Tyler Perry banks it with 'Madea'
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Tyler Perry was on top of the U.S. box office chart this weekend with his new comedy "Madea Goes to Jail," Box Office Mojo figures showed Sunday.
The story about the pistol-packing grandma -- written, directed and starring Perry -- piled up an estimated $41.12 million in ticket sales in its first weekend in U.S. theaters.
"Taken" moved up one spot this week to No. 2 with $11.4 million in estimated gate receipts, while the animated "Coraline" climbed two places to No. 3 with $11.03 million.
Coming in at No. 4 was "He's Just Not That Into You," which was second last weekend, at $8.54 million, while Oscar-nominated "Slumdog Millionaire" jumped back up from ninth to No. 5 with $8.05 million in ticket sales.
Last week's top-grossing film, "Friday the 13th (2009)," fell all the way to No. 6 with $7.83 million, followed by "Confessions of a Shopaholic" with $7.02 million and "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" with $7 million.
Another new movie, "Fired Up," a comedy starring Nicholas D'Agosto, Eric Christian Olsen, Sarah Roemer and Molly Sims, came in at No. 9 with $6 million.
Filling in the 10th spot was "The International" at $4.45 million.
Dropping out of the top tier were "The Pink Panther" and "Push."
Fonda's Broadway show protested by vets
NEW YORK, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- About 20 Vietnam War veterans protested Jane Fonda's new Broadway show in New York, calling her a "traitor" for her views on the war.
The New York Daily News reported the veterans who gathered outside the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Saturday said they feel Fonda betrayed them and the United States by taking part in anti-war protests in the 1960s and '70s.
"Jane Fonda is a Communist traitor," the protesters said.
Vietnam War veteran Will Sekzer, also a former police officer, said the protest of Fonda's "33 Variations" production was aimed at renewing public interest at the past actions of the actress nicknamed Hanoi Jane.
"We want the American public to know we haven't forgotten what she did," Sekzer said.
Fonda earned the negative moniker for her anti-war actions and for broadcasting anti-American propaganda on Radio Hanoi during a 1972 trip to North Vietnam.
The Daily News said Fonda, 71, has previously apologized for those controversial actions.
Playwright Coward housed 157 stray dogs
TIJUANA, Mexico, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Playwright Edward Coward says he kept 157 stray dogs in a three-bedroom home in Tijuana, Mexico, to help them.
Coward has been criticized for the conditions the dozens of canines were living in at the home, but the playwright insists his intentions were good, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported Saturday.
"I cannot stand to see an animal looking for help," said Coward, whose Tijuana home was raided by Baja California state health officials Feb. 13. "Once you've opened your eyes to the problem, you can't close them anymore."
The 42-year-old playwright also owns another home in the area where he is housing an additional 25 dogs.
Neighbors told the Union-Tribune noises and strong odors routinely come from both of Coward's Tijuana homes.
The discovery of the dogs prompted a call from animal rescue advocates for an improved rescue system for Tijuana's stray dog population, the newspaper said.
Goody of Britain's 'Big Brother' marries
LONDON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Terminally ill actress Jade Goody, known for her turn on the British TV series "Big Brother," married her fiance, Jack Tweed, Sunday, her publicist says.
Publicist Max Clifford said Goody and Tweed were wed in Hertfordshire county, hours after she required "medical help" due to exertion, the BBC reported.
"She had a bad evening. She was excited. She has been overdoing it," Clifford said of the celebrity's status when she arrived at Down Hall Country House Hotel Saturday night.
"She needed quite a bit of medical help."
Goody, 27, has openly discussed how Tweed, 21, proposed to her shortly after doctors informed her cancer would claim her life within a few months.
Clifford said Goody, who is bald due to chemotherapy treatment, was able to stand for most of her 45-minute wedding ceremony, but asked to sit near the event's end.
The publicist told the BBC Goody openly cried about "the lovely things that were being said" at the wedding.
Radio plays to follow Smiley adventures
LONDON, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Stage actor Simon Russell Beale says he is excited to play the fictional spy George Smiley in a series of radio plays set to debut in Britain.
Beale said he admires author John le Carre for his eight novels featuring the cold war intelligence officer that will now be featured as BBC radio plays, The Sunday Times of London reported.
The broadcasts will begin in May, providing 20 hours of air time telling Smiley's thrilling adventures.
Le Carre's Smiley character also was featured in two BBC TV series in which the late actor Alec Guinness donned the mantle of the British spy.
Guinness played the secret agent in 1979's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy" and 1982's "Smiley's People."
The Times said there are currently two film productions planned for additional adaptations of Smiley novels.
