Rep: Natalie Cole diagnosed with Hep C
LOS ANGELES, July 16 (UPI) -- Natalie Cole's publicist has confirmed the Grammy Award-winning U.S. singer has been diagnosed with Hepatitis C.
Cole's representative told People magazine the 58-year-old recording artist discovered she had the disease during a routine check-up. The illness is thought to be linked to Cole's past drug abuse, People.com said.
"Natalie has had a terrific response to her medication and is now virus negative," Dr. Graham Woolf, associate clinical professor of medicine at UCLA/Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, said in a statement to People. "This gives her an increased chance of cure."
Although Cole has experienced side effects from the medicine, such as fatigue, muscle aches and dehydration, Woolf said, "She is recovering from these."
Cole's new album, "Still Unforgettable," is set for release Sept. 9.
Michael J. Fox to appear on 'Rescue Me'
LOS ANGELES, July 16 (UPI) -- Actor Michael J. Fox is set to appear in four episodes of Denis Leary's New York-set firefighter series, "Rescue Me," FX has announced.
Usmagazine.com said the announcement was made during the Television Critics Association press event in Los Angeles Tuesday.
Fox, who is best known for his TV roles in "Family Ties," "Spin City," "Scrubs" and "Boston Legal," went into semi-retirement about a decade ago, shortly after announcing he suffered from Parkinson's disease.
The 47-year-old Canadian-born actor is to play the wheelchair-bound love interest for Tommy Gavin's ex-wife, Janet, on "Rescue Me." Leary plays Gavin and Andrea Roth plays Janet.
"He's a very funny, very original character," Usmagazine.com quoted FX President John Landgraf as saying about the role Fox will play.
Kidman not selling baby pictures
NEW YORK, July 16 (UPI) -- A representative for Nicole Kidman said the U.S.-born Australian actress doesn't plan to sell photographs of her newborn daughter, Sunday, to a magazine.
Kidman gave birth to her first child with husband, country singer Keith Urban, last week, however, no photos of the newborn have been published.
Celebrities are often paid handsomely by magazines for the right to be the first to publish the stars' baby pictures. The New York Post said Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have been offered more than $11 million for photos of their newborn twins, Knox and Vivienne, who were born in France last weekend.
Jolie and Pitt, who were reportedly paid $4 million for photos of their 2-year-old daughter, Shiloh, donated the money to charity. The couple reportedly hasn't made a deal regarding the twins' photos.
An editor at a celebrity weekly told the Post, "(Kidman) wanted $3 million and we weren't going to pay that."
But Kidman's representative told the newspaper, "A number of publications called to offer money, but she never considered it."
DeVito to direct 'Charlotte Doyle'
LOS ANGELES, July 16 (UPI) -- Pierce Brosnan and Morgan Freeman are set to star in Danny DeVito's big-screen adaptation of the U.S. novel, "The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle."
Variety.com said Saoirse Ronan has also signed on to headline the movie for which DeVito wrote the screenplay, based on Avi's young adult book.
DeVito, who will also direct, is expected to start shooting in September.
Ronan, a young Irish actress who garnered raves for her performance in "Atonement" last year, is to play the title character in "Charlotte," Variety.com said.
The film will follow the teen as she makes a trans-Atlantic crossing from England to the United States in the 1830s.
Brosnan, who will soon be seen in "Mamma Mia!," will play a ruthless captain, while Freeman will play the ship's cook, who looks after Charlotte, the entertainment industry trade paper said.
