The British Auction House Sotheby's offered in more than 80 years for sale a painting by Dutch Old Master Johannes Vermeer 'Young Woman Seated At The Virginals', the authenticity of which was confirmed just last year. It is one of 35 preserved paintings by Vermeer and was painted some time around 1670. PHOTO - TASR/AP
NEW YORK - David Hyde Pierce, Tim Curry and Hank Azaria were named on Wednesday as the leading trio for next year's Broadway-bound production of Monty Python's 'Spamalot.' 'Spamalot,' to be directed by Oscar and Tony Award winner Mike Nichols, is billed as 'the musical lovingly ripped off from the motion picture, 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail,'' the 1975 comedy directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones.
LOS ANGELES - Actor James Doohan, best known as Scotty, the feisty, Scottish-accented chief engineer on television's original 'Star Trek' series, has been diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, his agent said. Doohan, 84, who lives in Redmond, Washington, plans to attend a 'Star Trek' fan convention in late August just before he is slated to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in what will likely be his last set of public appearances.
LONDON - The first painting by Dutch Old Master Johannes Vermeer to go on public sale in more than 80 years was knocked down for an auction record for the artist of 16.2 million pounds ($30 million) on Wednesday. Fierce bidding for 'Young Woman Seated At The Virginals' rapidly eclipsed the reserve price of 3 million pounds at the Sotheby's sale. The eventual winner was an anonymous telephone bidder.
LOS ANGELES - Director Jean-Francois Pouliot took 15 years to find the right script for his first feature film, but his little French-Canadian movie 'Seducing Doctor Lewis' has had audiences falling in love with it as far afield as Israel and South Korea. The film, originally titled 'La Grande Seduction' in French, is the comic tale of how a dying French-Canadian fishing village tricks a big city doctor into accepting a job in the tiny community, thereby halting its demise.
LOS ANGELES - Sony Corp.'s home entertainment division is close to acquiring DVD and home video rights to Michael Moore's controversial documentary 'Fahrenheit 9/11,' Hollywood trade paper Daily Variety reported. The report that a home entertainment deal is near comes as Moore's scathing critique of President Bush and the U.S.-led war in Iraq is headed for release in several overseas markets. Reuters
