Following is a summary of current people news briefs.
Tom Cruise tops Forbes list of highest paid actors
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Tom Cruise led Forbes’ annual list of
the 100 highest paid actors released on Tuesday, earning nearly
twice that of second place Leonardo DiCaprio and recapturing
his spot among Hollywood’s top-earning performers after his
recent blockbuster movie ”Mission: Impossible.” Cruise, who
turned 50-years-old on Tuesday amid speculation over whether
his box office pull could be hurt by his impending divorce from
Katie Holmes, which was revealed late last week, earned $75
million between May 2011 and May 2012, Forbes said.
Researchers sail off on quest for Amelia Earhart’s fate
HONOLULU (Reuters) – Researchers seeking to chronicle
Amelia Earhart’s fate 75 years after she vanished over the
Pacific set off from Hawaii on a $2 million expedition on
Tuesday to look for wreckage of her plane near a remote island
where they believe the U.S. aviator died a castaway.
Researchers will travel 1,800 miles by ship from Honolulu to
Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati, where they believe
Earhart’s Lockheed Electra may rest in waters offshore from
where they suspect she survived for weeks or months in 1937.
Former Ferrari car designer Pininfarina dies
MILAN (Reuters) – Sergio Pininfarina, whose family company
designed almost every Ferrari since the 1950s and whose name is
still synonymous with some of the world’s most glamorous cars,
has died aged 85. The company said on Tuesday he died overnight
in his Turin home.
Italian landscape master’s first show 200 years late
EDINBURGH (Reuters) – An Italian master of landscape
painting, who was a key figure in the collection of the Elgin
Marbles from Athens, is finally receiving public recognition
with the first exhibition devoted to his works now on view in
Edinburgh after 200 years. The Scottish National Gallery’s
major summer exhibition ”Expanding Horizons” runs through the
Edinburgh Festival season to October 28.
Mel Gibson’s stepmother seeks stay-away order
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Mel Gibson’s estranged stepmother
filed for a stay-away order against the actor on Monday
claiming he was violent with the elderly woman, who is
embroiled in a bitter divorce from Gibson’s father. The legal
action is the latest against Gibson, an Oscar winner for
”Braveheart” and star of the ”Lethal Weapon” movies, to raise
issues of anger control.
Holmes faces Cruise, Scientology in fight for Suri
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actress Katie Holmes faces two
strong adversaries in her legal fight for sole custody of
6-year-old daughter, Suri, as she battles estranged husband Tom
Cruise and his Scientology religion, experts said on Monday.
The ”Dawson’s Creek” actress, 33, made headlines last week when
she filed for divorce from ”Mission: Impossible” actor Cruise
after nearly six years of marriage and one child.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper says ”the fact is, I’m gay”
NEW YORK (Reuters) – CNN’s Anderson Cooper said in a public
statement on Monday that he is gay, adding that while privacy
is important for journalists, he did not want to give the
impression he was hiding something and wanted to stand up
against bullying. ”The fact is, I’m gay, always have been,
always will be, and I couldn’t be any more happy, comfortable
with myself, and proud,” the 45-year-old anchor of CNN’s
”Anderson Cooper 360” told The Daily Beast.
Actor Alec Baldwin weds Hilaria Thomas in NY
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Actor Alec Baldwin, star of TV show
”30 Rock,” married his fianc ?e, Hilaria Thomas, on Saturday in
New York City, then posted a picture showing off his new
wedding ring on Twitter. Baldwin, 54, and yoga instructor
Thomas, 28, announced their engagement back in April. The
couple have been dating for over a year and have appeared
together at numerous events.
Savannah Guthrie replaces Curry as ”Today” co-host
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Savannah Guthrie will replace Ann
Curry as co-host of NBC’s ”Today” Show, NBC announced on
Friday, a day after Curry made an emotional early exit from one
of America’s most high-profile television slots. Guthrie, 40,
who previously served as co-host of the morning program’s third
hour, will join Matt Lauer in the main hosting chairs in a
shake-up of the show’s line-up aimed at curbing a recent
decline in ratings, the network said.
