Character actor Charles Durning has passed away of natural causes, the Associated Press reports. Durning died on Monday in his Manhattan home at the age of 89.
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If this year’s SAG Awards (simulcast Sunday on TNT and TBS) will be remembered for anything, it won’t be for who won or lost—there was little surprise and virtually no suspense in the no-frills ceremony—but for its symbolic timing in the middle of a painful, industry-crippling labor strike.Airing two weeks after the pathetic teleconference-style Golden Globes braadcast, hobbled together after the threat of pickets shut down that night’s gala, the SAGs (marking the union's 75th anniversary) attracted a glittery gathering of movie and TV stars—although there were still some curious no-shows, including TV winners Alec Baldwin, Kevin Kline and this year’s People’s Choice host Queen Latifah as well as film nominee George Clooney. More than a few voiced their support on stage for their striking brethren in the WGA Guild, including Tina Fey (herself a WGA member) and Julie Christie, who noted, “It’s lovely to receive an award from your own ...
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Jericho: The First Season arrives on DVD Oct. 2 in a six-disc, 22-episode set. My copy came packed with (real, not styrofoam) peanuts; yours, probably not.... Tuesday's premiere of CBS' Cane will be fully sponsored by Chevrolet and thus feature limited commercial breaks.... Season 2 of Aaron McGruder's The Boondocks premieres on Adult Swim Oct. 8 at 11:30 pm/ET.... Charles Durning will receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award when the 14th Annual SAG Awards are presented on Jan. 27, 2008.... From Oct. 2 to Nov. 7, Starbucks will give away a total of 50 million free "Song of the Day" downloads, starting with Bob Dylan's "Joker Man," to promote a new iTunes wireless service.
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After Wednesday’s formless, scattershot finale of Rescue Me, I’m with Charles Durning. Almost. Head down, eyes closed, taking a long, long nap. For me, this respite will last until next summer, when Rescue Me returns for its fifth and what we have to hope will be a more satisfying season. For Durning, who played Tommy’s dad, there’s no waking up. Will he in retrospect be seen as the lucky one?In a poignant though not entirely unpredictable moment, made more notable for a quiet tenderness one rarely sees on this raw and raucous show, Tommy’s dad slipped away into a final rest as he sat beside his son at a minor-league baseball game. He brushes something off his clothes and then he’s gone. Just like that. Sure beats the violent end that has come to most people Tommy has lost during the run of this series. And yet: sad. Denis Leary played the reaction beautifully. Poor Tommy.I will try to resist using the most obvious baseball-as-life-metaphor analogy here...
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Although life hasn't always been a paper moon for Tatum O'Neal, it's been great practice for braving the boys' club of FX's Rescue Me (Tuesdays at 10 pm/ET).
TV Guide: Your Rescue Me character, Maggie Gavin, is the sister of Denis Leary's Tommy Gavin. Describe her.
Tatum O'Neal: What you see is a real broad, a Queens woman who doesn't think before she speaks and is extreme in everything — extreme in her drinking, extreme in her men, extreme in her language, extreme in her opinions. Extreme all the way.
TV Guide: How did she get that way?
O'Neal: Maybe it's because s
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