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Ken Starr: Jailed Hollywood Money Manager Hidden Treasures

Roger Friedman
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Ken Starr: Jailed Hollywood Money Manager Hidden Treasures

Ken Starr is still in jail today, despite attempts to get bail. The imprisoned money manager is charged with defrauding dozens of celebrity clients of at least $59 million. Some of the names include Uma Thurman, Carly Simon, Al Pacino, Neil Simon, Lauren Bacall and Mike Nichols.

The government is building its case against Starr and looking for his assets. They might be interested to know that Starr has four automobiles that might not have been on anyone’s list.

Recently an auto insurance company sent out a letter because Starr was behind on his payments. The cars are a 2010 Yukon Denali, and three Mercedes.

The Denali is the most interesting because its policy carried the name of another driver. That driver, it’s suspected, may have been chauffeuring around Marisa Starr, Ken’s ex wife and mother of his two younger children. The Starrs divorced in May 2007. As I reported a few weeks ago, Marisa Starr got a very nice settlement package from her ex: $750,000 a year in perpetuity, plus a possible extra cash lump sum settlement and a $2,500 a week salary from Starr & Co. investment advisers.

“She knows where all the bodies are buried,” says a source.

Marisa Starr’s divorce arrangement with Ken Starr should be of interest to prosecutors. Even though the couple was divorced, Marisa was still living like she married to Starr.

Ron Starr, who worked as the head of Starr & Co. wrote a two page memo to his father in April 2009 about Marisa Starr‘s spending. I’ve seen the memo. Ron Starr, copying the company’s controller Roseann Ragano, complained: “This is why Marisa’s expenses must stop.” He itemized vacations, personal charges, and her boyfriend’s bills.

The cars are probably just a few of the things Starr has secretly hidden — from everyone. In the meantime, considering how the Feds went after Bernie Madoff’s associate Walter Noel and his entire family today–those close to Starr– from ex wife Marisa to various business associates–should be on alert.

All Hail Cyndi Lauper, She’s Got the Blues

Roger Friedman
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All Hail Cyndi Lauper, She’s Got the Blues

Cyndi Lauper is a savvy survivor. Of course, she’s not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. And it’s a scandal. Lauper is the real deal. Not only does she have the hits, she’s also a multi talented musician and composer who constantly reinvents herself.

On Wednesday night, she showed off her latest invention: the blues. Her new album, “Memphis Blues,” is the genuine artifact, made with loving care and the actual musicians. In concert at Town Hall, she brought along not only legendary Charlie Musselwhite but also the great Allen Toussaint as guest stars. You’ve never seen Madonna do this before a show started: Lauper, eyes welling up, introduced her amazing band and then said what an honor it was to play with them.

It’s really a tribute to Lauper that she’s been able to adapt to the blues. The audience still wants “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” But that’s from more than 25 years ago. If you haven’t stayed in that time warp, then you know Cyndi has moved on constantly. Her albums, particularly 1993’s “Hatful of Stars,” are beautifully crafted gems that long ago jettisoned the kitschiness of her first record and videos for something far more complex.

Her show is still a hoot, though. Mixed in with the blues are rambling anecdotes and Lauper asides. Her natural sense of humor cannot be denied. She tells a disarming story, and gets serious. “Go on Google and look this music up,” she advised the audience about the blues. It’s an educational two hours. She’s like Gracie Allen: kooky on the outside, brilliant on the inside. (If you’re too young to get that, Gracie Allen was married to George Burns. Look them up on YouTube.)

Toussaint stayed for just two numbers–“Early in the Morning” and “Shattered Dreams.” If Lauper hadn’t already had a keyboard player, maybe Toussaint would have stayed for the best number of the night, “Mother Earth.” He’s featured on all three on the album. Even without him, “Mother Earth” — sandwiched between a couple of Cyndi’s pop hits–is a masterpiece. It’s as if they were archeologists discovering the Lost Ark. When they’re finally forced into “Girls,”  and “Change of Heart,” the band reimagines them with Musselwhite wailing away on his harmonica. “True Colors,” the finale, which Lauper plays on dulcimer, and which you thought you’d heard enough, sends shivers down the spine.

All hail Cyndi Lauper. And for god’s sake, get her into the Rock Hall already. Unlike Madonna, she’ll actually perform at the ceremony.

Photos c2010 Ann Lawlor

Lost Auction Set for August: Polar Bear Not Included

Roger Friedman
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Lost Auction Set for August: Polar Bear Not Included

I want the blue VW van from the Dharma Initiative!

And you can have it, too. All the stuff from “Lost” is going up for auction on August 21st and 22nd.

You can see it all at http://www.profilesinhistory.com/lost-auction-preview/lost-auction-preview/page-5-5.html

Mr. Eko’s Jesus stick, Desmond’s photo of himself and Penny, Charlie’s ring, Daniel Faraday’s journal with all the time travel scribblings–they’re all part of the deal.

There are some pretty odd, expensive things in there too: Locke’s wheelchair, Jin’s Rolex, and the Swan station turntable and projector, as well as the pearl necklace Sun’s Korean lover gave to her.

But I do want that van. It’s the coolest.

And, no, the Smoke Monster, the polar bear, and stuff from the Hatch don’t seem to be included.

Six Feet Under Actor Freddy Rodriguez Ready for Chaos

Roger Friedman
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Six Feet Under Actor Freddy Rodriguez Ready for Chaos

Chaos reigns.

The Brett Ratner produced CBS series about CIA agents is on again after nearly being killed by corporate network warfare.

Sources tell me that star Freddy Rodriguez, who was so good in “Six Feet Under” and the movie “Bobby,” is all set to play the lead. The rest of the cast is secure as well, despite contrary reports.

CBS and 20th Century Fox Television will make “Chaos” as a joint venture for CBS TV after weeks of playing tug of war with Ratner and the show’s creator.

At the center of their disagreements was money, of course, and location. CBS wanted to shoot “Chaos” in Dallas, where Ratner made “Prison Break.” The only problem is, “Chaos” needs an international feel, with good locations and sets. Now that Ratner and co. have won the right to do the show properly, it will be returned to Hollywood.

By the way, the great Irish actor Stephen Rea co-stars in “Chaos.” It’s getting crazy how many terrific movie and theater actors are now in TV shows. Christine Baranski is in “The Good Wife,” for example. Lorraine Bracco is in “Rizzoli and Isles.” And Martha Plimpton has a new series on Fox.

Tom Cruise: Knight and Day Worst Box Office Since 1992

Roger Friedman
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Tom Cruise: Knight and Day Worst Box Office Since 1992

Tom Cruise can only look at the box office results for “Knight and Day” and shudder.

The film will cross the $70 million mark this week. But it’s unlikely it will get to $75 million domestically. It’s his worst performance at the box office since “Far and Away” in 1992.

Even “Valkyrie” did better, with a total of $83 million. It would be hard to imagine “Knight and Day” ever getting close to that number.

Internationally, “K&D” has done better of course. Where English has not been a first language, audiences haven’t minded the travelogue vanity caper. The film has yet to open in the U.K., Spain, France or Italy. Cruise may get some action there. So far the box office abroad has come to just over $60 million.

But just think: “Inception” has made in four days what it’s taken “K&D” almost a month to rake in.

The only movie with which Cruise has been associated recently that’s done worse was “Lions for Lambs,” but that was a film that also featured Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in a kind of weird experiment.

Paramount will hope that “Mission Impossible 4” will be its own draw, and that Cruise’s negative factors will be outweighed by the series’ built in appeal. The odds are “MI4” will feature Cruise surrounded by a team of spies including some new hot actors. Did I hear Taylor Lautner? Also, in this age of vampire-mania, they could resurrect Cruise’s character from “Interview with the Vampire” as his doppleganger. Just some ideas!

But Cruise may have to face the fact that his big run of $100 million films is over. It was good while it lasted. But box office, unlike diamonds, is not forever. Just ask Sylvester Stallone and a handful of stars who made it big in the 1980s. Cruise would be well advised to concentrate on character roles like the one he played in “Tropic Thunder.”

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Could Be French Starlet

Roger Friedman
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Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Could Be French Starlet

The casting is on for the ingenue to star in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”

Yes. every young actress wants to play Lisbeth Salander in Stieg Larsson‘s trilogy. The British press has already suggested Ellen Page, Carey Mulligan and a lot of new, now usual, suspects.

Alas, I am told that there’s a new girl in the pack, and once her screen test is done, she may be in the lead. That would Lea Seydoux. The oung actress is like royalty in France, too, where her family is famous: her grandfather was the chairman of Pathe Studios and her uncle was the head of Gaumont.

Lea has already made her impact in  movies. She’s in the opening scene of “Inglourious Basterds,” one of the girls on the French farm. And she the “French pastry”–aka Elinor of Aquitaine–whom King John (Oscar Isaac) bedded early on in “Robin Hood.” My friend Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail in London noted last May that Lea Seydoux would be the next breakout international star.

All those American and British stars had better start worrying. I am told that the movie’s producers are enthused about Lea. And it’s not hard to see why!

PS So far Daniel Craig is on track to play the male lead character, Mikael Blomkist.

Katie Holmes Gets “Extra” Credit for Movie Premiere

Roger Friedman
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Katie Holmes Gets “Extra” Credit for Movie Premiere

Katie Holmes blew into town to attend Monday night’s New York premiere of “The Extra Man.” She briefly walked the red carpet, avoiding the screening and after party, before moving on to Toronto for an early call to the set of the tv mini-series “The Kennedys.” She plays Jackie Onassis, a role not unlike the one she plays in real life as Mrs. Tom Cruise.

Expected not to attend, Katie was brave to support writer/director Shari Springer Berman and her co-stars Kevin Kline and Paul Dano considering that many reviewers after the movie’s opening at Sundance found her performance “weak.”

As Mary, Holmes plays a vegan office mate and heart throb for Paul Dano’s Louis Ives, a nerdy devotee of F. Scott Fitzgerald‘s “The Great Gatsby” with a taste for cross dressing; in one scene he sports a black lace teddy you may wish to have seen on Holmes, were she not slated for the “straight man” role in a movie that abounds in eccentrics.

It’s hard to say whether the part was written lamely, or if Holmes is just lackluster in it. The days of “Pieces of April” are farther and farther away.

Kevin Kline as Henry Harrison heads this quirky concoction of character actors, the extra man or social escort to haute monde matrons. Lynn Cohen and the magnificent Marian Seldes cheered him on from the audience. Tracey Ullman, scouting for a seat, could have rounded out this eccentric cast.

Before the screening began, writer/director Shari Springer Berman (her partner Robert Pulcini was absent),  dedicated the opening at the Village East Cinema to the memory of recently deceased Harvey Pekar. “American Splendor,” also directed by Berman and Pulcini, was based on his work.

Novelist Jonathan Ames–creator of HBO’s Bored to Death as well as the author of the novel on which The Extra Man is based–was next at the microphone. He performed three yelps, which sounded like a Shofar being blown on the High Holidays. Yes. he yelped. Loudly.  It was fairly odd. Ames also noted that this location on 2nd Avenue was a one-time Yiddish Theater

Vapiano, a new pizza and pasta emporium on University Place was packed for the after party. Guests queued up for individually created servings of carbonara, or pesto, allowing diners — like Mrs. Kevin Kline aka Phoebe Cates, Sean Lennon, Samantha Mathis, Drew Nieporent, Zoe Kazan, designer Cynthia Rowley, Eli Tahari, Patrick Demarchelier, actress Yaya DeCosta, Eammon Bowles, Rachel Dratch, Judah Friedlander, Dan Hedaya– to exert some eccentricity of their own.

Seymour Stein Back on the Charts with The Maine

Roger Friedman
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0
Seymour Stein Back on the Charts with The Maine

Well, well.

Seymour Stein‘s Sire Records–long a part of Warner Music– is back on the charts. And with a My Space group they found and cultivated called The Maine. The group, of course, hails from Phoenix, Arizona.

We must give credit here since the Warner Bros. name no longer appears on the charts, just its Atlantic division.

There’s no surprise that Sire finally came through. They did bring us Regina Spektor in the last few years.

And Seymour Stein is the guy who brought us The Ramones, The Pretenders, Talking Heads, the Sex Pistols, and whats-her-name, Madonna.

So congrats to Seymour and the Sire staff. The Maine‘s debut Sire album enters the charts this week at number 16 with 22,634 copies sold, according to hitsdailydouble.com. And, guess what? They’re good. New groups can still be “broken.” Maybe Warner Records itself will do that someday.

Dan Pritzker’s Long Awaited Silent Film: Here’s the Trailer

Roger Friedman
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Dan Pritzker’s Long Awaited Silent Film: Here’s the Trailer

Remember a few weeks ago I told you about Hyatt Hotel heir Dan Pritzker–he’s been shooting a film about a little known jazz musician for three years. It’s called “Bolden!” starring Anthony Mackie. It’s still shooting and re-shooting.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2010/06/05/billionaire-producer-still-shooting-jazz-movie-three-years-later

Pritzker also made a silent film called “Louis” about Louis Armstrong–and it’s debuting on Wynton Marsalis‘s jazz tour this summer. It’s a whole separate film that Pritzker has made while making “Bolden.”

Here’s the trailer, which just debuted on ITunes.

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/independent/louis/

Andy Warhol’s “Mrs. Rockstar” Is Writing a Book

Roger Friedman
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Andy Warhol’s “Mrs. Rockstar” Is Writing a Book

Liz Derringer, a well known New York press agent, was married to rocker Rick Derringer for 22 years. She grew up with Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and has been friends with Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall for most of her adult life.

Now Derringer is sending around a book proposal called “Joy Ride: My Life as Mrs. Rockstar Wasn’t What I Wanted After All.”

The 74 page proposal (co-written with Billboard magazine’s Chuck Taylor)  is funny and lively without destroying of all of Liz’s relationships or selling anyone out.

“Joy Ride” begins with Derringer being introduced to Andy Warhol. She subsequently met people like Todd Rundgren and his girlfriend Bebe Buell. Derringer introduced Buell–still her close friend–to Steven Tyler. The result was Liv Tyler.

It’s just one of many inside stories in “Joy Ride.” But a lot of the book pertains to her marriage to Derringer, who had hits like “Hang on Sloopy” and “Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo.” He also played with and produced the albums of Edgar Winter,  including the hit, “Frankenstein.”

The book should make a great complement to Buell’s best seller of a few years ago, “Rebel Heart,” and Tyler’s upcoming book.

The “Joy Ride” proposal kept me reading right through as Liz pursues Derringer, then part of the McCoys. She and her friend Andi Feldman–who becomes Warhol superstar Andrea Whipps–get entangled with Jimi Hendrix, Noel Redding and their early band. They’re right at the center of Warhol’s world and in the middle of New York’s rock scene. When the McCoys merge with Edgar and Johnny Winter, Derringer–who at last succumbs to teenage Liz–is integral.

Some publisher is going to gobble up “Joy Ride” shortly, and with any luck we’ll get to read more of these stories in the next year.

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