Oldest Nobel laureate, Leonid Hurwicz, dies age 90

Leonid Hurwicz, who became the oldest Nobel laureate after receiving the economics prize last year, has died aged 90, his university confirmed Wednesday.

Hurwicz, who was awarded the prestigious prize for 2007 along with fellow US economists Eric Maskin and Roger Myerson, died on Tuesday, according to the University of Minnesota. It gave no further details.

When he received the Nobel prize last October, Hurwicz, a Polish Jew who fled persecution in Russia and then his homeland before moving to the United States, told reporters he did not expect the honor.

"There were times when other people said I was on the short list but as time passed and nothing happened I didn't expect the recognition would come because people who were familiar with my work were slowly dying off," he said.

The Nobel jury awarded the trio with the 2007 prize in light of their work on Mechanism Design theory, a sub-field of economics, which aims to ensure the most efficient use of resources in search of desired ends.

The theory, initiated by Hurwicz and further developed by Maskin and Myerson "has helped economists identify efficient trading mechanisms, regulation schemes and voting procedures," the jury said.

The theory, for example, can help identify which mechanisms will realize the largest gains from trade, maximize a seller's expected gain or provide an insurance scheme which provides the best coverage without inviting misuse.

In a statement, Robert Bruininks, president of the University of Minnesota where Hurwicz was a Regents Professor Emeritus, described the late economist as an "extraordinary man".

"Not only were his economic theories groundbreaking, but he was a renaissance scholar, with a keen interest in many disciplines, an incisive mind and quick wit and a natural grace that endeared him to so many people," he said.

"His great contributions to the field of economics brought worldwide attention to the economics department, and his influence on his colleagues and students provide a proud and lasting legacy."

Hurwicz was born in Moscow in 1917, but his family fled Russia for their native Poland two years later fearing political persecution.

It was in Poland that Hurwicz obtained a law degree, graduating from the University of Warsaw in 1938, before heading to the London School of Economics where he was taught by renowned Hungarian economist Nicholas Kaldor.

In 1939 he pursued his studies in Geneva but his family was again forced out of their home when Hitler invaded Poland. Hurwicz spent time in Switzerland and Poland before emigrating to the United States. His parents and brother were interned in Soviet labor camps but eventually joined him.

He took a job teaching meterology at the University of Chicago where he met his future wife, Evelyn Jensen. They have four children together, Sarah, Michael, Ruth and Maxim, and last year celebrated their 63rd anniversary.

Hurwicz joined the University of Minnesota in 1951, where he worked up until his death.

Trouble finds Tim McGraw at Washington state show

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — If Tim McGraw isn't looking for trouble, it must've been looking for him. Fan video shot Tuesday in Auburn, Wash., shows the country singer help eject an unruly fan.

McGraw shouts "Get rid of this guy," summons security and helps arriving crew members haul him onstage. When the heavyset fan moves toward McGraw, the singer threatens him with a cocked fist as he's hauled away.

The band's performance of "Indian Outlaw" never stopped. And as if on cue, McGraw steps to the mic and picks up with the line "I ain't lookin' for trouble ... ."

A statement from McGraw's representative says he witnessed the man rush up and attack a female, and he intervened when security couldn't respond quickly enough.

Naomi Campbell pleads guilty to police assault

British supermodel Naomi Campbell pleaded guilty on Friday to assaulting two police officers after a disturbance on a plane at London's Heathrow airport in April.

Wearing a dark suit and sunglasses, the 38-year-old was escorted by her minders through a large scrum of reporters and photographers waiting outside Uxbridge Magistrates Court in west London.

Campbell had originally faced six charges relating to the incident on a stationary Los Angeles-bound British Airways plane.

She had complained that her bags had gone missing at the airport's recently opened Terminal 5 and police escorted her off the aircraft.

On Friday she pleaded guilty to four charges, a spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said. They included assaulting two police officers and one public order offence.

"We've accepted that plea," the CPS spokeswoman said.

Earlier Campbell's spokesman, Alan Edwards, said outside court that she conceded the incident had been "regrettable" and that she wanted to give magistrates her side of the story.

In April, British Airways was beset by problems with the check-in and baggage handling systems at the new 4.3 billion pound ($8.6 billion) terminal. Hundreds of flights were cancelled and tens of thousands of bags went missing.

It is not the first time Campbell has been in trouble with the law.

She spent five days mopping floors as part of a community service sentence in New York last year after throwing a mobile phone at her housekeeper during an argument over a pair of jeans. She was also ordered to attend anger management classes.

Campbell will be sentenced later.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White and Andrew Hough; editing by Peter Griffiths and Paul Casciato)

(To read more about our entertainment news, visit our blog "Fan Fare" online at http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare )

Lil Wayne's 'The Carter III' sells 1 million

Lil Wayne now has official numbers to back up his bragging — the rapper's new CD has sold a spectacular 1 million copies its first week.

"Tha Carter III" is easily the best selling first week of the year, according to Nielsen SoundScan figures. Even Kanye West's "The Graduation" didn't eclipse that mark in its first week last year (though it was only about 50,000 copies short).

A prolific rapper who's been ubiquitous on the mixtape scene and on other acts' records, Lil Wayne is generally regarded as one of rap's most gifted performers — but he's never had a multiplatinum album. "Tha Carter III" was anticipated as the CD that would send the New Orleans rapper into superstardom.

In a slumping industry where selling 200,000 albums in one week is becoming a rare feat, Lil Wayne's achievement is not only a triumph but a much-needed boost — the last CD to sell 1 million or more in its first week was 50 Cent's "The Massacre" in 2005.

Family, friends gather to mourn director Pollack

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Friends, family and show business colleagues gathered to remember late Oscar-winning director, producer and actor Sydney Pollack at a private memorial service, according to a person with knowledge of the service.

The person insisted on anonymity because the family wanted details of the service on Saturday to be kept private and the person was not authorized to release any information.

The 73-year-old director, producer and actor died of cancer on May 26 while surrounded by family at his home in Los Angeles, according to his publicist, Leslee Dart. Pollack had been diagnosed with cancer about nine months ago.

Pollack won Academy Awards for best picture and best director for the 1985 epic "Out of Africa." In a career spanning nearly five decades, he directed over 20 films, including "The Firm," "Havana" and "Absence of Malice." The last film he directed was the 2006 documentary "Sketches of Frank Gehry."

Pollack had worked with seemingly every A-list star in the business: Al Pacino, Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, Nicole Kidman, Barbra Streisand and George Clooney. He collaborated with Robert Redford on seven films, including "Out of Africa," 1973's "The Way We Were," 1975's "Three Days of the Condor" and 1979's "The Electric Horseman."

While best known as a director, Pollack frequently stepped in front of the camera. He played the agent of Dustin Hoffman's cross-dressing soap star in 1982's "Tootsie," which he also directed, and the old-school law firm boss in 2007's "Michael Clayton," which he also co-produced. He also appeared on "Will & Grace," "Entourage" and "The Sopranos."

Pollack is survived by his wife, Claire; two daughters, a brother and six grandchildren. Pollack's son, Steven, died in a plane crash in 1993.

Guests for the Sunday TV news shows

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Manager charged with torching Jamie Oliver's Melbourne offices

The manager of British celebrity chef Jamie Oliver's chic Australian restaurant was charged Friday with stealing thousands of dollars and burning down the company's offices.

Thirty-two-year-old Kevin Stralow ran Fifteen Restaurant in Melbourne for the foundation Oliver set up to help disadvantaged young people enter the restaurant business, a court heard.

The fire at the charity's offices near the restaurant on June 5 caused about a million dollars (950,000 US) in damage and destroyed two other offices in the building before firefighters managed to bring it under control.

Stralow, who has been sacked, was also accused in the Melbourne Magistrates Court of stealing some 23,000 dollars of the restaurant's takings between April 14 and June 2.

The management of Oliver's Fifteen Foundation said in a statement it was deeply disappointed and saddened by the case.

"We place great trust in our trainees and we're proud of the fact they continue to work extremely hard to build their skills and turn their lives around," the statement said.

Fifteen Melbourne executive head chef Tobie Puttock said Oliver had been in touch to offer encouragement to the staff and trainee chefs.

"He's basically sent out big hugs and kisses to us and... we can power through this, so we'll just keep going."

Puttock told reporters the office was also used by trainees as a safe place to relax.

"For me, that was the biggest loss we had," he said. "A lot of the young people we have on board don't have maybe such a good home life.

"For them, it was a place they could go and actually hang out, or talk to us or counsellors or me or the other chefs."

The Fifteen Foundation says it has helped around 50 trainees since the Melbourne restaurant -- one of four Fifteen Restaurants worldwide -- was launched in September 2006.

Stralow, who denied the allegations, was granted bail under the condition that he stays away from the restaurant and is due to reappear in court in September.

Oliver, whose first television series was titled The Naked Chef, promotes simple, healthy cooking and is known for his campaign against the processed foods served in British schools.

"Grey's Anatomy" co-star Heigl bows out of Emmy race

Actress Katherine Heigl, a surprise Emmy winner last year for her role on hit TV drama "Grey's Anatomy," has bowed out of this year's race in an apparent swipe at producers for diminishing her presence on the series.

Heigl, 29, quietly chose not to submit her name for consideration as an Emmy contender this year but explained her rather conspicuous absence from the ballot when asked by Tom O'Neil, columnist for the Los Angeles Times' showbiz awards website TheEnvelope.com.

"I did not feel that I was given the material this season to warrant an Emmy nomination, and in an effort to maintain the integrity of the academy organization, I withdrew my name from contention," she said in a statement posted by O'Neil.

"In addition, I did not want to potentially take away an opportunity from an actress who was given such materials."

The lengthy list of performers vying for Emmy recognition from fellow members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences was posted in recent days. Nominations will be announced on July 17.

Heigl was the upset winner of last year's prime-time Emmy as best supporting actress in a drama for her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on the ABC hospital series, beating out two other co-stars for the award -- Sandra Oh and Chandra Wilson.

It was the show's biggest Emmy triumph since the 2005 inception of the series, which helped lead the way in ABC's ratings rebound three years ago and ranks as one of the most watched dramas on U.S. television.

But while Heigl has since emerged as Hollywood's latest "it" girl following the success of her breakout film comedy "Knocked Up," her profile on "Grey's Anatomy" this past season has been noticeably reduced.

As noted by O'Neil, one of her more meaty story lines on the show this year involved her character saving a deer that had caused a string of automobile accidents.

"What she deserved after winning the Emmy was a heightened profile on the show, not a reduced one," he said, adding that she appeared to be "logging an internal protest" with the show's producers.

While not uncommon for Emmy veterans to withdraw from contention in later years -- as Candice Bergen and Bill Cosby have in the past -- they typically have done so after repeated wins to give others a shot.

A spokeswoman for ABC, a unit of the Walt Disney Co., said the network has no comment on Heigl's move.

Heigl's last big-screen role was in the romantic comedy "27 Dresses," which released in January.

Daily Variety reported this week that she has just clinched a deal to star in and produce a film adaptation of "Escape," the best-selling memoir of Carolyn Jessop, whose testimony helped convict polygamist sect leader Warren Jeffs.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Mission impossible: Celebs' attempts to hide pregnancies

Deny, deny, deny.

That's what musician Pete Wentz did in April when reports surfaced that fiancee Ashlee Simpson was carrying his child. In an angry missive to MTV.com, Wentz fumed: "There is a witch hunt for people to be pregnant whenever they get engaged in Hollywood. This is all news to me."

Last week, Wentz, who married the 23-year-old singer (now Simpson-Wentz) last month at her parents' Los Angeles-area home, happily confirmed the news on his blog, explaining that the couple "wanted to wait until after the first trimester" to make it official.

Most expectant parents, concerned about the possibility of a miscarriage, wait until after the first three months of pregnancy to share the news with family and friends. But discretion is nearly impossible for those in the media spotlight.

"Every woman, no matter who they are or what they do for a living, has the right to wait until at least (three) months before sharing this very personal news," Wentz, who turns 29 Thursday, told MTV.com last week. "We wanted to wait until after the first trimester and get a clean bill of health from our doctors before confirming anything, just like any other couple."

"Being a boy I have no idea how to respond to such things and my first instinct was to protect her and the baby," said Wentz, bassist for rock band Fall Out Boy. "It's insane that you can't let happy news brew in Hollywood. This wasn't about press or anything. ... I apologize to anyone who felt misinformed but the truth is, the person and growing baby is who I felt most loyal to protect and defend."

Wentz isn't the first celebrity to dispute pregnancy rumors. In late December, Nicole Kidman, who had a miscarriage during her marriage to Tom Cruise, denied that she is expecting a baby with husband Keith Urban — only to confirm it a week later. Jennifer Lopez, who welcomed twins with husband Marc Anthony in February, announced she was pregnant in November following denials by the couple.

Even so, attempts by celebrities to keep their pregnancies private doesn't stop celebrity magazines and gossip Web sites from issuing reports to the contrary.

Jared Shapiro, executive editor of Life & Style Weekly, told The Associated Press the magazine began publishing stories that Simpson, the younger sister of Jessica Simpson, was pregnant after receiving information from various sources.

"The news of the pregnancy makes for great breaking news," he said.

"Ninety-nine percent of these celebrities end up confirming, so they do talk about it — they just do it on their own terms," said Shapiro. He said it's the media's job "to break news. Not wait for news."

Pregnancy is a big game in the celeb news business, as indicated by the millions of dollars that People magazine has paid for exclusive photos of the children of Jennifer Lopez (reportedly $6 million), Angelina Jolie ($4 million for photos of baby Shiloh, now 2) and Christina Aguilera ($1.5 million).

Competition from Internet gossips raises the stakes even higher in getting the news first, Shapiro said.

"It's hard for celebrities to keep a pregnancy secret but if you look at who they surround themselves with — they've got doctors, lawyers, agents, managers, publicists, assistants, friends, family," he said. "Add that into the fact that you've got photographers following them, and just the entire American public on celebrity watch now — you can't pull it off. Your every word is heard."

Shapiro said stars are "getting creative in their choice of words, and that's become a whole new game: dissecting what a (representative's) comment actually means. Is it a denial? Is it a confirmation? Is a non-denial denial?"

Simpson-Wentz simply stayed mum while promoting her new album, "Bittersweet World."

But when a star finds out she's pregnant, how much talking should their representatives do?

Public Relations representative Ken Sunshine says "way too many" in his profession mishandle private matters (such as pregnancy) by not acting in their clients' interest.

"Where I think the outrage comes is when they sell out their client, and either the clients are not aware or too stupid to realize what's happening, and that is outrageous," particularly when there's a child involved, said Sunshine, whose clients include John Mayer and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Sunshine said there are lines to be drawn — especially in today's celeb-crazed climate.

If somebody "wants to maintain some anonymity or some privacy of extremely personal things like this, they should be able to do it," he said.

Over-the-top MTV Movie Awards have smoke, no fire

The "Transformers" have another chunk of metal to add to their collection.

The blockbuster about robots in disguise took home the golden popcorn trophy for best film at the MTV Movie Awards on Sunday night, and Johnny Depp won two buckets for best comedic performance and best villain.

Accepting the best film award with director Michael Bay, "Transformers" co-star Megan Fox trotted out some R-rated language to describe how good the film's sequel is going to be. Bay said the film would begin shooting the following day and take place two years after the first film.

And Rainn Wilson — who presented best kiss wearing nothing but a teddy bear — told The Associated Press on the gold carpet that he would play a college professor in "Transformers 2."

"I just love the idea of me being in a giant Michael Bay movie," Wilson said.

A couple of hundred yards downhill, the final remnants of a disastrous fire that ripped through Universal Studios was extinguished as the ceremony got under way.

While there was no mention of the fire, there was definitely smoke during the over-the-top ceremony: Presenters Seth Rogen and James Franco, stars of the upcoming stoner comedy "Pineapple Express," pretended to smoke marijuana before handing out the popcorn trophy for new category of best summer movie so far.

"Kids, don't really smoke fake weed like this," Rogen sarcastically told the crowd at the Gibson Amphitheatre.

As they pulled out the "contraband," the cameras pulled away to a wide angle, staying that way until Rogen and Franco left the stage. The awkward moment made some in the audience laugh, but left Robert Downey Jr. — who accepted the award on behalf of "Iron Man" — with a puzzled look.

"Thanks fellas," he said, "for that intoxicating introduction."

Franco later told the AP backstage that MTV put them up to the joke, but that someone from the network decided at the last minute that they couldn't go through with it. By then, it was too late to pull back.

"MTV wrote it! ... Then backstage there was this big commotion: 'You guys can't say that,'" Franco said. "It says right in the script: 'Lights fake joint.'"

The nearby studio fire broke out 4:30 a.m. on a soundstage featuring a New York brownstone facades at the 400-acre property. It was contained to the lot but burned for more than 12 hours before the final flames were extinguished.

"I actually came here early because I wanted to see it," Chris Brown said before the show. What did he see? "A whole lot of chaos."

Winners were threatened to keep their speeches short by a man resembling Javier Bardem's character from "No Country for Old Men" — complete with the bob hairdo and pneumatic cattle gun. Best female performance winner Ellen Page from "Juno" escaped unscathed, but best fight winners Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet were ushered off stage by the menacing lookalike.

Host Mike Myers and Dana Carvey resurrected their "Saturday Night Live" characters Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, the cable access hosts of "Wayne's World." They acknowledged it's been awhile since they've been together ("1994. That's a while," said Wayne) and presented a risque top ten list of adult film titles (No. 8: "I Am Legend ... In Bed"; and No. 1 "Iron Man").

The mood backstage was calm as stars schmoozed during the show. Tom Cruise posed for photos with his arm around Ben Stiller while wife Katie Holmes stood a few steps away. She wasn't by herself for long: Sarah Jessica Parker chatted Holmes up, and Sandler and Will Smith both had their children with them behind the scenes.

Depp showed up to accept his trophies for best comedic performance for "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" and best villain for "Sweeney Todd." While the crowd was visibly excited — including a nearly swooning Diablo Cody — "Superbad" actors Jonah Hill and Rogen shook their fists at Depp and gave him the thumbs down.

Depp kept his first acceptance speech short.

"You can ask anybody," he said quietly. "I'm not a very funny person. I'm not even remotely funny."

Cruise presented Adam Sandler with the Generation Award, the MTV Movie Awards' highest honor, for his various comedic and "stupid" performances over the years. Sandler sang a live version of "Nobody Does It Better" alongside a bevy of backup dancers clad in skintight gold outfits. Among them: Rob Schneider.

Sandler, who took a guitar solo on his gold Les Paul, changed the lyrics to "baby, I'm the best."

"That was probably the most arrogant thing I've ever done," Sandler said, moments after Cruise got on his knees to hand over the golden popcorn.

Coldplay performed "Viva la Vida" amid a flurry of confetti, which at one point found its way in lead singer Chris Martin's mouth. Later, the Pussycat Dolls danced in front of a giant lit-up sign broadcasting the group's name alongside "America's Best Dance Crew" winners JabbaWockeeZ to "When I Grow Up."

Other winners during the ceremony included Smith for best male performance for "I Am Legend"; Zac Efron for best breakthrough performance for "Hairspray"; and Briana Evigan and Robert Hoffman for best kiss in "Step Up 2: The Streets."

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AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report.

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