The day has finally come
The United States will have a female president next year – on the Fox TV series “24,” that is.
Tony Award-winning actress Cherry Jones will play President Allison Taylor when the show about the exploits of counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) returns in January for its seventh season.
Jones’ term will coincide with Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton‘s presidential bid, but Fox Entertainment Chairman Peter Liguori says fiction and real-world politics will not intersect.
“It’s a dramatic decision. … The president is a very important piece of ‘24,’ ” Liguori says. “We’ve had a broad array of presidents on the show; why not a female president?”
The series has been an Oval Office groundbreaker before, with Dennis Haysbert playing President Palmer, the nation’s first black president.
Jones, winner of best-actress Tony Awards for “The Heiress” and “Doubt,” has appeared in films including “Ocean’s Twelve” and “The Perfect Storm” and has guest-starred on TV shows including “The West Wing.”
Harry Potter and the big payday
“Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe‘s people are downplaying reports that he snagged a good chunk of cash by turning 18 on Monday.
“It’s not a big deal today,” said a woman who answered the phone at his publicist’s office.
Radcliffe, who was 11 when he was first cast as the schoolboy wizard in the films based on J.K. Rowling‘s novels, is gaining access to a $19 million investment fund, according to People magazine. British newspapers have estimated his net worth at $35 million.
She’s still doing it
Troubled country singer Mindy McCready is free on $1,000 bond after a weekend arrest on misdemeanor charges that she scratched her mother on the face during a scuffle and resisted sheriff’s deputies.
McCready’s mother reportedly called authorities shortly after 1 a.m. Saturday to report her daughter was intoxicated and causing a disturbance following an argument during a Scrabble game.
McCready, who was holding her 15-month-old son when deputies arrived, claims they used excessive force.
The 31-year-old singer (“Guys Do It All the Time”) has been convicted of prescription painkiller fraud and driving with a suspended license in recent years.
Speaking of punch-drunk …
Boxer Laila Ali and retired NFL star Curtis Conway were married over the weekend.
Ali’s father, ring legend Muhammad Ali, was among the guests in attendance.
The younger Ali was among the competitors on last season’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
The birthday bunch
Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 71. Comedian Gallagher is 61. Actor Robert Hays (“Airplane!”) is 60. Actor-comedian Michael Richards is 58. Actress Lynda Carter is 56. Director Gus Van Sant is 55. Country singer Pam Tillis is 50. Actress Laura Leighton (“Melrose Place”) is 39. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is 39. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 37. Actor Eric Szmanda (“CSI”) is 32. Actress Anna Paquin is 25. Actress Mara Wilson is 20. TV’s Bindi Irwin (“Bindi: The Jungle Girl”) is 9.