Tough-talking actor Charles Branson, 77, married his longtime sweetheart, actress Kim Weeks, 36, in a private ceremony on Dec. 27 at their Malibu home. Bronson's previous wife, actress Jill Ireland, died of cancer in l990....
ER's Alex Kingston, 35, wed freelance writer Florian Haertel, 34, on Dec. 29 in Santa Fe, N.Mex. Kingston, who is divorced from actor Ralph Fiennes, met her groom on a blind date in L.A.
Arrested
On Dec. 27, the NYPD busted Busta Rhymes, the rapper born Trevor Smith 26 years ago, and charged him with carrying a loaded gun after they stopped his Mercedes for "making an unsafe lane change." Rhymes must appear in court on Jan. 28 to answer the charge and could face jail time.
Deaths
Soul singer Johnny Moore, 64, whose high tenor voice led the Drifters through such hits as 1964's "Under the Boardwalk," died on Dec. 30 of respiratory problems in London....
In Studio City, Calif., on Christmas Day, portly character actor Richard Paul, who played Mayor Sam Booth on TV's Murder, She Wrote, died of cancer. He was 58....
Actor-director Don Taylor, 78, who in 1950's Father of the Bride played the groom opposite another Taylor (Elizabeth, not a relation), died on Dec. 29 of heart failure in L.A....
Popular heavyweight Jerry Quarry, 53, who went into the ring with Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and Floyd Patterson in the '60s and '70s before eventually lapsing into a state of dementia pugilistica (brain damage caused by repeated blows to the head), died on Jan. 3 in Templeton, Calif., after contracting pneumonia....
Anita Hoffman, 56, a former wife of the late Abbie Hoffman and a '60s social activist herself, died on Dec. 27 in San Francisco of breast cancer. In 1971, the yippie couple had a son they named america....
Oscar Scaggs, the 21-year-old son of singer Boz Scaggs, died of a heroin overdose on New Year's Eve in San Francisco. The younger Scaggs worked as a sound technician at his dad's nightclub, Slim's....
Actor Iron Eyes Cody, who memorably shed a single tear in a '70s antilittering TV commercial, died on Jan. 4 in L.A. He was 94. Though the public had assumed Iron Eyes to be a Native American, the New Orleans Times-Picayune published documentation in 1996 saying he was actually a second generation Italian-American from Louisiana, but Cody repudiated the information.
Exit
On Jan. 4 in Washington, D.C., Elizabeth Dole, 62, resigned as president of the American Red Cross, a position she had held for nearly eight years. Dole said she is giving "serious consideration" to running for President next year....
Keith Jackson, 70, who won five Sportscaster of the Year awards during his 47-year career, retired on Jan. 4 after calling the Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Ariz.
In Treatment
In November, actor Charlton Heston, 74, began radiation therapy for prostate cancer that was discovered in June before the actor underwent hip surgery. Doctors advised him to recover fully from that operation before addressing the cancer.
Recuperating
Comedy king Milton Berle, who turned 90 in July, had a mild stroke on Dec. 5 at his California home. He is resting there and "feeling good," Berle said.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
