, bringing it more than two million listeners a week; the people who launch local literary and music festivals to feed their desire ?to intellectualise this society and to turn their new learning into work?; the people who long to know and think more.
The boom in literary and arts festivals, he says, ?has been one of the phenomenons of my lifetime. I went to the Edinburgh Festival in 1967, and I think there were about 5,000 people going to a couple of events a day. Now there are 250,000 people going to the Books Festival alone, and listening to talks on every subject under the sun.
?It?s great and I think it is one way this country has gone which they just haven?t cottoned on to down in Westminster. What Chris Smith [the former culture secretary] called the creative economy is growing every year and we are a far more highly educated society than we give ourselves credit for.?
Later he returns to a similar theme: the power of the arts to transform society, and the importance of the creative industries in Britain, where they account for seven per cent of GDP. ?I don?t think it has got home to the people in the commanding heights of this country what a big thing this is. Why shouldn?t we be the clever country? Why shouldn?t we cultivate this and give it more chance. Now is the time to do it, if ever there was. Why shouldn?t the creative economy become our new iron and steel? What the hell else is going to replace it??
In this sense, Bragg is an optimist. He doesn?t believe Britain is suffering from cultural impoverishment, though a series he has made for BBC2 about class and culture over the past century will reveal what he sees as a massive erosion of working-class skills as traditional industry has vanished.
In the same way, he thinks that broadcasters do still engage with ideas, particularly on radio. ?And there are good programmes across television. I am absolutely not a doomsayer about television.? What he regrets, however, is their reluctance to schedule ?more intellectual content? on the big, popular channels such as BBC1 and ITV. ?I do think there is a slight fear of it, and maybe an unwillingness to let an audience build and give it support to build.?
He compares this with In Our Time. When he took on the time slot on Radio 4 it was regarded as the death slot, where programmes failed. But given a good idea and a long enough run to allow listeners to arrive, it is now a programme that is listened to around the world.
This is the context in which he is taking the South Bank Show to Sky Arts. He thought long and hard before making the move, but says that the enthusiasm of James Hunt, the channel controller, and his predecessor, John Cassy, reminded him of the heady days of Lime Grove in the Sixties, when television was a new medium and anything seemed possible.
I ask whether it worried him that he, a lifelong socialist and a passionate campaigner for social justice, would be working for a channel owned by Rupert Murdoch. ?No, not really. First of all Murdoch backs the TLS and I like the TLS. Secondly, Murdoch backs premier league football and if that Northern socialist Alex Ferguson can put his South Bank Show out on Sky, I can put mine out. And I think that Sky Arts has made clear its independence, and is really having a good go at putting the arts on television.?
He also says, more surprisingly: ?It may make me vastly unpopular to say this, but I think Murdoch did some good things. I worked in ITV when it was strangled at the neck by the unions and it was horrifically disillusioning as a Labour bloke. I had a sort of vertigo.
?I didn?t turn against the unions, but they would just cut you off at the knees when you were a minute over and would decide whether they would let you film in America or whatever. Murdoch had the guts to crash through all that.?
He is clearly thrilled to be back at work on the show. ?I love doing arts programmes and I am very excited about doing this ? more excited than I thought I would be. I remember when I first arrived at the BBC, I said to my friend Gavin Millar: I just can?t believe it, we just keep learning new stuff all the time and they call it work. I like work, I like doing it. ?
With that he is off, papers tucked under his arm, raincoat wrapped around him, marching purposefully toward the BBC, still recognisably the young man who arrived in London in the Sixties, and still Britain?s most persuasive cultural guide.
TMZ
Swiss Model Nena Ristic -- Bottoms Up
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/nena-ristic-bikini-miami/
Ellen Burstyn Richard Burton Nicolas Cage Michael Caine Maria Callas
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-27-victoria-jackson-continues-to-spew-absurdities-and-hate
TMZ
TMZ's Annual Santa Snapshots Photo Contest -- WINNER!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/tmzs-annual-santa-snapshots-photo-contest-winner/
Lee Grant Peter Graves Joel Grey Robert Guillaume Buddy Hackett
TMZ
Carlos Mencia -- Comedy Is Harder When You Lose the Fat
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/carlos-mencia-skinny-midget-little-person/
Ann Margret Beatrice Arthur Ed Asner Fred Astaire Lauren Bacall
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-27-regis-philbin-hijacks-nbc-tour
Jodie Foster Michael J. Fox Redd Foxx Anthony Franciosa Connie Francis
"The university has done everything in its power to curry favour with James Franco.
"In my opinion, they've turned the NYU graduate film degree into swag for James Franco's purposes, a possession, something you can buy."
Franco was later hired by the University's Tisch School of Arts as a lecturer on how to adapt poetry into short films.
Earlier this year a student at the university posted a photo of Franco fast asleep during a lecture. He was also reported to have been spotted asleep in the school library.
Santana, who is suing the university for his job back, said Franco joined his class, Directing the Actor II, last year.
He was the only professor to give Franco a poor grade but denied he had a problem with the actor.
According to his lawsuit Santana filed at Manhattan Supreme Court he claims the university gave Franco good grades after he hired one of their other professors Jay Anania to write and direct a short film.
It is also claimed the chairman of the graduate film department was given a cameo role in the film.
Franco has directed 13 short films and documentaries with his most recent called The Broken Tower being described as "quite tedious" by Variety magazine.
Franco has not made any comment about the law suit.
TMZ
'Fresh Prince' Star RIPS Will Smith -- I'll Never Reunite with that 'A**hole'
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/fresh-prince-will-smith-aunt-vivian/
Max Brand Beau Bridges Charles Bronson Albert Brooks Mel Brooks
Source: http://perezhilton.com/2011-12-27-prince-philip-released-from-hospital-after-emergency-surgery
Fredric March Dean Martin Chico Marx Groucho Marx Harpo Marx
TMZ
Prince William & Prince Harry Visit Prince Phillip in the Hospital
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/26/prince-william-prince-harry-prince-phillip-photo/
Albert Brooks Mel Brooks Yul Brynner George Burns Ellen Burstyn
TMZ
World Champ Eater Patrick Bertoletti Downs TWO Bottles of Manischewitz in SECONDS
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/patrick-bertoletti-manischewitz/
Joni Mitchell Marilyn Monroe Yves Montand Demi Moore Rita Moreno
TMZ
Randy Savage's Brother: I Wrote a Macho Man Poem ... Now Listen Up!!!
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/26/macho-man-randy-savage-poem-lanny-poffo/
TMZ
Diddy -- 'Making the Band' Lawsuit Is a Real Pain in the Abs
Source: http://www.tmz.com/2011/12/27/diddy-making-the-band-lawsuit/
Perry Como Bert Convy Alice Cooper David Copperfield Howard Cosell
If I wasn?t so hugely fond of the London Chamber Orchestra the distance would be a chore. But we?re all very close; I?ve been conductor since 1988 and my wife is the first violinist, so it?s always worth the air miles. It?s a bit like a club; musicians play in it because they really want to and there?s no public funding; it?s run purely on personal and private donations and the Royal family help like crazy. We couldn?t exist without royal patronage.
My relationship with Prince Charles goes back 30 years, to the time in 1981 when he invited me to conduct the Philharmonia for the first concert in the Throne Room in Buckingham Palace in modern times. The palace was a different place in those days; there was no security and we were all just wandering around everywhere.
I was extremely honoured when the Prince of Wales got in touch late last year to ask me to conduct the London Chamber Orchestra at the royal wedding, and for some help with choosing the music. I don?t do many weddings. The last one I?d done was his wedding to the Duchess of Cornwall. But Prince William had asked his father for some guidance because he knows the Prince is very knowledgable about music, and the Prince turned to me. As it happens, Catherine is also very clued up; she loves music and had really set ideas about what she wanted, and her parents were involved a little bit as well. My job, as I saw it, was simply to make sure Catherine got exactly what she wanted.
During our meetings I suggested all sorts of things but William and Catherine said no to anything baroque or Handelian. I couldn?t figure out why Catherine kept insisting on English pastoral music. It was only when I was doing an interview for the BBC outside Westminster on the day before the wedding, and all those trees started arriving, that the penny dropped that English pastoral was their ?theme?. I just said to the presenter ?now I understand? but I still couldn?t tell him what the music was.
I don?t normally get nervous before concerts; professionalism kicks in. But when Catherine got out of the car in front of Westminster Abbey and stood there all on her own I did get a surge of butterflies. I thought: ?I can?t mess this up for her.?
At the reception in Buckingham Palace, I?ve never seen the Prince of Wales so animated. He said: ?Everyone?s talking about the music.? But he was right to feel delighted about it because so much of it had been his idea. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn?t find the right music for the entrance of the Queen. Who found it in the end? The Prince of Wales.
Afterwards, he wrote me a lovely letter, as did Catherine. It wasn?t really from a future Queen; it was from a girl who had just got married. She spoke of the music and the thrill of starting married life. Later, she sent Rosemary and I some photographs of us at the reception; with a Post-it note stuck on them saying: ?I thought you might like these.? There must have been hundreds of people at the reception; it was so kind of her to go through them like that. She really is going to be such an asset to the Royal family.
Prince Charles often talks about harmony ? it?s his big word ? and I think he?s right. Harmony is so important to our society and music makes harmony. I find it hard to feel excited about music at the moment; the first thing that gets the chop in any recession is the arts. But having worked with underprivileged kids for the charity Music Junction, I?ve seen for myself how much children?s academic grades go up when music is introduced to the curriculum. It?s a fact; arts are so important. I truly believe if children had more exposure to music they wouldn?t feel like rioting.
When I was growing up in London, everyone was in a church choir, it?s what you did; I was a chorister at Westminster Boys? Grammar and my weekends were music, music, music. I played the piano as a child and started learning the violin aged 13 after being inspired by the Beatles who had were using string quartets. I then listened to a piece by Vaughan Williams called Fantasia on the Theme of Thomas Tallis and that was that, I was sold. I got into the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, which was fully funded by the education authority, and that became my life. Talk about taking a young boy off the streets.
There was never any question in my mind that I?d do anything else but music. I began playing the violin professionally when I was 17. My children have so far all gone down the arts route too; one daughter is an actress ? she was recently in Much Ado About Nothing with David Tennant and Catherine Tate ? another daughter is in musical theatre school and my 13-year-old son plays saxophone and seems to be talented.
I miss England when I?m here in North Carolina. The skies are blue all winter, which is great, but there are none of the older buildings or the history. And it?s brunch on Sunday rather than a traditional roast, which isn?t quite the same. My idea of a perfect weekend over here is to drive down to Lake Norman, a beautiful 17-mile flooded valley, where we keep a small sailing boat, and spend the day on the water. I find being out on the boat, miles from civilisation, is one of the best ways to relax after a run of concerts.
I hate Sunday evenings. When I was a child it meant music making would have to stop until choir practice on Tuesday night, which I found rather depressing. I still experience this sense of despair when my son looks at me sadly on a Sunday night and says: ?School tomorrow, Daddy.? I?m lucky that I don?t usually have to work on a Monday; experience has taught me that it?s healthy to take a break from music. I love it so much that if I?m not careful I get suffocated by it.
In short
Herbal tea or stiff drink?
Definitely not a herbal tea.
Best piece of advice you?ve ever been given?
Be yourself in everything you do.
Best advice you?d give an aspiring musician?
Chase the music; never chase after a career.
Your earliest memory?
Watching the Flowerpot Men. They used to have a thing called ?Little Weed? which frightened me so much that I?d run behind the couch whenever it came on.
Your favourite weekend away?
I?d be down to Cornwall in a shot; ideally the Roseland Peninsula.
Iconic piece of clothing?
My tail suits. I need three of them.
Your best piece of critical acclaim?
A letter from the Prince of Wales after the royal wedding.
Last supper?
Egg and chips.
My favourite things
My wife, Rosemary.
All my children; three children and three stepchildren.
My dog.
Cars ? I drive a Jag and I?ve had an Aston Martin and a Rolls.
Our sailing boat.
Engelbert Humperdinck Mary Beth Hurt Lauren Hutton Billy Idol Wolfman Jack
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"; s+='"; s+="Milton Berle Irving Berlin Joey Bishop Robert Blake Jon Bon jovi