Television icon Andy Griffith, best known as the sage town sheriff in the ’60s sitcom The Andy Griffith Show and as a cantankerous defense attorney on 1980s-’90s drama Matlock, died today in Roanoke Island, N.C. He was 86 years old. Born an only child in Mount Airy, N.C., Griffith spent his boyhood listening to music. He aspired to be an opera singer before turning his attention to acting after college at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. He began his career as a comedic monologist with the 1953 release of What It Was, Was Football, a massive hit both on radio and in stores. On Broadway, he earned Tony nominations playing a country bumpkin in the Army-based comedy No Time for Sergeants and a sheriff in the musical Destry Rides Again. Then Hollywood beckoned. In his first film, Elia Kazan’s critically acclaimed A Face in the Crowd, Griffith portrayed another country boy, this time with a manipulative and power-hungry streak. He followed it with a film version of No Time for Sergeants, featuring future Andy Griffith Show costar and lifelong pal Don Knotts. In 1960, Griffith found runaway success with The Andy Griffith Show. The show, starring Griffith as the wise sheriff in the quirky and fictional North Carolina town of Mayberry, was an instant hit and a ratings powerhouse for the eight seasons in which Griffith starred. Famed director Ron Howard played Griffith’s sweet son, Opie, and Knotts played the inept deputy Barney Fife, a scene-stealer who snagged five Emmy Awards for the role. Griffith, meanwhile, never managed a single nomination for the show that bore his name. Griffith endured several short-lived series in the ’70s and then suffered temporary leg paralysis from Guillain-Barre syndrome in the ’80s before enjoying an unlikely career renaissance in the title role of the legal drama Matlock, which debuted in 1986.  Guillain-Barre syndrome is a rare neurological disorder that can cause sudden paralysis. He suffered a heart attack and underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2000. Griffith continued to work steadily into his later years, reprising his Matlock role on Diagnosis: Murder alongside Dick Van Dyke in 1997; guest-starring on an episode of Dawson’s Creek in 2001; and playing the owner of the pie diner in Adrienne Shelley’s 2007 Sundance fave Waitress. He even returned to his musical roots, winning a Grammy and solid sales for his 1997 album, I Love to Tell the Story: 25 Timeless Hymns before settling into a quiet life in North Carolina — not unlike the life he portrayed on screen in his most memorable role. He and his first wife, Barbara Edwards, had two children: Sam, who died in 1996, and Dixie. His second wife was Solica Cassuto. Both marriages ended in divorce. He married third wife Cindi Knight Griffith in 1983.
 Anderson Cooper has some news to share. "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 CNN anchor, 45, wrote Monday in an open letter to his longtime friend Andrew Sullivan of the Daily Beast. The host of Anderson Cooper: 360 also says that he has waited until now to announce the fact because, "As long as a journalist shows fairness and honesty in his or her work, their private life shouldn't matter." Cooper, who also hosts his own syndicated talk daytime show Anderson, addressed the subject after Sullivan – a British writer who is openly gay and Catholic – put the question to him in light of a cover story in the current Entertainment Weekly. The article focused on how gay people in the public life are currently coming out in understated and matter-of-fact ways.
 

Matthew & Camila McConaughey Expecting Third Child

Baby makes five! A month after marrying, Matthew and Camila McConaughey are set to expand their family once again, the couple announced via Twitter Wednesday. “Happy birthday America, more good news, Camila and I are expecting our 3rd child,” the actor, 42, Tweeted. “God bless, just keep livin.” His wife, 29, Tweeted the same message just 20 minutes before. The couple, who wed June 9 at their home in Texas, are already parents to daughter Vida, 2½, and son Levi, who turns 4 this week.
 Her so-called life just got a little happier! Claire Danes and Hugh Dancy are expecting their first child, her rep confirmed.  Danes, who won a Golden Globe in January, wed Hannibal star Dancy, 37, in a private ceremony in France in 2009. While there was no official comment from Homeland‘s production company, Fox 21, a spokesman says that Danes’ pregnancy is not expected to impact the production of season two — which premieres on Showtime Sept. 30 — in any way.


'The Amazing Spider-Man' earns a record-breaking $35 million on Tuesday
Sony Pictures' reboot The Amazing Spider-Man grossed $35 million on its opening day in theaters ($7.5 million of that came from midnight showings, and $4 million from 307 IMAX screens), thereby beating the 2-D, IMAX-less Transformers, which earned $27.9 million on its opening day on July 3, 2007, and setting a new Tuesday box office record.
  She may be all about the baby carriages, but Nia Long isn’t ready for marriage — and the actress is making no apologies. Already mom to 10-year-old son Massai, Long and her boyfriend Ime Udoka recently welcomed their first child together — 8-month-old son Kez Sunday — but the proud parents aren’t looking to rush down the aisle any time soon. “Marriage is not a priority for me. I’m not saying I’ll never do it; It’s just not where we are as a family,” the Mooz-lum star, 41, reveals in the August issue of Essence. However, although confident in her choices, Long isn’t oblivious to the constant scrutiny from being in the public eye. “I’ll be at home with my man, having a perfectly loving time, and I’ll see all these comments on some site about how wrong I am for not being married,” she says. “I don’t feel less loved or less loving because I’m not married.” Admitting she has “never seen a marriage work,” Long is instead focused on finally having reached “emotional maturity” — from her life with Udoka to her relationship with Massai’s father. “Massai’s dad and I have had the most challenging times, and I wasn’t always sure we wouldn’t end like my mother and father,” she says. “But we’ve arrived at a place where I can truly say he’s not a baby daddy, he’s my friend, finally. He is an amazing father.” The mom-of-two has also recently reconciled with her own father; For Long, the growing bond between father and daughter has allowed her to reevaluate and evolve in her personal life.  “I’m a lot calmer. Less clingy and demanding. When Ime has to be gone for long stretches at a time, as he had to the first few months after Kez was born, I took it as an opportunity to nest,” she explains. “It had been a minute since I had an infant and I had to get back into the rhythm of being a new mom. I really enjoyed having the space to do that at my own pace.” Completely content with her family of four, everything in Long’s life is very much wanted — and perfectly planned. “Motherhood is not easy, but it’s natural,” she says. “I worked hard to have the career I wanted, but I’ve also been deliberate about my personal life. None of this is a mistake.”

Katie Holmes Not Seeking Emergency Hearing, Lawyer Says

Katie Holmes's lawyer is denying reports that the actress wants an emergency hearing on custody and child support in the Tom Cruise divorce.  "Other than her action for divorce, the only pending application filed by Ms. Holmes remains her request for an anonymous caption," her lawyer Jonathan Wolfe says. An anonymous caption means that the papers in the case are filed anonymously. The statement is response in to online reports that Holmes, 33, on Tuesday filed what is called an emergent application that could have resulted in a public hearing in a New York court. Since her surprise filing last week – in which Holmes, 33, reportedly asked for sole legal custody of their daughter Suri, 6 – Holmes has remained in New York with Suri. Cruise, who hasn't filed any legal papers yet, flew from Iceland to Los Angeles, where he spent his 50th birthday with his older children, Isabella and Conner.
 He may not have found lasting love on on The Bachelor, but Travis Stork got his happy ending after all! On Saturday, The Doctors co-host wed his girlfriend of over three years, pediatrician Dr. Charlotte Brown. The couple got engaged last year, during a romantic vacation in Hawaii. Surrounded by family and friends, the two physicians exchanged vows in an intimate ceremony nestled in the Colorado mountains – and it seems that Stork couldn't have been more thrilled. "My days as a "bachelor" are nearing an end!" he Tweeted on June 20. "My wedding ring has arrived… getting excited!"

Frank Ocean from Odd Future opens up about sexuality

Following in the matter-of-fact footsteps of Anderson Cooper, R&B singer Frank Ocean, part of the group Odd Future, came out on his blog yesterday, revealing that an old love was a man. “What i’m about to post is for anyone who cares to read. it was intended to fill the thank you’s section in my album credits [Upcoming album "Channel Orange"], but with all the rumors going round.. i figured it’d be good to clarify,” Ocean first posted. Then, in a long blog post, Ocean wrote, in part, “4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Every day almost, and on the day we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless….It’s December 27,2011….I wanted to create worlds that were rosier than mine…Before writing this I’d told some people my story…I feel like a free man.” Tyler, the Creator tweeted his support early this morning. In a response article, Russell Simmons just wrote on Global Grind, “Today is a big day for hip-hop. It is a day that will define who we really are.  How compassionate will we be? How loving can we be? How inclusive are we? I am profoundly moved by the courage and honesty of Frank Ocean….”
 One down, one more to go. The role of Johanna Mason — one of the most anticipated new characters in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire — may be taken. Lionsgate has reportedly already offered the part — a cunning, sarcastic Tribute from District 7 — to Malone, star of Saved!, Sucker Punch, and, most recently, the A&E mini-series Hatfields & McCoys. Mason, who eventually allies herself with Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss and Josh Hutcherson’s Peeta, also appears in Suzanne Collins’ third book Mockingjay, so we can probably expect to see Malone in forthcoming sequels. Still to be cast is the role of Finnick Odair, another Tribute that aids the series’ protagonists, even though production is expected to begin in September with Francis Lawrence directing.

Princess Caroline's Son Andrea Casiraghi to Marry Longtime Girlfriend

Princess Caroline's son Andrea will tie the knot with his longtime girlfriend, the palace in Monaco confirmed. "I have the joy to announce the engagement of my son Andrea Casiraghi to Miss Tatiana Santo Domingo," Princess Caroline, 55, says in a statement. It was signed Her Royal Highness, the Princess of Hanover (Caroline is married to Prince Ernst of Hanover). The couple, both 28, met through mutual friends at the American University in Paris and have been dating for seven years. Casiraghi, is the first of the late Princess Grace's grandchildren to be set to wed. Casiraghi is the eldest of Caroline's four children (his father is the late Stefano Casiraghi, who died in a speedboat crash in 1990) and follows his uncle Prince Albert II of Monaco in the line of succession to the Monaco throne, until Albert and his wife Charlene have produced an heir.

 He captured America's fancy when he appeared on screen in the first Sex and the City movie, then he waltzed into the country's living rooms on Dancing with the Stars. Now, just in time for the Fourth of July, Gilles Marini will celebrate just like many Americans – by manning the grill and watching fireworks.  "I'm a very happy camper," Marini, 36, who was born in France, says of officially becoming an American citizen on June 27. The star of ABC Family's Switched at Birth star found the Los Angeles swearing-in ceremony to be "such an emotional thing. I wasn't expecting it," he said. "I cried about becoming an American. It's inexplicable the love I have for this country. I'm on cloud nine and I can't get down."