Monitor

Amy Winehouse's court hearing and Ron Silver's death made news the week of March 16, 2009

EXPECTING
Bones star David Boreanaz, 39, and wife Jaime Bergman, 26, have a second child on the way. Their son Jaden is 6…. Eleventh Hour‘s Marley Shelton, 34, and her producer husband, Beau Flynn, 38, are counting down to the birth of their first child this fall…. Watchmen‘s Patrick Wilson, 35, and wife Dagmara Dominczyk, 32, are preparing for the arrival of their second child this summer.

BIRTHS
Former Men in Trees stars Anne Heche, 39, and James Tupper, 43, found another little man of their own when son Atlas was born in L.A. the weekend of March 14. Heche has a 7-year-old son, Homer, from her previous marriage to Coley Laffoon…. Two and a Half Men star Charlie Sheen, 43, is dad to a full five kids after wife Brooke Mueller Sheen gave birth to twin boys, Bob and Max, on March 14 in L.A. Sheen has three daughters from earlier relationships…. TV personality Carson Daly, 35, and girlfriend Siri Pinter became first-time parents on March 15 when their son Jackson James was born.

MARRIAGE
Actress-singer Mandy Moore, 24, and alt-country warbler Ryan Adams, 34, will make sweet music together as husband and wife after wedding in a quiet ceremony in Savannah on March 10.

ENGAGED
Funnyman Cheech Marin, 62, is getting hitched to classical pianist Natasha Rubin…. Actress Christina Ricci, 29, will wed comedian boyfriend Owen Benjamin, 28…. Actors Danny Masterson, 33, and Bijou Phillips, 28, are tying the knot after dating for more than four years.

PARTING WAYS
On March 17, Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, 44, announced on the band’s website that they are leaving Geffen Records after 18 years.

SPLITS
Alaska’s First Daughter Bristol Palin, 18, and Levi Johnston, 19, ended their engagement. Palin gave birth to their son, Tripp, in December…. Jennifer Aniston, 40, and John Mayer, 31, are reportedly no longer dating. The couple were together for roughly a year.

MILESTONE
Dog Whisperer host Cesar Millan, 39, became an American citizen on March 12. Millan, born in Mexico, passed his citizenship test this year.

COURTS
Prosecutors charged attorney Howard K. Stern, 40, with multiple felony counts of conspiring to provide prescription drugs illegally to his late client and girlfriend, Anna Nicole Smith, two years after her death from an overdose. Stern’s lawyer says his client is ”innocent of all charges.”… Tupac Shakur‘s mother, Afeni, 61, filed a $10 million cross-complaint against Morgan Creek Productions on March 16, alleging that the film studio used ”threats, coercion, and intimidation” to ruin a potential biopic of the late rapper. Morgan Creek sued Afeni’s Amaru Entertainment last month, claiming that the estate had backed out of a film deal. Morgan Creek’s codefendant, L.T. Hutton, says, ”We never contacted any studio to sabotage any other deal.”… On March 13, blink-182 drummer Travis Barker, 33, filed papers demanding $20 million for the September plane crash that left him and DJ AM, 35, covered in third-degree burns and four other people dead. The two musicians have filed suits against the plane manufacturer, a charter company, and the pilots, who died in the accident. All parties have denied responsibility.

AILING
Radio host Don Imus, 68, announced on the air March 16 that he has stage II prostate cancer. He said his prognosis ”couldn’t be better.”

DEATHS
Oscar-nominated screenwriter and Mr. Magoo co-creator Millard Kaufman, 92, died of heart failure March 14 in L.A. — With additional reporting by Stewart Allen

Amy Winehouse Pleads Not Guilty to Assault, Has Not Entirely Quit Her Day Job
While the rest of the world gathered to down green beers in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, oft-hard-partying singer Amy Winehouse, 25, attended a different sort of soiree — a hearing in a London court. On March 17, the singer pleaded not guilty to assault charges stemming from a September 2008 incident in which she allegedly punched a fan. In keeping with the formality of this day, she reportedly stated her situation-appropriate married name: Amy Jade Civil. (Her estranged husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, began divorce proceedings in January.) Winehouse, who’s out on bail, is scheduled to return for a hearing in July. That may be the only public appearance on her docket for now.

Earlier this month, the singer canceled a highly anticipated performance at April’s Coachella festival in California, but as she went to court she was listed as a performer, alongside the likes of Chicago and Chaka Khan, on the official website for May’s Saint Lucia Jazz festival. Unfortunately, according to her rep, the Caribbean concert series will not have Amy in the house: ”No performance dates are scheduled at this time.” No one at the festival offices could be reached for comment. Still, fans feeling neglected by the troubled troubadour may find reason to have faith in the luck o’ the Irish: Adds the rep, ”She continues to write new music.”— Lindsay Soll

West Wing Actor Ron Silver Dies
Actor Ron Silver passed away March 15 in his Manhattan home from esophageal cancer; he was 62. Silver won a Tony for his 1988 performance in David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow, but was probably best known for his turn in the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune and his memorable run on The West Wing. ”Ron lit up the set every time he came to work,” says series creator Aaron Sorkin. ”Everyone on our show loved him, and he can’t be replaced.” Silver was a president of Actors’ Equity and a cofounder of the Creative Coalition. After 9/11, his politics veered right, surprising some. But it was that same sense of unpredictability that made every Ron Silver performance one worth watching. — Chris Nashawaty

Related Articles