Songwriter Nickolas Ashford dies at age 70

Songwriter Nickolas Ashford, who penned such rhythm and blues hits as "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" and "I'm Every Woman" with his wife Valerie Simpson, died on Monday at age 70. Ashford, who had been treated for cancer, died at a New York hospital with his family at his side, publicist Liz Rosenberg said. A native of South Carolina, Ashford met Simpson in the early 1960s at White Rock Baptist Church in Harlem, after he moved to New York to pursue a career in entertainment and found himself homeless. Simpson played the piano and sang in a church choir, which Ashford soon joined. The two began writing songs together and had their breakthrough hit in 1966 when Ray Charles released their composition "Let's Go Get Stoned." It was the beginning of a partnership that saw the duo marry in 1974 and write a string of hits.

They were signed to Motown Records, where they penned the 1967 classic Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell duet "Ain't No Mountain High Enough." Gaye and Terrell also had hits with the couple's songs "Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing" and "You're All I Need to Get By." Ashford and Simpson's other songs include "Send It," "Found a Cure," and "Don't Cost You Nothing." Their composition "I'm Every Woman" was recorded by Chaka Khan and later by Whitney Houston, and for a time was the opening theme song for Oprah Winfrey's TV talk show. Ashford and Simpson were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. Ashford is survived by Simpson and their daughters Nicole and Asia, Rosenberg said.

 

'Hound Dog' composer Jerry Leiber dies at 78

Jerry Leiber, half of one of the most celebrated and successful songwriting teams of the 1950s and '60s, has died of cardiopulmonary failure following a lengthy illness. He was 78. With his partner Mike Stoller, Leiber was the author of such hits as "Hound Dog," "Jailhouse Rock," "Loving You," "Yakety Yak," "Stand by Me" and many others. Leiber wrote the lyrics, Stoller the music. The two were among the first and most successful songwriters and producers to merge rhythm and blues with pop music in the 1950s. Their last major hit as producers came in 1972, when they produced Stealers Wheel's "Stuck in the Middle with You," which was later used to great effect in Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs." They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1985, the Producers Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame two years later.

 

Kimberly Stewart Gives Birth to Benicio Del Toro's Baby Girl

Kimberly Stewart, daughter of legendary rocker Rod Stewart, has just given birth to a baby girl. This is Stewart’s first child and, Benicio Del Toro is the father. Back in April, Benicio’s rep confirmed the rumors, “Benicio is the father and very supportive. Although [he and Kimberly] are not a couple, they are looking forward to the arrival of the baby.” Benicio was not at the hospital when they baby arrived. Kim was joined by her dad and his wife Penny Lancaster and Kim’s mother and Rob’s first wife, Alana Collins

 

Kate Winslet escapes fire at Branson holiday home

British Oscar-winning actress Kate Winslet was among the guests who escaped unhurt from a fire which swept through Richard Branson's Caribbean holiday retreat overnight, the billionaire said on Monday. Branson said the blaze was caused by a lightning strike on The Great House on Necker Island, and that the building was completely destroyed. Branson, his wife Joan and son Sam were staying in a nearby property, but among those who fled the affected building were 35-year-old Winslet, her boyfriend and family, Branson's mother Eve and his daughter Holly. "Around 20 people were in the house and they all managed to get out and they are all fine," Branson said in comments released to the British media. "We had a really bad tropical storm with winds up to 90 miles per hour. A big lightning storm came around 4 a.m. and hit the house. "My son Sam rushed to the house and helped get everyone out. Kate Winslet, her boyfriend and her family were there and Holly and some of her friends were also staying. My 90 year old mother was there and Kate managed to carry her out and she is fine." He said his office was based in the main house, and that he had lost thousands of photographs in the fire. Branson added that he planned to rebuild the property, which British media said had been expected to be the venue for the marriage later this year of Holly to fiance Fred Andrews. Necker Island is part of the British Virgin Islands and is privately owned by Branson.

 Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck are getting ready for another baby! The couple, who are parents to two daughters – Violet, 5½, and Seraphina, 2½ – are "thrilled" to be expecting their third child, they confirmed. Garner and Affleck, both 39, have said they enjoy being hands-on parents.

 

Lil Wayne Gets Stitches After Skateboarding Accident

Rapper Lil' Wayne was rushed to hospital, after an accident involving a skateboard. Lil Wayne was in St. Louis, performing at the Verizon wireless amphitheater. He visited a local skateboard park, where the accident occurred.  Lil Wayne required 9 stitches to close the wound, after he crashed at a local skateboard park. He later tweeted: “The Lou was good but I busted my fuggin head at the sk8park! 9 stitches! Gnarly gash over my left eye! Luv the people!" Lil Wayne has announced that its highly anticipated album Tha Carter IV will drop the day after his highly anticipated performance at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday (August 28th).

 

Hilary Duff Dropped from 'Bonnie and Clyde' for Getting Pregnant

Hilary Duff will not be playing legendary outlaw Bonnie Parker in a new indie film The Story of Bonnie and Clyde, but the film's producers are denying it is because the actress is pregnant. Duff, who is married to Canadian professional hockey player Mike Comrie, announced her pregnancy on her web site Aug. 14. And when reports surfaced that the producers are looking for a new actress to play the part, speculation began that she was dropped from the project because she is pregnant. Not so, claim Tonya Holly and Tom Rogers, who are producing for Cypress Moon Studios. In a statement released Monday, they said they had been told Duff would not be available to work on the project until June of next year. Kevin Zegers, who was set to costar as Clyde Barrow, is also no longer part of the project, with the producers saying he would not be available to begin filming until January. While the project has already encountered several delays – the producers cited ”financial, scheduling and other factors such as tornados devastating some of our locations” – they said they currently plan to begin production later this year. “Due to our obligations with investors and international buyers it is imperative that we stick to our current schedule,” they added. “Therefore we are forced to explore other options for the two lead roles. Unfortunately this happens all the time in the world of filmmaking.”

Scarface Released from Prison

Legendary rapper Scarface has been released from prison. The founding Geto Boys member had been incarcerated since at October of 2010, for failing to pay back child support to various women. Scarface, born Brad Jordan, was accused of failing to pay child support for four different cases, three of them in Texas and one in Missouri. He had to serve time for all of them in various counties. The rapper is currently working on an album of all-new material.

Lindsay Lohan sues Pitbull over hit song

Lindsay Lohan is suing Pitbull for using her name in his song “Give Me Everything," lawyer Stephanie Ovadia, who also represented Lohan in her lawsuit against E*TRADE, has confirmed. A line from the single goes, “Hustlers move aside, so I'm tiptoein', to keep flowin' / I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan," and the actress is also lodging her complaint against the song's writers Ne-Yo and Afrojack. The suit claims that "By virtue of [the song's] wide appeal, condemnation, excoriation, disparaging or defamatory statements by the defendants about [Lohan] are destined to do irreparable harm." The suit alleges that the appearance of her name in the song,  which it says was used without her consent, "causes [Lohan] to be associated and identified in connection with defendants." Lohan claims in the lawsuit that she is “a professional actor of good repute and standing in the Screen Actors Guild.” She's suing under New York civil rights laws that protect people from having their name exploited for commercial benefit.

TV NEWS

"Law & Order" is releasing a 104-DVD Complete Series DVD box set You can buy 20 years worth of "L&O" episodes in one package on November 8th. The set includes deleted and extended scenes, cast profiles, a set tour and much more.

 

Jimmy Fallon will return to "Saturday Night Live" to host the Dec. 17 show with musical guest Michael Bublé.

 

The CW's new series "Hart of Dixie" has found a replacement for Nancy Travis, who had the unusual situation of being in two shows that were picked up for the coming season. Playwright and actress Eisa Davis will join the show as a nurse at the small-town Alabama medical practice that New York physician Zoe Hart (Rachel Bilson) inherits.

 

In his first TV gig since checking out of Grey’s Anatomy two years ago, T.R. Knight has landed a juicy guest turn on Law & Order SVU. In the episode — slated to air sometime this fall — Knight plays a man suspected of being a serial rapist.

 

Katie Couric's new show will be called "Katie."  Couric's show won't launch on ABC until the fall of 2012, but TV Newser says the network is getting ready to start marketing "Katie" to advertisers and local station owners, so having a title is helpful.

 

If you're itching to see what happens with Annie Walker following the summer run of "Covert Affairs," you won't have to wait all that long. The same goes for Michael Westen and "Burn Notice." USA will bring both series back in early November to complete their current seasons. Their fall runs will join the previously announced sixth season of "Psych," which premieres Oct. 12. "Covert Affairs" will begin a six-episode run to end its second season on Tuesday, Nov. 1. Annie (Piper Perabo) will continue to take on far-flung missions for the CIA but also must deal with the fallout of revealing her job to her sister (Anne Dudek). "Burn Notice" will also get a six-episode fall run beginning Thursday, Nov. 3. Lauren Stamile will continue her guest role as Agent Pearce, and Jere Burns ("Justified," "Breaking Bad") and Ian Anthony Dale ("The Event") are also set to guest-star alongside Jeffrey Donovan and Co.

Shaun Majumder (Detroit 1-8-7) has joined NBC’s The Firm in the role of Andrew Palmer. The news comes on the heels of Tricia Helfer landing a recurring role as a senior partner on the midseason series.

The 200th episode of NCIS, set to air in early 2012, will feature the return of some familiar (if, gulp, dead) faces. “We came up with a unique, unexpected story to help us look back on everything prior,” exec producer Gary Glasberg says. As a result, viewers will get a new glimpse at Gibbs’ murdered wife and daughter, as well as Mike Franks, who was killed in last season’s penultimate episode. The new season of NCIS premieres Sept. 20 at 8/7c on CBS.

Denise Richards reportedly turned down a role to guest star on the premiere episode of the next season of Two and a Half Men because she thinks Charlie Sheen would be pissed. Sources connected to the show say that the producers offered Denise a starring role next to Ashton Kutcher, but Richards told them she wouldn’t do it, as "she would never hear the end of it from Charlie." Richards previously played an ex girlfriend of Sheen's in three different episodes.

Ray Romano is reuniting with his Everybody Loves Raymond wife Patricia Heaton on ABC’s The Middle. The premise: Romano’s character crashes Frankie and Mike’s honeymoon, in flashback.

Game of Thrones cannot be contained. The HBO series has expanded production into Croatia (providing the setting for where Daenerys’ attempts to create an army) and Iceland (to be used as the backdrop for “beyond the wall” scenes with Jon Snow).