Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites - Tinsletown Tidbits

A man who is loved and will be missed bid a

fond farwell and thanked his audiences for his success over a twenty-five year career as the host of the CNN "Larry King" show. King conducted some 50,000 interviews during his broadcast career of decades before joining CNN in 1985. He performed 6000 shows for CNN. He was joined by his wife and two young sons during the final show and was sent messages from celebrities and politicians who respected and loved Larry. King will still be doing specials for CNN. Wolfgang Puck's Spago restaurant in Beverly Hills was the venue for a red carpet party following his last show.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow gained 20 pounds and practiced guitar until her fingertips bled to prepare for her role in "Country Strong," but it was good friend Robert Downey Jr. who guided her.

Portraying an alcoholic country star in the film, the Oscar-winning star turned to Downey, who has dealt with his share of addition problems in the past, to obtain insight into her character.

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"There is a certain aspect of the addiction that went so far, I could only imagine it up to a certain point, but I couldn't imagine it as bad as she had it," Paltrow told "Extra." "He [Robert Downey] was amazing. He was very generous and kind of helped me understand addiction and how it works and from that point on I really felt like, okay I get it now." Taping into her musical side for the role, Gwyneth also learned how to play guitar.

"It's much harder than it looks when you've never done it because first your fingertips, like mine, were bleeding and cracking," she said. "It was definitely a challenge, but it was great, 'cause now I can sing for my kids." Gwyneth opens countrywide in "Country Strong" January 7.

HALLE BERRY WOWED BY PROSPECT OF SECOND OSCAR

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In the gritty drama, Berry plays a woman with multiple personalities, including a racist white woman -- and the performance is generating some serious Oscar buzz. She won the Best Actress award for her turn in 2001's "Monster's Ball." What would another mean to her? "I never thought I'd have one, so two... I think my head would blow off probably," Berry laughed.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival will honor Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman with the Cinema Vanguard Awardat the 26^th edition of the Fest, which runs January 27 -February 6, 2011, it was announced today by SBIFF Executive Director Roger Durling. The Tribute will take place on Saturday, February 5, 2011 at the historic Arlington Theatre.

The Cinema Vanguard Award was created in recognition of an actor who has forged his/her own path - taking artistic risks and making a significant and unique contribution to film. The award has previously been awarded toChristoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Stanley Tucci, Peter Sarsgaard, Kristin Scott Thomas and Ryan Gosling.

“Honoring Nicole Kidman is so exciting for us here at SBIFF,” comments Roger Durling. “Her work is immensely diverse and with this year’s heart-wrenching and brilliant performance in ‘Rabbit Hole’ - a project she helped develop as well - it is exactly who we should be celebrating with the 2011 Cinema Vanguard Award.”

With each of her performances, Nicole Kidman represents the actor in its finest and most polished form. A woman of many talents, she effortlessly navigates through a diverse range of genres; mastering drama, horror, comedy, romance, and even the musical. In her upcoming film Rabbit Hole, which she also co-produced, Kidman plunges heart-first into the role of Becca Corbett, a wife and mother who experiences the ultimate loss. Starring alongside Aaron Eckhart, Kidman delivers a performance so passionate and engrossing, that the audience can’t help but to place themselves in Becca’s shoes.

Beginning her career in the realm of Australian cinema, she starred in the thriller Dead Calm (1989), starring opposite Sam Neil. In 1990 she made the breakthrough into Hollywood cinema, staring alongside Tom Cruise in Days of Thunder. She paired with Cruise once again in 1992 for epic Far and Away, directed by Ron Howard. In 1995 she starred as Dr. Chase Meridian in the blockbuster hit Batman Forever, and also earned critical acclaim for her portrayal of a fame crazed housewife in To Die For. Kidman followed her success with the role of Isabel Archer in Portrait of a Lady (1996), and teamed up once again with Tom Cruise in Stanley Kubrick’s sexual thriller, Eyes Wide Shut (1999). In 2001, she stepped into one of her career defining roles as courtesan Satine in the musical Moulin Rouge, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Leading Actress. In the same year, she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance in writer/director Alejandro Amenabar’s psychological thriller, The Others. The next year, Kidman followed up with her portrayal of Virginia Woolf in The Hours and won the Academy Award for Best Actress. In the next several years, she continued to show her range, performing in a wide variety of films, such as the Civil War epic Cold Mountain (2003), the film adaptation of the TV show Bewitched (2005), Sydney Pollack’s The Interpreter (2005), and the film adaptation of the novel The Golden Compass (2007) among others.

The festivities will take place at the Arlington Theatre on Saturday, February 5 2011. Tickets for the Cinema Vanguard Award are available now, discounted 20% until December 13 and can be purchased through www.sbfilmfestival.orgor by calling 805-963-0023. Mini-Paks for the festival are currently discounted at 20%, while Festival Passes and Packages are currently discounted at 15% and on sale exclusively at www.sbfilmfestival.organd 805-963-0023.

Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement. The musical broke new ground in musical theatre by defining the genre of "rock musical", using a racially integrated cast, and inviting the audience onstage for a "Be-In" finale.

One of Hollywood's most brilliant, academy award winning and multi-talented film producer/directors passed away at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica,California in December. He will be most remembered for Breakfast at Tiffany's, S.O.B, the Pink Panther and a bevy additional of great films. Edwards was the husband of talented actress/singer/author Julie Andrews. Andrews and Edwards married in 1969.