Dateline Hollywood, 683 words--

On a blistering hot day in Hollywood, a few friends gathered to pay their respects to man with a lot of heart and chutzpah.

Jack Lemmon and dozens of other celebrities joined together at the Director's Guild auditorium to recollect what is was like to know Walter Matthau.

Comparing it to a roast instead of a bunch of eulogies, audience members Gregory Peck , Carl Reiner ,Sophia Loren, Angie Dickinson, and Howard W. Koch heard roasters Diane Keaton, Red Buttons, Larry King, Lauren Bacall and Jack Lemmon recall Matthau's humor and mischievousness.

Matthau died on July 1 of heart failure at the age of 79.

Sally Field will play a re-occurring role on NBC's hit series, ER, this season. Playing the estranged mother of ER regular, Maura Tierney, Field will appear in six episodes.

Following in the footsteps of his fellow country western performers, Garth Brooks thought it be a great idea to turn his suburban Nashville home into a museum. Well, looks like Garthland ain't gonna happen.

A group of Brooks' former neighbors met at a town hall meeting and said thumbs down to the would-be tourist attraction.

Citing noise and traffic among the many complaints, one resident told the Tennessean, "I'm not sure what this (museum) will mean, but I'm not thrilled by it."

Walter Latham, the 29-year-old brainchild behind the hit comedy, Original Kings of Comedy, left home without it.

A single father who went from a $15,000 job at American Express to CEO of his own entertainment company, Latham borrowed money from his mother's pension fund to finance the first "Kings" tour with Chris Tucker. Wonder why he didn't use his American Express card?

Gregory Hines dream is coming true.

Hines is up in Toronto starring in a Showtime production of the life and times of legendary entertainer, Bill Robinson. Hines fought tooth and nail for over 15 years to get this project on its feet.

Robinson, son of slaves, became a top entertainer and tap dancer extraordinaire on Broadway and then Hollywood, but died penniless in New York in 1949.

Lovebirds Angelina Jolie and Billy Bob Thornton have taken up roots by purchasing a house in Beverly Hills. The former home of rock star, Slash, the newlyweds paid just under $3.8 million for the 1929 Spanish-style residence.

The couple married in May in Las Vegas.

Super country star Dwight Yoakam, sold his Malibu hideaway. The selling point must have been the six-horse stable and a garage with a shop!

At 74, entertainer Jerry Lewis just signed a 20-year contract with the Orleans hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Here comes Harry to the big screen: 11-year-old British actor Daniel Radcliffe will play the coveted role of the boy wizard in the movie adaptation of "Harry Potter and the

Sorcerer's Stone," due in theaters next year.

1. The Cell $17.2 million

2. Original Kings of Comedy $11.7 million

3. Space Cowboys $9.9 million

4. The Replacements $7.5 million

5. What Lies Beneath $7.1 million

Action packs the screen in this adventure starring Wesley Snipes, Anne Archer and Donald Sutherland.

Paul Winfield stars in this compelling drama about an African American couple and their two adopted Vietnamese orphans. The birth mother resurfaces after 20 years. A reunion

The Mafia meets Grumpy Old Men in South Beach, Miami starring Burt Reynolds, and Richard Dreyfuss

Comedy starring Famke Janssen as a woman journalist bitter about her past romances. Also stars Cheri Oteri, Ann Magnuson, Jon Favreau and Noah Emmerich.

Documentary about rock band, Phish.

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