Trial may be next step for former ‘Melrose Place’ actress

A former “Melrose Place” actress convicted of vehicular manslaughter in a New Jersey court could soon face a civil trial in federal court.

A jury convicted Amy Locane-Bovenizer in 2012 for the crash that killed 60-year-old Helene Seeman in Somerset County in 2010.

The state Department of Corrections website shows Locane-Bovenizer was recently released from prison after serving about 2 1/2 years of a three-year sentence.

Seeman’s husband sued Locane-Bovenizer in federal court in December 2010 and the case was stayed pending resolution of the state criminal trial. In a letter filed with the court Friday, attorney Raymond Silverman said settlement talks have stalled and his client is no longer interested in a settlement.

Silverman said Fred Seeman wants to move forward with pre-trial preparations so the case is “‘trial-ready’ in the near future.”

Locane-Bovenizer’s attorney didn’t respond to a request for comment Friday.

The federal lawsuit has grown to include claims and counterclaims by Locane-Bovenizer, a couple and a local theater that hosted parties she attended the day of the crash, and a woman whose car she hit and who was following her before the crash.

Prosecutors say Locane-Bovenizer was driving with a blood-alcohol level nearly three times the legal limit when her SUV slammed into a Mercury Milan driven by Fred Seeman as he was turning into his driveway.

Locane-Bovenizer appeared in 13 episodes of TV’s “Melrose Place” and in movies including “Cry-Baby,” “School Ties” and “Secretary.”

Angelina Jolie: We’re living in era of ‘mass displacement’

After visiting a camp for Syrian refugees in southeastern Turkey on Saturday, actress Angelina Jolie said the world is living through an era of mass displacement.

Jolie, reading from a prepared speech alongside United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees Antonio Guterres, told journalists that “never before have so many people been dispossessed or stripped of their human rights.”

Jolie’s visit is the latest in a series of visits to Turkey as part of her work as the UNHCR’s special envoy. It is meant to bring attention to the plight of refugees, whose number has reached a record 60 million worldwide, according to the U.N.

As numbers increase, many countries are scrambling to find ways to close their doors to the new arrivals. Hungary recently announced plans to build a 4-meter (13-foot) high fence on the border with Serbia to stop the flow of migrants from Asia and Africa, and anti-immigrant sentiment has flared elsewhere in Europe.

Jolie spoke of the problem in general terms.

“People are running out of places to run to,” she said, emphasizing “the need to be open and tolerant to people … who may not be able to return home.”

Turkey now officially hosts the world’s largest refugee community – about 1.6 million, according the latest U.N. figures. As the war in neighboring Syria rages into its fifth year, the flow shows no sign of abating.

“We don’t know how many more will be coming,” said Fuat Oktay, the chief of Turkey’s disaster and emergency agency. “There’s a huge risk that the number might increase.”

Kim Kardashian’s spot on public radio show angers listeners

An appearance by Kim Kardashian on the National Public Radio show “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” has angered some listeners.

NPR received hundreds of complaints about last week’s episode of the humorous quiz show. Kardashian was in a segment called “Not My Job,” in which she answered questions about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. She answered two of three questions correctly.

But many listeners were outraged that she was on the Chicago-based show. Some have threatened to stop donating to the nonprofit NPR.

In a response posted on NPR’s website, ombudsman Elizabeth Jenson said she wasn’t sure what to make of the outrage over Kardashian’s 11-minute appearance. She said while Kardashian wasn’t a great guest, “she was gracious” and had a couple of funny lines.

‘Little People, Big World’ stars Matt and Amy Roloff filing for divorce

Matt and Amy Roloff, stars of TLC reality series “Little People, Big World,” are filing for divorce after 27 years of marriage.

“Little People, Big World” follows the Roloffs and their four children, one of whom was diagnosed with dwarfism like his parents. The show began in 2006, chronicling the couple’s journey raising a family on a farm outside Portland, Oregon.

The couple, who separated in 2014, shared news of the divorce in a statement on TLC’s website.

“It is with great sadness that we have come to the difficult decision to file for divorce. We are proud of what we have accomplished together including raising four wonderful children who have grown to become remarkable adults and building our strong and ongoing successful businesses,” the couple said.

“Our kids and our ever-growing family, and the love and support we have for them, will be our priority. We will continue to work together side by side in the daily responsibilities for our many current ventures. We would like to thank our family, friends and all our fans for their continued support and understanding during this difficult time.”

Actor Richard Johnson, a near miss to play 007, dies at 87

Richard Johnson, a distinguished British actor who almost played James Bond, has died. He was 87.

Johnson’s family says he died Saturday in a London hospital after a short illness.

A founding member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Johnson had a six-decade career on stage, film and television. His big-screen roles included “Khartoum” opposite Laurence Olivier and Charlton Heston.

Johnson told Cinema Retro magazine in 2009 that he declined the lead role in the first Bond film, “Dr. No.” Sean Connery got the part instead. Johnson felt Connery was miscast but nonetheless perfect, “because it turned the thing on its head and he made it funny.”

Johnson wed four times, including a brief 1960s marriage to American star Kim Novak.

He is survived by his wife Lynne and four children.

McCarthy’s ‘Spy’ tops with $30 million; ‘Entourage’ lags

Melissa McCarthy left the guys of “Entourage” in the dust, landing her first No. 1 box-office debut as a leading lady with an estimated $30 million weekend for the espionage comedy “Spy.”

The result added to the string of successes for McCarthy and writer-director Paul Feig, who first united on the 2011 hit “Bridesmaids.” While “Spy” fell short of the $39.1 million debut of their 2013 comedy “The Heat,” with Sandra Bullock, and came in a tad lower than some predicted, it was good enough to win a weekend lacking blockbuster punch but crowded with action, horror and the resurrected HBO series.

“It sets the table for a fantastic long run,” said Chris Aronson, head of distribution for 20th Century Fox.

The R-rated, action-heavy “Spy,” made for about $65 million, will depend on word-of-mouth and its generally glowing reviews to propel it further in the coming weeks. The film, in which McCarthy plays a desk-bound CIA officer sent into a James Bond-like European caper, has already made $56.5 million overseas.

Last week’s top film, “San Andreas,” the disaster movie starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, slid to second place with $26.4 million. “Insidious: Chapter 3” opened with an estimated $23 million, a strong debut for the low-budget horror prequel from Jason Blum’s Blumhouse Productions.

But HBO’s “Entourage,” made for about $30 million, failed to compete with those releases. The film, released about four years after the series concluded, made $10.4 million over the weekend and has brought in a five-day total of $17.8 million since opening Wednesday.

Dan Fellman, head of distribution for Warner Bros., said advance tracking for the film had been soft and that comparisons to “Sex and the City” – another post-finale HBO adaptation – weren’t accurate. That 2008 release opened with $57 million.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for box-office tracker Rentrak said that while the individual results for the weekend likely meant profitability for their distributors, the marketplace is suffering from a lack of momentum after a string of lackluster weekends, particularly a weak Memorial Day holiday when Disney’s “Tomorrowland” opened flatly.

“This is our third down weekend in a row. It takes some wind out of our sails,” Dergarabedian said. “We need a hit like `Jurassic World’ and we needed it yesterday.”

Universal’s “Jurassic World” opens Friday with expectations of a $100 million-plus opening.

In a medium-sized release, the acclaimed Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions drama “Love & Mercy,” which stars Paul Dano and John Cusack as Brian Wilson, opened with $2.2 million on 483 screens.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “Spy,” $30 million ($25.6 million international).

2. “San Andreas,” $26.4 million ($97.8 million international).

3. “Insidious: Chapter 3,” $23 million ($14.3 million international).

4. “Entourage,” $10.4 million ($3 million international).

5. “Mad Max: Fury Road,” $8 million ($11 million international).

6. “Pitch Perfect 2,” $7.7 million ($4.6 million international).

7. “Tomorrowland,” $7 million ($13.8 million international).

8. “Avengers: Age of Ultron,” $6.2 million ($7 million international).

9. “Aloha,” $3.3 million ($1.6 million international).

10. “Poltergeist,” $2.8 million ($3.2 million international).

—

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to Rentrak:

1. “San Andreas,” $97.8 million.

2. “Spy,” $25.6 million.

3. “Insidious: Chapter 3,” $14.3 million.

4. “Tomorrowland,” $13.8 million.

5. “Stand by Me Doraemon,” $12.5 million.

6. “Mad Max: Fury Road,” $11 million.

7. “Avengers: Age of Ulton,” $7 million.

8. “Pitch Perfect 2,” $4.6 million.

9. “Poltergeist,” $3.2 million.

10. “Entourage,” $3 million.

George Clooney explains why he’ll never dye his gray hair or go under the knife

George Clooney isn’t trying to fight growing older.

The 54-year-old actor recently chatted with BBC radio’s Jenni Murray, where he candidly talked about the struggles of aging in Hollywood.

“There is nothing fun [about aging],” he said bluntly. “I know for actresses, it’s infinitely worse because of public perception based on nothing except studios not hiring them, but I think for all of us you have to come to terms with getting older and not trying to fight it.”

“You have a couple of options, which are, get older or die,” he further explained. “You have to get used to the idea that your roles in films, and who you are and how you’re perceived, is going to change. And that will disappoint people at times.”

This idea of not trying to fight change also applies to his signature salt-and-pepper hair. The Tomorrowland star revealed that dying it to appear younger has “never been an issue or an option” for him, and neither has “a little nip and tuck.”

“I don’t think it would make much sense, quite honestly,” he said. “I’ve seen it happen, and particularly on men, I don’t think it works very well. I think it actually makes you look older.”

“I’m a big believer in the idea that you can’t try to look younger, you can just try to look the best you can at the age you are,” he added.

Unscripted TV stripped bare by scripted drama ‘UnREAL’

“UnREAL” might be TV’s most fully realized reality series. Why shouldn’t it be? It’s scripted, then performed by professional actors.

Premiering Monday at 10 p.m. EDT on Lifetime, “UnREAL” arrives with what just might be perfect timing. The reality genre is cooling off (yet still embarrassing itself) as reality-based networks scramble to shore up their schedules with scripted dramas and comedies – the kind of fare that makes no false claims of authenticity and whose version of the truth is seen by all as invention.

“UnREAL” dwells in the off-camera netherworld of a dating competition show called “Everlasting,” where a handsome bachelor must choose among a bevy of hot, hopeful women each bucking for a fairytale wedding. (Sound familiar?)

The week-to-week production process is anything but romantic. On the contrary, it’s a callous game of bullying and illusion whose sole objective is outrageous narratives. That process of seduction is led by executive producer Quinn King (played by Constance Zimmer, “House of Cards”), a single-minded puppetmaster whose chief henchman is Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby, “Girls”), a young producer whose task is to cajole, badger and play on the weaknesses of the show’s participants to get the footage Quinn demands.

“Rachel gets the best sound bites and she has killer instincts for drama,” says Quinn as she plays on Rachel’s many weaknesses to keep her in line.

Although “UnREAL” pushes certain moments to dramatic extremes, everything you see is based on reality-show reality, says co-creator Marti Noxon (who also created Bravo’s fictional-yet-all-too-true hit “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” and wrote for WB’s “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”).

“We thought uncovering the behind-the-scenes machinations would make great stories,” she says, “and we wanted to comment on the kind of bully culture of a lot of reality television.”

“UnREAL,” therefore, is not a spoof of reality TV. Rather, it’s a straight-ahead workplace comedy-drama populated with flawed, three-dimensional characters. There are no villains here, just people – under-the-gun producers and on-the-make contestants – who in the worst way want to score in the sordid world of make-believe they call “reality.”

“Contestants come in and think they can beat the game, but it’s truly an unbeatable game,” says Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (director-writer of the SXSW-winning film “Sequin Raze,” a black comedy about a reality dating show), who created and produces “UnREAL” with Noxon. “You’re ritually manipulated and charmed and edited beyond your control. Viewers think the contestants knew what they had signed up for. But they couldn’t have. There’s no way.”

The game is fixed and the matchmaking premise is only a pretext. On “UnREAL,” the hunky “suitor” is seeking, no, not a soul mate, but TV-sparked publicity to lure investors for his new hotel project. And in an unguarded moment, one of the contestants confides her real goal: “I just want people to know my name, so when I open my hair shop there’ll be a line around the block.”

Participants sign on expecting a payoff for pretending to be themselves. What they don’t understand (until too late): They are pawns in the “Everlasting” chess game, with Quinn, in her video-paneled master control, pronouncing which contestant is the designated villainess, which is the hot one, which ones are boring and should be bounced.

“Viewers want to believe in fairy tales, and those reality shows tap into that want,” says Shapiro. “Our show dismantles that want.”

“I think our show will entice viewers to watch reality in a different way,” says Noxon, “but I don’t think they’re going to stop. There’s a suspension of disbelief by many viewers.”

Both women have done quite a lot of thinking about the implications of a dating-competition show – and, despite identifying as “card-carrying feminists,” they readily own up to having been seduced by its charms.

“Watching one of those shows, at first I was laughing at the artifice and pretense,” says Noxon. “Then I got attached. And as it got toward the end I was feeling, `Oh, my God, I wish I could have someone like that.’ And he was a bonehead! It was amazing how caught up in it I got. And only later, I thought, `What was THAT all about?'”

The dizziness of reality TV imposed itself on the production of “UnREAL.” Shot in Vancouver, the series took over a sprawling estate (just as “The Bachelor” does), where confusion between real and un-real regularly reigned.

“We had background extras playing crew members, and real crew members,” says Shapiro. “We had fake craft service and real craft service. Fake outhouses and real outhouses.”

“You didn’t know when you were stepping into fiction or something that was really happening,” adds Noxon.

Where, indeed, is the great divide? That’s where “UnREAL” comes alive. It’s a series that exposes the real drama in people who, with nothing better to sell, try selling some unreal version of themselves as the real thing.

Jury convicts TV actor Diamond of misdemeanors in stabbing

TV actor Dustin Diamond was convicted Friday of two misdemeanors stemming from a barroom fight, but a Wisconsin jury cleared the former “Saved by the Bell” actor of the most serious felony charge.

The jury’s verdict came just hours after the 38-year-old actor testified that he never intended to stab anyone in the fight last Christmas Day. He had pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of recklessly endangering public safety, plus two misdemeanors – carrying a concealed weapon and disorderly conduct.

The first misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of nine months in prison, the second a maximum of 90 days in prison.

Diamond didn’t display emotion at the jury’s decision Friday night. He told reporters he couldn’t comment as he left the courtroom after a 13-hour day of testimony and jury deliberations.

Diamond, who played the character Screech on the popular 1990s show, said some people had wanted to shake his hand and pose for photos at the bar, but that others were badgering him and his girlfriend, Amanda Schutz. He said he was trying to scare bar patrons in Port Washington after his girlfriend was punched in the face.

“I felt like we were being set up for antagonistic purposes,” he said.

Witnesses testified that Schutz pushed one woman at the bar and grabbed another woman’s hand, initiating the incident. Schutz also faces a misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge.

Diamond said he tried to help Schutz and took out his pocketknife to deter the group from hurting her more.

The man who was stabbed, 25-year-old Casey Smet, testified Thursday that he didn’t know he had been stabbed until he had left the bar and was talking to police.

After maintaining a serious facade during most of the trial, Diamond grinned Friday when a defense attorney asked if he liked being compared to the character Screech. Diamond said he, like his character, enjoyed nerdy things. And Diamond said he liked being identified in public as the goofy television character.

“That means they love you,” Diamond said. “That means you’re doing your job.”

Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol argued Friday that Diamond lied about what happened and that the actor had scripted his testimony.

Gerol showed body-camera footage of Diamond’s testimony to a Port Washington police officer the night of the fight. In the video Diamond first said he might have struck Smet with a pen. In a video of testimony later that night, Diamond said he had a knife at the bar, but hadn’t used it to stab anyone.

No apparent “Saved by the Bell” fans sat in the galleries during the three-day trial. But another apparent fan, Diamond’s defense attorney Thomas Alberti, wrote “Good Luck to Dustin & Amanda” on his car window Wednesday ahead of the trial. Circuit Court Judge Paul Malloy scolded Alberti and told him to remove it because it was “inappropriate.”

The jury also convicted Schutz with disorderly conduct Friday night. Schutz faces a maximum of 90 days in prison.

A sentencing date for Diamond and Schutz has not been announced.

Port Washington is 25 miles north of Milwaukee.

Actor Sam Shepard arrested for drunken driving in Santa Fe

Actor and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard was arrested Monday on suspicion of drunken driving after a Santa Fe restaurant’s security complained about a possibly intoxicated driver.

The 71-year-old Shepard told a police officer that he had two tequila drinks and was planning to drive home, Santa Fe police Lt. Andrea Dobyns said Tuesday. “Our officer could smell alcohol on his breath, and he had bloodshot, watery eyes,” she said.

Shepard was arrested on a charge of aggravated driving while intoxicated outside La Choza restaurant in downtown.

The restaurant’s security called police about 7:45 p.m. Monday concerned about an intoxicated driver, Dobyns said. The man was trying to leave in the pickup, but the vehicle’s emergency brake was engaged.

Shepherd declined to take a breath test, but he did perform a field sobriety test, which he failed, Dobyns said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Shepard had an attorney. Santa Fe jail records show that Shepard was released Tuesday afternoon after posting bail.

The office of Shepard’s agent said Tuesday that it had no comment.

Shepard won the Pulitzer Prize in 1979 for his play “Buried Child.” His film credits, among others, include “Country,” “Baby Boom,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Thunderheart,” “Black Hawk Down,” “The Notebook,” and “Walker Payne.”

Playing Chuck Yeager in a drama about the birth of America’s space program, “The Right Stuff” earned Shepard an Academy Award nomination. His play “True West,” depicting a rivalry between two estranged brothers, has been revived numerous times and starred high-profile actors over the years.

The Sante Fe Institute, a transdisciplinary research community, lists the actor as a Miller Scholar.

Monday’s arrest appears to be Shepard’s second on charges of drunken driving. In January 2009, he was arrested on charges of speeding and drunken driving in the central Illinois town of Normal. Shepard was driving 16 mph over the 30 mph speed limit, police said. A breath test then indicated his blood-alcohol level was double the legal limit. The actor told police then that he had been at a tavern in nearby Bloomington and was heading to a hotel.

Shepard pleaded guilty and was fined $600 and court costs and placed on 24 months of supervision. He also had to finish an alcohol treatment program and perform 100 hours of community service.