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NCIS Star David McCallum aka “Duckie” is “Utterly Devastated” by Death of “UNCLE” Co-Star Robert Vaughn

Roger Friedman
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NCIS Star David McCallum aka “Duckie” is “Utterly Devastated” by Death of “UNCLE” Co-Star Robert Vaughn

“I am utterly devastated. Robert and I worked together for many years and losing him is like losing a part of me. My deepest sympathies go out to Linda and the Vaughn family.”

David McCallum posted this to Facebook last night after the death of actor Robert Vaughn at age 83. He and Vaughn famously co-starred in the 1960s hit TV series “The Man from UNCLE” as respectively, Ilya Kuriyakin and Napoleon Solo. Each went on to very successful careers, with McCallum currrently doing just “Duckie” on the long running “NCIS.”

Vaughn just worked and worked and worked. His best known film role was in the original “Magnificent Seven.” He was nominated for an Oscar in 1959 for Supporting Actor in “The Young Philadelphians.” (Paul Newman was the lead.) But he also appeared constantly on TV, in limited series and regular series, and doing guest spots. His “Columbo” episodes are remembered fondly. From 2004 to 2012 he was the star of the TV series “Hustle,” where he acquired a whole new audience.

Vaughn died leukemia two weeks short of his 84th birthday.

And yes, he’s not the father of director Matthew Vaughn, but for a time it seemed like he was because Matthew’s mother let people believe it. Matthew got the Vaughn name, and maybe some of the panache.

Robert Vaughn in The Young Philadelphians:
forward to 1:58

Vaughn and McCallum in “The Man from UNCLE”

Columbo:

“Fantastic Beasts,” “Harry Potter” Writer JK Rowling Says She Can Write Anywhere, Even the Lavatory “Where I Get Temporary Peace”

Paula Schwartz
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“Fantastic Beasts,” “Harry Potter” Writer JK Rowling Says She Can Write Anywhere, Even the Lavatory “Where I Get Temporary Peace”

“As far as writing’s concerned I need to do it. I feel strange if I don’t write,” replied J.K. Rowling to a question about her writing process and motivation. The most successful and famous writer in the world was at a press conference Thursday afternoon for her new film, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” The movie, which is released November 17, is a prequel to the Harry Potter books. And most notably, Rowling makes her screenwriting debut.

“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” is based on a novella Rowling wrote for charity, which features many of the magical and extraordinary creatures now featured in the film. “Fantastic Beasts” was also one of Harry’s textbooks at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizandry, and pretend-written by Magizoologist Newt Scamander. Newt is a nerdy wizard who anchors “Fantastic Beasts” and is played by Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne. (Redmayne attended the press conference along with co-stars Katherine Waterston, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler and Alison Sudol, director David Yates and longtime Potter producer David Heyman.)

“Clearly I don’t need to write anymore,” Rowling told journalists and fanboys. “But I love it so much it would feel like some sort of psychic amputation if I didn’t…basically I have to write. I never forget how incredibly fortunate I am. Genuinely, I get up every day and I think I’ll do the thing I love, I have a wonderful family, I’m the luckiest person I know and I would wish the same for everyone who is out there working hard and trying to deal with life, which is tricky for all of us, no matter who we are.”

As for her writing process, Rowling said, “We flew out here yesterday evening. I can write anywhere, at any time. I can write with the TV on in the background. I can write half answering my kids’ questions. I have written a surprisingly amount of one chapter actually on the lavatory, which is the only place I could get temporary peace. And last night I was in a kind of a bleak mood,” she noted, “and I thought I need to work, so I got out the second screenplay, and I did some work on that and that made me feel a whole lot better, so I can write all the time, anytime.”

Asked how she learned to write a screenplay, Rowling conceded screenwriting was different and new and she bought a screenwriting book.

“I never read it. It just sat on my desk,” she said. “I think I felt like that was my homework, but I actually hadn’t done my homework. Maybe I just thought I would absorb it somehow by it just lying there.” Rowling added, “I was very involved with the Potter scripts in as much as I had script approval and I spoke a lot to Steve Kloves about what he was doing, so I would say Steve was my tutor,” she said of the previous Harry Potter screenwriter, who has a producing credit on the film. “That’s why I was so keen to have him attached to this project because I knew he would be the guy I could phone at 4 a.m. if I needed to.” She never needed to she laughed.

Warner Bros. is banking on “Fantastic Beasts” to be a huge success. Rowling has already written the screenplay for the second film and five are planned.

Rowling said novels remained her first love. “I’m still writing novels. This is why I look so tired – I’m writing a novel and a screenplay,” she said. Actually she looked great, not tired at all, and almost all the questions were directed at her, which she answered amiably and passionately, especially about the film. “For all the tricky bits, if I hadn’t enjoyed writing a first screenplay so much I wouldn’t have said I’d keep writing, so I’m loving it.”

There were a few spoilers at the press conference, including to a question to Rowling about whether in the next Fantastic Beasts film, Dumbledore – who was played in the Harry Potter films by Richard Harris and after his death Michael Gabon – will make an appearance as a young gay man.

“Well, I’m very comfortable with the question,” Rowling said smiling. “I can’t tell you everything I would like to say because this is obviously a five-part story, there’s lots to unpack in that relationship.”

“You will see Dumbledore as a younger man and quite a troubled man, because he wasn’t always the sage (in the film,” Rowling added. “We’ll see him in what I think was the formative period of his life. And As far as his sexuality is concerned,” she said, taking a long pause, “watch this space.”

The Beasts of course are the real stars of the film and some are adorable. Rowling said some of the creatures were always intended to be in the film. “And then we swapped a couple of beasts just because we thought it would make for more interesting escapades. But I think everyone’s going to want a Niffler afterwards. I want a Niffler quite honestly.” The Niffler is a small, black furry creature with a duck-billed platypus face and a kangaroo-like pouch. The Niffler is attracted to shiny, bright objects and hoards them in his little pouch out in the open as though this is perfectly normal.

“I can’t wait for people to see it. You know I really can’t,” Rowling said of the film. “This is just the beginning. It’s a five-part movie. I know which characters are coming back… I know what’s coming so this is chapter one and I think people will like what’s coming.”

Legendary Hollywood Star Warren Beatty Reluctantly Steals His Own Movie in “Rules Don’t Apply”

Roger Friedman
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Legendary Hollywood Star Warren Beatty Reluctantly Steals His Own Movie in “Rules Don’t Apply”

Warren Beatty tells you he didn’t make a Howard Hughes movie.

Listen, Warren Beatty made a Howard Hughes movie. In “Rules Don’t Apply,” which he wrote and directed, Beatty plays Howard Hughes circa 1958. Beatty has worked on this movie for years. He was almost thwarted by Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator,” in which Leonardo DiCaprio played a younger Hughes. But you know what? There was room for more than one Howard Hughes movie. For Beatty, rules don’t apply. And I’m so glad he made this movie.

The funniest part of “Rules Don’t Apply,” which opens November 23rd and opened the AFI Film Festival last night, is that Beatty steals his own movie like it or not. He created a young star crossed couple with two really talented up and coming actors– Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins. (The former is going to be the new young Han Solo. The latter is like a new Audrey Hepburn, and she can sing!)

But in the end, it’s Beatty as a kind of going crazy Hughes who is both full of pathos and humor. And when the movie bends to Hughes’s will– and Beatty’s– those are the very best moments. Two scenes in particular may kick Beatty into the Oscar race for Best Actor– a hilarious one with Matthew Broderick that elicits belly laughs from the audience; and another with Collins that’s very sad and revealing.

Is everything about Hughes in “Rules” true? No. Or rather, it’s an imagined story about someone for whom truth was a stretch and facts were scant. But smartly Beatty and Bo Goldman have taken just enough tidbits about the reclusive, elusive Hughes and made an entertaining story about Hollywood just as sexual repression was about to explode. The time — 1958– is that of Doris Day and Rock Hudson, and “Pillow Talk” moments before the dam burst, so to speak. It would be another 16 years before Beatty himself, a sex symbol, sent himself up and put all his cards on the table with the classic, “Shampoo.” But in 1958, here was the struggle between good and evil as Hollywood tried to grow up.

The supporting cast is excellent. Broderick is hilarious, doing his best work here and in the also coming “Manchester by the Sea.” Annette Bening is lovely as Collins’ stage mother leaving her in Sodom and Gomorrah. I really loved an expected cameo from Steve Coogan. Alec Baldwin, Candice Bergen, Taissa Farmiga, Martin Sheen and Oliver Platt all punctuate the film.

I really wish Beatty had made movies in the last sixteen years. But now that he’s back I think he’s energized. And what would really be cool is more movies with Beatty front and center without having to add young people as diversions. They’re fine, but seeing “Rules,” you realize just how good he is. He and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel score here by putting Hughes in shadows and just letting in glimpses of him. But next time, Warren can shine the light more brightly on himself. It’s a tribute to him that he leaps out of those shadows anyway.

Robert Redford Is NOT Retiring from Acting or Anything Else, Says Rep

Roger Friedman
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Robert Redford Is NOT Retiring from Acting or Anything Else, Says Rep

Robert Redford is NOT retiring from acting or directing or anything else despite a recent Tweet and story in Variety. Redford’s rep Cindi Berger confirmed this for me just now.

In an interview with his grandson posted on line, Redford said he had two more acting jobs and movies. And then he says, off the cuff, he’s thinking about giving it all up and devoting himself to painting.

There was an inference drawn by the website hosting the post that Redford was “retiring.” He’s not, that’s ridiculous, and you know, really. So I called his PR.

Robert Redford is too committed to film, to Sundance, to all of it, to stop anytime soon. He just had a big hit with “Pete’s Dragon,” and was excellent in “Trust,” as Dan Rather and in “All is Lost.” Why stop now? He’s just getting started!

#RIP Leonard Cohen: Artist, Hero, Genius Follows Prince and David Bowie in Music’s Worst Year

Roger Friedman
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#RIP Leonard Cohen: Artist, Hero, Genius Follows Prince and David Bowie in Music’s Worst Year


Leonard Cohen is dead at 82, just a couple of weeks after delivering his final album. He was a great artist, a hero, and a genius. In a year when Prince, David Bowie and Glenn Frey, not to mention Natalie Cole, have all left us, this is another crushing blow. From “Suzanne” to “Hallelujah” and his numerous classics like “First We Take Manhattan,” Cohen was a glorious and unforgiving poet who was right up there with Dylan, Lennon, and Paul Simon.

A statement on his Facebook page reads: It is with profound sorrow we report that legendary poet, songwriter and artist, Leonard Cohen has passed away. We have lost one of music’s most revered and prolific visionaries. A memorial will take place in Los Angeles at a later date. The family requests privacy during their time of grief.”

No cause of death was given but we can assume Cohen was ill. The new album, “You Want it Darker,” seemed to indicate he knew his time was up.

More in the morning. But do download or stream Jennifer Warnes’ “Famous Blue Raincoat” album of Leonard Cohen’s songs as well as his own recordings.

(Watch) Paul McCartney Goes #Mannequin, Embraces Hot Song “The Black Beatles” in Instagram Video

Roger Friedman
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(Watch) Paul McCartney Goes #Mannequin, Embraces Hot Song “The Black Beatles” in Instagram Video

Paul McCartney stays hip, that’s for sure. Earlier this year he wrote a hit for Rihanna, and before that, Kanye West.

Now he’s embracing a hit record called “The Black Beatles,” performed by Rae Sremmurd with Gucci Mane. (Listen, don’t ask me, ok?) McCartney’s Instagram post is very arty– he takes on the viral #Mannequin pose with aplomb. And it looks like it was filmed at home by his own piano. There’s some nice art on the walls including a border painting by the late Sam Francis.

McCartney underscores his video with a part of the lyric in which he’s referenced:
I wear leather Gucci jackets like its still the 80’s
I’ve been blowin’ OG Kush, I feel a lil’ sedated
I can’t worry about a broke n—- or a hater
Black Beatle, bitch, me and Paul McCartney related

The OG Kush that’s referenced is a very high end marijuana. Paul has always liked his pot! I guess Rae and Gucci feel related to him for that reason.

The 2017 Trump Inauguration: No Bruce, Aretha, Sting, Stevie Wonder, or Oscar Winners at the Parties

Roger Friedman
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The 2017 Trump Inauguration: No Bruce, Aretha, Sting, Stevie Wonder, or Oscar Winners at the Parties

Do you remember the 2009 Inauguration of Barack Obama? Aretha Franklin sang “My Country Tis of Thee.” There were dozens of galas and balls. Sting and Stevie Wonder performed on ABC special where the Obamas danced together. Sting, Elvis Costello and Sam Moore were featured at the Creative Coalition gala, and were later joined by Warren Haynes and members of the Allman Brothers Band.

There were plenty of Hollywood A listers, too: Bono and U2, Dustin Hoffman, Samuel L. Jackson, Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Oprah Winfrey,  Beyoncé, Steven Spielberg, and Tiger Woods were among the guests. At The Huffington Post party, I remember hanging out with Gerard Butler. It was, all in all, quite a weekend.

The 2017 Trump Inaugural will not be similar. I can remember, for example, that getting a hotel room that weekend in Washington DC was like panning for gold. There are plenty of rooms on hotels.com and other sites, all reasonably priced.

But what about celebrities? Most of the people I listed supported Hillary Clinton. Even for good money, they won’t come to this Inauguration. Movie stars? Jon Voight is likely. Gary Sinise (from TV). Sylvester Stallone is unlikely. You might get Patricia Heaton from TV. Bruce Willis? Eh. Clint Eastwood, although a Republican, doesn’t seem like a Trump guy. Plus he’ll be doing Oscar promotions for “Sully.”

And Music? Well, there’s Ted Nugent, so disgusting and awful that I doubt the networks will want him to perform. There will be no Springsteen, no Stevie, no Sting, no Aretha, no Alicia. I doubt there’s a black act who will show up. There could be some country stars, but the good ones will stay away. Kid Rock might show up. But then again, even singers who identify as Republican may not want to be associated with Trump.

Of course, there’s usually a poet laureate like the late Maya Angelou. Trump’s equivalent? Scott Baio aka Chachi from “Happy Days.”

Sting Celebrates New Album “57 & 9th” With Startlingly Fresh Back-to-Back NYC Club Shows

Roger Friedman
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Sting Celebrates New Album “57 & 9th” With Startlingly Fresh Back-to-Back NYC Club Shows

It’s all numbers– Sting is 65, looks 45, and played two shows last night back to back at Irving Plaza that reminded me of when he was 35 and launching his solo career. Tomorrow he releases a new collection of rock and pop songs called “57th and 9th” that puts to shame rock stars half his age.

But it’s also the musicianship and the architecture of his compositions– songs like “Message in a Bottle” and “Englishman in New York” sound brand new and as effervescent as they did when he first introduced them over three decades ago. And although he hasn’t released an album of songs like these in over a decade, the new ones are instantly recognizable sort of “next steps” in Sting’s songwriting canon.

I’m already in love with “I Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” a hit on Sirius and FM radio. But from the album there’s also the Beatle-y “Down Down Down,” the gorgeous ballad “If You Can’t Love Me” (a sort of masterwork that sounds like it grew from his great numbers on “The Last Ship”), a pop hit that radio will eat up called “One Fine Day” (with surprising lyrics) and “Petrol Head,” a punkish number that could have been found on an early Police album.

Sting, his longtime bandmate Dominic Miller, and the rest of his new crew could have been hidden behind a curtain and passed off as a new young hot band of the moment. It’s not just that they know what they’re doing, but they do it with soul. As on the album, the new songs come off so sharp in a live environment. And live, they and all the old songs like “Every Breath You Take” were incredibly fresh. An old Police chestnut, “Next to You,” just pounds away.

The second show last night was for members of Sting’s devoted fan club. They got a treat that the earlier audience didn’t (and mind you, these were two crowds of people who stood like sardines, danced and knew all the lyrics). Sting finished the second show sitting down for the first time, playing the ethereal “The Empty Chair,” which closes his album and was written for a new documentary about James Foley called “Jim,” which could earn him some movie award nominations this winter. The value added of the night was a talented female fan who jumped on stage and did a belly dance while Sting and the band performed “Desert Rose.”

What a night: Chris Botti was spotted in the audience, someone told me they saw the Olsen twins, there were actors and musicians from “The Last Ship” plus Oscar winner Paul Haggis. The two different crowds left on clouds maybe because it was so nice to see one of the last great rock stars fulfill their fantasies.

More on “57th and 9th” tomorrow.

Pop Chart Shock: Bon Jovi’s Latest Outselling Alicia Keys 2-to-1 Mid Week, Will Debut at No. 1

Roger Friedman
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Pop Chart Shock: Bon Jovi’s Latest Outselling Alicia Keys 2-to-1 Mid Week, Will Debut at No. 1

There are a lot of shocks this week. I certainly thought Alicia Keys’ first new album in four years, called “Here,” would finish at number 1 this week. When it was released on Friday, “Here” went straight to number 1 on iTunes.

But Keys is only on iTunes and not on Amazon, which may have hurt her. It turns out Bon Jovi’s new album, “This House is Not for Sale,” is outselling her 2 to 1 in physical sales and almost that much in streaming. Bon Jovi will be number 1 by a comfortable margin.

Indeed, Alicia’s album is doing a lot less well than I thought. I’m not sure why except that there was little advance notice of it, no press copies until the day it was released. It took until the weekend to listen to it. But it has some great songs. A head scratcher.

Bon Jovi may have been aided by Jon’s appearance on Monday night at the Hillary Clinton fundraiser in Philly. While she didn’t win, the exposure for Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen was pretty amazing.

Bon Jovi will have one week at number 1. Sting’s “57th and 9th” comes on Friday, and it’s full of hits, great songs, a total success. Watch “57th and 9th” make a big number 1 debut at the end of next week.

Surprise Election Winner: Jared Kushner’s New York Observer Soared in Traffic with Trump Connection

Roger Friedman
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Surprise Election Winner: Jared Kushner’s New York Observer Soared in Traffic with Trump Connection

Here’s the media story I didn’t expect: Jared Kushner, the son-in-law and adviser of Donald Trump, owns the New York Observer. (Full disclosure: Occasionally, I write for the paper.)

Well, it seems that under editor Ken Kurson and CEO Joseph Meyer, the Observer’s website has gone crazy over the last year. I was slipped a couple of internal memos this week that show the Observer’s ranking jumped from 3,695 in February 2013 to 275, according to Quantcast.

That’s sort of remarkable. Was it because of the Trump connection? Were Trump enthusiasts suddenly reading the Observer.com? I don’t know.

Kurson wrote in a memo to the staff this morning: “We’ve all been reading the dismal news about the business of print. Yesterday, the CEO of the WSJ/NYPost described the sudden evaporation of print advertising as “mayhem in the market.” We have worked so hard to transition to a digital-first posture. Seeing this number — TWO SEVENTY FIVE — just as this unending campaign finally reaches the finish line has somehow provided a poetic symmetry to a company that’s come a very long way in four years.”

Congrats– because anything that thrives in journalism right now has to be celebrated. Kurson was always a Trump supporter. His role as editor in chief of the Observer, owned by Trump’s son-in-law, had to have been tricky. But he managed to run the Observer fairly– it was far less partisan, say, than the New York Post. And the non political part of the paper (or website) is a lively and engaging read at all times.  I think my late friend, Peter Kaplan, whom Kurson succeeded, would be pleased that the paper has survived.

I call it good news on a day when there is little to go around.

 

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