Fred Astaire: Last News

“Saturday Night Live” normally sets up big laughs in its traditional cold opens, but occasionally it faces tragedy head-on.Amid 50 years of gut-busting comedy, Lorne Michaels’ iconic sketch show has replaced humor with heartache during tear-inducing tributes to 9/11, mass shootings, wars and more, offering somber reflections to stir its Studio 8H audience and home viewers.Here are some of the most memorable cold open moments when jokes were jettisoned and heartstrings were pulled. A post shared by Saturday Night Network (@thesnlnetwork)When original cast member Gilda Radner died from ovarian cancer on Saturday, May 20, 1989, it shocked many — as well as oft-scene mate Steve Martin, who was set to host that night’s episode when he learned of her passing at age 42.“You know, I’ve been coming here to do ‘Saturday Night Live’ since 1976, and the thing … that brings me back to the show is the people you get to work with,” said an emotional Martin, fighting back tears, as he kicked off the episode.

Steven Spielberg knew what he was doing when he cast David Lynch as John Ford in The Fabelmans; already, in 2022, the director had become, like Ford, bigger than his movies, a living monument to cinema. Seeing Lynch in conversation back in 2007 at London’s BFI Southbank, before the release of Inland Empire, I was very mindful of that fact, writing that “seeing him speak to a packed house, with that silver pompadour, that black suit and buttoned-up, tie-less shirt, made me feel like a witness to history, like seeing Picasso, Churchill or Fred Astaire.”

I’ve always avoided New Year’s resolutions, but this week I happened to recall one that was brief but resolute: I resolved to quit Hollywood.

It’s the most famous Christmas song of all time. White Christmas, first performed by Bing Crosby in 1941, has now sold over 50 million copies, and has also been recorded by artists including Michael Buble, Shania Twain, Gwen Stefani, Frank Sinatra, The Drifters, Bette Midler, Lady Gaga and Meghan Trainor.

Many of us survived the Covid days by rediscovering old MGM musicals, humming tunes from Singing In the Rain or doing a Fred Astaire tap from Top Hat.

“Once Upon A Mattress.”Rather than take it easy after a grueling four-month run, lead actress Sutton Foster will take her talents on the road.Starting in December 2024, the two-time Tony winner will take her ‘An Evening With Sutton Foster Tour’ to venues all over North America.That includes stops at New Brunswick, NJ’s State Theatre on Jan. 31, Stony Brook, NY’s Staller Center on Feb.

AI form to ‘host’ a new interview show.The broadcaster passed away last year at the age of 88 after a brief illness, having been one of the most high-profile talk show hosts in British television history.But now, Parkinson is primed to make the unlikeliest of comebacks in the new podcast series Virtually Parkinson (via The Guardian). The eight-part unscripted series will feature an AI-generated version of the presenter with a range of guests from the new generation, none of whom it would have been possible for Parkinson to interview during his life.The project has been undertaken by Deep Fusion Films and has been made with the full support of Parkinson’s family and estate.

Paul Merson has said he's been brought 'back to reality' as he seemingly made a dig about his time in Strictly Come Dancing so far. The former footballer is preparing for his next performance in the show's iconic ballroom alongside professional dancer Karen Hauer.

Paul Merson and Karen Hauer's latest performance in the Strictly Come Dancing ballroom had viewers saying the same thing. The former footballer and his pro dance partner finally impressed the judges after a rough couple of weeks in the ballroom.

Karen Hauer has spoken out on making it through to another week on Strictly Come Dancing after fans were left distracted by her and Paul Merson's reaction to the news.

Nick Cave has made a surprise appearance on the Joker: Folie à Deux soundtrack.As expected the newly released tracklist, which is out today (October 4), features a host of songs involving the film’s main stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.But it opens with The Bad Seeds frontman performing a medley which includes a cover of ‘Slap That Bass’, originally composed by George Gershwin for the 1937 Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical, Shall We Dance, ‘Get Happy’, famously performed by Judy Garland in the 1950 musical Summer Stock and ‘What The World Needs Now Is Love’, a 1965 hit by Jackie DeShanno. You can listen to the medley below.The soundtrack also features a host of covers that appear in the film including The Bee Gees‘ ‘To Love Somebody’, which is performed by Phoenix and Gaga.Gaga also released her own companion album to the movie ‘Harlequin’, last week.That record featured a number of jazz covers including ‘Oh, When The Saints’, ‘Get Happy‘ and ‘That’s Life‘, along with a few original tracks.The movie is also officially released in cinemas today (October 4).NME gave Joker: Folie à Deux a four-star review, saying that Gaga “shines in a provocative prison musical” and: “[director Todd] Phillips and [co-writer Scott] Silver have delivered the last thing anyone expected: a socially responsible Joker movie that finds an intriguing way to explore the consequences (both on and offscreen) of the first film.

Strictly Come Dancing is back with its first live episode of the new series on Saturday 21 September, and the first celebrity taking to the dance floor and trying not to show their nerves in front of the audience and judges was DIY SOS presenter Nick Knowles.The 62 year old, who is paired with professional dancer Luba Mushtuk, danced the jive to Starship’s 1985 hit We Built This City dressed in a high-vis vest and builder’s clothes, with a silver shirt underneath. Before the show, Nick admitted he would have to be taught how to dance, saying: "I’ve spent my whole life learning new skills and I’ve never been afraid of a challenge.There’s life in the old dog yet to take on one more big one - being taught how to dance! I’ll give it my everything...

“Folie à deux” means a kind of shared madness — possibly two extreme hearts on similar wavelength or maybe a clash inside one disturbed person’s head. When Arthur Fleck aka Joker meets Harleen “Lee” Quinel aka Harley Quinn in director/co-writer Todd Phillips audacious and head-spinning follow-up to his billion-dollar-grossing 2019 origin story, Joker: Folie à Deux is maybe all of that.

The glitz and glamour of the Cannes Film Festival was in full swing as celebrities flaunted their toned physiques on the red carpet.

EXCLUSIVE: Amazon MGM Studios has won a five-studio auction landed the package, Sasha. Producers attached include Berlanti Schechter Films’ Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Mike McGrath, and These Pictures’ Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Lia, and Keenan Flynn. 

Janis Paige, a popular actor in Hollywood and in Broadway musicals and comedies who danced with Fred Astaire, toured with Bob Hope and continued to perform into her 90s, has died. She was 101.Paige died Sunday of natural causes at her Los Angeles home, longtime friend Stuart Lampert said Monday.Paige starred on Broadway with Jackie Cooper in the mystery-comedy, “Remains to be Seen” and appeared with John Raitt in the smash hit musical “The Pajama Game.”Her other films included a Hope comedy, “Bachelor in Paradise”; the Doris Day comedy “Please Don’t Eat the Daisies” and “Follow the Boys.”In 2018, she added her voice to the #MeToo movement, alleging an assault when she was 22 by the late department-store heir Alfred Bloomingdale, who died in 1982.“I could feel his hands, not only on my breasts, but seemingly everywhere.

Janis Paige, who racked up more than 100 film, TV and stage credits over six decades including The Pajama Game, Silk Stockings and Santa Barbara, died June 2 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 101.

prepare to embody Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and to keep her project alive, Oscar winners and look poised to play two other silver screen icons in their very own sweeping biopic: crooner and his second wife, Hollywood bombshell Ava Gardner, in a new drama from Martin Scorsese, no less.Lawrence and DiCaprio—who previously costarred in a very different awards contender, playing cranky astronomers in Adam McKay’s 2021 satire Don’t Look Up—are attached to the new film, per , though its future is still uncertain. (Sinatra’s daughter Tina, who controls her father’s estate, has reportedly yet to give her blessing to the forthcoming release.)It should, however, get greenlit, as there’s no shortage of material that’s ripe for retelling: Gardner, known for being impossibly glamorous, free-spirited, brash, and outspoken, had previously been married to Mickey Rooney and then Artie Shaw, before tying the knot with her third husband.

The seas have divided once again on social media this weekend in the UK, with two armies lining up behind their favourite controversial comedians, Frankie Boyle and Ricky Gervais.

She first appeared in Coronation Street as an exotic dancer called Rita Littlewood in 1964, but actress Barbara Knox made such an impression that bosses never forgot her. In 1972, Barbara was asked back and she begged Ken Dodd to release her early from his show. He kindly did and today Barbara is the longest- serving female TV soap actor in the world.To celebrate Barbara’s 90th birthday, ITV1 is paying tribute to its flame-haired star by telling her tale with tributes from her friends and colleagues.

Anton Du Beke likes to get things right. A self-confessed perfectionist, Strictly Come Dancing’s newest and arguably most popular judge always gives 100 percent. From his flawless foxtrots to his witticisms, Anton aims to please.