CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT

Julia Roberts
Born: October 28, 1967
Place: Atlanta, GA



Julia Roberts played clarinet in the high school band. Roberts wanted to be a veterinarian as a child, but soon after graduating from Smyrna's Campbell High School, she headed to New York to join her sister Lisa Roberts Gillan to pursue a career in acting. Once there, she signed with the Click modeling agency and enrolled in acting classes.

Roberts made her film debut playing a supporting role opposite her brother, Eric, in Blood Red (she has just two words of dialogue), which, although filmed in 1987 was not released until 1989 (She was just about to have her 19th birthday during the filming). Roberts first caught the attention of moviegoers with her performance in the independent film Mystic Pizza in 1988; that same year, she had a role in the fourth season finale of Miami Vice. The following year, she was featured in Steel Magnolias as a young bride battling diabetes and garnered her first Oscar nomination (as Best Supporting Actress) for her performance.

Roberts become known to worldwide audiences when she co-starred with Richard Gere in Pretty Woman in 1990. Roberts won the role after the first two choices for the part, Molly Ringwald and Meg Ryan both turned it down. The role also earned her a second Oscar nod, this time as Best Actress. Her next box office success was the thriller Sleeping with the Enemy. She played Tinkerbell in Steven Spielberg’s Hook in 1991, and also played a Nurse in the 1991 film Dying Young; which was followed by a two-year hiatus.

In 2001, Roberts received the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich. Roberts would team up with Erin Brockovich director Steven Soderbergh for three more films: Ocean’s Eleven (2001), Full Frontal (2002), and Ocean’s Twelve (2004). Later in 2001 she starred in the road gangster comedy The Mexican giving her a chance to work with long time friend Brad Pitt.

Julia Roberts has brought to life some of the books from American Girl as movies and serves as Executive Producer, along with her sister Lisa. The company's product lines and services are focused on pre-teen-girl characters from various periods of American history, who are embodied as dolls and featured in narratives including books and movies. Its flagship line is a collection of historical 18-inch dolls that have books and accessories. Currently Julia Roberts has produced four movies.

Roberts met her current husband, cameraman Daniel Moder, on the set of her movie The Mexican in 2000 and they began an affair. Though at the time, Moder was married to Vera Steinberg Moder, he filed for divorce a little over a year later, and after it was finalized, he and Roberts wed on Fourth of July 2002, at her ranch in Taoe, New Mexico. On November 28, 2004, they became the parents of fraternal twins, daughter Hazel Patricia and son Phinnaeus "Finn" Walter. Their third child, son Henry Daniel Moder, was born on June 18, 2007 in Los Angeles.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS & TRIVIA

Celebrity Birthdays & Trivia

October

26 – Pat Sajak – 62 – Chicago, IL
26 – Jaclyn Smith – 60 – Houston, TX
27 – Kelly Osbourne – 24 – London, England
28 – Julia Roberts – 41 – Atlanta, GA
28 – Bill Gates – 53 – Seattle, WA
28 – Dennis Franz – 64 – Chicago, IL
28 – Charlie Daniels – 72 – Wilmington, NC
29 – Winona Ryder – 37 – Olmsted County, MN
29 – Kate Jackson – 60 – Birmingham, AL
29 – Richard Dreyfuss – 61 – Brooklyn, NY
30 – Henry Winkler – 63 – Manhattan, NY



Trivia




WINONA RYDER



Born Winona Laura Horowitz better known under her professional name of Winona Ryder. Winona was born in Olmstead County, MN; she was names after the nearby city of Winona. In 1978, when Winona was 7 years old, she and her family relocated to Rainbow, a commune near Elk, CA, where they lived with seven other families on a 300-acre plot of land. She developed an interest in acting after her mother showed her a few movies on a screen in the family barn.

Ryder has had many high-profile relationships with actors. She was engaged to actor Johnny Depp for three years beginning in July 1990. She met Johnny at the Great Balls of Fire! Premiere in June 1989. During their relationship, Depp had a tattoo placed on his arm reading “Winona Forever”, which he later altered to “Wino Forever” after their separation. Ryder later had serious relationships with Dave Pirner, and Matt Damon.

MARY-KATE OLSEN

Mary-Kate Olsen is coming back to primetime with a guest spot on Christina Applegate's "Samantha Who."

Mary-Kate plays a troubled young woman that Samantha meets while doing community service following an arrest. She will appear on “Samantha Who” November 10 at 9:30 PM EST on ABC.

BRITNEY SPEARS

Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Reva Goetz granted Jamie Spears a permanent conservatorship over his daughter on Tuesday afternoon.

The move came after a lengthy closed-chambers meeting, and follows a recent medical evaluation of the 26-year-old singer. Jamie Spears has had control over his daughter’s affairs since February. A court-appointed attorney for Spears says the singer does not object to the arrangement.

CLORIS LEACHMAN

Cloris Leachman, the oldest ever competitor in “Dancing With The Stars" history was finally eliminated.

This season on Dancing with The Stars Cloris Leachman, 82, has consistently ranked in the bottom but has won enough viewer votes to survive six eliminations. She has gotten more attention for her wacky on-stage antics than her dance moves. But she insists her feistiness is all in good nature.

Cloris finally had her day and as she left with partner Corky Ballas, the entire ballroom audience stood up to give her a standing ovation.

LEONARDO DICAPRIO

Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts, Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg and Justin Timberlake are among the celebrities starring in a new public service announcement produced by the actor, Leonardo DiCaprio, who also appears in the spot.

The video shows the stars struggling to grasp the concept of using reverse psychology to get young people into voting booths.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR.

Robert Downey Jr. will suit up as “Iron Man” at least three more times. It is reported that Downey will reprise his role as billionaire Tony Stark for “Iron Man 2,” “Iron Man 3” and “The Avengers”.

“Iron Man 2” is slated for a May 7, 2010 release, while “The Avengers” is scheduled to hit theaters on July 15, 2011.

PATRICK SWAYZE

Patrick Swayze, 56, began filming the drama series “The Beast,” in Chicago this summer.

Swzyze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer 10 months ago. Though the disease has a five-year survival rate of just five percent, Patrick has been able to battle the effects with chemotherapy, an experimental drug called Vatalanib and muscle building shakes. The actor told the New York Times newspaper that he’s put on 20 pounds since his low point.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT

Jeffrey Goldblum
Born: October 22, 1952
Place: West Homestead, PA

Jeff Goldblum moved to New York City at 17 to become an actor. He worked on the stage and studied acting at the renowned Neighborhood Playhouse under the guidance of acting coach Sanford Meisner. He made his Broadway debut in a production of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. He is an excellent jazz piano singer and declared that if he did not act, he would be performing musically as a career.

His film debut was playing a thug in the 1974 Charles Bronson film Death Wish. He briefly appeared as a protester in the TV movie Columbo: A Case of Immunity (1975).

Goldblum has had leading roles in films such as The Fly and The Tall Guy. Goldblum's strong supporting roles include those in Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), The Big Chill (1983), Into the Night (1985), Earth Girls are Easy (1988), Jurassic Park (1993), and The Lost World (1997). Goldblum delivers the same line, "must go faster", in very similar situations in both Jurassic Park and Independence Day. In Jurassic Park, he says it when he is sitting in the back of a Jeep with a broken leg while being chased by a Tyrannosaurus rex. He says it in Independence Day when he and Will Smith are in the spaceship trying to escape the mother ship.

He teaches acting at Playhouse West in North Hollywood, along with Robert Carnegie. In September 2006, it was announced that Goldblum was one of the founding members of a new theater company in New York called The Fire Dept. According to press materials, "The Fire Dept is made up of established and emerging writers, directors, actors and designers who have come together to create and produce work that cannot be replicated inside a television box or on a movie screen. The work of The Fire Dept combines the rigor and structure of great narrative storytelling with the vitality of formal experimentation to immerse audiences in a total experience that leaves them awake, alive and transformed." The company will devote energy into developing new live theater works as well as interpreting old favorites.

On June 26, 2008, it was announced that Goldblum will replace Chris Noth as a Senior Detective on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In the series, Goldblum will play the role of Detective Zach Nichols.

He has been married twice. He was married to Patricia Gaul from 1980 to 1986. He was later married to Geena Davis from November 1, 1987 to October 1990.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS & TRIVIA

Celebrity Birthdays & Trivia

October

20 - Snoop Dog – 37 – Long Beach, CA
21 – Carrie Fisher – 52 – Beverly Hills, CA
21 – Judge Judy Sheindlin – 66 – Brooklyn, NY
22 – Jonathan Lipnicki – 18 – Westlake Village, CA
22 – Zac Hanson – 23 – Arlington, VA
22 – Jeffrey Goldblum – 56 – West Homestead, PA
22 – Annette Funicello – 66 – Utica, NY
22 – Christopher Lloyd – 70 – Stanford, CT
23 – “Weird” Al Yankovic – 48 – Lynwood, CA
25 – Helen Reddy – 66 – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia



Trivia

ANNETTE FUNICELLO

Disney cast her as one of the original “Museketeers”. She was the last to be selected, and the only one picked by Walt Disney. She soon proved to be very popular.

After maturing, she moved on from Disney and became a teen idol, starring in a series of “Beach Party” movies with Frankie Avalon for American International Pictures. When she was cast in her first beach movie, Walt Disney himself, for the sake of her virginal image, asked her not to appear in any provocative scenes or wear any attire that showed her navel. She did not fully comply with the latter request. She is seen wearing a two piece fishnet suit in the second film (Muscle Beach Party) and a blue and white bikini in the third (Bikini Beach).

Funicello announced in 1992 that she suffers from multiple sclerosis. She had kept her condition a secret for many years, but felt it necessary to go public to combat rumors that her impaired carriage was the result of alcoholism. That same year, she was inducted as a Disney Legend. In 1993, she opened the Annette Funicello Fund for Neurological Disorders at the California Community Foundation.

ZAC EFRON

The star of High School Musical 3: Senior Year celebrated his 21st birthday Saturday with an intimate two-hour dinner party at L.A.'s Pace restaurant with a group of friends and family.

BOB AND DOLORES HOPE FOUNDATION

An autographed photograph of Lucille Ball that hung in Bob Hope's office fetched more than $6,500 at auction this weekend, in a sale of Hope memorabilia.

Proceeds from the sale will go to benefit the Bob and Dolores Hope Foundation, which helps charities that were close to the late comic legend.

RICHARD BLACKWELL

Richard Blackwell, fashion legend died Sunday. He passed away Sunday of complications from an intestinal infection, his publicist said in a statement. Blackwell was 86.

For four decades, Blackwell has issued his worst-dressed list.

BRAD PITT

Brad Pitt will join Warner Bros. and director George Miller (“Happy Feet,” “Babe: Pig In the City”) in adapting Homer’s epic poem, which follows the heroic Odysseus’ 10-year voyage home after the Trojan War.

MATT DAMON

Universal will produce a fourth installment in the popular “The Bourne Identity” franchise. Matt Damon will return as superspy Jason Bourne, and Paul Greengrass (who directed “The Bourne Ultimatum” and “The Bourne Supremacy”) is also on board for the new film.

KATIE HOLMES

Katie Homes made her much-anticipated Broadway debut Thursday night, sharing the stage with respected Broadway veterans John Lithgow, Dianne Wiest and Patrick Wilson at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theare in the brand-new revival of Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons”.

The play has reportedly taken in $684,002 in its first full week of previews, making it the highest-grossing play on the Great White Way for the week.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT

Paul Simon
Born: October 13, 1941
Place: Newark, New Jersey

Simon's musical career began in Forest Hills High School when he and his friend Art Garfunkel began singing together as a duo, occasionally performing at school dances. Their idols were the Everly Brothers, whom they often emulated and/or imitated in their early recordings. Simon and Garfunkel were named "Tom & Jerry" by their record company and it was under this name that the duo first had success. In 1957, they recorded the single "Hey, Schoolgirl", on Big Records which reached forty-nine on the pop charts while they were still in their teens.

After graduating from high school, Simon attended Queens College, while Garfunkel studied at Columbia University in Manhattan. Paul was a brother in the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity. Though Simon earned a degree in English literature, his real passion was rock and roll. Between 1957 and 1964, Paul wrote, recorded, and released more than thirty songs, occasionally reuniting with Garfunkel as Tom & Jerry for some singles, including "Our Song", "That's My Story", and "Surrender, Please Surrender", among others. He also briefly attended Brooklyn Law School.
In early 1964, Simon and Garfunkel got an audition with Columbia Records, whose executives were impressed enough to sign the duo to a contract to produce an album. Columbia decided that the two would be called simply "Simon & Garfunkel," which Simon claimed in 2003, was the first time that artists' ethnic names had been used in pop music.

Simon pursued solo projects after the duo released their very popular album Bridge over Troubled Water. Occasionally, he and Garfunkel did reunite, such as in 1975 for their Top Ten single "My Little Town," which Simon originally wrote for Garfunkel, claiming his work was lacking 'bite'. The song was included on their respective solo albums; Paul Simon's Still Crazy After All These Years, and Garfunkel's Breakaway. In 1981, they got together again for the famous concert in Central Park, followed by a world tour and an aborted reunion album Think Too Much, which was eventually released (sans Garfunkel) as Hearts and Bones. Together, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

In 2003, the two reunited again when they received Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. This reunion led to a U.S. tour, the acclaimed "Old Friends" concert series, followed by a 2004 international encore, which culminated in a free concert at the Colosseum in Rome. That final concert drew 600,000 people — 100,000 more than had attended Paul McCartney’s concert at the same venue a year earlier.

Simon is a two-time inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — as a solo artist in 2001, and in 1990 as half of Simon and Garfunkel. In 2002, Simon was one of the five annual recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, the nation's highest tribute to performing and cultural artists. He received the award after Sir Paul McCartney withdrew, citing "personal considerations."

On March 1, 2007, Simon was announced as the recipient of the first annual Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, which he received on May 23, 2007. The award recognizes the profound and positive effect of popular music on the world’s culture. Simon was also reunited with Art Garfunkel for the occasion, when they performed “Bridge over Trouble Water” and “Cecilia”.

Simon has been married three times. He is currently married to singer-songwriter Edie Brickell. They were married May 30, 1992. They have three children - Adrian Edward, Lucia Jean and Gabriel Elijah.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS & TRIVIA

Celebrity Birthdays & Trivia

October

13 – Marie Osmond – 49 – Ogden, UT
13 – Paul Simon – 67 – Newark, NJ
14 – Usher – 29 – Dallas, TX
15 – Penny Marshall – 66 – The Bronx, NY
16 – Suzanne Somers – 62 – San Bruno, CA
16 – Angela Landsbury – 83 – London, England
17 – Eminem – 35 – St. Joseph, MO
17 – George Wendt – 59 – Chicago, IL
18 – Zac Efron – 20 – San Luis Obispo, CA
18 – Chuck Berry – 81 – St. Louis, MO



Trivia

ANGELA LANDSBURY

Just prior to the German bombing campaign of London, Lansbury's mother was presented with the opportunity to take her children to North America, and under cover of dark of night they fled from their home and sailed for Montreal, from there they headed to New York City.

In 1945, Lansbury married American actor Richard Cromwell when he was 35 and she was 19. Unbeknownst to her, Cromwell was bisexual, and the marriage dissolved after a year, but the two remained friends.

In 1949, Lansbury married British-born actor and businessman Peter Shaw. Shaw was instrumental in guiding and managing Lansbury's career. Until his death in 2003, they enjoyed one of the longest show-business marriages on record.

DAVID DUCHOVNY

David Duchovny and Tea Leoni have separated after 11 years of marriage.

They were married in 1997 and have two children, daughter Madelaine West, 9, and son Kyd, 6.

KEVIN COSTNER

Kevin Costner and wife Christine are expecting their second child.

The Oscar-winning actor/director, 53, and Baumgartner, a handbag designer, have a son, Cayden, 17 months. Costner has four other children from two previous relationships.

NANCY REAGAN

Former first lady Nancy Reagan has been hospitalized in Los Angeles with a broken pelvis.

Reagan, 87, fell at her Bel Air home last week and, after the pain persisted, decided on Monday to be examined at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to her spokesperson, Joanne Drake.

MAUREEN MCCORMICK

Maureen McCormick has revealed all in a new memoir, “Here’s the Story: Surviving Marcia Brady and Finding My True Voice.”

Maureen reveals intimate details about her secret life of binging on cocaine, trading sex for drugs and dating her TV sibling.

JANET JACKSON

After cancelling several dates, Janet Jackson will resume her “Rock Witchu” tour tonight at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.,

Janet Jackson, 42, suffers from vestibular migraine, a rare condition that induces the sensation of vertigo.

GALE HAROLD

“Desperate Housewives” actor Gale Harold was in motorcycle accident on Tuesday, fracturing his shoulder in the process. Harold, 38, is currently recovering in Los Angeles.

Gale, who plays Teri Hatcher's beau on Housewives, previously appeared on Showtime's Queer as Folk.

MADONNA

Madonna's spokeswoman says the singer and Guy Ritchie are divorcing after 7 1/2 years together.

British publications The Sun and The Daily Mail first reported news of the split on Wednesday.

In a statement co-signed by Ritchie's representative and e-mailed to The Associated Press, Liz Rosenberg says the couple had not agreed to a settlement yet.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY

Lisa Marie Presley and husband Michael Lockwood have announced the names for their twin girls: Finley and Harper.

The twins were born on Oct 7th, and delivered by C-section at 2:46 PM, weighing in at 5 lbs., 15 oz. and 5 lbs., 2 oz.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT

Matt Damon
Born: October 8, 1970
Place: Cambridge, Massachusetts







Matt Damon has a brother, Kyle, who is an accomplished sculptor and artist. He and his family lived in Newton for the first two years of his life, but after his parents divorced, Damon and his brother moved with his mother to Cambridge.

Damon grew up near Ben Affleck, a close friend since childhood and future collaborator on several films.

He graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge in 1988 and performed in several theater productions. He attended Harvard University the same year. He could have graduated in 1992, but chose to defer classes to pursue acting projects, including the TNT original film “Rising Son” and assemble prep-school drama “School Ties”. While at Harvard, he studied English. Damon dropped out of the university to pursue his acting career in Los Angeles when “Geronimo: An American Legend” was expected to be a big success.

His first role came in 1988 when he was eighteen, with a single line of dialogue in the romantic comedy “Mystic Pizza.” Damon appeared in small role before landing a big part in “Geronimo: An American Legend” with Gene Hackman and Jason Patrick. He appeared next in “Courage Under Fire” as a heroin addicted soldier. He was required to lose 40 pounds in 100 days, for only two days of filming. After following a self-prescribed diet and fitness regimen to lose the weight, Damon was told after filming that he was fortunate his heart did not shrink. Damon took medication for several years afterwards to correct the stress inflicted on his adrenal gland.

Damon and Ben Affleck wrote a screenplay about a young math genius, which they had pitched around Hollywood. The script eventually became “Good Will Hunting” and received nine Academy Awards nominations, earning Damon and Affleck Oscars for Best Original Screenplay.

Matt met Argentine, born Luciana Bozan Barrosa, in Miami where she was working as a bartender. They married in a private civil ceremony on December 9, 2005. Damon became stepfather to Bozan’s young daughter, Alexia from her previous marriage. Together the couple has had two children, Isabella born in 2006 and Gia born in 2008.


On July 25, 20076, Matt Damon became the 2,343rd person to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS & TRIVIA

Celebrity Birthdays & Trivia

October

5 – Kate Winslet – 33 – Reading, Bershire, England
7 – Simon Cowell – 49 – Brighton, East Sussex, England
7 – Taylor Hicks – 32 – Birmingham, AL
8 – Matt Damon – 38 – Cambridge, MA
8 – Chevy Chase – 65 – New York City, NY
8 – Paul Hogan – 69 – Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia
9 – Brandon Routh – 29 – Des Moines, IA
9 – Sharon Osbourne – 56 Brixton, London, England
10 – Tanya Tucker – 49 – Seminole, TX
11 – Luke Perry – 41 – Mansfield, OH



Trivia







KATE WINSLET



Winslet began studying drama at the age of eleven at the Redroofs Theatre School, where she was head girl and appeared in a television commercial for Sugar Puffs Cereal. Throughout her life she was severely bullied for being overweight and having exceptionally large feet. The media, particularly in England, have enthusiastically documented her weight fluctuations over the years. Winslet has been outspoken about her refusal to lose weight in order to conform to the Hollywood ideal.

BEYONCE

Beyoncé, 27, debuted two new singles on the radio Wednesday morning. "If I were a Boy" and "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."

EDWARD STERN

Howard Stern, 54, and Beth Ostrosky wed Friday at swank NYC restaurant Le Cirque.

The couple have been together for more than eight years. He announced their engagement on his show Valentine's Day last year after giving Ostrosky a 5.2-carat, emerald-cut diamond ring.

DAVID DUCHOVNY

An attorney for David Duchovny says the actor has checked out of a rehabilitation facility for treatment of sex addiction.

David married actress Téa Leoni in 1997. They have two children, daughter Madelaine West, 9, and son Kyd, 6.

NICK NOLTE

Actor Nick Nolte, jumped out a window and used a hose to fight a fire that broke out in his Malibu home Tuesday. The fire caused an estimated $1.5 million damage to his Malibu home.

The 67-year-old actor scraped his arm and inhaled some smoke but was not hospitalized, said Los Angeles County fire Inspector Sam Padilla.

MISTY MAY-TREANOR

Misty May-Treanor and partner, Maksim Chmerkovskiy confirmed that an injury Misty suffered last Friday during a rehearsal has taken her out of the competition and has to withdraw from participating in the "Dancing with Stars" show due to an Archilles tendon injury.

Misty is home and resting following a successful surgery to repair her Achilles tendon on Tuesday.

Misty May-Treanor and teammate Kerri Walsh were the gold medalistin beach volleyball at both the 2004 and 2008 Summer Olympics. They have been called "the greatest beach volleyball team of all time".

JAMES EARL JONES

James Earl Jones, who has voiced some of entertainment’s most memorable characters, will receive the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

He is known to fans of all ages as the voice of Darth Vader in “Star Wars” and Mufasa in Disney’s “The Lion King” as well as CNN.

He will be presented with the Life Achievement Award at the Screen Actors Guild awards on January 25th.

HELIO CASTRONEVES

Helio Castroneves, the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and TV “Dancing With The Stars” champion pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he used offshore accounts to evade U.S. taxes on more than $5 million in income.

The Brazilian professional race car driver, 33, was brought into his arraignment in cuffs and shackles, was ordered released on $10 million bail.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY SPOTLIGHT

Fran Drescher
Born: September 30, 1957
Place: Flushing Queens, New York




Fran Drescher grew up in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens. She was a studious girl who was popular in school. She attended Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, where she met her future husband, Peter Marc Jacobson, eventually marrying him in 1978, at age 21.

Drescher’s first break was bit part in the movie “Saturday Night Fever.” She continued to play small but memorable roles in movies, until she and her husband finally created her own television show, “The Nanny” in 1993. She was visiting her friend, model Twiggy, in England and came up with the plotline. The showed aired on CBS from 1973 to 1999. The show became an instant success, and Drescher became an instant star.

Drescher’s voice is a combination of high nasal pitch and a Queens, New York accent that people find annoying, endearing, or humorous.

Fran married her high school sweetheart, Peter Marc Jacobson, in 1978. Jacobson was Drescher’s constant supporter in her show-business career, and he wrote, directed, and produced her signature television series, “The Nanny.” They divorced in 1999.

In January 1985, robbers ransacked Drescher’s and Jacobson’s Los Angeles apartment and raped her and a friend at gunpoint. It took her many years to overcome this ordeal, and it took her even longer to admit this to the press.

On June 21, 2000, she was admitted to Los Angeles’s Cedar Sinai Hospital, after doctors diagnosed her with uterine cancer. Emergency surgery caught it early as it was only at Stage 1 and she didn’t have to undergo chemotherapy.

She announced the national launch of the Cancer Schmancer Movement, on June 21, 2007, the day which marked her 7th anniversary of wellness. This is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all women’s cancers be diagnosed while in Stage 1, the most curable stage.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS & TRIVIA

Celebrity Birthdays & Trivia

SEPTEMBER

30 - Fran Drescher – 51 – New York City, NY
30 – Johnny Mathis – 73 – Gilmer, TX
30 – Angie Dickinson – 77 – Kulm, ND

OCTOBER

1 – Julie Andrews – 73 – Walton-On-Thames, Surrey, England
1 – Tom Bosley – 81 – Chicago, IL
1 – President Jimmy Carter – 84 – Plains, GA
2 – Kelly Ripa – 38 – Berlin, NJ
2 – Donald McLean – 63 – New Rochelle, NY
3 – Chubby Checker – 67 0 Spring Gulley, SC


Trivia


CHUBBY CHECKER

In 2008 Chubby Checker's "The Twist" was named the biggest chart hit of all time by Billboard magazine. Billboard looked at all singles that made the charts between 1958 and 2008.

Checker had a #1 single on Billboard’s dance chart in July 2008 with Knock Down the Walls. He also owns his own restaurant and continues to perform on a regular basis.

STEVE FOSSETT

News comes after hiker Preston Morrow said that on Monday he found three identification cards bearing Fossett's name and $1,005 cash in a bush just west of the town of Mammoth Lakes.

"They did locate an aircraft which we have now confirmed is the one Steve Fossett was flying when it disappeared last Labor Day," Madera County, Calif., Sheriff John Anderson said at a press conference.

Authorities said Thursday morning that the wreckage initially spotted by aerial searchers is the plane piloted by missing adventurer Steve Fossett.

NEAL BOYD

St. Louis insurance salesman Neal E. Boyd was crowned the winner of America’s Got Talent’s third season on Wednesday night in Los Angeles.

It was a shocker to some, especially AGT judge Piers Morgan, who thought New York-based violin duo Nuttin But Stringz would walk away with the show’s top prize. Instead the Escobar brothers, whose original compositions electrified the audience all season long, ended up second runners-up.

One million dollars richer and a music career ahead of him, Boyd simply says, “My life will never be the same.”

On October 17 Boyd and the rest of season three’s top five finalists will perform at the MGM Grand Garden Arena with season two’s winner, ventriloquist Terry Fator. –Monica Rizzo