'Seinfeld' actor Len Lesser dies at 88

Len Lesser, the veteran character actor best known for his scene-stealing role as Uncle Leo on "Seinfeld," died Wednesday. He was 88. Lesser's family said in a statement that he died in Burbank, Calif., from cancer-related pneumonia. "Heaven got a great comedian and actor today," his daughter, Michele, said in the statement. "The outpouring of sympathy we've already received has been amazing and is so greatly appreciated. Thank you to all the people who helped make my father's last journey special and surrounded with love." Lesser's lengthy list of television credits included parts on "Get Smart," "That Girl," "The Munsters," "The Monkees," "The Rockford Files," "thirtysomething," "ER," and "Everybody Loves Raymond," which featured Lesser in a recurring role as the arm-shaking Garvin. His film credits included "Outlaw Josey Wales," "Kelly's Heroes," "Birdman of Alcatraz" and "Death Hunt." He most recently appeared on the TV drama "Castle." He is survived by his daughter, Michele; son, David; daughter-in-law, Julie; and grandchildren, Jonathan, Kayla, and Mayah.

Jessica Alba Is Pregnant

It's baby no. 2 for Jessica Alba and Cash Warren. The actress announced on her Facebook page and Twitter account Wednesday that she and her husband are expecting their second child. "I thought I'd drop by to let you all in on some exciting news – Honor is going to be a Big Sister!" Alba, 29, wrote. "Cash and I are thrilled and wanted to share the news directly with you so you didn't hear about it somewhere else.
 Little Robert Ford Wilson, 4 weeks, rests peacefully while his mom, Jade Duell, carries him in his car seat to a family dinner in the first photo of Owen Wilson‘s new baby.

Halle Berry Appears in Court for Custody Battle

Halle Berry made her first appearance Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court in her custody dispute with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. Berry, did not testify in the closed-door hearing. Aubry was not there, but was represented by his lawyers. The hearing centered on whether Berry could take their daughter Nahla, who turns 3 next month, to New York so the actress could film for a role for New Year's Eve, which Aubry was against. "We were very happy with the result today, but because this is a paternity case, I can't say anything about it," Berry's attorney Neal Raymond Hersh said. Berry is taking a smaller part than the one for which she was first cast, but isn't playing due to the custody fight. That larger role has since gone to Katherine Heigl.  In December, Aubry petitioned the court to formally recognize that he's Nahla's father and to secure his custody rights. Berry's rep then issued a statement saying the actress had "serious concerns" for Nahla when in the care of Aubry. Aubry has withdrawn the publicly filed petition and the case is now proceeding in private.

Wonder Woman is... 'Friday Night Lights' star Adrianne Palicki!

After much fan discussion on who should play NBC's Wonder Woman, the decision has been made. And we have a feeling that fans will soon organize a parade around this news. Who better to fill Lynda Carter's red boots than modern-day goddess, "Friday Night Lights" star Adrianne Palicki. Is this the kind of casting that can only be conceived in heaven or what? Palicki will assume the role of Diana Prince in NBC's reboot of the 1970s series. Executive produced by "Boston Legal" writer David E. Kelley, the NBC series will be a "serious and non-campy" take on the DC Comics creation.

Aretha Franklin talks return to stage, diet change

Franklin said in an interview that she's set to perform at the Seneca Niagara Casino in Buffalo, N.Y., on May 28. It's the same month that she said Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will release her long-awaited album "Aretha: A Woman Falling Out of Love." The Queen of Soul had surgery in December for an undisclosed ailment. Since then, the 68-year-old has revamped her diet, giving up her beloved chitterlings, pigs' feet and ham hocks in favor of a whole-foods-type diet. She's lost weight and hopes to get down to a size 14.

New York Times fires back at Whoopi for 'reading the story incorrectly'

Bosses at The New York Times have spoken out about an Oscars article Whoopi Goldberg branded "sloppy" for not including her on a list of previous black honorees. A spokesperson for the Times said "The error lies with those who are reading the story incorrectly. The point of the piece was not to name every black actor or actress who has been awarded an Oscar; it was to draw a comparison between the number who won prior to 2002 (the year Halle Berry and Denzel Washington won) and those who have won since. The story states very clearly that in 73 years, prior to 2002, only seven black actors/actresses won Oscars."

Whoopi Goldberg apologizes for blasting New York Times writers

Whoopi Goldberg has offered the editors of The New York Times a formal apology for branding a recent article about black Oscar honorees "sloppy," after publication bosses said the actress had read the story incorrectly. On Wednesday's episode of "The View," she admitted she had found the story confusing and conceded that she was wrong to blast the writers' credentials. She told viewers, "I personally found the article really confusing, and as I said, I was also quite hurt that Cuba Gooding Jr., Louis Gossett Jr. and myself were not included in this exposé about black Hollywood. But for saying it was shoddy reporting, I apologize, New York Times."

Michael Vick: Eagles QB Shocks The World, Cancels on Oprah

"Michael Vick was scheduled to be a guest on 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' for an episode airing next Thursday, February 24," a press release from Winfrey's Harpo Productions explained. "Mr. Vick's representatives called last night to cancel his appearance for personal reasons." In a statement Vick said: “After careful consideration, I will need to postpone the taping of the Oprah Winfrey interview scheduled for February 22. I admire and respect Oprah and hope to be able to participate in an interview in the future.” In August 2007, he pleaded guilty to federal felony charges and served 21 months in prison, followed by two months of in-home confinement. Vick returned to football in 2009 and was recently named NFL Comeback Player of the Year by The Associated Press.

TV NEWS
Van Der Beek will play "James Van Der Beek" in ABC's comedy pilot "Don't Trust the B***h in Apartment 23." Like Larry David in "Curb Your Enthusiasm" or Matt LeBlanc in "Episodes," he'll play a version of himself as written by the show's creator, Nahnatchka Khan ("American Dad"). The pilot centers on June (Dreama Walker of "The Good Wife"), a girl from the Midwest who moves into an apartment with a New York scenester (Krysten Ritter, "Breaking Bad") who proceeds to make June's life extremely complicated. The not-quite-real Van Der Beek is a friend of Ritter's character.

The cast of "Glee" has broken another record on the music charts, claiming the all-time lead for entries on Billboard's Hot 100 singles chart. With the latest chart -- which incidentally features the 1,000th different No. 1 song since the chart began in 1958 in Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" -- "Glee" has 113 entries on the list. That passes the previous mark of 108 held by the King of Rock 'n' Roll. (It's also more than James Brown's 91, Ray Charles' 74, Aretha Franklin's 73 and The Beatles' 71.) There is a bit of a caveat to the bigger-than-Elvis story, however: The Hot 100 was born in 1958, and Presley had more than 20 songs on the Billboard airplay and sales charts in the two years before the Hot 100 (or Pop 100, as it was called prior to 1984) made its debut.

Note to self: Never play "Jeopardy!" with a supercomputer. That's a useful lesson for me or any mortal who has followed the Man vs. Machine faceoff this week on the popular trivia game show, where on Wednesday the second of two exhibition matches sealed the deal: Watson, the IBM-created megabrain, officially buried his flesh-and-blood opponents, veteran "Jeopardy!" champs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

Melissa Rycroft Strickland is a mom! The former Bachelor contestant and her husband, insurance agent Tye Strickland, welcomed a daughter on Wednesday afternoon, her rep confirmed. Ava Grace Strickland, born in Dallas and weighing 6 lbs., 13 oz., is the first child for the pair, who wed in December 2009 in Mexico. Mother and child are resting comfortably.