Will the courts put the hammer down on him?
A FAN WHO was smacked by comedian Gallagher during a performance has filed a lawsuit, claiming he was severely injured.
The complaint filed by Edwin May III on Monday follows a decision last week by prosecutors not to file misdemeanor battery charges against the 58-year-old comedian.
In the lawsuit, May said Gallagher became agitated during a May 27 show at the Riverside hotel-casino in Laughlin, Nev., and struck him on the side of the head.
The blow damaged his hearing and inflicted extreme emotional, physical and psychological harm, the suit says.
Gallagher, who is best known for smashing watermelons with a sledgehammer, has said he struck May as part of his act.
May is seeking a minimum of $80,000 in damages plus lawyer’s fees from Gallagher and the Riverside resort, which is named as a co-defendant.
Hotel officials said they fired Gallagher after the incident, though the comedian says he quit.
From ‘Mame’ to lame
Angela Lansbury, who kicked up her heels in the Broadway musicals “Mame” and “Gypsy,” underwent knee replacement surgery on Thursday.
“Her knee is so painful from years of dancing,” said her daughter, Deirdre Battarra.
Lansbury, 79, who won Tony Awards for her performances in “Mame,” “Gypsy,” “Dear World” and “Sweeney Todd,” also starred as crime novelist Jessica Fletcher in the TV series “Murder, She Wrote.”
More big trouble for Tom
Actor Tom Sizemore missed a probation violation hearing Tuesday after checking into a live-in drug rehabilitation program.
If the court finds Sizemore violated probation, he could be sent to prison for up to three years. He was ordered into drug treatment after pleading guilty in October to possession of methamphetamine.
Prosecutors say Sizemore tried to falsify a urine test for drugs and later missed tests scheduled every three days
His attorney said Sizemore is not defying the court, just “trying to get back his health.”
Is the healer a heel?
A doctor who once cared for sick children at Don Imus‘ New Mexico ranch has sued the tart-tongued radio personality for slander.
Dr. Howard Allen Pearson says that on at least four days last year, Imus said he “was one of the worst doctors in the world and did not care if children suffered.”
The dispute involves Pearson’s refusal to accept a ride from Imus’ wife on his way to another part of the ranch to treat a 16-year-old Afghani girl who was in pain. Pearson says he had been told it was not an emergency.
But they still didn’t get Diddy
Sean “P. Diddy” Combs and Random House have settled a lawsuit over the hip-hop mogul’s failure to repay a $300,000 advance for a memoir he never completed.
According to court papers, Combs signed with Random House in 1998 and promised to deliver a manuscript by Dec. 15, 1999. Combs later sued his planned collaborator, Rolling Stone contributing editor Mikal Gilmore, for backing out of the project.
Mick Jagger once received a seven-figure advance for his memoir but eventually returned the money, saying he couldn’t remember anything of significance.
The birthday bunch
Actress Gloria Stuart (“Titanic”) is 95. Director Ingmar Bergman is 87. Actor Dale Robertson is 82. Actor Harry Dean Stanton is 79. Country singer Del Reeves is 73. Actor Matthew Fox (“Lost”) is 39. Actress Missy Gold (“Benson”) is 35. Musician Taboo (Black Eyed Peas) is 30.