J.R. Ewing was a business cheat, faithless husband and bottomless well of corruption. Yet with his sparkling grin, Larry Hagman masterfully created the charmingly loathsome oil baron -- and coaxed forth a Texas-size gusher of ratings -- on television's long-running and hugely successful nighttime soap, "Dallas." Although he first gained fame as nice guy Major Tony Nelson on the fluffy 1965-70 NBC comedy "I Dream of Jeannie," Hagman earned his greatest stardom with J.R. The CBS serial drama about the Ewing family and those in their orbit aired from April 1978 to May 1991, and broke viewing records with its "Who shot J.R.?" 1980 cliffhanger that left unclear if Hagman's character was dead. Behind the scenes, however, Hagman struggled for years with chronic alcoholism — so much so that a doctor told him in 1995 that he’d have to replace his liver or he’d be dead in six months. “In the heyday of Dallas, it got to the point where I showed up for work about 6:30 in the morning, and by around 9, I might have opened a bottle of champagne, which I would nurse until about noon,” Hagman said in 1995. “By lunch I might start on another half-bottle of champagne. I would go through about three bottles a day, sometimes with people who would drop by the set, but mostly by myself. I just kept that steady drip going. The drinking sometimes made it harder to remember lines, but I liked that constant feeling of being mildly loaded.” Thanks to the 16-hour liver transplant surgery, Hagman said his doctors “saved his life.” A year later, he served as the national spokesman for the 1996 U.S. Transplant Games and continued to serve as an advocate of organ donation and transplantation until his death. Despite occasional acting roles after Dallas left the air in 1991 (in the 1998 film Primary Colors and a five-episode arc on Nip/Tuck in 2006), Hagman largely withdrew from the limelight. Members of his family said Hagman died of complications stemming from his recent battle with cancer. “Larry was back in his beloved Dallas, re-enacting the iconic role he loved most,” the family said in a statement. “Larry’s family and close friends had joined him in Dallas for the Thanksgiving holiday. When he passed, he was surrounded by loved ones. It was a peaceful passing, just as he had wished for. The family requests privacy at this time.” TNT, which airs the current version of Dallas, issued the following statement: “All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman’s passing. He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor. We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time.” 
Hector ''Macho'' Camacho was a brash fighter with a mean jab and an aggressive style, launching himself furiously against some of the biggest names in boxing. And his bad-boy persona was not entirely an act, with a history of legal scrapes that began in his teens and continued throughout his life. The man who once starred at the pinnacle of boxing, winning several world titles, died Saturday after being ambushed in a parking lot back in the Puerto Rican town of Bayamon where he was born. Packets of cocaine were found were found in the car in which he was shot. Camacho, 50, left behind a reputation for flamboyance - leading fans in cheers of ''It's Macho time!'' before fights - and for fearsome skills as one of the top fighters of his generation. ''He excited boxing fans around the world with his inimitable style,'' promoter Don King told The Associated Press. Camacho fought professionally for three decades, from his humble debut against David Brown at New York's Felt Forum in 1980 to an equally forgettable swansong against Saul Duran in Kissimmee, Florida, in 2010. In between, he fought some of the biggest stars spanning two eras, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Felix Trinidad, Oscar De La Hoya and Roberto Duran. Drug, alcohol and other problems trailed Camacho himself after the prime of his boxing career. He was sentenced in 2007 to seven years in prison for the burglary of a computer store in Mississippi. While arresting him on the burglary charge in January 2005, police also found the drug ecstasy. A judge eventually suspended all but one year of the sentence and gave Camacho probation. He wound up serving two weeks in jail, though, after violating that probation. Camacho's former wife, Amy, obtained a restraining order against him in 1998, alleging he threatened her and one of their children. The couple, who had two children at the time, later divorced. He divided his time between Puerto Rico and Florida in recent years, appearing on Spanish-language television as well as on a reality show called ''Es Macho Time!'' on YouTube. Inside the boxing ring, Camacho flourished. He won three Golden Gloves titles as an amateur, and after turning pro, he quickly became a contender with an all-action style reminiscent of other Puerto Rican fighters. The fighter's last title bout came in 1997 against welterweight champion Oscar De La Hoya, who won by unanimous decision. Camacho's last fight was his defeat by Saul Duran in May 2010. He had a career record of 79-6-3. Doctors pronounced Camacho dead on Saturday after he was removed from life support at his family's direction. He never regained consciousness after at least one gunman crept up to the car in a darkened parking lot and opened fire. No arrests and have been made, and authorities have not revealed many details beyond the facts that police found cocaine in the car and that the boxer and his friend, who was killed at the scene, had no idea the attack was coming. ''Apparently, this was a surprise,'' said Alex Diaz, a police spokesman. Survivors include his mother; three sisters, Raquel, Estrella and Ester; a brother, Felix; and four sons, Hector Jr., Taylor, Christian and Justin.
Canadian model Gabriel Aubry is sporting a horribly bruised and swollen face following his alleged bust-up with Halle Berry's fiance over the Thanksgiving holiday. The star, who is father to Berry's daughter Nahla, clashed with French actor Olivier Martinez at the actress' Los Angeles home on Thursday and was subsequently arrested on suspicion of battery. Aubry is believed to have suffered a broken rib, while Martinez injured his hand in the fight and both needed a trip to hospital. The model also suffered nasty injuries to his face -- Aubry was photographed out and about in Los Angeles on Friday sporting a black eye, along with cuts and swelling. Aubry is currently free on $20,000 bail, while a judge issued a protective order to keep him away from his former partner and his daughter. The fight was reportedly sparked by the bitter custody battle between Aubry and Berry, who hopes to move to France with her little girl and her fiance.
Actress Deborah Raffin dies at age 59
Deborah Raffin, an actress who ran a successful audiobook company with the help of her celebrity friends, has died. She was 59. Raffin died Wednesday of leukemia at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, her brother, William, told the Los Angeles Times. She was diagnosed with the blood cancer about a year ago. Raffin, the daughter of 20th Century Fox contract player Trudy Marshall, had roles in movies such as "Forty Carats" and "Once Is Not Enough." She also starred in television miniseries, most notably playing actress Brooke Hayward in "Haywire" and a businesswoman in "Noble House," based on the James Clavell saga set in Hong Kong. She and her then-husband, music producer Michael Viner, launched Dove Books-on-Tape in the mid-1980s, which blossomed into a multimillion-dollar business. The company's first best-seller was Stephen Hawking's opus on the cosmos entitled "A Brief History of Time." Raffin's job was getting celebrities to provide voices for some of the books. Among them were the nonfiction bestsellers "Anatomy of an Illness" and "The Healing Heart," both by Norman Cousins and read by Jason Robards Jr. and William Conrad, respectively. Raffin also compiled celebrities' Christmas anecdotes for a 1990 book, "Sharing Christmas," which raised money for groups serving the homeless. It included stories from Margaret Thatcher, Kermit the Frog and Mother Teresa. Raffin and Viner sold the company in 1997 and the couple divorced eight years later. Viner died of cancer in 2009. Raffin is survived by her two siblings, William and Judy Holston; and a daughter, Taylor Rose Viner.
'Real World' star 'Puck' jailed
Former "Real World" star David Edward "Puck" Rainey has been jailed after he was convicted of stalking. The MTV reality star pleaded no contest to the charge in April and was handed a two-year prison sentence in September. The conviction stems from an incident in February, but no details are known about his crime. He turned himself in to authorities at Wasco State Prison in California on Nov. 8 and had 401 days removed from his sentence due to time already served,
'Twilight' finale wins record holiday box office weekend
The holiday movie season is off to a record-breaking start after blockbusters "Twilight: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2" and "Skyfall" powered the biggest Thanksgiving weekend ever at the box office. With Oscar front-runner "Lincoln" continuing to over-perform in terms of expectations and awards hopeful "Life of Pi" off to a strong start, the overall box office hit $288 million and easily eclipsed the previous standard of $268 million set in 2009.
The Top 10 (3-day weekend totals):
"Twilight: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2," $43M
"Skyfall," $36M
"Lincoln," $25M
"Rise of the Guardians," $24M
"Life of Pi," $22M
"Wreck-It Ralph," $16.7M
"Red Dawn," $14.6M
"Flight," $8.6M
"Silver Linings Playbook," $4.6M
"Argo," $3.8M
"Twilight: Breaking Dawn -- Part 2," $43M
"Skyfall," $36M
"Lincoln," $25M
"Rise of the Guardians," $24M
"Life of Pi," $22M
"Wreck-It Ralph," $16.7M
"Red Dawn," $14.6M
"Flight," $8.6M
"Silver Linings Playbook," $4.6M
"Argo," $3.8M
Katt Williams sued over Oakland's Oracle Arena show meltdown
Alexandra McHale: Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale's daughter dead at 22
Alexandra "Sasha" McHale, daughter of Houston Rockets coach Kevin McHale has died at the age of 22. The young woman, who went by the name "Sasha," was hospitalized in Minneapolis, Minn. for treatment of the auto-immune disease, lupus. McHale has been on a leave of absence to be with his daughter and family since Nov. 10. Sasha passed away Nov. 24, 2012. Rockets owner, Leslie Alexander, issued the following statement: "I extend my deepest condolences to Kevin and Lynn for the loss of their beautiful daughter, Sasha, on Saturday afternoon. Kevin and Lynn are loving and dedicated parents who will need our continued support throughout this very difficult time. Our entire organization is mourning the McHale family's loss and we ask that you keep them in your thoughts and prayers."
Chris Brown deletes Twitter account after vulgar tirade against Jenny Johnson
Chris Brown has deleted his Twitter account following a vulgar and misogynistic rant against comedy writer, Jenny Johnson. Johnson, a former news producer often praised as one of the funniest people on Twitter has made no bones about her lack of respect for convicted girlfriend beater, Brown, and his militant fan club, "Team Breezy." Johnson and Brown have even sparred via Twitter in the past. This time around, Brown went overboard with a vulgar tirade, calling Johnson obscene names and threatening to defecate on her eyeball as she performed sexual acts on him. The war of words started with Johnson's reply to a photo caption by Chris. He tweeted, "I look old as f**k! I'm only 23..." to which she replied, "I know! Being a worthless piece of s**t can really age a person."TV NEWS
With actor Larry Hagman’s passing on Friday, TNT’s newly revived version of Dallas is planning some adjustments to its second season. Hagman had continued working on the show even after his announcement in October that he was diagnosed with cancer. In fact, he was scheduled to appear on set this week. Sources say he completed filming “a number of episodes” and will appear in season two of the series, though it’s unclear if the actor had a reduced work schedule compared to season one to accommodate his illness. His passing will also be incorporated into the show. Sources say the show’s writers and producers plan to start working on a way to give the character “the proper sendoff that he deserves.” Dallas season two, which will have 15 episodes, is currently scheduled to premiere on Jan. 28, which should give the production time to make creative adjustments.
It was all good and no grief for the unsinkable Charlie Brown this Wednesday night, as ABC’s presentation of the blockhead’s annual Thanksgiving special drew its largest audience in four years — 8.1 million total viewers.
British broadcaster ITV announced that cross-continental hit Downton Abbey has been renewed for a fourth season. Season three of the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning drama hasn’t yet premiered in the United States, but has aired in the UK (and garnered its best ratings yet). PBS will debut season three on Jan. 6. Season four will start shooting in February and will bow in the UK in the fall.
Community and Chevy Chase are officially parting ways. Chase and producers have come to a mutual agreement that finds the comedy vet departing the cult NBC series effective immediately.
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