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Tragic actor HEATH LEDGER was tired and "a little depressed" the day before he died, according to acclaimed author DEEPAK CHOPRA.
Chopra spoke to Ledger on 21 January (08) and recalls the Australian movie star was upset that he hadn’t seen his two-year-old daughter, Matilda, for awhile.
The writer tells People.com, "He was a little depressed about not having seen his daughter. It was like, ‘I’m missing my girl…’ He hadn’t seen her (Matilda) over the holidays, he mentioned that." Chopra also remembers Ledger was shattered after shooting scenes in new movie The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus in London.
He adds, "Heath’s a very, very ambitious actor and hard-working guy. He was still high from the experience (of filming in London) and he hadn’t come down.
He was exhausted." Chopra was due to meet up with Ledger and their mutual friend, director Shekhar Kapur, in New York on the day the Brokeback Mountain star passed away and had to break the news of the actor’s death to the filmmaker.
He adds, "I had to sit him down and say, ‘I’m sorry to tell you this, but we’re not going to be having dinner with Heath. He’s dead.’ Shekhar is totally devastated." Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment on 22 January (08).

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Hot couple JESSICA SIMPSON and TONY ROMO thrilled regulars at tribute group METAL SKOOL’s weekly showcase in Hollywood on Monday night (28Jan08) with a rocking duet.
The good-looking pair sang Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’, backed by the band at the Key Club.
Romo initially refused to join his pop star girlfriend onstage, but reluctantly agreed to sing with her when fans started chanting out his name.
Metal Skool’s Monday night concerts have become famous for star turns - Lisa Marie Presley, Pink and Kelly Clarkson have all made unannounced appearances during the tribute act’s shows in the past year.

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BRITNEY SPEARS’ ex-husband KEVIN FEDERLINE has defended his surly behaviour towards the media - claiming journalists never report the truth about him.
The wannabe rapper/actor, who is famous for his bad attitude when approached by the press and paparazzi, insists he’s just protecting himself, because he is always misquoted.
Federline tells U.S. magazine Interview, "Every interview I’ve done, everything has gone so great, and then what I see and I read in a magazine is completely the opposite of what we talked about.
"So I am very skeptical about opening myself up to other people, because you have no idea how they’re going to take your words and turn them around."

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American football fan KATE HUDSON’s New England Patriots connections have won her a pair of tickets for Sunday’s (03Feb08) Super Bowl in Arizona.
The actress was spotted sitting next to Patriots owner Robert Kraft when his unbeaten team played the Dallas Cowboys in October (07).
And now she’s perfectly placed to witness history in the making as the Patriots try to become the first team ever to win 19 single season games to win the Super Bowl when they play the New York Giants.
Hudson says, "I’m such a football fan. I got to meet Mr. Craft and go to some football games. I get to go to the Super Bowl with the family so I’m pretty excited.
"This is my first time at the Super Bowl and I’m taking my dad for his Christmas present."

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DENNIS QUAID is helping to bring action figure G.I. JOE to life in a much-anticipated new war movie.
The actor has signed on to join Sienna Miller, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on the starry blockbuster, which is set to hit cinemas in 2009.
The Mummy filmmaker Stephen Sommers will direct the film, based on the popular U.S. play figure and TV series.
Quaid will portray General Hawk in the movie, while Miller will play a femme fatale known as the Baroness.

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Ex-FRASIER star KELSEY GRAMMAR was discovered by a casting director while working as a painter and decorator.
The actor is convinced he was born for the stage and screen, because he was way up a ladder when the theatre boss spotted his talent.
The 52-year-old recalls, "When I was 21, I was painting offices for a famous director.
"As I stood at the top of a ladder, the casting director of the San Diego Shakespeare Festival looked up at me and - I don’t know how he got this from my butt - said, ‘You’re an actor aren’t you?’ "He offered me a chance to audition. Three days later I was headed for San Diego."

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ROBERT REDFORD has finally committed to making new movie A WALK IN THE WOODS, after the project was put on hold when PAUL NEWMAN announced his retirement.
Redford had hoped the upcoming film version of Bill Bryson’s book would be his third collaboration with Newman - his co-star in Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid and The Sting.
But, when 83-year-old Newman confirmed his retirement from the movie business last May (07) - blaming memory loss and a lack of confidence - Redford halted pre-production on A Walk In The Woods.
Now Redford has announced he’ll produce and star in the literary adaptation, which Rain Man filmmaker Barry Levinson is in talks to direct.

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Revered U.S. TV broadcaster MIKE WALLACE is recovering after undergoing triple heart bypass surgery last Friday (25Jan08).
The veteran 60 Minutes correspondent, who was operated on at New York’s Lennox Hill Hospital, is already walking around following the procedure.
Doctors have described the 89-year-old’s operation as a "great success".

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DIANE KEATON is calling on U.S. car firms to create a hybrid vehicle - so she can be patriotic and kind to the environment at the same time.
The actress vows to always buy American automobiles when she can, and was shocked to find no big Stateside manufacturers are developing a cleaner alternative to gas-guzzling motors.
She says, "I have two cars. I feel like I have to go hybrid. I just feel like I need to buy or lease an American car. I feel that General Motors and Ford need a boost, and I feel that if I’m paying customer I should get a hybrid."

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Writer/actress/singer MARGARET TRUMAN DANIEL, the only child of former U.S.
President HARRY S. TRUMAN, has died, aged 83.
The once-acclaimed TV and radio star lost her life in an assisted living facility in Chicago, Illinois on Tuesday (29Jan08) after a brief illness.
A college student when her father became president in 1945, Truman Daniel’s early successes were hampered by criticism from those who felt her family connections helped her to get ahead.
She made her professional singing debut with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra in 1947, and published her first book, Souvenir, in 1956. She later penned another about White House pets a decade later.
Truman Daniel also wrote a well-received biography of her father and a mystery novel, called Murder In The White House.
An early radio and TV favourite, appearing opposite friends Jimmy Durante and Milton Berle on a series of shows, she also co-hosted a daily talk show with revered news man Mike Wallace.

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Actress SEAN YOUNG has checked into a rehab facility in California just days after she was forcibly removed from the Directors Guild Of America Awards for her unruly behaviour.
The Blade Runner star was escorted from Saturday’s (26Jan08) event after heckling filmmaker Julian Schnabel as he attempted to make a speech from the stage.
Reports suggested Young was inebriated at the ceremony.
According to her publicist, Young, 48, checked into "an undisclosed" rehabilitation centre on Monday (28Jan08) in a bid to tackle alcohol issues.
The representative says, "It is understood that Young has struggled against the disease for many years."

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JAY-Z once thrilled fans at a show in New York by throwing thousands of dollars he’d won in a basketball bet into the audience.
Fellow mogul Jermaine Dupri was astonished with his pal’s generosity because Jay-Z had won the cash from him.
In his new biography, Young, Rich & Dangerous: The Making Of A Music Mogul, Dupri recalls, "Me and Jay-Z bet on basketball games all the time. One time I lost $15,000 to him.
"The next week, when he saw me backstage before a performance, the first thing he asked me was, ‘Where’s my money?’ "I handed over a fat wad of Benjamins ($100 bills) and stood there while he counted. He ended up spraying most of the bills at the audience when he was onstage."

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TOMMY LEE is to narrate a new documentary about a U.S. rocker’s battle with leukaemia.
The Motley Crue drummer has befriended Jack’s Mannequin founder Andrew McMahon, and jumped at the chance to tell his life story in new film Dear Jack.
Lee played drums on Jack’s Mannequin’s debut album.
The new movie chronicles the beginnings of the band, Andrew’s relationship with his now-wife Kelly and the immense impact both had on his fight with cancer.
Lee says, "Andrew is such a hero and I jumped at the opportunity to help tell this incredible story."

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BLUR bassist ALEX JAMES will be showing off his farming skills as a member of the selection committee for London’s 2008 Real Food Festival.
The Beetlebum rocker has become a cheese-maker at his Cotswolds farm in the English countryside since the Damon Albarn-fronted band last released an album, Think Tank, in 2003.
And now he has been asked to pick the exhibits for the food festival, which will take place at London’s Earl’s Court between 24 and 27 April (08).

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Rap mogul SEAN ‘DIDDY’ COMBS has crowned a former intern the new president of his record company.
Harve Pierre was appointed to the top job on Tuesday (29Jan08).
Pierre joined Bad Boy upon its inception in 1993 and worked his way up from intern to the label’s executive vice president/general manager/vice president of A&R.
Diddy says, "Harve’s promotion to president is well-deserved. He has been with Bad Boy since the beginning and has worked hard to learn all aspects of the business… I look forward to Harve’s continued success."

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HEATH LEDGER’s father paid an emotional visit to the late actor’s New York apartment on Tuesday (29Jan08), a week after the star was found dead there.
Kim Ledger arrived at the luxury Broome Street, Soho pad accompanied by police detectives, and spent an hour inside.
According the PageSix.com, Ledger Snr. left through a back entrance, so he could see a private memorial for the 28-year-old, which had been erected in the building’s garden by other residents.
On Saturday (26Jan08), Kim stood alongside family and close friends at a private service for the Brokeback Mountain star at the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles.
The Oscar-nominee will be buried in his hometown of Perth, Australia.

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KEVIN FEDERLINE is convinced his controversial and headline-grabbing marriage to BRITNEY SPEARS is a stepping stone to superstardom.
Despite a bitter divorce and an ongoing custody battle, all played out under the watchful gaze of the world’s media, Federline has no regrets about his disastrous relationship with the singer.
Instead, he plans to use it to make him a bigger star than Spears herself.
He tells Interview magazine, "I never will regret anything that’s ever happened in my life. I look at life as a lesson. I am a very strong believer that this is a stepping-stone for something else. Not to say I like having the paparazzi around or that I like having my life in the media. But as much as I try to be mad at it, I can’t be.
"The paparazzi and the press have given me a voice. One day I’ll be able to use that voice."

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KEVIN FEDERLINE has yet to discuss his high profile battle with ex-wife BRITNEY SPEARS with their two young sons - because he doesn’t know what to tell them.
The pair have been at war since they split in November 2006, and their custody battle over two-year-old Sean Preston and one-year-old Jayden James still wages.
Visitation rights were stripped from Spears at the beginning of January (08) following a stand-off with police and paramedics after the singer refused to hand over youngest son to Federline.
Prior to that, Spears lost all custody of her sons after failing to adhere to court-ordered medical tests.
She now has telephone contact with her kids after a ruling by Los Angeles Commissioner Scott Gordon last week (ends25Jan08), but the former dancer admits he still hasn’t found a way to explain the conflict to the young boys.
He tells Interview magazine, "No. I don’t know (what to say). I haven’t crafted something yet."

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