UPI NewsTrack Entertainment News

• Tweet

Missoni's son pleads for help on Twitter

LOS ROQUES, Venezuela, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- The son of Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni pleaded on Twitter for help to find his father, whose plane disappeared in Venezuela.

"Vittorio is missing," his son, Ottavio Missoni II, posted on Twitter Sunday. "Please help me find my father!"

Vittorio, 58, is the eldest son of fashion stylist Ottavio Missoni, the 91-year founder of the Missoni brand, famed for its colorful zigzag knitwear, and worth more than $96.3 million.

Vittorio serves as the commercial and marketing director of the Missoni Spa.

Vittorio, his wife, Maurizia Castiglioni, another couple and two Venezuelan pilots were on board the small tourist biplane when it vanished from the radar, Italian news service ANSA reported.

The plane took off Friday from Los Rosques where the Missonis had spent Christmas and New Year's at a resort, Justice and Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said.

Rescue crews were conducting air and sea searches for the plane Monday.

Dying man gets 'Star Trek' preview

NEW YORK, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- A New York man dying of cancer got his wish to see the latest "Star Trek" movie that has yet to be released to the public, his wife says.

"Star Trek Into Darkness" director J.J. Abrams made it happen after the 41-year-old Manhattan man's wish was brought to his attention, CNET reported Thursday.

A user of the link-sharing site Reddit who goes by the handle "ideeeyut" had told how his friend Daniel wanted to see the movie but may not survive long enough, given the scheduled May release date for the sci-fi epic.

Word got around on "Trek" and other blogs, and eventually Reddit user "Kiggsworthy" heard about it and tweeted the story to Abrams and others associated with the movie's production, CNET said.

Abrams responded by contacting Daniel and arranging a full screening of the still not-ready-for-prime time film.

Daniel's wife responded afterward, saying that while they "are, of course, sworn to secrecy" about the details they "enjoyed it immensely as a film and as a gesture," CinemaBlend.com reported.

"However, Daniel 'hates' being an 'inspiring cancer story' [so] we, his friends and loved ones, would prefer for the update to have more of a heartfelt message of giving, especially during this season: This is a story of us giving something to him, the 'Internet' community giving something to him and ultimately being a heartwarming gift to our friends, family and so many others.

"Also, it was truly amazing that a filmmaker so secretive as J.J. Abrams was kind enough to show this to us."

Thomas Gibson facing DUI charge

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- "Criminal Minds" actor Thomas Gibson was arrested by Los Angeles police who suspect he was driving drunk.

Los Angeles' KCBS-TV reported Gibson allegedly drove through a barricade set up for a half-marathon Sunday.

Gibson, 50, was picked up at 1:05 a.m. in downtown Los Angles, booked and released on $15,000 bail, the Los Angeles Times reported. He's to appear in court Jan. 31.

Besides "Criminal Minds," Gibson is known for his roles in TV's "Chicago Hope" and "Dharma and Greg."

Mystery man in Diana photo identified

LONDON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- British royal biographer Andrew Morton says an unidentified man in a decades-old photo of Princess Diana set for auction was her friend Adam Russell.

Russell is the great-grandson of former Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. The former Oxford University student is now a deer farmer living in Dorset.

The photo, taken in 1979, shows the still-single Lady Diana Spencer relaxing with Russell after they had been injured on a group ski holiday in Val Claret in the French Alps, Australia's Telegraph newspaper said.

"They kept each other company while the others went skiing and at the end of the holiday Adam was somewhat smitten but absolutely nothing happened," Morton told ITV News.

"He left unspoken the fact that he hoped the friendship between himself and Diana could be renewed and developed upon his return. When he arrived home a year later it was too late. A friend told him: 'You've only got one rival -- the prince of Wales.'"

The picture was sold to the Daily Mirror in 1981, two days after Diana's engagement to Prince Charles was announced, but the publication never ran it. The photo, on which the newspaper's staff wrote "not to be published, is being auctioned off in the United States, Britain's Daily Telegraph said.

Diana's marriage to Charles ended in divorce in 1996. She was killed in a Paris car crash in 1997.