Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Spike Lee to head jury at Cannes
Spike Lee, who was set to lead last year’s jury for the Cannes Film Festival that was ultimately canceled by the pandemic, will preside over this year’s jury instead.
The French Riviera festival announced Tuesday that Lee will be president of the jury for the 74th Cannes. Usually held in May, this year’s Cannes Film Festival has been delayed to July 6 to 17. Lee is the first Black person to head the Cannes jury.
“Throughout the months of uncertainty we’ve just been through, Spike Lee has never stopped encouraging us,” said Pierre Lescure, president of the festival in a statement. “This support is finally coming to fruition, and we could not have hoped for a more powerful personality to chart our troubled times.”
Winfrey picks Robinson books:
Oprah Winfrey announced Tuesday she has chosen Marilynne Robinson’s quartet of “Gilead” narratives for her next book club selection. Robinson won the Pulitzer Prize in 2005 for “Gilead,” the first of her books set in the fictional Iowa town of Gilead. She followed with “Home,” “Lila” and “Jack.”
“As I was recently reading author Marilynne Robinson’s latest novel, ‘Jack,’ I thought it would be wonderful to explore her entire Gilead universe through these four novels,” Winfrey said in a statement.
Robinson said in a statement that “Oprah Winfrey is a singular voice in this country and in the world. It is wonderful and amazing that my books will have the kind of attention only she could bring to them.”
PR firms tell Globes to reform or stars will boycott:
More than 100 Hollywood publicity firms that collectively represent the majority of stars in film and television said they will advise their clients to skip the Golden Globes if the Hollywood Foreign Press Association does not commit to change.
In a letter sent late Monday to the HFPA, the PR companies said the association, which puts on the Globes, must reform or many of the industry’s most prominent actors will boycott its events.
“To reflect how urgent and necessary we feel this work is, we cannot advocate for our clients to participate in HFPA events or interviews as we await your explicit plans and timeline for transformational change,” the publicists wrote.
Actor Kotto dies: Yaphet Kotto, 81, the commanding actor who brought tough magnetism and stately gravitas to films, has died.
Kotto’s wife, Tessie Sinahon, announced his death Monday in a Facebook post. “You played a villain on some of your movies but for me you’re a real hero and to a lot of people,” wrote Sinahon.
Standing 6-foot-3inches, Yaphet Frederick Kotto was a regular and compelling presence across films, television and Broadway. Kotto was best known for his infuriated FBI agent in “Midnight Run,” the James Bond villain Mr. Big in “Live and Let Die” and the technician Dennis Parker in 1979’s “Alien.”
March 17 birthdays:
Actor Patrick Duffy is 72. Actor Kurt Russell is 70. Actor Gary Sinise is 66. Actor Rob Lowe is 57. Singer Billy Corgan is 54. Drummer Caroline Corr is 48. Reporter Tracy Wolfson is 46. Singer Tamar Braxton is 44. TV personality Rob Kardashian is 34. Actor John Boyega is 29.