Tributes are pouring in this afternoon for entertainment titan Lew
Wasserman ... who was head of the M-C-A studios empire for decades before it
was sold. Wasserman ... who died today at the age of 89 at his home in Beverly
Hills ... is regarded as one of the greatest benefactors ever for the
Democratic Party. He once raised nearly 2 million dollars at a dinner at his
home for then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton. Ironically, he was also
Ronald Reagan's first agent in Hollywood ... back when the future president
was breaking into the acting game.
(more Wasserman)
Disney's Michael Eisner calls Wasserman ... quoting now ... ``a giant
striding through multiple eras of Hollywood history ... but always with an eye
on the future. Time and again, he provided the statesmanlike leadership to
keep the American entertainment business moving forward.'' Nancy Reagan says
Wasserman was ``one of our closest friends and advisers for over 60 years.
Words cannot adequately express our admiration for this man.'' Wasserman was
the first non-Catholic to receive a Cardinal's Award from the L-A Archdiocese.
Cardinal Roger Mahony calls him the ``architect and patriarch of the motion
picture and television industries ...'' At the time of his death ... Wasserman
was chairman emeritus of Universal Studios.
Call it ``hearing, interrupted.'' It's unclear at this hour when actress
Winona Ryder's preliminary hearing in Beverly Hills will resume. She claimed
she got hurt this afternoon when she was struck on an already sore arm by
either a still or a T-V camera while trying to get back in the courtroom. The
judge says a bailiff also got bonked on the head ... as photographers jockeyed
for position near the entrance. Ryder's accused of grand theft for allegedly
trying to steal 48-hundred dollars worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth
Avenue store in Beverly Hills last December 12th.
Is there a break in the case of missing 7-year-old Paolo Ayala? He's the
youngster who disappeared at a back-yard birthday party yesterday in the tony
Holmby Hills area of Los Angeles. The boy's father ... who'd been at a search
site all day long ... has just been called away ... apparently by the police.
But there's no word yet on what might be afoot.
It was the number one thing that lobbyists spent their money on last year
at City Hall in Los Angeles ... and it's at the top of the list again. What is
it? Cell phone antenna locations. In the first three months of the year,
lobbyists have spent more than 290-thousand dollars trying to secure locations
for the towers.
Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks are scheduled to work together again soon.
But this time it'll be the famed director handing the American Film
Institute's 30th Life Achievement Award to his leading man. The gala is
scheduled for June 12th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
Hot, hot, hot. That's the kind of weather headed our way later this week.
So let's enjoy the low clouds and fog again tonight. Lows will be near 60.
