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Whitney Houston's mom says she's proud of her - Yahoo! News

2012-03-31T12:04:10-04:00

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Cissy Houston says in her first interview since daughter Whitney's death that she's "very proud" of her and did the best she could raising her.
Houston talked to My9 on Thursday night for an interview set to air Monday. The interview took place at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, N.J., where Whitney first wowed a congregation as a girl and where her funeral was held Feb. 18.
Cissy Houston says her daughter "accomplished a whole lot in the short time that she had here" and "was a very wonderful person." She says she doesn't blame herself for what happened to her because she knows she did the best she could.
Whitney Houston's death has been ruled an accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.

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Autopsy: Singer Davy Jones died of heart attack - Yahoo! News

2012-03-01T21:21:52-05:00

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — An autopsy confirms that Davy Jones, star of 1960s band The Monkees, died of a heart attack.
The medical examiner's office in Martin County, Fla., says authorities completed their examination Thursday morning, a day after Jones was rushed to the hospital. Toxicology tests could take another six or eight weeks, but there's no sign anything else is to blame for the 66-year-old heartthrob's death.
Jones rocketed to stardom in the 1960s as a member of The Monkees, a made-for-TV rock band patterned after the Beatles. Though their televisioin show lasted just two years and the group ultimately broke up, they have endured with such chart-topping hits as "I'm a Believer" and "Daydream Believer."
A spokeswoman for Jones says funeral arrangements have not yet been made.

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Lisa Marie Presley opens new Elvis exhibit - Yahoo! News

2012-02-02T11:04:30-05:00

NASHVILLE (Reuters) - Elvis Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, gave visitors to Graceland an inside look at her life with the King of Rock 'n' Roll at his Memphis estate on Wednesday as she celebrated her 44th birthday with the opening of a new exhibit.

The exhibit is called "Elvis... Through His Daughter's Eyes," and displays artifacts including Lisa Marie's baby footprints, tricycle, a record player and her crib, said Kevin Kern, director of public relations for Elvis Presley Enterprises.

"This exhibit is something she has been very excited about," Kern said, adding that it also includes family photos and home movies featuring Lisa Marie's childhood and her relationship with her father before he died in 1977.

On an appearance on ABC's "Good Morning America" Wednesday, Lisa Marie Presley showed off a scarf on which Elvis had written the words "I love my Lisa, Daddy" from 1972.

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Newly bequeathed letter shows Beethoven's misery - Yahoo! News

2012-01-10T12:24:26-05:00

BERLIN (Reuters) - A rare handwritten letter by German composer Ludwig van Beethoven complaining about illness and a lack of money has turned up at a northern German institute as part of a bequest, causing excitement among lovers of the musical genius.

The Brahms Institute in the northern city of Luebeck said the six-page letter bearing the composer's signature and original seal was, in essence, an attempt to sell his well-known "Missa solemnis" mass which he completed in 1823.

In the letter, Beethoven asks harpist and composer Franz Anton Stockhausen to help find advance buyers for the mass.

But most striking are details about his personal circumstances, such as his financial concerns, an eye disorder and an attempt to track down a music-loving dentist who wrote to him, said Stefan Weymar, music researcher at the institute.

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Winfrey: Dedicated to OWN despite rocky first year - Yahoo! News

2011-12-29T12:25:11-05:00

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oprah Winfrey earned the rare opportunity to convert her media charisma into a monogramed TV channel. Now she's the one tasked with rescuing OWN, the Oprah Winfrey Network, after a disappointing first year.
It's a high-stakes, potentially ego-shattering challenge that could make the strongest woman or man flinch. But win or lose, Winfrey says she relishes the fight to turn OWN's fortunes around.
"Yes, some mistakes were made. Who hasn't made mistakes? The real beauty is you can say, 'I learned from that,'" Winfrey said. "I don't worry about failure. I worry about, 'Did I do all I could do?'"
The cable channel, which marks its first year Jan. 1, is trying for a fresh start after executive turnover and missteps that proved OWN lacked a solid foundation on which to build, this despite a Discovery Communications investment of a reported $250 million and counting.

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Nun famous for kissing Elvis prays for miracle - Yahoo! News

2011-12-23T11:50:45-05:00

BETHLEHEM, Conn. (AP) — In the little town of Bethlehem, a cloistered nun whose luminous blue eyes entranced Elvis Presley in his first on-screen movie kiss is praying for a Christmas miracle.
Dolores Hart, who walked away from Hollywood stardom in 1963 to become a nun in rural Bethlehem, Conn., now finds herself back in the spotlight. But this time it's all about serving the King of Kings, not smooching the King of Rock and Roll.
The former brass factory that houses Mother Dolores and about 40 other nuns cloistered at the Abbey of Regina Laudis needs millions of dollars in renovations to meet fire and safety codes, add an elevator and make handicap accessibility upgrades.
Like 73-year-old Mother Dolores, the order's nuns have taken a vow of stability with the intent to live, work and die at the complex. The order was established in 1947 in Bethlehem, a small burg in Connecticut's rolling western hills.

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Welles's "Citizen Kane" Oscar sells for $861,542 - Yahoo! News

2011-12-21T11:08:25-05:00

(Reuters) - Orson Welles's Oscar for writing "Citizen Kane" -- regarded as one of the best films ever made -- sold for $861,542 on Tuesday as a hot market for Hollywood memorabilia helped erase memories of an unsuccessful auction four years ago.

The best screenplay statuette awarded in 1942 -- the only Oscar given to Citizen Kane -- failed to meet its undisclosed reserve price when it was last up for auction at Sotheby's New York in 2007. At that time it was expected to sell for around $1 million.

Although tarnished by age, the Oscar, sold by Los Angeles auction house Nate D. Saunders on behalf of its anonymous seller, carried a reserve price of between $600,000 and $1 million. Bids came in from around the world in what the auction house termed an "exciting" sale.

"This is a testament to the popularity of Orson Welles and his magnum opus Citizen Kane," said Nate D. Saunders, owner of the auction house, in a statement.

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