Katharine Hepburn dead at 96
HARTFORD, June 29 (UPI) -- Katharine Hepburn, a strong, no-nonsense woman on and off screen, died Sunday at the age of 96.
Hepburn emerged as a movie star in an era when the most admired actresses were glamour goddesses and went on to win great respect in her field and was the only performer to win four "best acting" Oscars.
In a career spanning more than six decades, she did it her way; she could be adorable, she could be arrogant, but to her fans she was simply the greatest actress ever to appear in movies. In their widely-held view, other actresses came close but none quite matched her, or her class.
The American Film Institute, in 1999, chose Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, with whom she starred in 1951's "The African Queen," as the greatest American screen legends.
She won Academy Awards for "Morning Glory," "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner" in 1967, "The Lion In Winter" and "On Golden Pond."
SAG and AFTRA merger vote to close
HOLLYWOOD, June 30 (UPI) -- The Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists merger referendum will close Tuesday.
Merger ballots will be counted at the Radisson Wilshire Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles in three separate rooms for the three ballots -- SAG-only, AFTRA-only and those belonging to both.
At least 60 percent of voters from both unions must approve the proposal for it to go through. If approved, a new Alliance of International Media Artists will be formed with affiliates for actors, broadcasters and recording artists.
Proponents claim combining SAG and AFTRA will lead to greater bargaining clout and operating efficiencies and resolve jurisdictional disputes, Daily Variety reports.
Opponents argue SAG would be a shell under the new structure and the new organization would be less responsive to the needs of actors.
Record tickets for Toronto SARS benefit
TORONTO, June 30 (UPI) -- The concert billed as Toronto's recovery sold a record 150,000 tickets in its first day of sales, Billboard reported Monday.
With more than $1 billion in losses due to two outbreaks of severe acute respiratory ayndrome, the city is embracing the July 30 concert whose roster keeps growing.
The event will feature the Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, the newly added Rush, the Guess Who, Flaming Lips and Kathleen Edwards.
Tickets, priced at $16 plus service charges, went on sale Friday at Ticketmaster outlets. Grocery chain A&P has purchased 240,000 tickets at full price, which it plans to sell at stores in Ontario and the United States beginning this week.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. has also tentatively agreed to broadcast a one-hour edition of the concert worldwide.
The event's main sponsor, brewer Molson Canadian, said sales to U.S. fans for the July 30 concert at Downsview Park were "well ahead of expectations."
Mewes balks at biography film
LOS ANGELES, June 30 (UPI) -- Jason Mewes is having second thoughts about allowing a crew to document his heroin addiction and struggle to get clean.
According to the producer of "Rock Bottom," the Mewes documentary, the 29-year-old star of "Clerks" and "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" is no longer cooperating and disputes the filmmaker's right to film his life story.
The Smoking Gun reported Monday a Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit filed against Mewes by the documentary's producer in mid-March said the actor signed contracts for his life story and his personal management.
But with the actor now disavowing those agreements, the producer is seeking a judicial declaration affirming its legal right to "produce and exploit" the Mewes story.
April 1, three weeks after Mewes signed the contracts, he appeared in a New Jersey courthouse to plead guilty to charges he violated terms of a probation imposed following his February 2000 conviction for felony heroin possession.
