BIRTHS
Comedian Chris Rock, 39, and his wife, Malaak, 35, a nonprofit executive, welcomed their second child, daughter Zahra Savannah, May 22 in Brooklyn. The tot joins sister Lola, who turns 2 this month....
Model Veronica Webb, 39, and her husband of two years, philanthropist George E. Robb Jr., 48, also had their second daughter. Molly Blue made her debut May 21 in Manhattan. Her big sister is Layla Rose, 18 months....
Actors Casey Affleck (Ocean's Eleven), 28, and Summer Phoenix (The Laramie Project), 26, welcomed their first child, a son, May 31 in Amsterdam. The couple became engaged several months ago.
ENGAGED
Harvard-educated actress Mira Sorvino, 36, who won an Oscar for Mighty Aphrodite, and actor Chris Backus, 22, are engaged. Sorvino previously dated Olivier Martinez and Quentin Tarantino.
EXPECTING
Baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez, 28, and his wife, Cynthia, 31, a former teacher, announced June 1 that they are expecting their first child this fall. A-Rod, the highest-paid player in Major League Baseball, currently plays third base for the New York Yankees.
LEGAL MATTERS
Actress Elizabeth Taylor, 72, filed a lawsuit May 25 in L.A. asking a judge to declare her the lawful owner of a Vincent van Gogh painting" she bought for $257,600 in 1963. Taylor claims that the heirs of a former owner say the painting should be returned to them because it was stolen by the Nazis. But the actress says records show that the owner sold the painting in 1933 for "financial reasons."
SUED
Actress Lisa Marie, 35, sued her former fiancé, director Tim Burton, 45, for more than $5 million May 25 in New York City. Marie, who dated Burton for 10 years before he left her for Helena Bonham Carter while they were all working on 2001's Planet of the Apes, alleges that Burton misled her into a settlement that gave her far less than she was entitled to under California palimony law. A rep for Burton called the claims "baseless."
UPDATE
On May 28 Barbra Streisand, 62, paid photographer Kenneth Adelman $155,567 for legal fees he incurred while fighting a $10 million lawsuit the entertainer had filed in May 2003 (PEOPLE, June 16, 2003). The suit, which was dismissed by an L.A. judge in December, alleged that Adelman, 40, violated Streisand's privacy by taking an aerial photo of her Malibu estate.
DEATHS
Author William Manchester, 82, who wrote renowned biographies of Winston Churchill and President Kennedy, died in Middle-town, Conn., June 1. Manchester had recently suffered two strokes.
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