Actor Ming-na Wen gets star
LOS ANGELES — Mingna Wen had a nagging worry before her Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on Tuesday.
What if they spell my name wrong on my star?
“Living in American with a name like mine, trust me, it wasn’t easy — in fact, it sucked,” the film and television actor said before her star was unveiled. “It has been mispronounced and misspelled so many times.
When her star was revealed, Wen stared down at it, placing her hand on the coral-pink terrazzo surface with “Ming-na Wen” etched in brass, taking a moment for herself and initially ignoring calls from the press to look up for photos. She became one of a small list of Asian performers — Anna May Wong, Mako, Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and James Hong — to have their stars on the Walk of Fame.
Her star carries the television symbol, due largely to her work in the soap opera “As the World Turns.” She was the first Asian American actor signed to a contract role in a daytime drama, portraying Lien Hughes for four seasons, starting in 1988, according to Steve Nissen, president and chief executive of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, who spoke at the ceremony.
“We need to just pave this Hollywood Boulevard with more Asian talents,” Wen said, waving her arm as if to brush the pavement with her hand.
— Los Angeles Times
‘That ’70s’ Show’ star Danny Masterson convicted of rape
LOS ANGELES — A jury found “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson guilty of two out of three counts of rape Wednesday in a Los Angeles retrial in which the Church of Scientology played a central role.
The jury of seven women and five men reached the verdict after deliberating for seven days spread over two weeks. They could not reach a verdict on the third count, that alleged Masterson raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favor of conviction.
Masterson was led from the courtroom in handcuffs. The 47-year-old actor faces up to 30 years in prison.
His wife, actor and model Bijou Phillips, wept as he was led away. Other family and friends sat stone-faced.
“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” one of the women, whom Masterson was convicted of raping at his home in 2003, said in a statement.
The woman, whose count left the jury deadlocked, said in the statement: “While I’m encouraged that Danny Masterson will face some criminal punishment, I am devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me.”
Prosecutors, retrying Masterson after a deadlocked jury led to a mistrial in December, said he forcibly raped three women, including a longtime girlfriend, in his Hollywood Hills home between 2001 and 2003. They told jurors he drugged the women’s drinks so he could rape them. They said he used his prominence in the church — where all three women were also members at the time — to avoid consequences for decades.
Masterson did not testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. The defense argued that the acts were consensual, and attempted to discredit the women’s stories.
— The Associated Press
At 83, Al Pacino expecting a baby with 29-year-old wife
NEW YORK — Al Pacino, 83, and 29-year-old Noor Alfallah are expecting a baby, the actor’s representative confirmed Wednesday.
Pacino’s publicist, Stan Rosenfield, verified the news first published by TMZ, but said there would be no statement at this time. The baby would be Pacino’s fourth child. He has a 33-year-old daughter, Julie Marie, with acting coach Jan Tarrant and 22-year-old twins Anton and Olivia with actor Beverly D’angelo. Pacino and Alfallah reportedly began dating last year. She describes herself as a “raconteur” on her Instagram page and her IMDB page notes that she’s a producer on two movies currently in postproduction, including the Pacino-starrer “Billy Knight.”
Pacino’s baby news follows close on the heels of longtime friend and fellow actor Robert De Niro’s own. A representative for the 79-year-old actor confirmed earlier this month that De Niro had become a father for the seventh time, but few other details — including the identity of the mother — were released.
— The Associated Press