A frail, 94-year-old Bob Hope made a rare public appearance on Thursday, but another show business legend, Frank Sinatra, did not attend a fund-raiser for his own favourite charity.
One week after rumours swept the television industry that Sinatra (81) was close to death, his wife Barbara said at a Beverly Hills literary luncheon that the singer was "doing well".
"He's much better," said Mrs Sinatra, who was honoured for a cookbook she wrote with her husband. Although Sinatra did not turn up at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Hope made his first public appearance since attending Jimmy Stewart's funeral in July.
The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Mamas and Papas, Lloyd Price, Santana and Gene Vin- cent will be inducted next year into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame, officials announced.
Jelly Roll Morton, a pianist and composer who often boasted that he invented jazz, will be inducted under the early influence category, and the New Orleans music legend, Allen Toussaint, will be inducted in the non-performer category.
The wrong winner was named New Generation Designer at the British Fashion Awards, it was admitted yesterday.
Thousands of guests at the glittering ceremony held at London's Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday night were stunned when Clements Ribeiro, not Antonio Berardi, was announced as the New Generation winner.
The design duo, who scooped the award last year, went on stage to receive their prize unexpectedly, while Berardi's team was left speechless. The British Fashion Council has apologised for the error.
The former publisher and senior vice-president of the New Yorker magazine has filed a sex discrimination lawsuit, accusing the magazine of firing her because she was pregnant.
The lawsuit, filed by Diana Silberstein, names Thomas Florio, president of the New Yorker, and S.I. Newhouse jnr, the magazine's chairman.