*Podcasts Archives

Star Wars fans are mourning the loss of one of its biggest stars — who never said a word on screen.

David Prowse, who actually wore Darth Vader’s black suit and mask, has died at age 85.

The six-foot-seven British actor played Vader in the original three movies. His other credits include portraying Frankenstein’s monster three times — most notably in the early James Bond spoof Casino Royale. He was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2000.

Prowse died Saturday following a short illness. (Hollywood Reporter)

George Lucas paid tribute over the weekend, saying, “He made Vader leap off the page and on to the big screen, with an imposing stature and movement performance to match the intensity and undercurrent of Vader’s presence.” (Hollywood Reporter)

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Friends star Matthew Perry is engaged for the first time.

The 51-year-old actor told People magazine (quote) “I decided to get engaged. Luckily, I happened to be dating the greatest woman on the face of the planet at this time.”

He proposed to 29-year-old Molly Hurwitz. They started dating about two years ago, though they briefly split during the pandemic.

A close friend said that Molly has been a grounding influence on Matthew, who has struggled for decades with addiction. The unnamed source said, (quote) “He’s sober and doing better than he has in a long time with Molly in his life. She literally gave him something to live for.” (People)

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And, Comedian Rebel Wilson lost weight over the Thanksgiving Day break.

She entered a wellness retreat, VivaMayr, rather than indulge over the long holiday. On Sunday, she proudly announced how she reached her goal weight of 165 pounds. She arrived one-month ahead of schedule.

Rebel wrote at Instagram Stories, (quote) “Hit my goal with one month to spare! Even though it’s not about a weight number, it’s about being healthy, I needed a tangible measurement to have as a goal and that was [165 pounds].” (People)

Most people probably realize this already, but under that gruff exterior, Gordon Ramsay has a heart of gold.

According to TMZ, Ramsay donated $50,000 to help Ben Watkins in his fight with cancer. The Masterchef Junior contestant died this week at age 14.

Apparently Ramsay made the contribution very quietly back in August. The show is also exploring ways to honor Ben on the air.

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Matthew McConaughey tells Sky One that he is interested in doing stand-up comedy. ”Why I’m interested in doing stand up, is my raw expression goes through four filters before it gets to the screen. I’m doing someone else’s script, I’m being directed by someone else, I’m being filmed by someone else, I’m being edited by someone else before it’s put in a capsule and put in front of you on screen. Where do you go where there is no filter? That’s stand-up. So the plan before Covid was, I was planning on taking to the road and telling stories in an hour of stand-up.”

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OK! magazine says Lori Loughlin is struggling behind bars. A source tells the magazine, “This is Lori’s worst nightmare in so many ways, and she’s scared and lonely beyond belief right now. Going into this sentence, she was putting on a brave face and saying she was focused and pleased to be getting it over and done with. But Lori’s not as tough as she pretends to be. Lori is finding out the hard way that she has to be humble, pay her dues and act like any other felon who’s serving her debt to society. She’s lonely, ashamed and incredibly sad that her life has come to this — but at the same time, she knows it could have been so much worse.”

The NY Post says Lori’s husband, Mossimo, began his five-month prison sentence yesterday in California

Will Smith and the original Aunt Viv have finally buried the hatchet.

Janet Hubert, who starred on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air for three seasons until getting fired, sat down with Will during HBO Max’s 30th-anniversary reunion that aired Wednesday and can now be found on-demand on the streaming service.

At one point, Janet asked, “Why? Why so far? You guys went so far. I lost so much.” The actress, who was pregnant during the show’s third season, revealed that she was in an abusive marriage. She said, “I was no longer laughing, smiling, joking because there were things that were going on that nobody knew about. The cast had no idea what was going on.”

Will admitted that after having three children of his own he realizes he had treated her badly. He said, “I can see how I made the set very difficult for Janet.”

Later in the show, Janet got emotional when she said being labeled as “difficult” destroyed her career.

Will and Janet ended their talk with an hug.

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Collider magazine says Lady Gaga and Brad Pitt are in talks to star in a new movie called “Bullet Train.” The movie is about a group of assassins aboard a fast-moving train in Tokyo. No word on Gaga’s role

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Thursday’s episode of Jeopardy! opened with a special message from Alex Trebek recognizing World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

The host, who died of the disease earlier this month, urged viewers to be aware of the symptoms and get tested.

Alex taped shows until about 10 days before he passed away. Those episodes will run through Christmas Day.