Morning Links: Daughter says Peter Falk has Alzheimer's
After he was photographed in April looking upset and confused on a Beverly Hills street, Peter Falk's daughter Catherine says in a court motion that he has Alzheimer's disease and dementia. The legal papers say Falk, 81, "requires full-time custodial care for his health and safety" and "can easily be deceived into transferring away property." Falk is living with his wife, from whom Catherine is estranged. Falk's manager did not return calls seeking comment.
Brad Pitt tells Hello! magazine that his six children (well, at least the oldest ones) settle for simple, mostly handmade Christmas gifts. He says he and Angelina Jolie do give the kids gifts, "although we don't feel any pressure to make them big or expensive gifts." The kids don't demand elaborate presents, he said, because "they don't see a lot of the American cartoon television, which is packed with all those manipulative commercials for big toys that look so fantastic."
The third person who was present when Mark Ruffalo's brother was shot in the head has been in jail, reports TMZ.com. Kristian Muradaz was locked up after he violated his probation in a DUI case. Muradaz was accused of attempted murder in the death of Scott Ruffalo, but was then released without charge. Shana Mishaal Adham, who was in the apartment when Ruffalo was shot, was also charged, then released.
The manager of three siblings in the Culkin family's says Macaulay and his family are "heartbroken" over the death of their sister Dakota, who was struck by a car last Tuesday in Los Angeles. Macaulay, 28, Kieran, 26, and Rory, 19, were all working on film or TV projects in L.A. when they got the news.
Tom Cruise is everywhere pushing his new movie, "Valkyrie," even reading a mocking Top 10 list on the David Letterman show. But he seems to most enjoy speaking out about his brilliant daughter, Suri, 2. "Her vocabulary is incredible," says the proud papa. Wife Katie Holmes turns 30 tomorrow, and Cruise says he they will celebrate that morning, because he'll be at his movie's premiere that night, while Holmes will be in Manhattan, where she is starring in "All My Sons" on Broadway.
Diddy threw a 38th birthday party for Kim Porter, the mother of his 10-year-old son and twin girls, who are nearly 2, at Murano Restaurant & Lounge in West Hollywood. Attending the bash were Ellen Pompeo of Grey's Anatomy and her husband Chris Ivery.
The woman who died in a car crash after taping the MTV reality show "A Double Shot at Love," was reportedly street racing at the time of the crash, police say. Kandice Hutchison was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from her car when it went out of control, police said.
Oprah's company, Harpo Films, has signed an exclusive agreement with HBO to produce documentaries, movies, mini-series and scripted shows, says Variety. This marks the end of Harpo's exclusive contract with ABC.
-- Anne Neville
