Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 19-25

Celebrity birthdays for the week of July 19-25:

July 19: Country singer Sue Thompson is 83. Country singer George Hamilton IV is 72. Actor Dennis Cole is 69. Singer Vikki Carr is 69. Musician Commander Cody is 65. Actor George Dzundza is 64. Singer-bassist Alan Gorrie of Average White Band is 63. Guitarist Brian May of Queen is 62. Guitarist Bernie Leadon (Eagles, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 62. Actress Beverly Archer ("Major Dad, "Mama's Family") is 61. Actor Peter Barton ("Sunset Boulevard," "Burke's Law") is 53. Drummer Kevin Haskins (Bauhaus, Love and Rockets) is 49. Actor Campbell Scott is 48. Actor Anthony Edwards ("ER") is 47. Singer Country singer Kelly Shiver (Thrasher Shiver) is 46. Actress Clea Lewis ("Ellen") is 44. Singer Urs Buhler of Il Divo is 38. Drummer Jason McGerr of Death Cab For Cutie is 35. Actor Jared Padalecki ("Supernatural," "Gilmore Girls") is 27.

July 20: Rockabilly singer Sleepy LaBeef is 74. Actress Diana Rigg ("The Avengers") is 71. Bassist John Lodge of the Moody Blues is 66. Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 65. Singer Kim Carnes is 64. Guitarist Carlos Santana is 62. Drummer Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols is 53. Actress Donna Dixon ("Bosom Buddies") is 52. Keyboardist Mick McNeil of Simple Minds is 51. Country singer Radney Foster is 50. Singer Chris Cornell (of Audioslave and of Soundgarden) is 45. Guitarist Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam is 43. Actor Reed Diamond ("Judging Amy," "Homicide: Life on the Street") is 42. Actor Josh Holloway ("Lost") is 40. Singer Vitamin C is 40. Actor Simon Rex is 35. Actor Charlie Korsmo ("Can't Hardly Wait," "Hook") is 31. Singer Elliott Yamin ("American Idol") is 31. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen is 29. Guitarist Mike Kennerty of All-American Rejects is 29. Actor John Francis Daley ("Freaks and Geeks") is 24. Dancer-country singer Julianne Hough ("Dancing with the Stars") is 21. Actress Billi Bruno ("According to Jim") is 13.

July 21: Singer Kay Starr is 87. Actor Paul Burke ("Dynasty," "Naked City") is 83. Movie director Norman Jewison is 83. Actress Patricia Elliott ("One Life To Live") is 67. Actor Edward Herrmann ("Gilmore Girls") is 66. Actor Leigh Lawson ("Tess") is 64. Singer Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) is 61. Cartoonist Garry Trudeau ("Doonesbury") is 61. Comedian-actor Robin Williams is 58. Singer-guitarist Eric Bazilian of The Hooters is 56. Comedian Jon Lovitz is 52. Actor Lance Guest ("Lou Grant") is 49. Singer Emerson Hart of Tonic is 40. Country singer Paul Brandt is 37. Actor Josh Hartnett is 31. Reggae singer Damian Marley is 31. "American Idol" runner-up Blake Lewis is 28. Keyboardist Johan Carlsson of Carolina Liar is 25. Actress Vanessa Lengies ("Stick It," "American Dreams") is 24.

July 22: Actor Orson Bean ("Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman") is 81. Actress Louise Fletcher is 75. Singer Chuck Jackson is 72. Actor Terence Stamp is 71. Game show host Alex Trebek is 69. Singer George Clinton is 68. Singer-actor Bobby Sherman is 66. Writer-director Paul Schrader is 63. Singer Don Henley is 62. Actor Danny Glover is 62. Actor-comedian-director Albert Brooks is 62. Composer Alan Menken ("Little Mermaid," "Little Shop of Horrors") is 60. Musician Al Di Meola is 55. Actor Willem Dafoe is 54. Singer Keith Sweat is 48. Singer Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls is 46. Actor-comedian David Spade is 45. Actor John Leguizamo is 45. Bassist Pat Badger of Extreme is 42. Actor Rhys Ifans ("Notting Hill") is 42. Musician Daniel Jones (Savage Garden) is 36. Singer Rufus Wainwright is 36. Actress Franka Potente ("The Bourne Identity") is 35. Actress Selena Gomez ("The Wizards of Waverly Place") is 17.

July 23: Actress Gloria DeHaven is 84. Radio personality Don Imus is 69. Country singer Tony Joe White is 66. Actor Larry Manetti ("Magnum, P.I.") is 62. Singer David Essex is 62. Singer-turned-Congressman John Hall (Orleans) is 61. Guitarist Blair Thornton of Bachman-Turner Overdrive is 59. Actress Belinda Montgomery ("Doogie Howser, MD") is 59. Actor Woody Harrelson is 48. Guitarist Martin Gore of Depeche Mode is 48. Actor Eriq Lasalle ("ER") is 47. Drummer Yuval Gabay (Soul Coughing) is 46. Guitarist Slash of Velvet Revolver (and Guns N' Roses) is 44. Actor Philip Seymour Hoffman is 42. Model Stephanie Seymour is 41. Singer Sam Watters of Color Me Badd is 39. Actress Charisma Carpenter is 39. Singer Dalvin DeGrate of Jodeci is 38. Country singer Alison Krauss is 38. Drummer Chad Gracey of Live is 38. Actor-comedian Marlon Wayans ("The Wayans Brothers") is 37. Country singer Shannon Brown is 36. Actor Omar Epps is 36. Singer Michelle Williams (Destiny's Child) is 29. Actor Daniel Radcliffe ("Harry Potter" movies) is 20.

July 24: Jazz pianist Billy Taylor is 88. Director Peter Yates is 80. Actor John Aniston ("Days of Our Lives") is 76. Comedian Ruth Buzzi is 73. Actor Mark Goddard ("Lost In Space") is 73. Actor Chris Sarandon is 67. Comedian Gallagher is 63. Actor Robert Hays ("Airplane!") is 62. Actor Michael Richards ("Seinfeld") is 60. Actress Lynda Carter is 58. Director Gus Van Sant is 57. Country singer Pam Tillis is 52. Actor Kadeem Hardison is 44. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth is 41. Actress Laura Leighton ("Melrose Place") is 41. Actor John P. Navin Jr. is 41. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez is 40. Basketball player-turned-actor Rick Fox is 40. Actor Eric Szmanda ("CSI") is 34. Actress Rose Byrne is 30. Actress Summer Glau is 28. Actress Elisabeth Moss ("The West Wing") is 27. Actress Anna Paquin is 27. Actress Mara Wilson is 22. TV personality Bindi Irwin ("Bindi: The Jungle Girl") is 11.

July 25: Actress Barbara Harris is 74. Drummer Jim McCarty of The Yardbirds is 66. Bassist Verdine White of Earth, Wind and Fire is 58. Supermodel Iman is 54. Cartoonist Ray Billingsley ("Curtis") is 52. Guitarist Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth is 51. Country singer Marty Brown is 44. Actress Illeana Douglas is 44. Actor Matt LeBlanc ("Joey," "Friends") is 42. Cellist Paavo Lotjonen of Apocalyptica is 40. Actor D.B. Woodside ("24") is 40. Actress Miriam Shor ("Swingtown," "Hedwig and the Angry Inch") is 38. Actor James Lafferty ("One Tree Hill") is 24.

"Harry Potter" works box office magic at midnight

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – British boy wizard Harry Potter conjured his magic at box offices again, as the sixth film in the highly popular movie series earned a record $22.2 million at Wednesday midnight showings in the United States.

"Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" from Warner Bros. beat the old record for Wednesday midnight screenings of $18.5 million held by 2008 Batman movie "The Dark Knight," said Hollywood.com Box Office President Paul Dergarabedian.

The debut "portends a huge and potentially record-breaking number for a single-day (box office) gross and best first five-day gross," among movies, Dergarabedian said.

The highest one-day U.S. box office record belongs to "The Dark Knight," which debuted on a Wednesday last summer to $67.1 million and went on to $203.7 million in its first five days. It earned $1 billion worldwide throughout its run in theaters.

The five previous "Potter" movies about the adventures of Harry and his friends at the Hogwarts school, based on the best-selling kids books by author J.K. Rowling, have raked in $4.5 billion worldwide since the first film in 2001.

But in recent weeks, some media reports have suggested the movies' fan base of teenagers and pre-teens may now be too old for the movies and that other franchises, such as the popular "Twilight" films, may steal some of Potter's audience magic.

Still, "Half-Blood Prince" hits theaters a full two years after the most recent "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," causing box office watchers to see a good deal of pent-up demand for the movie.

"Order of the Phoenix" also opened on a Wednesday and took in $140 million in its first five days, on the way to $938 million in total global ticket sales. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Jackson death revives interest in Twitchell mural

LOS ANGELES – When a Los Angeles gallery mounted a retrospective of Kent Twitchell's work earlier this year the acclaimed painter figured the one thing everyone would want to see was his "lost" Michael Jackson mural.

Twitchell's larger-than-life vision, showing the entertainer decked out in a white suit and matching fedora, stood 100 feet tall and 60 feet wide. Once planned for the entire side of a Hollywood building, it was so big it had to be mounted in sections across a two-story gallery wall, the bottom of it strung out along the floor.

When visitors arrived, they made a beeline straight past it, stopping instead to admire Twitchell's two-story portrait of Steve McQueen.

How things have changed.

"Since Michael died my phone is just ringing off the hook," said Look gallery owner Jerri Levi, who mounted the April exhibition. Collectors from around the world have inquired about buying the mural, she said, and others have asked whether it will be displayed again.

But for now Twitchell is keeping it safely rolled up and hidden away.

"It would be nice to see something happen with it eventually," he said this week. "But I don't want to just hawk it and I wouldn't want to get involved in something that might be seen as cheesy. I'm an artist, not an entrepreneur."

The mural was originally planned for the side of Hollywood's historic El Capitan Theatre building, and Twitchell, whose works dot the Los Angeles skyline, collaborated with Jackson on it for three years.

"The nicest guy in the world. Down to earth. Not pretentious at all," is how he remembers him.

The project, part of a Hollywood restoration taking place at the time, was shelved in 1993. Twitchell says he was never told why but suspects Jackson having become the target of a child molestation investigation that year played a role.

Originally Jackson wanted to dress in black leather for the mural, Twitchell said, but he told him he'd like to go for a classic 1930s Hollywood pose, outfitting him in something Cary Grant would have worn at the time.

"He said, 'Oh yes, I can see that,'" Twitchell recalled.

Natalie Portman signs on for comedy "Your Highness"

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Natalie Portman is joining Danny McBride and James Franco in the fantasy comedy "Your Highness."

Written by Ben Best and McBride, the Universal Pictures project centers on an arrogant, lazy prince (McBride) who must complete a quest to save his father's kingdom. Joining him on the quest is McBride's more heroic brother, played by Franco.

Portman will play McBride's love interest, a warrior princess.

Director David Gordon Green ("Pineapple Express," "All the Real Girls") is shooting the film this summer in Northern Ireland.

Portman is working on "Hesher," an indie drama that marks her inauguration as a producer. She next stars with Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobey Maguire in the drama "Brothers," a remake of Susanne Bier's Danish film.

Spielberg's 2011 Christmas Present to Fans: Tintin

Los Angeles (E! Online) – Belgium's intrepid cub reporter will be breaking his first big-screen story in time for Christmas 2011. Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment have announced that Steven Spielberg's big-budget gamble The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn will hit theaters Dec. 23, 2011.

The two studios are coproducing the 3-D motion-capture event film, the first in a pair the E.T. director is doing with Lord of the Rings master Peter Jackson (who will helm the sequel). But in an unusual move, Paramount and Sony plan to roll out Tintin internationally up to two months before the U.S. release.

The strategy is the reverse of Hollywood's normal distribution pattern, but makes sense since it enables the partnering companies to capitalize on the comic book character's popularity abroad and build buzz, since Tintin is not well known stateside.

The film, which Spielberg started shooting in January, stars Jamie Bell as the titular hero and Daniel Craig as the despicable pirate Red Rackham. Andy Serkis, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Toby Jones also star.

Tintin will face some family-friend competition during the 2011 holiday season, with Warner Bros. set to release Happy Feet 2 and Disney/Pixar unleashing The Bear and the Bow.

Nia Vardalos back in spotlight

LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Seven years after being catapulted to fame and fortune with her hit comedy "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", Nia Vardalos makes a long-awaited return to the big screen this month with another film that takes the Canadian-born actress back to her ancestral roots.

Vardalos, 46, became an overnight success in 2002, when the romantic comedy she wrote and starred in went on to become a monster hit, earning more than 350 million dollars worldwide after being made for only five million dollars.

The success of the film -- which also earned Vardalos a best original screenplay nomination at the Oscars -- allowed Vardalos to take her time deciding her next career move.

Although she starred in a short-lived television spin-off of "Greek Wedding", Vardalos has been largely inactive since 2002 preferring to focus on starting a family before relaunching her career with "My Life in Ruins."

Her new film, which goes on release in North America on June 5, sees her play a Greek-American history professor who returns to Greece to work as a tour guide in Athens.

Vardalos said the script for the film, which includes several scenes shot at the Acropolis and other historic sites, had fired her enthusiasm after years out of the spotlight as she attempted to start a family.

"When we got the permission to shoot this film, it was so exciting and it was the first that I had found something where I wanted to be on camera in for a long time," she told reporters in Beverly Hills.

"In 2004, I had come to the end of a 10-year infertility battle and I just chose to privately deal with it, so I stepped back out of acting," said Vardalos, who recently adopted a three-year-old girl with her husband.

"I was really happy to be offered a nice clean script that celebrates Greece and is a love letter to Greece," she adds.

Vardalos says that despite the commercial success of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", her business relationships with her producers, who include actor Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson, have not changed.

"The good news is that you strive for what happened with my first movie for your whole life," Vardalos said. "And so it happened and its like, 'oh that's over, the rest is gravy.'

"The greater news is that my producers are the same producers. They treated me like gold before 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' made a dime. And they don't expect anything from me, except let's have fun and let's tell fun stories."

Vardalos, who did not write "My Life In Ruins," continues to pen screenplays.

But she says she has resisted the temptation to try and regurgitate the formula from "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" in an attempt to score another commercial bullseye.

"I write little movies and then the rest is up to the audience," she said. "It's the audience that made 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' a success.

"I think if you create with a financial goal in mind, artistically you are dead. Its best to tell fun stories and let the audience decide."

However Vardalos makes no apologies for the fact that "My Life In Ruins" and another upcoming film "I Hate Valentine's Day," which she wrote, directed and stars in, are both romantic comedies, like "Greek Wedding."

"I think that reviewers and the industry think that romance is dead," Vardalos said. "I think the audience wants it and needs it. I know I do.

"As I keep saying, as the average person, I like to escape into a movie. I like movies like 'Terminator' and 'Star Trek' as well."

Prince Harry plays polo on 1st official trip to US

NEW YORK – Prince Harry reminded New Yorkers on Saturday how much his mother had loved their city, then climbed onto a pony for a rousing game of polo to raise money for impoverished children in Africa.

On a brilliantly sunny day on Governors Island in New York Harbor, the 24-year-old prince drew a crowd that included stars like Madonna, actresses Kate Hudson and Chloe Sevigny, and rapper LL Cool J, but also lots of ordinary New Yorkers out for a rare sight: a polo game in the city.

"You see this out in the Hamptons, but not so much in the city," said Vincent Hodgins of Manhattan, who brought his two sons to watch the prince play.

The Veuve Clicquot Manhattan Polo Classic was a fundraiser for Sentebale, the charity that Harry has set up with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho to help poor children and AIDS orphans in that small African nation surrounded by South Africa.

"Prince Seeiso and I both lost our mothers when we were very young," Harry said in brief remarks before the match. "We set up Sentebale in their memory, and because my mother loved this city, it makes this occasion all the more poignant for me."

His team, named after the charity, proceeded to defeat the opposing Black Watch team 6-5. Harry assisted on the winning goal in the last seconds, drawing the biggest cheer of the afternoon. Both teams included prominent polo stars like Argentine Nacho Figueras, also a Ralph Lauren model, who played for Black Watch.

It was the second and final day of Harry's first official visit to the United States, which began with a sober visit Friday to the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. On Saturday morning, the prince toured Harlem's Children Zone, a community organization that offers families social and educational services. He and Prince Seeiso chatted with students working preparing for a Regents Exam.

"Who's the best pupil?" Harry asked the ninth-graders. "I was always the worst!"

Harry, the son of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, is third in line to the British throne, after his father and older brother, William. He's been dubbed the "party prince," and his New York trip seemed designed partly to counter that image with a focus on his charity work.

"I won't bore you with statistics, but please believe me when I say that Lesotho is a mere microcosm of what is so wonderful, but also so tragic about Africa today," he said before the match, reading from notes. "This beautiful kingdom has been ravaged by HIV/AIDS and poverty, leaving thousands of children without their parents."

The event was free to the public, but guests in the VIP tent on the opposite side of the field had paid from $50,000 a table down to $500 a head to picnic on the lawn. In true polo-watching fashion, there were more hats than at an Easter parade; for the women, they were topped by flowers, feathers and even butterflies climbing up a wire trellis.

Harry, though, was casual before the match in a navy blue blazer, open-collared shirt and white jeans, and loafers. And Madonna, accompanied by her sons, Rocco and David, was positively dressed down: She wore jeans and a denim jacket as she chatted with designer Marc Jacobs.

In the bleachers, Mike Hallman, visiting the city from North Carolina enjoyed the match with his family. "My kids have never seen polo before," he said. Added his 9-year-old son, Jason: "It's pretty exciting. I have never seen a prince."

Another spectator who'd never seen a polo match was LL Cool J.

"Hopefully, it'll be quite good," Harry told the singer during the reception.

"Are you going to win?" LL Cool J asked. "Mmmm. I don't know. Hopefully it's fixed," joked Harry.

The prince also said his visit had been "wonderful."

"It's been a whirlwind," he told The Associated Press. "I haven't had a chance to let the jet lag set in, and it's time to go already."

But his trip wasn't over after the match: Leaving Governors Island, the prince took a Coast Guard cutter up the Hudson River for an unannounced visit to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on Manhattan's west side.

He inspected the World War II aircraft carrier and checked out the cockpit of a retired British Airways Concorde jet. Museum president Bill White said the staff presented the prince with a section of the 1943 carrier's original wooden flight deck. Also present was a British Marine commando, Joe Townsend, who lost both legs while on duty in Afghanistan.

The prince's visit began Friday morning with a prayerful stop at ground zero. There, he spent about 15 minutes quietly speaking to a half-dozen relatives of 9/11 victims.

Harry then attached a wreath to a chain-link fence overlooking the Sept. 11 memorial under construction, bowing his head in silence for a few minutes. He also visited the firehouse across the street that houses Engine 10 and Ladder 10, which lost five members on Sept. 11, talking and laughing with firefighters there.

Later Friday, Harry formally named the British Memorial Garden in Hanover Square downtown to honor the 67 British victims of the terrorist attack. He also visited Manhattan's Veterans Affairs Medical Center, touring a clinic that treats veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and the prosthetics facilities.