RELATED: Bob May, who donned The Robot’s suit in ‘Lost in Space,’ has died

By Claire Noland

Dick Tufeld, a longtime radio and TV announcer who intoned “Danger, Will Robinson!” as the voice of the Robot in the 1960s science-fiction TV series “Lost in Space,” has died. He was 85.

Tufeld died Sunday at his home in Studio City while watching the NFL playoffs, his family said. He had heart disease and had been in declining health since sustaining a fall last year.

In “Lost in Space,” producer Irwin Allen’s futuristic retelling of the “Swiss Family Robinson” story that aired on CBS from 1965 to 1968, actor Bob May wore the Robot costume and Tufeld provided the voice.

Besides warning young Will Robinson of impending danger, Tufeld’s Robot uttered other lines that became catchphrases for faithful viewers — including “That does not compute” — and needled the antagonistic Dr. Zachary Smith with barbs like “Dr. Smith is a bubble-headed booby.”
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By ELAINE WOO

Judy Lewis, a psychotherapist and former actress who wrote a book about her complicated heritage as the illegitimate daughter of Hollywood legends Loretta Young and Clark Gable, has died. She was 76.

A longtime resident of Los Angeles, Lewis died of cancer Friday in Gladwyne, Pa., according to her daughter, Maria Tinney Dagit.

Brought up in Bel-Air as Young’s adopted daughter, Lewis was an adult when she learned that the glamorous leading lady and Gable, the dashing star of “Gone With the Wind,” had conceived her during a brief affair in the 1930s.

Fearful of scandal, Young hid the pregnancy and later fabricated the adoption. Gable never acknowledged that Lewis was his daughter, although he visited her once when she was 15, an experience that Lewis tenderly recounted in her 1994 memoir, “Uncommon Knowledge.”
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Henry Cavill stars as Theseus in 'Immortals', opening Friday. (Courtesy Relativity Media)

by GEOFF BOUCHER

In “Immortals,” the hyper-stylized Greek mythology movie that opens this weekend, Henry Cavill plays brave Theseus, a man who is told by gods and oracles that he has a date with destiny. Cavill can relate, in a way, because a little more than a decade ago, while he was still at a boarding school in Buckinghamshire, England, Cavill shook hands with the future.

The campus of Stowe School was being used as a backdrop for the kidnap thriller “Proof of Life,” and between shots, star Russell Crowe was amusing himself by booting a rugby ball through the posts as dozens of boys at a safe distance watched with wide-eyed fascination and a bit of fear. Cavill was in the crowd and decided that they looked foolish, so he marched up to the movie star and introduced himself.

Showtimes, theaters for ‘Immortals’

“I took his hand and said, ‘Hi, Mr. Crowe. My name is Henry, and I’m thinking of becoming an actor. What’s it like?’ And we talked just a bit,” the 28-year-old Cavill recalled. “A few days later I got a signed picture of him in ‘Gladiator’ that said, ‘Dear Henry, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.’ You can imagine how I felt when I got to the end of that first journey of a thousand miles and I’m working with Russell Crowe. …”

Indeed, Cavill and Crowe have been in Vancouver filming Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel,” with Cavill playing Superman and Crowe, the hero’s doomed alien father, Jor-El, a role that Marlon Brando memorably handled in 1978 — five years before Cavill was born. The cape of Superman is heavier than it looks: There is intense pressure to live up to the history of the hero and to create a franchise that will fly for Warner Bros. now that Harry Potter’s magical box-office run is over and Christopher Nolan’s Batman series is drawing to its own conclusion with next year’s “The Dark Knight Rises.”
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Image via Wikipedia

By NICOLE SPERLING

Director Brett Ratner resigned Tuesday as producer of the Oscar telecast after coming under fire for making an anti-gay slur, leaving the motion picture academy scrambling to cast a new team to helm the February award show.

Ratner, director of popcorn films such as “Rush Hour” and the newly released “Tower Heist,” was an unconventional choice for the job and was touted as someone who could shake up the program and bring more viewers and pizazz to the affair. Although the show’s ratings have flagged recently, the Oscars remain one of the most-viewed broadcasts of the year, often second only to the Super Bowl.

It was unclear whether Ratner’s handpicked host for the Feb. 26 broadcast, Eddie Murphy, would also bow out.

The controversy erupted after a Q&A session last weekend following a screening of “Tower Heist” during which Ratner said, “rehearsal is for fags.” He then went on Howard Stern’s Sirius XM radio show and talked explicitly about his sex life.

Ratner issued a public apology Monday and academy President Tom Sherak seemed to accept it, but the drumbeat of criticism continued, culminating in Ratner’s resignation.

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Abigail Breslin and 'Janie Jones' co-star Alessandro Nivola at a screening of 'Janie Jones'. (AP / StarPix)

By AMY KAUFMAN

From Tatum O’Neal to Hailee Steinfeld, adorable child stars have long faced an uphill battle in making the shift to an adult career. Many have struggled to prove that there’s more to their talent than just playing cute. Abigail Breslin is well acquainted with that particular conundrum.

At the age of 10, she earned a supporting actress Oscar nomination for 2006’s “Little Miss Sunshine.” She had the memorable role of Olive, a chubby, somewhat dorky girl whose eccentric family rallies behind her efforts to win a beauty pageant. Since then, Breslin’s slowly been transitioning into more grown-up parts, playing Ryan Reynolds’ daughter in the romantic comedy “Definitely, Maybe” and tackling more serious fare in the somber drama “My Sister’s Keeper” opposite Cameron Diaz, not to mention her turn as feisty younger sister to Emma Stone’s gun-toting tough girl in the horror sendup “Zombieland.”

Now 15, she stars in “Janie Jones,” an independent drama opening Friday about a teenager who is introduced for the first time to her estranged father (Alessandro Nivola). Dad is a rock star, and she joins him on the road as the two work on their relationship.

“To anyone who said, ‘Well, she got an Academy Award nomination because she was a cute kid,’ I would say, ‘Look at her in this movie,’ ” said David Rosenthal, who wrote and directed the film and cast Breslin without even auditioning her for the part. “You see why she’s really a star.”
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The Google Doodle honoring Mary Blair, Disney artist.

By AMY HUBBARD

Mary Blair, honored Friday with a Google Doodle, is the woman to thank for the Disneyland boat ride It’s a Small World.

Blair’s doodle coincides with a tribute to the longtime Disney artist. Thursday night, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts “Mary Blair’s World of Color — A Centennial Tribute” to celebrate the woman, born a century ago, who made a place for herself among Disney’s famous founding animators, the Nine Old Men.

The Los Angeles Times‘ Susan King, a writer and expert on classic Hollywood, reported Monday on the coming tribute and says Blair is best known for her contributions to the 1950 animated “Cinderella,” 1951′s “Alice in Wonderland” and 1953′s “Peter Pan” — as well as the aforementioned design for It’s a Small World.

Blair, who followed her animator husband, Lee Blair, to the Disney studio in 1940, was greatly admired by boss Walt Disney, who requested her work on It’s a Small World.
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Vesta Williams first came to prominence on the R&B charts with her hit 'Congratulations'. (Jason Merritt / Palm Beach Post)

By CHRISTIE D’ZURILLA

Vesta Williams, the R&B singer who rose to fame in the ’80s, was found dead Thursday evening in an El Segundo, Calif., hotel room. She was 53.

Though no official cause of death had been determined Friday, John Kades of the L.A. County coroner’s office told the Associated Press that it “could be a drug overdose.” An autopsy will be conducted, though foul play was not suspected.

Williams’ hits included “Sweet Sweet Love,” “Once Bitten Twice Shy” and “Congratulations,” a tale of heartbreak over a love marrying someone else that she later described to Mo’Nique as “a premonition that came true”. Williams appeared on the sitcom “Sister Sister” several times in the late 1990s, playing a best friend to Jackée Harry’s character.

“Just received truly devastating news: R&B great, and my friend of many yrs, Vesta Williams (@vesta4u) has passed away,” Harry said early Friday on Twitter.

Law enforcement sources told TMZ that multiple bottles of prescription pills were found in the room, where Williams’ body was discovered around 6:15 p.m. Toxicology test results typically come in around six weeks after an autopsy is conducted.

Image by Daniel Semper via Flickr

By JOE FLINT

Charlie Sheen and Warner Bros. are putting the finishing touches on a deal to end their legal battle.

Sheen, who had been in a fight with Warner Bros. over the studio’s firing him from his starring role on the CBS hit sitcom “Two and a Half Men” last March, will get about $25 million to settle out of his contract, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. The figure represents Sheen’s participation in profits from the show.

A spokesman for Warner Bros. denied there is a settlement and declined to comment further. A spokesman for Sheen referred calls to the actor’s lawyer, who couldn’t be reached immediately.

The expected agreement, which is still being ironed out, would bring to an end one of the ugliest fights ever between a star and a studio. It started in January when Warner Bros. shut down production on “Two and a Half Men” so Sheen, who has had a history of substance abuse issues, could seek treatment. It was not the first time the studio had to stop production on the show because of worries about Sheen’s well-being.

A few weeks later, Sheen declared himself ready to return to work and when Warner Bros. didn’t agree, he went on a public-relations offensive. Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” and NBC’s “Today,” he blasted Warner Bros. and “Two and a Half Men” co-creator Chuck Lorre and boasted about his drug use, womanizing and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle.
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Image via Wikipedia

By AMY KAUFMAN

“The Lion King” reigned supreme at the box office this weekend, nearly two decades after the classic animated movie was first released in theaters.

A 3-D version of the 1994 family film began its limited, two-week engagement this weekend and collected a surprisingly strong $29.3 million domestically, according to an estimate from Walt Disney Pictures.

Also opening this weekend was “Drive,” a violent crime drama starring Ryan Gosling, which started off with a decent $11 million in ticket sales. Two other new films, however, flopped. A remake of 1971′s “Straw Dogs” brought in only $5 million, while the Sarah Jessica Parker romantic comedy “I Don’t Know How She Does It” grossed a weak $4.5 million.

Meanwhile, “Contagion,” the pandemic thriller that debuted last weekend at No. 1, had another solid weekend in theaters. The Steven Soderbergh-directed picture saw its ticket sales fall only 35% to $14.5 million, bringing its total to $44.2 million.
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Ree Drummond is packing up her chuck wagon and heading off to a new frontier – television.

Drummond is better known by her online moniker, the Pioneer Woman, also the name of her wildly popular blog where the former University of Southern California student writes humorously and affectionately about being a woman who once held big-city dreams and now wrangles with the world of country living. It logs more than 20 million page views per month – making it one of the most well-read food and lifestyle blogs – and has turned Drummond into a publishing sensation.

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