Dateline Hollywood, 758 words--

DATELINE HOLLYWOOD
By Linda A. Harris
IPS Features

MACABRE PATSY CLINE AUCTION

Pieces of the airplane that crashed in 1963, killing country singer Patsy Cline and three others, are going up for auction.

Eric and Scott Mills, of Jackson, Tennessee, plan to sell the belly and tail of the Piper Comanche on eBay  beginning Sept. 1. The Mills brothers have set the minimum bid for the pieces at $50,000. The auction will last 10 days.

Cline, famous for such hits as "Crazy," "Walkin' After Midnight" and "I Fall to Pieces," was at the height of her popularity when she died at the age of thirty when her plane crashed on March 5, 1963 near Camden, Tennessee.

The Mills Brothers say their father paid a family friend $20 for the tail and "an undisclosed amount" for a portion of the belly in 1978.  It is uncertain where the "friend" obtained the pieces from Kline's plane.

Other parts of the Piper Comanche are displayed at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville. 

THE KING OF PRIMETIME UNDERGOES RADIATION THERAPY

Aaron Spelling, creator and  producer of such boob tube classics as Burke's Law, Mod Squad,  Charlie's Angels, The Mod Squad, Starsky and Hutch, S.W.A.T., Fantasy Island, Hart to Hart, Love Boat, T.J. Hooker, Dynasty, Beverly Hills 90210, Melrose Place and 7th Heaven -- just to name a few of his over 200 production credits, is resting comfortably after successful radiation therapy for a lesion in his throat, his publicist reported Friday afternoon.

Kevin Sasaki said Spelling "has been working from home while recuperating and thanks everyone for their good wishes. He looks forward to returning to his normal work schedule in the next few weeks, and hopes this will be an inspiration to others in similar situations" and was resting comfortably at his Los Angeles mansion (all 56,550 square feet of it!) . Sasaki did not say whether Spellings' lesion was malignant.

Spelling, 76, who is often seen sporting a pipe, was born in Dallas, Texas on April 22, 1925.

SINEAD O'CONNOR MARRIES JOURNALIST BEAU

Sinead O'Connor said, "I Do!" to her journalist boyfriend in a surreptitious ceremony attended by only close friends of the bride and groom.  Apparently, these wedding vows took place at the end of July, according to an Irish newspaper.

O'Connor met Nick Sommerlad, 27, in Dublin where he works for the Press Association news agency.  This is the second marriage for the 35-year-old singer and priest.  Hmm -- wonder if she performed the ceremony and he reported on it?

DID ASHLEY JUDD ELOPE?

Did Ashley Judd and her race-car-driving fiancé Dario Franchitti rush to the altar?  The answer is yes according to the New York Post reported August 17.   The publication quotes several anonymous sources said the lovebirds have "disappeared," in all probability to tie the knot.

Judd and Franchitti became engaged in December 2000.

CARMEN ELECTRA GETTING HITCHED

Carmen Electra and main squeeze, musician Dave Navarro, are tying the knot according to the New York Post.

The former guitarist for Jane's Addiction and Red Hot Chili Peppers apparently asked for Carmen's hand last week and she said YES!  This is the second marriage for both.  Who can forget her first, four-month marriage to bad boy Dennis Rodman?  I'm sure Carmen is trying to forget.

 KATE HUDSON SUING PERSONAL ASSISTANT

Academy Awarding winning actress Kate Hudson is suing her former personal assistant charging the woman with stealing more than $63,000 from right under the actress' nose.  According to the Los Angeles Superior Court complaint, Margaret Miller was employed by Hudson from July 1999 until March 2000  

During her employment, Hudson claims Miller "hired limos, pampered herself at beauty salons, purchased clothes, rented hotel rooms and charged $4,374.50 for a first-class airline ticket upgrade. " Hudson, 27, is seeking "unspecified punitive damages and damages for the expense incurred in investigating the alleged thefts."  No criminal charges have been filed

MARILYN MANSON IN HOT WATER

Marilyn Manson was charged with criminal sexual conduct and one count of misdemeanor assault and battery  resulting from his "strange behavior" at a recent concert. (Manson -- strange behavior -- who would've guessed?)  A warrant was issued for his arrest on August 16. 

In the middle of a July 30 show in Michigan, Manson, adorned in only a G-string, purported spit on a 25-year-old security guard, enveloped his legs around the individual's head and neck and began gyrating on him in front of thousands of fans at the concert.  This strange "performance" is a fourth-degree felony charge that could carry up to two years in prison.

 

 

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