Willie boasts street cred, yo

Seems most of us harbor a redheaded stranger or two in our closet.

When cast members of “Notorious,” the film based on the life of the late rapper Notorious B.I.G., were doing interviews at New York’s Legacy Recording Studios, who should they run into but Willie Nelson.

Legacy was where Biggie recorded his album “Ready to Die.”

Turns out the meeting between such different musical styles was strange, but not necessarily in the way you might think.

“It was a really weird coincidence because Willie is all over the movie,” an unnamed source told the New York Post.

Turns out, the source said, that Nelson “was the favorite musician of Biggie’s mom, Voletta Wallace, and (he) was one of Biggie’s inspirations. His albums are seen throughout the film. And Jamal Woolard, who plays Biggie, bought all of Willie’s records as part of his research.”

Better call in ‘C.S.I.’

Despite the statements of two eyewitnesses that Scott M. Ruffalo killed himself, the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office on Wednesday ruled the death of actor Mark Ruffalo’s younger brother a homicide. Ruffalo, 39, was found with a gunshot wound early Dec. 1 and died a week later.

Beverly Hills police arrested Shaha Mishaal Adham, 26, before Ruffalo died on an attempted murder warrant. They later released her, and she has not been charged.

Reasons to sing the blues

Nashville police say country singer Mindy McCready has been hospitalized after an apparent suicide attempt. Police say McCready’s brother discovered she had cut her wrists and taken several pills at her home Wednesday. Timothy McCready said his sister had been “very intoxicated” after a night out.

Better not tell Jenny Craig

Actress Kelly Rutherford, one of the adult characters on “Gossip Girl,” spoke to Us Weekly about the joys of breastfeeding her 2-year-old son Hermés. Not only is it “an amazing bond with your child,” the 40-year-old actress but it’s good for weight management.

“I was thinner after my pregnancy,” she said, “and I think a lot of it was the nursing.”

Get this man on Oprah!

Give former New York governor Eliot Spitzer points for honesty. Now a columnist for Slate magazine, Spitzer lost his previous job because of a well-publicized call-girl scandal. When he showed up at a New York lounge called Happy Ending on Monday to celebrate the magazine’s Christmas party, he was asked whether he liked his new career.

“It sucks,” Spitzer said. “I used to be governor of New York.”

The birthday bunch

Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens is 88. Actress Cicely Tyson is 75. Singer Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire is 67. Actor Tim Reid is 64. Singer Alvin Lee of Ten Years After is 64. Musician John McEuen of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band is 63. Actress Elaine Joyce is 63. Country singer Janie Fricke is 61. Actor Mike Lookinland is 48. Actress Jennifer Beals is 45. Actor Scott Cohen is 44. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 42. Magician Criss Angel is 41. Actress Kristy Swanson is 39. Actress Alyssa Milano is 36. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 28.