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ELIJAH WOOD feels he’s heading to a "family reunion" as he prepares to film a cameo for THE HOBBIT, because he grew so close to many of the cast and crew during his LORD OF THE RINGS days.
The actor played hobbit Frodo Baggins in the first three films and spent several years living on location in New Zealand.
He’ll be back in the country to film a short sequence for Peter Jackson’s new re-imagining of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, which sees Martin Freeman play a younger Bilbo Baggins, portrayed by Ian Holm in the original trilogy.
And Wood, who famously got a tattoo with his Lord of The Rings castmates during filming, admits working with all his old pals again feels like coming home.
He tells Movieline.com, "(My scene), it’s a tiny little piece. Frodo’s obviously not alive at the time of The Hobbit - it’s about 60 years before Frodo’s birth. So they’ve written a bit of a piece with Ian Holm as well, reprising his role as the older Bilbo, that I’ll do.
"It feels like a family reunion that I’m going back for. A number of the cast members are coming back. I went back (to New Zealand) a year ago in February just to visit. I was down in Australia, so I went over for nine days and caught up with a bunch of people. It was wild, man, to be back in that whirlwind, see all those people, but working in Middle Earth again. It was really cool to be back there, and I feel like it’s going to feel the same."

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Screen siren ELAINE STEWART has died at the age of 81.
The 1950s pin-up-turned-TV show hostess passed away at her home in Beverly Hills on Monday (27Jun11) following a long battle with ill health.
Originally a model, Stewart went on to star opposite Gene Kelly in Brigadoon in 1954, as well as enjoying a role as a sexy princess in The Adventures of Hajji Baba.
She appeared in 18 films in total during the 1950s, before marrying game show creator Merrill Heatter and retiring. She returned to the spotlight in the 1970s when she became a hostess on U.S. programme Gambit, before swapping for a turn on late night game show High Rollers.
She is survived by Heatter and their two children, Stewart and Gabrielle.

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THE SIMPSONS regular YEARDLEY SMITH has revealed MICHAEL JACKSON hand-picked the impersonator who would play him on the hit cartoon series 20 years ago.
Jackson’s cartoon likeness sang Happy Birthday to Yeardley’s Lisa Simpson character on an episode in 1991, and she tells TMZ.com the late King of Pop was not allowed to perform on the show.
She says, "He literally hand-picked a guy to sing like him." In the episode, Jackson was supposed to provide the voice for a mental patient who thought he was Michael Jackson - but his record label bosses didn’t like the plot and advised the star not to sing.
According to Smith, the singer selected a man named Kipp Lennon.
She insists the guest did an amazing job: "How unnerving would it be to sing like Michael Jackson in front of Michael Jackson?"

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Glastonbury boss MICHAEL EAVIS has revealed the tragedy that overshadowed an otherwise spectacular festival was a suicide.
Politician Christopher Shale was found dead in a portable toilet backstage at the festival on Sunday morning (26Jun11).
Police have already ruled out suspicious circumstances as the cause of death, but they are continuing with their investigations.
However, Eavis insists the death was a suicide.
He says, "I’m told it was a suicide situation… It’s very, very sad. I can’t say too much about it." Shale, 56, was a local Conservative Party chairman and a "great friend" of Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron.

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Newlywed country star MIRANDA LAMBERT has formed an all-girl group.
The White Liar singer has teamed up with musicians Ashley Monroe and Angaleena Presley to create the Pistol Annies, and she’s debuting their material on her current tour.
The group’s first songs include One’s Drinking, One’s Smoking, One’s Taking Pills, Hell on Wheels and Boys From the South.
The trio landed a record deal last week (ends24Jun11).

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MORRISSEY was less than impressed with the weather at the Glastonbury festival on Friday night (24Jun11), revealing he found it hard to perform with rain pelting down in his face.
The rocker took to the stage at the English festival before headliners U2 and admits he struggled to get through his performance.
He tells website Pitchfork.com, "The rain was bitingly cold and the audience were soaked and covered in wet mud, and it was dark and dismal and every time I opened my mouth I swallowed rain. Under such conditions you can’t really expect much from an audience.
"I think they were there for U2 anyway - understandably. U2 have an enormous Star Wars set with drumsticks that light up northern Africa, and a sound system that would drown out an earthquake. I can’t compete with that. Not with my post office savings account. All I have to offer the world are songs."

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Revered country singer/songwriter and producer COWBOY JACK CLEMENT’s fabled Nashville, Tennessee studio was destroyed by fire at the weekend (25Jun11).
The blaze also claimed the musician’s home.
No one was injured in the fire, which is believed to have started in the attic above the studio, and Clement was able to retrieve his favourite guitar, a Gibson J-200 acoustic he purchased in 1951.
CMT.com reports other instruments, memorabilia and master recordings were lost in the blaze.
Clement mixed classic recordings by Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Rich, Carl Perkins and Roy Orbison in Memphis, Tennessee before becoming a staple in Nashville in the early 1960s.
He discovered Charley Pride and produced the singer’s first 20 albums. Clement later produced albums by Cash, Waylon Jennings and Louis Armstrong and many others. In 1988, he produced tracks for U2’s Rattle and Hum album.
He also wrote hits for Cash, Pride, Jennings, George Jones and Ray Charles, among others.

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ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY was so shocked when director MICHAEL BAY asked her to audition for the latest TRANSFORMERS movie she thought he was joking.
The moviemaker approached the British model to replace Megan Fox as the robot franchise’s leading lady after working with her on a Victoria’s Secret commercial, and Bay reveals she was stunned to be asked to audition for such a high-profile role.
He tells Britain’s Evening Standard, "Out of 500 women around the world there was something about her. I saw her on a Victoria’s Secrets commercial. I didn’t think I’d ever, ever hire a model and there was just something about her.
"When I was talking to her and I said ‘Would you ever want to get into movies’ and she said ‘I’d love to’ so I wrote her an email. I said this could be a life changing thing, these emails don’t really happen much in life and would you be interested in auditioning for me and she thought I was joking. And she freaked out. But she did a really good job. She comes off as really sincere. She’s got a lot of natural talent." Huntington-Whiteley stars alongside Shia LaBeouf in Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

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Actress ANNE HATHAWAY is enjoying her "mellow" relationship with boyfriend ADAM SHULMAN, insisting so far things are working out "great".
Hathaway ended her four year relationship with former lover Raffaello Follieri amid shocking fraud allegations in 2008.
And now her love life is really looking up. The Devil Wears Prada star admits dating a relaxed, low-key actor has a plus side - less drama.
She tells Harper’s Bazaar magazine, "So far, it’s worked out great… Mellow doesn’t always make for a good story, but it makes for a good life."

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Actors PADDY CONSIDINE and LAKE BELL were rewarded for their screenwriting skills at the 2011 Nantucket Film Festival at the weekend (26Jun11).
Considine received the Best Writer/Director Award for his film in competition, Tyrannosaur, while Bell’s Worst Enemy landed her Showtime’s Tony Cox Award for Screenwriting (Best Short).
British writer/director Paul Haggis was feted with the event’s Screenwriting Tribute, while Vera Farmiga was presented with the Compass Rose Acting Award.
The Audience Award for Best Feature was shared by To Be Heard and Being Elmo.

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

A stuntman was severely injured while filming new action film THE AVENGERS in Arizona on Friday (24Jun11).
Jeremy Fitzgerald was shooting scene, which required him to fall from building, when he caught his foot on the way down, slammed his head against a brick wall and cut open his scalp, according to TMZ.com.
The brave daredevil decided not to halt filming and head to hospital for stitches - he went straight back to work after a large bandage was applied to his bloodied head.
An on-set spokesperson tells TMZ.com, "He was fine. He slid briefly along the side of the building. He got right back up and did several more takes."

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Funnyman RUSSELL BRAND is having a great June - just 10 days after he was was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Brit has landed the World’s Sexiest Vegetarian title.
The actor/comedian beat out Joaquin Phoenix to land atop the male countdown, while Bridesmaids star Kristen Wiig finished ahead of new mum Natalie Portman and Anne Hathaway on the women’s poll.
The meat-free celebrity list is compiled annually by activists at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

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MARIAH CAREY has ruled out having any more kids after giving birth to twins in April (11) - because her pregnancy was so "intense".
New dad Nick Cannon admits he’d love to have a big family but he’s more than happy to accept the fact that he and his wife won’t be adding to their kids Monroe and Moroccan.
Cannon says, "It was an intense pregnancy to carry twins around. She was a trooper… I do (want more children), Mariah doesn’t! She was like, ‘That’s it, I’m done! Two at once!’"

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R&B singer ALICIA KEYS has set her sights on Broadway.
The star has dominated the pop charts for the past decade with hits like Fallin’ and Empire State of Mind, and she has also enjoyed movie success in films like Smokin’ Aces and The Secret Life of Bees, but Keys admits there’s one career move she’s still eager to make - a stint in theatre production.
The new mum says, "I want to get into theatre on Broadway, in regards to writing and producing. I want to write and produce film and continue to act.
"There is so much more that I have to say and so many powerful ways I want to do it. Everyone has to watch out; we’re moving into the business phase of life."

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CEE LO GREEN had a special tribute planned for BET Awards’ top honouree PATTI LABELLE at the prizegiving on Sunday (26Jun11) - he performed as her.
The colourful Forget You singer dressed up as LaBelle, complete with sparkly jacket and spiky wig, to pay tribute to her - before she stepped up to pick up the 2011 BET Lifetime Achievement Award.
Cee Lo sang a rendition of LaBelle’s Somebody Loves You and even took a can of hairspray onstage so he could stop and spray his wig..

Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)

British singer/rapper PLAN B has opened up about his troubled school life, revealing he used to beat up his bullies in an attempt to "gain respect".
The She Said hitmaker, real name Ben Ballance-Drew, endured a rough upbringing and has now spoken out about his traumatic time at school, admitting he was constantly targeted by bullies - and the only way he could cope was by fighting back.
He tells Britain’s The Observer Magazine, "Every school I’ve gone to, I’ve had to end up fighting someone to gain respect. I learned that violence actually makes things better for me.
"When someone’s taking the p**s out of me to the point where it’s destroying me inside I was like, ‘F**k it. I’ll get expelled, I’m not going through this any more.’ So I’d beat up the bullies. And then when you do, they’re like, ‘Oh, what’s your name then?’ I’d have to smash their faces in before they asked me my name."

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HAPPY DAYS star HENRY WINKLER relishes his fly fishing hobby - because it helps him hone his skills as an actor.
Winkler, who played leather jacket-wearing The Fonz on the popular U.S. TV sitcom, admits he always makes time to enjoy the great outdoors because it strengthens his game and clears his head.
He says, "As an actor sometimes I would push. You cannot force (things) on the river because the fish will break your (fishing) line. You cannot force yourself in a scene, you have to find the rhythm with your fellow actors.
"For me, it (fly fishing) is like a washing machine for your brain. Any perceived problem or real problem is washed away by the river."

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Tragic SLIPKNOT star PAUL GRAY will be honoured at Britain’s Sonisphere festival next month (Jul11) with a two-minute silence.
The rocker died from an accidental drug overdose in May 2010 and Slipknot’s headlining Sonisphere appearance will be one of the band’s first since the tragedy.
At 2pm on the final day of the event - before the band takes to the stage - all fans at the Knebworth Park festival will be asked to remember the bassist in silence.
Fans will also be able to leave personal tributes to the masked rocker in a book of remembrance on site. The book will be passed to the members of Slipknot at the end of the festival.
The band’s former bass player, Donnie Steele, has replaced Gray onstage for Slipknot’s current run of festival appearances.

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