Entertainment News from November 1998
Updated June 26, 2020 |
Infoplease Staff
- 5
- Word from London is that waif supermodel Kate Moss has checked herself in to the $500-a-day Priory Clinic, which is known as England's Betty Ford Center. “I've been doing a lot of work and…too much partying,” Moss said. “I wasn't happy with the way my life was going, so I decided to take a step back and assess my life and future.”
- 6
- People magazine names Harrison Ford the Sexiest Man Alive, citing his “green-gray eyes, the slept-on hair, the endearing scar on the chin.”
- 8
- Adam Sandler's gridiron comedy, The Waterboy, sacks the competition, taking in a whopping $39.1 million at the box office in its opening weekend, becoming the biggest film debuting in November or December.
- 10
- The American Film Institute announces that Dustin Hoffman has been selected as the recipient of the 1999 AFI Lifetime Achievement Award. “His versatility, range, and uncanny ability to embody the characters he plays has amazed audiences across the globe since his arrival on the screen more than 30 years ago,” said AFI chairman Tom Pollock. The award is considered Hollywood's highest honor. He'll receive the reward on February 18.
- 13
- Another Friend is about to take the plunge. Matt LeBlanc confirms that he's engaged to model Melissa McKnight. No date has been set. It's the first marriage for LeBlanc, and the second for McKnight, who has two children.
- 14
- Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra tie the knot in a Las Vegas ceremony. The nuptials were far from romantic, with Rodman reportedly three sheets to the wind. The couple had been dating since the summer. Rodman's agent, Dwight Manley, promptly questioned the union, saying that Electra had taken advantage of Rodman. But lover-boy Rodman quickly issued a statement saying, “I love Carmen and am proud to be married to her.”
- 16
- Former White House intern Monica Lewinsky plans to go public with her side of the sordid affair in an interview with Barbara Walters. She won't be paid for the chat session, but she will reportedly retain foreign rights, which translates into a payday. President Clinton's former paramour will also write a tell-all book for St. Martin's Press, with royal biographer Andrew Morton. She'll receive an advance in the $600,000 range.
- The Library of Congress announces the 1998 additions to the National Film Registry. This year's entries include Tootsie, Easy Rider and The Bride of Frankenstein. The films, which must be at least 10 years old, are chosen based on “their historical, cultural and aesthetic significance.”
- 17
- Emmy Award-winning Esther Rolle dies after a long illness at age 70. She is best remembered for her role as Florida Evans on Good Times, which Norman Lear created for her. She had hoped the show, the first written by African Americans, would fairly and realistically explore black culture in America. Instead, the show became a stereotypical vehicle for Jimmy Walker. Rolle's other credits include Maude, Driving Miss Daisy and How to Make An American Quilt.
- 18
- Melissa Etheridge and Julie Cypher welcome their second child. Beckett, a 9-pound, 5-ounce boy joins, sister Bailey Jean. Cypher carried the child. No word on who fathered the child.
- 19
- Acclaimed director Alan Pakula dies in a freak car accident. While driving in Long Island, a metal pipe crashed through his windshield, causing him to lose control of his car and hit a fence. Pakula directed Klute, Sophie's Choice, for which he also wrote the screenplay and All the President's Men. More recently, he directed the thrillers The Devil's Own and Presumed Innocent. At the time of his death, he was at work on a biopic of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, based on the book No Ordinary Time.
- Director/producer Blake Edwards tells Parade magazine that a surgical procedure to remove noncancerous throat nodules has so drastically weakend the voice of his wife, Julie Andrews, that she can no longer carry a tune.
- 22
- Kate Winslet, the other Titanic star, marries assistant film director Jim Threapleton in a private, Reading, England, ceremony.
- 23
- Dennis Rodman files for annulment from spouse of nine days, Carmen Electra, claiming he was “not of sound mind” when he said “I do.” This comes as no surprise (the sound mind part), as Rodman was reportedly drunk during the quickie Las Vegas ceremony.
- American History X director Tony Kaye files a $200 million suit against New Line Cinema and the Directors Guild of America, claiming his rights were violated when he was not allowed to remove his name from the film. Kaye claims that Edward Norton, the film's star, made several changes to the film, which altered Kaye's vision of the movie. “What would have been a great film is now a good film,” he said. The DGA allows a director to remove his or her name from the credits as long as the director makes the request confidentially and does not publicly dis the film. Indeed, Kaye did not comply with the rules. Neither the DGA nor New Line comment.
- 24
- Jimmy Smits' Det. Bobby Simone succumbs to a heart infection and enters the great beyond on a tear-jerker episode of NYPD Blue. He'll be replaced by Rick Schroeder.
- 25
- Michael J. Fox tells People magazine that he's been battling Parkinson's disease for seven years. The disease, which also afflicts U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and Muhammed Ali, attacks the central nervous system and has no known cause or cure. Symptoms include muscle tremors and stiffness. Fox controls the disease with medication.
- Comedian Flip Wilson dies of liver cancer at age 64. He will be best remembered for his eponymous variety show, which ran from 1970 to 1974.
- 30
- Adam Sandler's in the big leagues now, right up there with Tom Cruise, Jim Carrey and Tom Hanks. Following the phenomenal success of The Waterboy, New Line offers him close to $20 million for his next movie, Little Nicky, and even more for his following project.
- It's been a rocky road for Mick Jagger and his wife, Jerry Hall, but it looks as if the latest stumbling block may be the last. London's The Sun tabloid reports that the Stones frontman has impregnated a Brazilian model, Giminez Morad. Just more than a week ago, Jagger reportedly walked out on Hall and shacked up with another model, Carla Bruni, following an argument with his wife over their daughter's budding modeling career. Hmm, wonder why he doesn't want his daughter to break into the profession.
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