Veteran actor Richard Harris — whose best known films include Camelot and The Field — has died at 72. He succumbed to Hodgkin's disease on Friday in a London hospital, where he had been undergoing chemotherapy treatment. Beloved for his wizardly white mane, the Irishman most recently played Hogwarts headmaster Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter movies. Over the weekend, Potter producer David Heyman told Britain's ITV News that he will reluctantly recast the role of Dumbledore in the upcoming third installment. "We will find a new Dumbledore," he said, "but there will only be one Richard Harris." For more on Harris's death, click here.
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CBS's last-ditch effort to revive its struggling Early Show launched this morning with a new four-person anchor team — a la ABC's The View. The lucky quartet consists of Harry Smith, Hannah Storm, Julie Chen and Rene Syler. Somewhere, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer are not sweating.
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An $800,000 Michigan house owned by Aretha Franklin burned down Friday. The singer was not present at the time, as she mainly used the 5,000-square-foot residence to store boxes and furniture. In related news, on any given night, there are more than 40,000 homeless people in Michigan in need of shelter.
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West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin is taking some sassy potshots at departing cast member Rob Lowe. In the current issue of Newsweek, Sorkin jokes that there's a lot of pressure writing for an actor of Lowe's caliber. "You're looking at the spectre of [past Lowe films] Atomic Train and Oxford Blues and St. Elmo's Fire," he says, "and you try to live up to those standards, and sometimes you can't." Ouch!
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Friends millionaire Matthew Perry is in final talks to co-star with his real-life dad, actor John Bennett Perry, in the father-son drama The Beginning of Wisdom. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Perry would shoot the film in the spring, after he wraps his ninth — and likely final — season of Friends.
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How's this for an unbelievable stunt: Jackass: The Movie — the big-screen adaptation of the late MTV series — debuted in first place at the box office with $22.7 million. Not surprisingly, young men accounted for half of the film's audience. The Ring slipped to No. 2, but cinched its sleeper status by actually grossing nearly $4 million more than last weekend. The Naomi Watts thriller took in $18.8 million for a 10-day total of $39.7 million. Rounding out the top five: Ghost Ship (No. 3 with $11.7 million), Sweet Home Alabama (No. 4 with $6.4 million) and My Big Fat Greek Wedding (No. 5 with $6.3 million).
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer's creator is about to drive a stake through the hearts of the show's diehard fans: According to Joss Whedon, the Chosen One and her trusty gang of Scoobies will likely call it a doomsday in May. "I'm beginning to suspect that it may be [Buffy's] last season," he tells TV Guide Online. "Nothing's official, but it's starting to feel possible. The way people are talking, there's a finality to it."
Might the folks with whom Whedon's been conferring work at A.C. Nielsen? Compared to this time last year, Buffy's ratings are off an alarming 16 percent. In fact, last week more viewers watched Buffy's bloody brilliant spinoff Angel than the mother show itself. "It had a really good seven-year run and it's time to call it quits," implores Mediaweek columnist Mar
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