People: Broke her back and her heart
Michelle Williams said Friday that her “heart is broken” over the death of former partner Heath Ledger.
The 27-year-old actress and Ledger became a couple during filming of 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain,” in which they co-starred as husband and wife.
They had a daughter, Matilda, that October before splitting up last year.
“I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father,” Williams said. “All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day.
“His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still. She will be brought up in the best memories of him.”
Ledger, 28, died in his Manhattan apartment Jan. 22. Authorities suspect a drug overdose, pending the outcome of toxicology tests.
People magazine quotes several anonymous sources as saying Ledger’s cocaine use put too much of a strain on Williams and created a bad atmosphere for their daughter.
A slight hitch in plans
Actress Eva Mendes (“Hitch”) has checked into a Utah rehab center for substance abuse.
Her publicist said Mendes, 31, “has been working hard for the past year and made a positive decision to take some much-needed time off to proactively attend to some personal issues that, while not critical, she felt deserved some outside professional support.”
Not-so-happy returns
Actor Wesley Snipes was found not guilty of federal tax-fraud and conspiracy charges Friday, but convicted on three misdemeanor counts of failing to file a tax return.
He could be sentenced to three years in prison after originally facing a possible 16 years.
And a federal appeals court Friday upheld the tax evasion conviction of original “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch, who was found guilty in 2006 of failing to pay taxes on his $1 million prize.
Wacko Jacko is back-o
Former “King of Pop” Michael Jackson apparently is poised to make a comeback.
London’s Mirror newspaper reports that Jackson is set to release a 25th-anniversary rerecording of “Thriller” that will feature “a lot of surprise guests.”
He reportedly will plug the project in ads during Sunday’s Super Bowl.
The belle had a different ring
Speaking of guests, the ex-Mrs. Marilyn Manson, Dita Von Teese – this year’s invitee to Vienna’s Opera Ball by Austrian businessman Richard Lugner – saw her thunder stolen by “Desperate Housewives” star Teri Hatcher.
“Hatcher outshone everyone in her simple dress with little decoration and her understated makeup,” said public television ORF, which broadcast Thursday’s gala live, adding: “She impressed with her simplicity.”
The birthday bunch
Actress Elaine Stritch is 82. Comedian Tom Smothers is 71. Singer Graham Nash is 66. Actress Farrah Fawcett is 61. Actor Brent Spiner (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) is 59. Model Christie Brinkley is 54. Singer Shakira is 31.