People in the news

• Tweet

The latest news on today's hottest celebrities ...

DICK CLARK: American TV icon Dick Clark died Wednesday at a Los Angeles hospital after a "massive" heart attack at age 82, his representative told TMZ.

The businessman, actor, producer, television personality and pop culture icon -- and perennial "New Year's Rockin' Eve" host -- suffered the heart attack at St. John's hospital after undergoing an outpatient procedure Tuesday night, the celebrity news Web site said.

Assistant Amy Streibel said last year Clark had complications resulting from Parkinson's disease, diabetes and a series of strokes, the first of which he suffered in December 2004.

Richard Wagstaff Clark was born into middle-class circumstances and worked tirelessly and with unrelenting focus to become one of the world's most successful entrepreneurs. By watching trends and spending profits wisely, Clark built a production empire that included the staging of rock concerts, television programs and specials, night club spectaculars, movies and record albums and hours of syndicated radio programs.

When Clark was a teen he suffered with acne, but by his 20s his looks smoothed out morphing Dick into the image of the all-American clean-cut young man.

Later in life Clark became saddled with the nickname, "The World's Oldest (Living) Teenager," but when starting out, Clark's clean good looks and youthful boy-next-door image cost him jobs.

"They put me into radio because they said I was too young to be a newscaster. I went down there and they took one look at me and said, 'can't do that,' and made me a disc jockey. I lost cigarette ads, beer ads, everything. I was in my 20s but I had a teenager's face."

Later in life Clark was often asked how he managed to always look so young and he always chalked it up to genetics.

"Pick your parents carefully," Clark said.

Clark was born Nov. 30, 1929, in Mount Vernon, N.Y. After his older brother Bradley was killed piloting a mission for the Army Air Corps during World War II, their father, Richard, threw his support behind his other son, helping him fulfill his dream of entering broadcasting, Clark told United Press International before his passing.

Clark spent hours listening to the radio to help himself grieve Bradley's death, precipitating a life-long love affair with the medium.

The elder Clark, who managed radio station WRUN helped Dick get a job in the mailroom while he went to Syracuse University.

By the time Clark graduated with a degree in business administration, he'd already parlayed that into years of radio experience as an announcer, newscaster and program host. Clark had also moved into local television, hosting a program on WFIL, Philadelphia, called "Bandstand" taking over from Bob Horn in 1956.

That program soon became "American Bandstand," and in 1957 the show went national, became the most successful piece of national daytime programming and made Dick Clark a star.

In 1959, Congress began investigating so-called pay-for-play or payola incidents. After nearly a year of character-assassination, Clark was not charged.

Clark rebuilt his image and business and went on to create a media empire as a television producer, radio and television host and businessman.

"I was and still am the luckiest man you'll ever meet. I was doing a job I love -- didn't get much money but I was real happy. It eventually all changed. I got to be real well known; made a fair amount of money doin' what I love. … Doesn't get any better than that," Clark said.

In 1972, Clark began his "New Year's Rockin' Eve" program from Times Square.

In December 2004, Clark had a debilitating stroke from which he never recovered.

Clark was married three times. He leaves behind former wives Karen Wigton Clark, Barbara Mallery Clark and Loretta Martin Clark, daughter Cindy and sons Richard Augustus II and Duane Clark, named after guitarist Duane Eddy.

NICOLETTE SHERIDAN: A Los Angeles Superior Court judge has scheduled a retrial of actress Nicolette Sheridan's wrongful dismissal lawsuit against ABC.

Sheridan is suing the network for $5.7 million in damages and $35,000 in sanctions. She said she was fired from the TV series "Desperate Housewives" in 2008 because she complained about creator Marc Cherry's allegedly abusive behavior toward her.

The case was previously heard and ended in a mistrial last month because the jury informed the judge presiding over the trial they were "hopelessly deadlocked," 8-4. Nine jurors must agree in a civil verdict.

Cherry, who has been cleared of a battery charge Sheridan made against him, has said Sheridan's character was written out of the show because the actress was frequently late, unprepared and cantankerous, and because Edie's storyline had run its course.

E! said Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White Wednesday set a Sept. 10 start date for the retrial.

"I very, very strongly urge you to continue settlement discussions," White told the attorneys for the two sides.

KURT COBAIN: Seattle rocker Kurt Cobain was working on exciting, new music before he killed himself in 1994, his friend and fellow musician Eric Erlandson says.

"[Kurt] was headed in a direction that was really cool. It would have been his 'White Album,'" Erlandson told the music-driven TV network Fuse, referring to the Beatles' classic record.

"That's really what he was going towards, a solo album but working with different people. I was really excited about some of the stuff he was working on. I got to see him play it in front of me. That's why I was really sad [when he died]. I was like: 'Oh, man, not only are you cutting off a life, but a message to the world, a musical path.' … He was cut short. Who knows where the music would have gone."

Cobain, the front man for the influential grunge group Nirvana, shot himself after years of battling drug addiction and depression. He was 27.

Erlandson is a guitarist, who played with Courtney Love, Cobain's wife, in the band Hole.

VINCE NEIL: Rock musician Vince Neil will appear in the season finale of "Ghost Adventures," which was taped at a Las Vegas hotel, Travel Channel said Wednesday.

The April 27 season capper will also feature appearances by Frank Sinatra's former pianist, Bruce Westcott, and Jamie Gold, the 2006 World Series of Poker champion. They will join the show's team of paranormal investigators -- Zak Bagans, Nick Groff and Aaron Goodwin -- to check out The Riviera Hotel, which some believe is haunted.

"Built in 1955, it's one of the oldest hotel and casinos still standing on the Vegas strip," a synopsis said. "Filled with history, the hotel has had a roster of celebrity clientele and was formerly connected to the Chicago Mafia -- needless to say, the hotel has had its share of good times and bad. Perhaps its most well-known guest was Frank Sinatra, who had his own penthouse suite where he often threw lavish parties. As the 'Ghost Adventures' team heads into the hotel to begin their investigation, they enlist the help of a few special guest investigators including: Vince Neil, leader singer for the rock band Motley Crue; Bruce Westcott, Frank Sinatra's former pianist; and Jamie Gold, 2006's World Series of Poker champion. Together the group -- along with Vince's entourage -- explores paranormal occurrences in Sinatra's room and various guest rooms. Attempting to channel Sinatra, they recreate a party in his suite, which delivers some startling results. As Vince and his entourage experience unexplained first-hand encounters -- including scratch marks on one woman's back, cold sensations, voices and knocking -- Zak, Nick and Aaron document the multiple EVPs and unexplained events. But it's not until Vince and his girlfriend, Rain, head into room No. 908 that Vince encounters an overwhelming physical experience."