Madonna's brother facing homeless winter
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- With winter closing in, Madonna's big brother discussed being homeless in a northern Michigan ski town.
Anthony Ciccone, 55, told The Michigan Messenger he spent last winter living under a bridge in Traverse City, battling frostbite while holed up under a bridge and relying on the kindness of churches and charities.
"My family turned their back on me, basically, when I was having a hard time," he said. "You think I haven't answered this kind of question a bazillion times -- why my sister is a multibazillionarie, and I'm homeless on the street?"
The Hollywood Reporter said the question was the only reference Ciccone made about his superstar kid sister.
Ciccone was working at the family winery in Suttons Bay until he was laid off about 1 1/2 years ago. Last winter was particularly tough, said Ciccone, who claimed to have known people who lost toes or even died of hypothermia.
Kim Kardashian joins Tyler Perry cast
HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Kim Kardashian won't be playing herself in her upcoming role in the new Lionsgate film "The Marriage Counselor," the U.S. studio said.
The socialite starlet of the reality television series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" landed a supporting role in the film, which will be made for Lionsgate by the bankable Tyler Perry.
The Hollywood Reporter said Kardashian plays a co-worker of Judith, the married marriage counselor who rekindles her relationship with an old college sweetheart. It is the third movie role for her.
Shooting for the "The Marriage Counselor" begins this month, The Reporter said.
Conrad Murray likely won't testify
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Dr. Conrad Murray's lawyers declined to say if he would take the stand in the defense phase of his manslaughter trial in Los Angeles.
Murray, Michael Jackson's onetime personal physician, is accused of contributing to the singer's death from an overdose of a powerful anesthetic.
The defense begins its case next week, and legal analysts say they doubt Murray will testify, particularly after the jury had just heard detailed technical testimony from the prosecution's experts.
"There is just so much out there now, from his statement and these experts, and for him to get up there, I just think the prosecution would have a field day," said J. Christopher Smith, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney who has been following the case.
The Times said this week's testimony painted a picture of Murray behaving negligently and possibly misleading police investigators about the events surrounding Jackson's sudden death in 2009.
"They've got the defense in a trick bag," Smith added. "Whichever way they go, it seems like the prosecution is going to have a comeback."
A former member of Murray's legal team, Long Beach attorney Joseph Low, told the newspaper the evidence of Murray's use of propofol, which is meant to knock out surgical patients, was not as reckless as the prosecution claimed.
"Just because he used propofol differently than its original use doesn't make it … manslaughter," Low said.
Patrick Swayze immortalized in wax
HOLLYWOOD, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Patrick Swayze's widow, Lisa Niemi, said she had mixed emotions at this week's unveiling in Hollywood of a wax figure from his glory days in "Dirty Dancing."
Madame Tussaud's wax museum created the lifelike statue of Swayze in his memorable role as dance guru Johnny Castle from the 1980s hit musical.
"It is going to be so fun to have this figure in the museum here, and at the same time it's bittersweet," Niemi told "Access Hollywood" at the unveiling. "I wish he was really here."
Swayze died of cancer in 2009.
The figure is clad in a black tank top with arms outstretched as they were in the scene where Johnny teaches Baby some smooth moves while balancing on a log over a stream.
The Los Angeles Times said Saturday the statue was created at the same time producer Kenny Ortega has been in development with a remake of "Dirty Dancing."
"We're going to teach Baby to dance again but we're going to find a cast that can stand tall in their own shoes," Ortega told OnTheRedCarpet.com at the unveiling. "We're not going to try to be replacing this man, because that's impossible."
