After she was through, he needed, like, a surgeon
Madonna was supposedly such a prima donna on the set of John Schlesinger‘s last film that she may have driven the Oscar-winning director to heart failure. The “Midnight Cowboy” director, who died in July 2003, blamed Madonna for his 1999 heart attack just after he finished directing her in “The Next Best Thing.”
The New York Daily News reports that an enraged Schlesinger fired off a missive from his hospital bed saying: “I do not for one moment think that (her) behavior has not added to the reasons I have ended up here.”
In the $25 million flop, Madonna played a yoga instructor who is made pregnant by her gay best friend, played by Rupert Everett.
One memo hints that the actress wanted producers to “beautify” 34 shots of her with computer-generated wizardry.
Later, Madonna lobbied for the removal of a pivotal scene that she felt was too “gay” — much to the disgust of Schlesinger, who was gay.
Replied Madonna’s publicist, Liz Rosenberg: “No one has ever questioned her level of professional behavior.”
Anthony decides to render unto Caesar
Latin singer Marc Anthony, better known these days as the new Mr. Jennifer Lopez, has offered to pay an outstanding $20,000-plus bill at a Puerto Rican nightclub to settle a lawsuit.
The suit stemmed from a bill for a private party for 500 people thrown after the 2002 Miss Universe pageant by Anthony and his then-wife, former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres. According to the suit, Anthony “had indicated that due to personal problems” he declined to pay the bill of $21,067.
Now he’s officially a Sirius artist
Eminem promises to “deliver an uncut hip-hop radio station like never before” when he has his own channel on satellite radio starting this fall.
Sirius Satellite Radio announced Monday it has teamed up with the 31-year-old rapper to create “a cutting-edge hip-hop music and lifestyle channel.”
Said Eminem: “I can’t wait to start dropping new material, exclusive tracks and uncensored hip-hop featuring me and everyone else freely saying whatever … we want.”
We hear she can sing a mean tune
Lindsay Lohan, the 18-year-old star of “Mean Girls,” “Freaky Friday” and “Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen,” has signed a record deal with Tommy Mottola‘s Casablanca Records.
That means Lohan will follow in rival Hilary Duff‘s footsteps as she branches out from acting into the music industry.
“I’m thrilled we have her,” Mottola said. “I think she’s the next big star on the horizon.”
Hey, web-slinger, get a load of those threads
Irish pop singer Samantha Mumba made the biggest splash at Monday’s London premiere of “Spider-Man 2,” wearing a dress studded with diamonds arranged over her navel in a web estimated to be worth $9 million.
Not surprisingly, Mumba was accompanied by a bodyguard.
The birthday bunch
(Editor’s note: Today’s celebrity birthdays were mistakenly printed in Tuesday’s People column. The correct birthdays for both dates follow.)
Tuesday: Actor Patrick Stewart was 64. Singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) was 62. Actor Harrison Ford was 62. Actor-comedian Cheech Marin was 58. Country singer Louise Mandrell was 50. Actor-director Cameron Crowe was 47. R&B singer Gerald Levert was 38.
Today: Actress Gloria Stuart (“Titanic”) is 94. Director Ingmar Bergman is 86. Actor Harry Dean Stanton is 78. Actress-singer Polly Bergen is 74. Actor Matthew Fox (“Party of Five”) is 38. Actress Missy Gold (“Benson”) is 34. Musician Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) is 29.