Month: October 2023

Actor Burt Young, best known for playing Paulie Pennino in the ‘Rocky’ films, has died at the age of 83. Young’s cause of death was not immediately known; his daughter Anne Morea Steingieser confirmed the news to The New York Times, sharing that Young passed away on Oct. 8 in Los Angeles. Young’s manager Lynda Bensky said in a statement: “Burt was an actor of tremendous emotional range. He could make you cry and he could scare you to death. But the real pathos that I experienced was the poignancy of his soul. That’s where it came from.”

Young, born Gerald Tommaso DeLouise in Queens, New York, was in the US Marine Corps in the 1950s. He was an avid boxer before trying his hand at acting, studying through Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio and going on to build a career playing tough guys in TV shows and films. Young appeared in the first Rocky film in 1976, receiving an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor in 1977 for his role as the friend and future brother-in-law of boxer Rocky, played by Sylvester Stallone. Young portrayed Paulie in all six original Rocky films.

Young also appeared alongside Jack Nicholson in “Chinatown” and with Rodney Dangerfield in “Back to School.”  Other film credits include Once Upon a Time in America, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Mickey Blue Eyes, and he worked in television, appearing on The Sopranos, Law & Order, The Rockford Files and M*A*S*H. Young made his name for himself outside of acting as a painter, and exhibited his work at galleries around the world.

Stallone paid tribute to Young on Instagram: “To my Dear Friend, BURT YOUNG, you were an incredible man and artist, I and the World will miss you very much…RIP.” Their ‘Rocky’ co-star Carl Weathers posted on X: “RIP, Burt Young! A beautiful and talented soul. He was such an integral part of the Rocky family. ‘You want the bird? Go get the bird.’ Paulie will be with us forever! #BePeace.”

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A24 has released the first trailer for The Iron Claw, starring Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White. The Iron Claw is the highly anticipated drama about the legendary wrestling Von Erich family. Directed and written by Sean Durkin, the film chronicles how the Von Erich brothers rose to fame in the competitive world of pro wrestling, but faced tragedy inside and outside the ring.

Five of the six Von Erich brothers pursued professional wrestling: the eldest brother Jack died in a childhood accident and Efron stars as the oldest surviving brother, Kevin, with White portraying Kerry Von Erich. Each of the Von Erich brothers found fame as they pursued pro wrestling, but their lives were also marked by tragedy, sparking rumors that the family was afflicted by the “Von Erich curse.” Efron’s Kevin says in the trailer: “Ever since I was a child, people said my family was cursed. Mom tried to protect us with God. Pop tried to protect us with wrestling. He said if we were the toughest, strongest, nothing would ever hurt us. I believed it. We all did.”

The cast also includes Harris Dickinson as David Von Erich, and Stanley Simons as Mike Von Erich, and Lily James as Kevin’s wife, Pam. Maura Tierney plays the boys’ mother Doris, while Holt McCallany appears as their father Fritz, who built his own wrestling career in the 1960s and pushed his sons to follow in his footsteps. The elder Von Erich popularized the family’s signature move: ‘The Iron Claw,’ where a wrestler grips his opponent’s face and squeezes with all five fingers.

The Iron Claw hits theaters Dec. 22; watch the trailer – here.

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Wolfgang Van Halen and his fiancée Andraia Allsop are married. The 32-year-old frontman of Mammoth WVH (and son of the late Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli) exchanged vows with Allsop, a software engineer and photographer, at their Los Angeles home in front of 90 guests.

The ceremony included several touches that honored loved ones, including Van Halen’s late father.
Wolfgang walked down the aisle with his mom to an instrumental song that his father wrote for him, titled “316,” telling People magazine: “It’ll be a nice way to include my dad.” After exchanging wedding vows in their living room, the couple hosted a reception in their backyard. Said Allsop: “Our goal was just to bring all of our closest family and friends together. The past few years, not only with the world, but also with personal tragedies, haven’t been the easiest, but we wanted to create this wedding as a celebration not only just for us to get married, but a celebration for the people we love.”.

The couple reserved an empty chair at the ceremony in honor of the late Van Halen, and Allsop wore a necklace Eddie Van Halen once gifted to Bertinelli, who lent her the piece for the occasion. Bertinelli said: “Ed would’ve been absolutely beaming and so, so proud of the man Wolfie has become and is becoming and so happy that he has found Andraia, someone who really understands Wolfie, who he is and who he wants to be and supports him wholeheartedly.”

Van Halen and Allsop were engaged last July after seven years of dating, and their wedding day marked their eight-year anniversary.

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At age 90, Sir Michael Caine has officially confirmed his retirement from acting, announcing the news in an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today show.

The veteran British actor said: “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well, I am now.” Caine had previously commented that his retirement was ‘imminent’ in an interview with The Telegraph last month, saying at the time he was “sort of” retired.

Caine reflected on role that are likely to be offered to him at his age: “I’ve figured, I’ve had a picture where I’ve played the lead and it’s got incredible reviews. The only parts I’m likely to get now are old men, 90-year-old men, maybe 85. And I thought, ‘Well, I might as well leave with all this — I’ve got wonderful reviews. What have I got to do to beat this?’ … You don’t have leading men at 90, you’re going to have young handsome boys and girls.”

Caine’s career has spanned several decade, first becoming a household name in the 1960s starring in classic films like “Zulu” and “The Italian Job.”  Caine received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “Cider House Rules” (2002), and he was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2000.

Caine’s last on-screen role was in Oliver Parker’s “The Great Escaper,” a biographical film about World War II veteran Bernard Jordan, who breaks out of a care home to attend the 70th anniversary commemoration of D-Day in 2014.

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In an excerpt from Britney Spears’ upcoming memoir ‘The Woman In Me,’ Spears reveals that she had an abortion while dating ex-boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. The excerpt, published by People, claims that the former *NSYNC member “didn’t want to be a father” at the time Spears got pregnant with their child.

Spears writes (per People): “It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated. But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”

Spears and Timberlake began dating in 1999, when she was 17 and he was 18, before breaking-up in 2002.  Spears writes in her memoir: “I’m sure people will hate me for this, but I agreed not to have the baby. I don’t know if that was the right decision. If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father. To this day, it’s one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life.”

Spears is mother to Sean Preston, 18, and Jayden James, 17, whom she shares with her ex-husband Kevin Federline. Timberlake and wife Jessica Biel share sons to Silas, 8, and Phineas, 3.

Spears memoir, “The Woman in Me,” is set for release on Oct. 24th.

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