FILM & TV/ JEFF CONAWAY DIES AT 60: Jeff Conaway, an actor who came to fame in the late 1970s as a high school greaser in the hit movie musical "Grease" and as a regular on the TV series "Taxi" but in more recent years was known for his appearances on "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew," died today. He was 60. Conaway died at Encino Hospital Medical Center in California, of complications from pneumonia. He was unconscious when he arrived at the hospital in the 2nd week of May, the result of "just too many prescribed drugs," his family said. He was put in a medically induced coma 9 days ago and his condition worsened steadily. Life support was withdrawn yesterday. Conaway had begun appearing in films and on television and had performed in the Broadway production of "Grease" before the movie version starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John was released in 1978. Conaway played Kenickie, the Rydell High School pal of Travolta's Danny Zuko. "I got so many hickeys, people will think I'm a leper," Stockard Channing's Rizzo tells Kenickie at one point, examining her neck in a compact mirror. "Cheer up," Conaway's character memorably replies. "Hickeys from Kenickie is like a Hallmark card. A "Grease" cast photo is pictured above. Later the same year, Conaway began playing Bobby Wheeler, the cab-driving struggling actor in "Taxi". The series about a group of New York cabbies, whose ensemble cast included Judd Hirsch, Danny De Vito, Marilu Henner and Tony Danza, ran until 1983. Although the show gave Conaway continued national exposure, he broke his contract and quit after 3 seasons, having reportedly grown tired of being typecast as a "blond bimbo" and the butt of struggling-actor jokes. In a 1985 interview, he said that he had become "very depressed" while doing the series. "Hollywood can be a terrible place when you're depressed. The pits," he said. "I decided to change my life and do different things". His various projects, however, did little to further his career. He returned to series TV in 1984, starring as Prince Erik Greystone on "Wizards and Warriors," a fantasy adventure series that ended after 8 episodes. Then came a role on "Berrenger's," a short-lived 1985 nighttime soap opera. The same year, Conaway was on Broadway in "The News," a rock musical about New York City tabloid journalism that closed after 2 days. He later appeared in the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" and the 1990s sci-fi TV series "Babylon 5." TV guest shots and roles in films and TV movies followed, as did stories of his substance abuse. Conaway already was known for leaving VH1's "Celebrity Fit Club" for a rehab attempt in 2006 when he joined 8 other celebrities on the premiere of VH1's "Celebrity Rehab With Dr. Drew" in 2008. He was so intoxicated the morning he checked in that subtitles were required to translate his slurred speech. Conaway is survived by his family.
"Lord of the Rings" star Orlando Bloom has joined the cast of Peter Jackson's upcoming "Hobbit" movies, even though his character, the elf Legolas, doesn’t appear in J. R. R. Tolkien’s original novel. Jackson announced the casting today. “Ten years ago, Orlando Bloom created an iconic character with his portrayal of Legolas," he wrote. "I’m excited to announce today that we’ll be revisiting Middle Earth with him once more. I’m thrilled to be working with Orlando again". Jackson is currently directing the 2 movie adaptation in New Zealand. Actors Cate Blanchett, Ian McKellen, Elijah Wood and Andy Serkis are reprising their roles from "Rings" in the prequel, which centers on Bilbo (Freeman) finding the supernatural ring and passing it on to his nephew, Frodo (Wood). The 1st of the 2 movies is planned for a December 2012 release and the 2nd is expected a year later.
Comedian Roseanne Barr is in talks to appear on NBC’s newly ordered midseason comedy "Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea". “I’m talking to Roseanne Barr to do some guest episodes as my aunt,” show creator/executive producer Chelsea Handler said in an interviw “She’s interested in doing it, so it should be fun.” The multicamera comedy is based on Handler’s autobiographical book of the same name about her prefame life as a waitress. Barr joins Laura Prepon ("That '70s Show"), who stars as the lead, and Handler in a recurring role as her own sister, Sloan. Writers originally had Barr in mind for a cameo in the pilot as a lesbian prison inmate who befriends Chelsea after her arrest for a DUI. That role went to Dot Jones from "Glee".
MUSIC/ ADELE TOPS UK POWER LIST: The Guardian Music Power 100 list was revealed today in England and there is a surprise at #1. The paper wrote: "Topping the list is Team Adele, an astonishing achievement for the 23 year old singer and the crack squad behind her. Adele, the girl from London with a big voice, has rewritten the music rule book this year with the stratospheric success of her second album, "21". It has topped the US album charts 7 times and has spent 15 of the last 17 weeks at #1 in the UK. In an industry that increasingly struggles to sell its physical product, Adele has managed to shift no fewer than 6m copies for independent record label XL". The head of her label said said Adele was a "special artist" who had conquered the world with talent alone. "The whole message with her is, it's just music. There's no gimmicks, there's no selling of sexuality," he said. The choice of Team Adele, which includes her manager and radio plugger, to head the chart was unanimous. The voting panel is made up for UK experts from the music industry. The full Music Power 100 list can be found on The Guardian website.
MUSIC/ MUSICIANS CRITICIZE GRAMMY CHANGES: Musicians including Carlos Santana and Herbie Hancock have criticized Grammy Award organizers for dropping categories from the annual show. It was announced last month that at least 30 categories would be cut. The musicians, who argue the changes were made without consulting Academy members, have delivered a letter of protest to the Recording Academy. But the president of the Grammys said a members committee had been consulted. Contemporary blues, Native American, Hawaiian, and Latin jazz are among the 31 categories that are being cut from the prestitgious awards show. The musicians are calling for the categories to be reinstated, saying the reductions unfairly target ethnic music. Paul Simon, of Simon and Garfunkel fame, wrote a separate letter. "I believe the Grammys have done a disservice to many talented musicians by combining previously distinct and separate types of music into a catch-all of blurry larger categories," he wrote. "They deserve the separate Grammy acknowledgements that they've been afforded until this change eliminated them".
Peruvian author Santiago Roncagliolo has won the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize for his 3rd novel, "Red April". The writer beat competition from the likes of Nobel Prize-winning Turkish author Orhan Pamuk to become the youngest person to win the prize at 36. He shares his £10,000 award with the translator of his novel, American Edith Grossman. The prize is given to a living author whose book has been translated into English and published in the UK. Roncagliolo's political thriller, translated from Spanish, tells of a Peruvian prosecutor in charge of a murder investigation. A judge described "Red April" as "a novel that will grip, excite, disturb and challenge all its readers". The other authors shortlisted for the prize included Pamuk for his novel, "The Museum of Innocence," Norwegian Per Petterson for "I Curse the River of Time" and "Kamchatka" by the Argentine Marcelo Figueras. "The Sickness" from Venezuelan author Alberto Barrera Tyszka and "Visitation," the 3rd novel by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck were also nominated. Last year's prize went to Philippe Claudel for "Brodeck's Report," which was translated from the French.
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