Richard Griffiths, the well-spoken, rotund presence perhaps best known for playing Muggle guardian Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series – and who costarred again with Daniel Radcliffe in the stage drama Equus – died Thursday from complications after heart surgery at University Hospital in Coventry, central England, his agent announced Friday. He was 65. "Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career. I was proud to know him," Radcliffe said in a statement. Griffiths also won a Tony in 2006 for playing slightly wayward teacher Douglas Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys and was the outlandish Uncle Monty in the 1987 cult movie Withnail and I.  Born in North Yorkshire to two deaf parents – he learned sign language to communicate with them – Griffiths quit school at 15 before returning to study drama, which led to his joining the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1973, during a production of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, he met actress Heather Gibson. They married in 1980, and she survives him.


'Glee' star Cory Monteith checks into rehab facility
Glee star Cory Monteith has entered a rehab facility. The 30-year-old actor, who plays Finn on Fox’s musical comedy/drama, “voluntarily admitted himself to a treatment facility for substance addiction,” his publicist said. He graciously asks for your respect and privacy as he takes the necessary steps towards recovery.” Lea Michele, Monteith’s girlfriend and castmate, also said: “I love and support Cory and will stand by him through this. I am grateful and proud he made this decision.” The show released a statement on Sunday, which reads: “Cory is a beloved member of the Glee family and we fully support his decision to seek treatment. Everyone at the show wishes him well and looks forward to his return.” This is not Monteith’s first time in rehab: In a 2011 interview he revealed that he had a “serious problem” with drugs and, following an intervention by friends and family, entered rehab at the age of 19. Glee has two more episodes to film before completing its fourth season.
  It’s a girl for Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell! “Lincoln Bell Shepard is here,” the Parenthood star Tweets. “She has mom’s beauty and dad’s obsession with breasts. Hooray!!!” “My new roommate poops her pants and doesn’t pay rent…basically Dax pre-sobriety,” Bell adds. “Welcome baby Lincoln.” Shepard, 38, and the House of Lies star, 32, announced the pregnancy in November.


'G.I. Joe' wins Easter Weekend with a muscular $41.2M
Turns out putting Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson into the lead role is a good idea to keep a franchise going. G.I. Joe: Retaliation soldiered into the top spot over Easter weekend, piling up $41.2 million over three days and bringing the four-day cume to $51.7 million. Also having a good Friday and good run in general was Dreamworks’ animated Stone Age comedy The Croods, which grossed $26.5 domestically in its second weekend and sailed past the $200 million mark internationally for a 10-day total of $229.1 million. Tyler Perry turned far away from Madea with his steamy thriller Temptation, which paid off for Lionsgate with a voluptuous $22.3 million. Starring Friday Night Lights‘ Jurnee Smollett-Bell and Kim Kardashian, who brought the film outsize media attention, Temptation didn’t reach the heights of Madea’s Big Happy Family opened ($25.3 million) or Why Did I Get Married Too? ($29.3 million), which were both sequels, but it did outperform industry expectations. Despite its Twilight connections, no one had overly high hopes for the alien invasion romance The Host, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer. Neither the novel nor the three leads — Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake Abel — were nearly as squeal inducing to the largely female audiences that made Twilight popular. Weighed down by laughably bad reviews and unappealing trailers, The Host disappointed with $11 million in sixth place.
1. G.I. Joe: Retaliation – $41.2 million
2. The Croods – $26.5 million
3. Tyler Perry’s Temptation – $22.3 million
4. Olympus Has Fallen – $14 million
5. Oz the Great and Powerful – $11.6 million
6. The Host – $11 million
 Mekhi Phifer is a married man! The actor, best known for playing Dr. Greg Pratt on ER, said "I do" to Reshelet Barnes on Saturday in Beverly Hills, Calif., at the Montage Hotel. Mekhi Phifer is off the market after saying 'I do' to longtime girlfriend Reshelet Barnes in a Beverly Hills ceremony Saturday (March 30). Both the bride and the groom dressed in all white, and the ceremony was officiated by none other than TV's Judge Greg Mathis. "The Love Section" star, best known for his roles on TV series "Torchwood" and "ER," walked down the aisle to Stevie Wonder's "Ribbon in the Sky." Phifer's son came down the aisle with a chihuahua on a leash, and Barnes opted for the traditional "Here Comes the Bride." One hundred friends and family members looked on as Mekhi and Reshelet participated in a 15 minute ceremony that included unity sand and ended in a standing ovation. "When [Reshelet] made her entrance into the courtyard, Mekhi was completely overcome with emotion and you could tell she took his breath away," says an eye witness to the event. "He had to wipe tears from his eyes for several minutes." This is Mekhi's second wedding. He was previously married to actress Malinda Williams. Mekhi has a son with Williams, as well as a son from a previous relationship with Oni Souratha.

Chevy Chase And Beverly D'Angelo To Return In Vacation Reboot

Over the course of a 45-year-career, Chevy Chase has starred in a number of classic comedies, including Caddyshack, Fletch and Three Amigos!. But his most beloved role is undoubtedly that of Clark Griswold, the frazzled family man at the center of National Lampoon's Vacation movies. From a cross-country road trip to Christmas mayhem, Europe and Vegas, Clark, his loving wife Ellen and their kids couldn't get a break, and audiences couldn't get enough. It's been 16 years since the last Vacation movie and Wedding Crashers director David Dobkin is getting the band back together with a new movie. When word of this reboot spread, fans were quick to declare a reboot without Chase and his co-star/onscreen wife of four funny features Beverly D'Angelo would be a travesty. Thankfully, it's looking like travesty will be avoided as Dobkin, in producer mode, has been courting Chase and D'Angelo hard. Both are in early talks to join the film. This currently untitled Vacation movie will be written and helmed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who penned Horrible Bosses and The Incredible Burt Wonderstone together. This misadventure will center on Clark's son Rusty, who is all grown-up with a dysfunctional family of his own to torment on a road trip, one stop of which will be visiting with his hilarious oft-in-peril parents. Chase and D'Angelo's roles will likely be more in the cameo range, but I'd expect them to be a standout. Also in talks is Christina Applegate, who is up for the role of Rusty's wife.
 Caesar has found his love interest. Or, at the very least, Matt Reeves has found an actress to play the love interest in his upcoming Dawn of the planet of the Apes. Judy Greer, who audiences best know from Arrested Development episodes and supporting parts in movies like The Descendants or 13 Going on 30, has landed the coveted ape role of Cornelia in Reeves’ sequel. The character actress will don a motion-capture suit to act opposite her one-time 13 Going on 30 co-star Andy Serkis, who encouraged her to lobby hard for the part.

Mamie Gummer and Ben Walker split

Mamie Gummer, daughter of Meryl Streep, and Ben Walker have decided to end their marriage after less than two years. The 29-year-old Gummer (Emily Owens, M.D., Side Effects) and the 30-year-old Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter) both starred in the 2008 Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and wed in July 2011.


Robert Redford Joins Captain America Sequel

After rumors that Robert Redford would appear in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the legendary actor confirmed his role. In a Q&A after a screening of his latest film The Company You Keep, he answered a question in regards to the sequel to Captain America and left no doubt he is on board to join Chris Evans in the highly anticipated Marvel Studios release. In the Q&A after his The Company You Keep screening, Redfordx stated, "I'm doing this film because it's different. It's a new thing for me. I think these films are really powerful. I think they're great. This is the kind of film I would have loved to see as a kid." This is the first time Redford has ever done a film like this; normally he's seen in flicks that would be seen at his indie-film fest Sundance. Witnessing him in a high-profile superhero flick, most likely as a higher-up agent in the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, will be a treat.

RZA hits back at Dutch singer's lawsuit

Rapper RZA has hit back at a lawsuit from a Dutch singer who alleges the Wu-Tang Clan star owes her royalties, insisting she was fully paid for her work on tracks they recorded together. Thea Van Seijen claims she is owed money for singing on RZA's track "Baby Boy," as well as for 13 other songs the duo co-wrote and performed from 2004 to 2011, and filed a lawsuit in a bid to land a slice of the profits. However, RZA, real name Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, has now fired at back at her allegations, filing legal papers in which he states Van Seijen was compensated for her work at the time and is not listed as a co-author on any of the songs.