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People in the news

By United Press International
Chris Brown and Rihanna watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the New York Knicks in an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on December 25, 2012. UPI/Lori Shepler
Chris Brown and Rihanna watch the Los Angeles Lakers play the New York Knicks in an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on December 25, 2012. UPI/Lori Shepler | License Photo

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

ROBIN SACHS: British actor Robin Sachs, famous for his work on TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," died unexpectedly at the age of 61, his official website said Tuesday.

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The cause, location and date of his death were not immediately reported.

"This is a post we never thought we would have to write," his webpage said under the heading "Tragic News."

"It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Robin Sachs," the message said. "Please join us in raising a glass to Robin -- goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for all the laughter and the cookies. We will miss you so very much."

In addition to playing Ethan Rayne, nemesis of Anthony Head's watcher character Giles on "Buffy," Sachs also appeared in TV's "Torchwood: Miracle Day" and the films "Ocean's Eleven," "Galaxy Quest" and "Jurassic Park: The Lost World."

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CHRIS BROWN: Prosecutors have asked a Los Angeles judge to decline singer Chris Brown's documentation of the community service he was sentenced to perform.

Brown was ordered to complete 180 days of community labor as part of his plea deal stemming from his 2009 assault of his girlfriend, Rihanna. He was also placed on probation for five years and ordered to attend an anger-management program.

Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Mary Murray filed a motion asking the judge overseeing the case to decline to accept Brown's community service due to "at best sloppy documentation and at worst fraudulent reporting," the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.

Prosecutors alleged Brown has provided no "credible, competent or verifiable" evidence he completed any of his court-ordered community labor, the newspaper said.

The district attorneys are not asking the judge to find Brown in violation of his probation, but are requesting the recording artist be ordered to complete the work.

Brown and Rihanna recently confirmed they had reconciled after their headline-grabbing altercation.

Brown allegedly has been involved in other physical confrontations since assaulting Rihanna.

Singer Frank Ocean told police Brown punched him during an argument over a parking spot outside a Los Angeles-area recording studio last month. Several people associated with both men were allegedly involved but no arrests were made.

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Last year, Brown and Canadian singer Drake allegedly were in a fight at a New York nightclub that left eight people injured. No charges were brought in that case either.


'ONE LIFE TO LIVE:' Three actors who joined the U.S. soap opera "General Hospital" after "One Life to Live" was canceled will return for a new Web version of "OLTL."

Michael Easton, Kristen Alderson and Roger Howarth took their "OLTL" characters -- John McBain, and Starr and Todd Manning -- to ABC's sister daytime drama "General Hospital" when the network scrapped "OLTL" in 2011.

Prospect Park -- the production company behind soon-to-start online versions of "OLTL" and the also-canceled-by-ABC "All My Children" -- announced Tuesday it is working on a deal with the network to allow the three stars to appear in both "GH" and the Web edition of "OLTL."

"Prospect Park understands that 'General Hospital' has featured Llanview transplants Michael Easton and Kristen Alderson among others while we arranged production of the new version of 'One Life to Live,'" Prospect Park said in a statement.

"These characters, who we own under our agreement, are obviously essential to our production efforts, and a large reason we licensed the program. We also understand that legions of 'General Hospital' fans have grown to love these actors and characters in a short time. So even though we are paying ABC millions of dollars to license the shows, we have been, and continue to be willing to equally share the characters with 'General Hospital' and ABC. It's a win-win for the actors, the shows and fans, who love all of the shows and story-lines. We hope to work out these agreements with ABC and the actors."

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ABC has not publicly commented on the casting situation.


'STAR WARS:' Stand-alone films featuring iconic "Star Wars" characters are being developed in addition to three planned sequels, Hollywood's Disney studio said Tuesday.

Walt Disney Co. Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger confirmed the speculation about additional movies during an interview on CNBC's "Closing Bell with Maria Bartiromo."

"There has been speculation about some stand-alone films that have been in development and I can confirm to you today that, in fact, we are working on a few stand-alone films. [Screenwriters] Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are both working on films derived from great 'Star Wars' characters that are not part of the overall sage. So, we still plan to make 'Star Wars 7,' '8' and '9,' roughly over a six-year period of time, starting in 2015, but there are going to be a few other films released in that period of time, too. ... I guess this is big news. There has been a fair amount of speculation out there and we thought we would take the opportunity today here on CNBC as a matter of fact to confirm that."

The announcement regarding the three sequels came last year after "Star Wars" creator George Lucas sold his Lucasfilm production company to Disney for more than $4 billion.

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