LOS ANGELES - Marlon Brando's former business manager filed a $3.5 million claim against his estate, alleging the Oscar winner sexually harassed her and breached their contract by removing her as a co-executor of his will days before his death.
The lawsuit comes nearly six months after Brando died of lung failure July 1 in Los Angeles. He was 80.
The claim, submitted by lawyers for Jo An Corrales of Kalama, Wash., says Brando "caused a hostile work environment due to his continuous acts of sexual harassment." The claim says the harassment continued throughout her employment from December 2000 until March 8.
No other details of the allegations were included in the claim filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
Corrales is among several people or companies that have submitted claims against the estate.
Brando's will named nine children as beneficiaries. Trustees, including Hollywood producer Mike Medavoy, must decide which claims will be accepted or rejected.
Neither Medavoy nor lawyers for the estate could be reached for comment Thursday, the Los Angeles Times said.
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CONCORD, Mich. - The Motor City Madman is officially turning Texan.
Michigan rocker and hunting activist Ted Nugent says he plans to get a Texas driver's license soon. He said in a phone interview Wednesday that he'll officially become a Texas resident in 2005, after moving his family to Crawford, Texas, about 18 months ago.
He said his son Rocco is excelling in school and has done well in sports.
And the hunting in Crawford is great, too, he said.
"Right behind Rocco's school is game! It's a barbecue dream," he said.
Nugent - who said he supports President Bush "100 percent" - said his new home is "right around the corner" from Bush's ranch. Nugent said he's working with the Texas fish and game department, where he writes for a state publication on bowhunting.
He and his wife have started a "Hunters for the Hungry" program that delivers venison and other game to those who need food, Nugent told The Jackson Citizen Patriot.
The second episode of his VH1 TV series, "Surviving Nugent," was shot last spring in Waco, Texas, not far from Crawford. Nugent said he'll keep his Michigan property in Concord, near Jackson, and rebuild the house next spring, returning for hunting and family events.
Nugent was at his Michigan house during the holidays to prepare for his Whiplash Bash tour.
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On the Net:
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LONDON - More than 700 actors, directors, writers, composers and academics have signed a letter in support of Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's play "Behzti (Dishonor)."
On Monday the Birmingham Repertory Theatre canceled its run of the play, which includes scenes of sexual abuse and murder inside a Sikh temple, after it drew violent protests by Sikhs.
Birmingham Rep said it had reluctantly scrapped the play because it couldn't guarantee the safety of audiences and staff. Bhatti was reportedly in hiding after receiving death threats.
Sikh leaders say the play demeans their religion. They applauded the theater's decision. But artists and civil libertarians were dismayed.
Actors Prunella Scales and Timothy West, poet laureate Andrew Motion, playwright Michael Frayn and Monty Python comedian Terry Jones were among those who signed an open letter in support of the play.
"It is a legitimate function of art to provoke debate and sometimes to express controversial ideas," they wrote in a letter published Thursday in The Guardian newspaper. "Those who use violent means to silence it must be vigorously opposed and challenged, whatever our faith, belief or opinions."
Reaction to the play is split not between Sikhs and the rest of the community, but between the devout of all faiths and the secular.
"Behzti" received good reviews and drew large, multiracial audiences that included many Sikhs. Many artists of South Asian origin have come to its defense.
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CONCORD, N.H. - Christopher Reeve played a superhero in the movies, and now, two months after his death, he's a superhero to a 14-year-old boy.
Tyler Howard of Charlestown is a quadriplegic and has been in a wheelchair for 10 years. On Thursday, Reeve's family gave Howard the late actor's specially modified van, so he can get around with his wheelchair and other medical equipment.
"I'm free, I'm free," Howard said. "I can go where I want."
Howard said he always wanted to be able to attend school functions, visit classmates and go to church and family outings. Until now, he could only go to school and his doctor's appointments.
Reeve, 52, died Oct. 10 of complications from an infection caused by a bedsore.
He won worldwide fame in four "Superman" films from 1978-87. After his May 1995 horse riding accident, he became a spokesman for spinal cord injury victims.
Howard was chosen to receive Reeve's van from thousands of potential recipients.
"I hope the van brings you great joy and freedom as it did for Chris," wrote Dana Reeve, the actor's widow, in a letter.
Howard, who requires 24-hour care, developed quadriplegia following a virus he contracted when he was 4. He is dependent on a ventilator and has a tracheotomy.
He said his all-time favorite film hero is Superman.
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ROME - Italian tenor Giuseppe Di Stefano was flown back to Milan after an attack at his family's villa in Kenya left him in a coma, an Italian official said.
The 83-year-old Di Stefano - considered one of the greatest tenors of the 20th century - was struck on the head during an attack by unidentified assailants at his home in Diani, about 270 miles southeast of Nairobi, on Nov. 30.
Di Stefano was immediately admitted to Milan's San Raffaele hospital, the ANSA news agency said.
He was flown Thursday from Mombasa, a Kenyan port city where he was being treated, on an air ambulance, said Tommaso Castellano, Italy's honorary consul in Mombasa.
The retired tenor, who has lived most of his life in Milan, was injured while trying to defend his wife as assailants tried to steal her necklace. His wife needed 16 stitches to her head.
During his years of performing, Di Stefano was famous for his powerful voice, impeccable delivery and his duets with Maria Callas.
He sang at the world's top opera houses, including Milan's La Scala, New York's Metropolitan, and in Vienna and Berlin. He kept up occasional performances until the 1990s, mainly in concerts and recitals.
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GREENWICH, Conn. - Police Chief James Walters gave Diana Ross special treatment while the singer served her sentence for an Arizona drunken-driving conviction, the town's police union said.
Ross pleaded no contest in February and was sentenced to two days in jail. She arranged to serve her jail sentence in Greenwich, where she lives.
The former lead singer for the Supremes was arrested Dec. 30, 2002, after a driver called to report a car traveling south in the northbound lanes outside Tucson.
Tests showed Ross had a blood-alcohol level of 0.20 percent, police said. Arizona's legal limit for drivers is 0.08.
Walters allowed Ross to have a cell phone in her jail cell, have food delivered and let her go home in the middle of her sentence, the police union said in a 44-page report to public officials that was given to the Greenwich Time.
"In the situation involving the incarceration of Ms. Ross, I made some poor decisions and accept responsibility for them," Walters said at a news conference Wednesday. He didn't say which decisions he regretted.
Walters said Ross and her lawyers told him that her two-day sentence could be broken into two 24-hour blocks. Without a female guard to supervise Ross, Walters said he thought it appropriate to send her home.
As for her cell phone, Walters said he never allowed her to have one and assumed a police officer searched Ross.
First Selectman Jim Lash scolded Walters for his handling of the Ross case but said the issue is closed. The union voted no confidence in the chief this month, citing the Ross issue and other matters.
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DENVER - Strike two for ballpark vendor "Bob the Beer Man."
A federal appeals court refused to reinstate a lawsuit Wednesday filed by Robert Donchez, who accused Adolph Coors Co. of using his unique beer-vending persona in its "beer man" television commercials in 1999.
Donchez, the first beer vendor licensed by the Colorado Rockies in 1993, had a registered trademark on the name "Bob the Beer Man."
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that threw out the lawsuit, saying "beer man" was a generic term. Donchez was ordered to pay almost $14,000 in legal fees to Coors and its national advertising company, Foote, Cone & Belding Inc.
Donchez appealed, saying a jury should have heard the case. The Denver-based appeals court disagreed, saying the lower court judge ruled appropriately.
Donchez has an unlisted phone number and his lawyer didn't return after-hours phone messages Wednesday.
Donchez sued the Golden-based beer company and its ad company in 1999, claiming the Coors Light "beer man" advertising campaign began shortly after he made a presentation to marketing officials.
During oral arguments in November, Donchez's lawyer, Bruce Jones, said his client had a unique persona, having been featured in newspaper and TV stories. Donchez also had written a book in 1994 and appeared at fund-raisers for charities.
Lawyers for Coors argued the term "beer man" was commonly used among ballpark vendors, and the idea to use humorous vendors to sell beer couldn't be claimed exclusively by Donchez.
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KEARNEY, Neb. - Sundance and Cannes have noted film festivals. Now Kearney is joining in.
The first Central Nebraska Film Festival will be held Jan. 28-29 at the Kearney Community Theatre. It will celebrate and promote independent films and filmmaking in the Midwest, including feature films, short films and documentaries.
Many of the filmmakers will introduce their films and take part in a panel discussion on the creative process, according to the festival's Web site.
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On the Net:
http://sdientertainment.com/acnff/thefestival.htm
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