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LA spent $1.4 million on Jackson services

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- Michael Jackson's memorial service cost Los Angeles $1.4 million for security, traffic control and other services, the police department said.

Overtime pay for the police officers who secured the Staples Center, Forest Lawn Cemetery and other areas overrun with fans and the media totaled $1.1 million, Entertainment Weekly reported. There were 4,173 officers on duty for the memorial.

This was less than the city's initial estimate of $4 million, a representative for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said. The city attorney's office is investigating how to require third parties to pay for some of the costs and the city is asking citizens to make contributions. That brought in $17,000, but heavy traffic on the Web site caused servers to crash several times.

Beckinsale awarded $32K in libel damages

LONDON, July 10 (UPI) -- The High Court in London has ordered Express Newspapers to pay actress Kate Beckinsale thousands of dollars in damages for a story it ran about her.

Beckinsale, 35, is best known for her work in the films "Pearl Harbor," "Underworld" and "Van Helsing."

The BBC said she was awarded $32,400 in libel damages for an erroneous Daily Express report claiming she had been booted from a big-screen remake of "Barbarella" in favor of another actress, and wrongly giving the impression the actress' career was in a slump.

Beckinsale's lawyer described the story as false and embarrassing, and insisted the actress was never in discussions to star in the film.

The newspaper apologized for the error and said it intended to pay the damages, as well as Beckinsale's legal fees, the BBC said.

Jim Carrey to be a grandfather

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- Canadian-born film star Jim Carrey has confirmed his 21-year-old daughter Jane is pregnant with her first child.

The expectant mother is the front woman of the Jane Carrey Band. She reportedly is engaged to marry Alex Santana of the rock band Blood Money.

"I am very excited," the 47-year-old actor said in a statement issued to People.com. "Jane is going to be a great mom."

Jane is Carrey's daughter with his first wife, Melissa, the magazine noted on its Web site.

Foster to direct Gibson in 'Beaver'

LOS ANGELES, July 10 (UPI) -- Hollywood actress Jodie Foster is set to direct her "Maverick" co-star Mel Gibson in "The Beaver."

Variety.com said Gibson, whose last major big-screen roles were in 2002's "Signs" and "We Were Soldiers," will play a depressed man who finds comfort in wearing a beaver hand puppet.

Foster is to play Gibson's character's wife in the film, which was penned by Kyle Killen and which is tentatively scheduled to start production in New York in September, the entertainment industry trade newspaper said.

Foster, a double Oscar winner who has acted in the films "Taxi Driver," "The Accused" and "The Silence of the Lambs," directed "Little Man Tate" and "Home for the Holidays."

Gibson, the "Mad Max" and "Lethal Weapon" star who won an Oscar for directing "Braveheart," has seen his career eclipsed in recent years by a high-profile drunken driving arrest, his controversial religious beliefs, his separation from his longtime wife and his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend.