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TV psychologist Joyce Brothers dies at age 85

U.S. psychologist Joyce Brothers, who parlayed her 1955 victory on the TV game show "The $64,000 Question" into a nearly six-decade career as a television personality and columnist, died on Monday, her publicist said. She was 85. Brothers died of natural causes in New York, said Sanford Brokaw, her Los Angeles-based spokesman. She began dispensing advice on television in 1958 and penned columns on topics such as sex, relationships and parenting until early this year. At one point, Brothers' syndicated column was published in more than 300 newspapers and she authored a monthly column in the women's magazine Good Housekeeping. Brothers, a forerunner of media-savvy psychologists such as Laura Schlessinger and Phil McGraw, was a fixture in American living rooms in the 1960s, '70s and '80s with her own syndicated television programs on networks NBC and CBS and cameo appearances in films and TV series. She famously poked fun at herself by analyzing the Fonz&

Mel Brooks: 'I'm finally getting recognized as a good director'

Mel Brooks, whose long career in comedy includes writing and directing hilarious films like "The Producers" and "Young Frankenstein," will receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award on June 6. And if you ask him, it's about time. "They're finally recognizing that I'm a pretty good director," the 86-year-old former standup comedian said in a wide-ranging interview at his Culver City offices near Los Angeles. "They say, 'Comedy force, good writer, funny actor. Nobody ever, in the press or anywhere, said I was a good director." Brooks' career is also being recognized on May 20, when PBS will premiere "Mel Brooks: Make a Noise," a documentary that traces his life from his childhood in Brooklyn to Broadway, where a musical adaption of his film "The Producers" won 12 Tony Awards. "Quiet on the set!," Brooks bellows at one point in the interview with Reuters. Leaping to his f

DiCaprio's wildlife charity auction brings in $38.8 million

Actor Leonardo DiCaprio and Christie's auction house raised $38.8 million through a charity art auction and donations, Christie's said on Tuesday, with proceeds to benefit environmental and conservation causes. The 33 works in The 11th Hour Auction organized by the star of the new film "The Great Gatsby" sold for $31.74 million on Monday evening and set 13 records for artists including Carol Bove, Joe Bradley, Mark Grotjahn, Raymond Pettibon and Mark Ryden among others. A $5 million matching donation for three of the lots and additional gifts from donors brought the overall total to $38.8 million for The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, according to Christie's. "All I can say is thank you, thank you, thank you," DiCaprio told the audience at the end of the auction. Many of the works, which were created for and donated to the auction by the artists, sold in spirited bidding in a packed auction house. Art collectors from around the globe also placed bi

Comedian Bill Hader to leave NBC's 'Saturday Night Live'

"Saturday Night Live" star Bill Hader will be leaving the U.S. late night sketch comedy show following its upcoming season finale, the comedian's publicist said on Tuesday. _0"> Hader, an eight-year veteran of the NBC show, is best known for his impressions of smug game show hosts, actor Al Pacino and Stefon, a gay TV journalist known for recommending over-the-top night clubs on the show's longtime "Weekend Update" segment. The actor first told the New York Times he was leaving "Saturday Night Live." "It was a hard decision, but it has to happen at some point," Hader told the newspaper. "It got to a point where I said, 'Maybe it's just time to go.'" Hader, 34, joins a recent stream of top talent to depart the show, which will finish its 38th season on Saturday. Popular mainstays Kristen Wiig and Andy Samberg departed last year to focus on film work. NBC announced last week that series veteran Seth Mey

ABC bets TV viewers will marvel at superhero show

Walt Disney Co's ABC network is tapping its blockbuster "Avengers" franchise for a new TV show, looking to reverse a ratings decline that put it last of the four largest networks among audiences coveted by advertisers. The network is so confident in "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." that it scheduled the show on Tuesdays at 8 p.m. eastern time, where it will face off against TV's top-rated scripted show, CBS' crime juggernaut "NCIS." ABC plans to air a total eight new shows this fall, according to a schedule of its Fall lineup that was released by the network. It will also retool its long-running hit "Dancing with the Stars," cutting it back from two nights to one after its ratings weakened. Its "S.H.I.E.L.D." offering is ABC's first effort to translate the big-screen success of Disney's Marvel comics movie franchise to television. Last year's Marvel movie "The Avengers" and current hit "

Beyonce cancels Belgium gig, citing dehydration, exhaustion

Singer Beyonce was forced to cancel her show in Antwerp, Belgium, on Tuesday because of dehydration and exhaustion, her representatives and concert venue Sportpaleis said. _0"> "Beyonce has been advised by her doctors to rest as a result of dehydration and exhaustion and will not be able to perform in Antwerp, Belgium tonight," the venue said in a statement posted on its website. It added that the singer was "awaiting word from her doctors before making a decision" on her second Antwerp performance scheduled for Wednesday. Representatives for Beyonce said in a statement that the canceled concert would be rescheduled as soon as possible and "other tour dates are not expected to be affected." The cancellation comes after multiple media outlets speculated over the weekend that Beyonce, 31, may be pregnant with her second child. The "Single Ladies" singer is currently on the Europe leg of her "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour,&quo

Sarah Connolly wins UK classical music's top live singing award

Mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and Scottish pianist Steven Osborne took two of the top awards for live British classical music on Tuesday at the Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Awards. _0"> Connolly, who won the "Silver Lyre" for best solo singer, showed "exceptional musicianship and consistency over an increasingly wide range of styles", the RPS said in a statement. Osborne took the award for best instrumentalist and Kirill Karabits, the Latvian-born principal conductor of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, won the conducting award. The RPS awards are the highest recognition for live classical music in Britain. RPS Chairman John Gilhooly heralded an "outstanding year" for classical music despite the difficult economic climate in a speech where he cautioned against forgetting the value of culture. "Making money never has been, and never should be, the driving force for great art," Gilhooly said. "The Philharmonic Socie