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Paula Abdul explains her secret illness

LOS ANGELES, April 22 (UPI) -- "American Idol" judge Paula Abdul has revealed she suffers from a rare and painful physical disorder called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy.

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Her disclosure followed a wave of speculation she may have drug or alcohol problems, E! Online said Friday.

Abdul told People magazine the RSD started after she suffered a disc injury some 25 years ago. Two car wrecks and a plane crash made the problem worse, she said.

"If people only knew what I've gone through with pain and pills. I'm dancing for joy at the fact that not even a year ago I was in so much pain I could barely get up," she said in response to the rumors.

"It was getting ugly with the lies people were saying. It was time to set the record straight. I want America to know that I have never been addicted to anything, no chemical dependency, nothing for recreational purposes."

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Abdul said she is taking the prescription drug Enbrel to deal with the pain.


Robert Blake's lawyer wants gag order

VAN NUYS, Calif., April 22 (UPI) -- The lawyer defending Hollywood actor Robert Blake in a civil suit over his wife's shooting death wants a gag order on the proceedings.

Blake's lawyer told the judge in the case Thursday the wrongful death suit is getting "sensationalized," KABC-TV, Los Angeles, reported Friday.

Bonny Lee Bakley, 46, was shot to death May 2001, shortly after she and Blake, 77, had eaten dinner at a restaurant. A jury acquitted Blake last month of murder and solicitation of murder charges.

Bakley's adult children filed a wrongful death suit against Blake three years ago. Their attorney mocked Blake's lawyer for requesting the gag order.

"What a joke it is for the Blake lawyers now to ask for a gag order, after four years of bashing this family," he said.


Oscar nominee Ruth Hussey dead at 93

NEWBURY PARK, Calif., April 22 (UPI) -- Actress Ruth Hussey, nominated for an Oscar for the 1940 classic "The Philadelphia Story," has died in California at age 93.

Her son said Hussey died Tuesday at Mary Health of the Sick Convalescent Home in Newbury Park of complications from an appendectomy, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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Hussey's played James Stewart's girlfriend in "The Philadelphia Story" and lost the best-supporting actress Oscar to Jane Darwell's portrayal of Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath."

Ruth Carol Hussey was born Oct. 30, 1911, in Providence, R.I., and graduated from Pembroke Women's College at Brown University. She studied acting at the University of Michigan.

She began her career as a fashion commentator on local radio and later was a model in New York for the famed Powers agency.

After Hussey began acting, she became a contract player for MGM when she was spotted by a talent scout while in Los Angeles with the road tour of "Dead End."

She is survived by two sons, one daughter, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.


Fans flock to 'Star Wars' merchandise mart

INDIANAPOLIS, April 22 (UPI) -- "Star Wars" Celebration III, a massive maze of merchandising saluting the 6th and final "Star Wars" film, is drawing big Indiana crowds.

Thousands of fans wound around the RCA Dome and Indiana Convention Center on opening day of its four-day run Thursday and once inside, stood in more slow-moving lines, mostly to buy things like the Darth Vader Celebration III action figure.

With "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" to be released next month, Celebration III is expected to draw about 28,000 people, largest of the three fan events, the Indianapolis Star said Friday.

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Earlier conventions were held in Denver in 1999 and in Indianapolis in 2002, in conjunction with episodes I and II of the George Lucas space classic.

Highlights include three appearances by creator Lucas on Saturday and a live satellite Q&A Friday with Hayden Christensen, who plays the young Darth Vader in the upcoming film.

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