Movies

How Ronnie Spector and 'Be My Baby' became a pop-culture sound of sex in 1987

11:40am January 13, 2022

by Linda Holmes

Twice in the same year, the song "Be My Baby" — featuring the voice of Ronnie Spector, who died this week — became the sound that signaled something memorably, indelibly sexy.

Nicole Kidman, shown here at the Los Angeles premier of Being the Ricardos, says switching between Lucille Ball and her I Love Lucy character was like performing a "high-wire act."

Arts

Nicole Kidman says being an indoor kid and a bookworm led her to acting

1:34pm January 12, 2022

by Terry Gross

While her friends and family went to the Australian beaches, Kidman stayed indoors reading — and imagining herself as a character in the books. Kidman stars as Lucille Ball in Being the Ricardos.

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Books
Arts

Actor Kal Penn isn't afraid to take chances, on screen or in life

6:21pm January 10, 2022

by Ann Marie Baldonado

Penn got his start in stoner comedies, then took a hiatus from acting to work for the Obama administration. He shares stories from his life and career in the memoir You Can't Be Serious.

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In a private ceremony Sunday, the 79th annual Golden Globes were handed out

8:16am January 10, 2022

The Golden Globes weren't televised or streamed online. The results were posted online and on Twitter. The changes were in response to scandals that rocked the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

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Choreographer Justin Peck helped to reimagine 'West Side Story' for the 21st century

5:12am January 10, 2022

by Susan Stamberg

Six decades after the film "West Side Story" premiered, the legendary musical has been reimagined. Choreographer Justin Peck updated the dances of the original story.

Actor and comedian Bob Saget, pictured in November 2021, has died at age 65.

Actor and comedian Bob Saget dies at 65

10:23pm January 09, 2022

by James Doubek

Saget was a prominent presence on American television screens throughout the 1990s as the father Danny Tanner on Full House and the host of America's Funniest Home Videos.

Arts

The Golden Globes go on, but won't be televised

5:09pm January 09, 2022

by Mandalit del Barco

The Golden Globes take place in Beverly Hills Sunday. But there will be big changes: limits on the audience size, nominees are not expected to attend — and the ceremony won't even be televised.

Remembering Sidney Poitier

6:11pm January 08, 2022

by Walter Ray Watson

Sidney Poitier, the great actor, director and activist who died this week at age 94, was revered for his magnetic presence, and for showing the humanity in ambitious, hopeful Black characters.

Marilyn Bergman (L) with her husband and partner in lyric-writing, Alan Bergman (R)

Oscar-winning lyricist Marilyn Bergman has died at 93

5:05pm January 08, 2022

by Elizabeth Blair

Alongside her husband, Alan, she won two Academy Awards for Best Original Song for "The Windmills of Your Mind" and "The Way We Were."

Sidney Poitier won his first Oscar in 1964 for his role as Homer, the reluctant handyman in Lilies of the Field.

Arts

Sir, we loved you: Sidney Poitier dies at 94

5:35pm January 07, 2022

by Walter Ray Watson

Poitier was the first Black actor to win a Best Actor Oscar, for 1963's Lilies of the Field. His good looks and smooth, commanding presence made him an icon to generations of moviegoers.

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