President set for 'The View' interview
NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to appear on the daytime chat show "The View," said executive producers Barbara Walters and Bill Geddie.
Obama is to be the featured guest Thursday.
"This marks the first time in history a sitting United States President has visited a daytime talk show," ABC said in a statement on the show's Web site. "President Obama's unprecedented appearance is part of the show's continuing 'Red, White & View' campaign, which is committed to political guests and discussions."
"We are so pleased and honored that President Obama will be a guest on 'The View.' The President last appeared on the program in March 2008 while he was still a senator and first lady Michelle Obama was a featured guest co-host in June 2008. This shows that both the president and first lady feel that our show is an influential and important source of information and news. I'm also going to appear on 'The View' Thursday for the first time since my open heart surgery in May. I will return full-time in September," said Walters, the show's creator and co-host.
Character actor Carl Gordon dies
NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- Television and Broadway character actor Carl Gordon, who came to his career only in midlife, has died, his family said.
Gordon, 78, died Tuesday from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, The New York Times reported.
His best-known television role was as the family patriarch on "Roc," a situation comedy starring Charles S. Dutton about a black working-class family in Baltimore that ran for three seasons on the Fox network.
Gordon also appeared on the stage, originating the role of Doaker, the upright uncle, in August Wilson's 1990 play "The Piano Lesson."
He reprised the role for a television adaptation in 1995.
Gordon was born in Virginia in 1932 but grew up in Brooklyn. Approaching midlife, twice divorced and lamenting a string of dispiriting jobs, he enrolled in an acting workshop.
He was the oldest student, the only African-American and the only one without a college degree.
But slowly, part by part and appearance by appearance, Gordon built a career, the Times said.
U.K. Film Council to be shuttered
LONDON, July 26 (UPI) -- Britain's Department for Culture, Media and Sport has announced plans to abolish the U.K. Film Council as a cost-cutting measure, the BBC said Monday.
The film council was established in 2000 to financially support low-budget British films.
Although Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he wants to develop a "direct and less bureaucratic relationship with the British Film Institute," U.K. Film Council Chairman Tim Bevan has described the move as "a bad decision," the BBC said.
No end date for the council was reported.
Ruffalo, Renner join 'Avengers' cast
SAN DIEGO, July 26 (UPI) -- Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner have joined the cast of the superhero ensemble movie "The Avengers," it was announced at Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif.
Actor Robert Downey Jr., who is to play Iron Man in the flick, told the fans and media gathered at the convention during the weekend that Ruffalo will play Bruce Banner and The Hulk and Renner is to play Hawkeye in "The Avengers," which Joss Whedon is directing.
Set for a 2012 theatrical release, the film will also star Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth and Scarlett Johansson.
Ruffalo can be seen in the current release "The Kids Are Alright." Renner earned an Oscar nomination for his work in "The Hurt Locker."
