Country star Willie Nelson owes his biggest hit to Hollywood
Nelson has apparently turned his back on making movies and focused on writing books. The performer, who has his own Web site (www.willienelson.com), has released “The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes,” which became a best seller in hardcover. A paperback version will arrive in April 2003. A fast-moving Fishburne
Laurence Fishburne may be seeking the title of the hardest working man in Hollywood.
The talented 41-year-old actor recently completed the two sequels – “The Matrix Reloaded” and “The Matrix Revolutions,” both arriving next year – to “The Matrix” and has finished “Biker Boyz,” which co-stars Lisa Bonet (“Angel Heart”) and popular singer Kid Rock.
The plot concerns some professionals who spend their free time in a motorcycle gang.
Next, Clint Eastwood will direct him in “Mystic River,” a psychological thriller about friends whose lives become entangled after one of their daughters is murdered.
Marcia Gay Harden (“Pollock”), Sean Penn (“I Am Sam”), Kevin Bacon (“Apollo 13”), Tim Robbins (“The Shawshank Redemption”) and Laura Linney (“The Maze”) co-star.
Paltrow stars in play on screen
The filmmaker and performer will combine their talents for the screen adaptation of David Auburn’s critically acclaimed play, “Proof.”
Auburn and Madden are currently creating a screenplay for the drama.
The drama deals with the daughter of a brilliant mathematician.
Mary-Louise Parker (“Red Dragon”), who won a Tony Award for her work, played the role on Broadway.
Hayward in focus
Brooklyn-born Susan Hayward (1918-1975) ignited the screen with her red hair and vibrant performances.
The late actress, whose work has long been overlooked, finally receives attention in “Susan Hayward: Her Films and Life” (McFarland; $38.50; (800) 253-2187) by Kim R. Holston.
Hayward, whose credits include “Reap the Wild Wind” (1942), “My Foolish Heart” (1949), “With a Song in My Heart” (1952), “Demetrius and the Gladiators” (1954), “I’ll Cry Tomorrow” (1955), “I Want to Live” (1958) and “Valley of the Dolls” (1967), enjoyed stardom in the 1940s and 50s after en early modeling career.
The book also looks at the subject’s personal problems, including her marriages and attempted suicide.
“A product of the sidewalks of New York City, Hayward had charisma – and something besides professionalism,” Holston writes in “Susan Hayward: Her Films and Life.”
“There was another equally important factor in Hayward’s appeal.
“With few exceptions, most forceful women on the screen were dynamic and independent at the expense of their femininity. Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn and Barbara Stanwyck, for example, could never be described as sex symbols in the strictest sense.
“Susan was different. She was perhaps the first star ever to pull it off.
“She was full-breasted, softly enticing, and yet at her best was as powerful a feminist as any of the others.
“There was never a picture in which Susan was anything but ‘All Woman.'”