Movies

Jerry Maren -- the last surviving 'Wizard of Oz' munchkin -- is keeping his title ... because he's alive and well.

There were multiple reports Monday 96-year-old Maren passed away after a bout with pancreatic cancer. But TMZ spoke with Steve Cox -- one of Maren's close friends -- who said he spoke with Jerry yesterday after the death reports ... and verified his pal's doing just fine.

Steve says Maren doesn't even have pancreatic cancer, and is well cared for by relatives in Southern California. He doesn't do appearances any more, but he's about as healthy as can be at 96.

Jerry is currently the last surviving actor still repping the Lollipop Guild.

One of the drug cartel bad dudes from "Sicario" was on the run from real life cops in L.A. before they chased him down and arrested him for DUI.

Law enforcement sources tell us cops spotted Bernardo Saracino -- drug lord Manuel Diaz in "Sicario" -- around 3:30 AM swerving on an L.A. freeway. Officers lit him up and the chase was on. We're told Saracino refused to pull over for about 8 minutes, leading LAPD cops on a chase that covered 3 freeways ... although never exceeding speed limits.

We're told Saracino -- who's also in Tina Fey's "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" -- eventually pulled over and surrendered peacefully. Officers booked him for misdemeanor DUI and evading police.

We reached out to Saracino's rep for comment ... so far, no word back.

Leo DiCaprio is the next best thing to a black person winning an Oscar ... according to his now fellow Oscar winner, Jamie Foxx.

Jamie was flying out of LAX when he gave Chris Rock props on hosting -- but more importantly ... he officially declared Best Actor winner Leonardo an "honorary" brother! What exactly makes him black? You've gotta see Jamie's explanation.

George Kennedy, star of "Cool Hand Luke" and the 'Naked Gun' movies, has died at the age of 91 ... TMZ has learned.

George's grandson Cory Schenkel says Kennedy died Sunday morning at 4:30 AM in Boise, ID. He says his grandfather had been in failing health ever since his wife Joan died a little over a year ago. George had been under hospice care for the past month.

Kennedy won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1968 for "Cool Hand Luke." He also starred in all 3 of the 'Naked Gun' flicks, "Airport 1975," "Earthquake" and many many more.

His last role was in "The Gambler" with Mark Wahlberg in 2014.

Miss Colombia has extended her 15 ... we've learned she's just signed a deal to become Vin Diesel's love interest in "xXx: The Return of Xander Cage."

Sources connected with the production tell us Ariadna Gutierrez will play Vin's love interest, and her part is not insignificant. She's in 6 scenes and has 3 pages of dialogue.

Our sources say Ariadna's off to the Dominican Republic Tuesday to begin shooting. It will be her first movie role.

Vin's snagged some other people who have recently grabbed headlines ... UFC superstar Conor McGregor will also appear in the flick.

Abe Vigoda's family is demanding an apology from the Oscars, saying leaving him out of the "In Memoriam" segment was a final injustice to his memory and career.

Carol Vigoda tells TMZ ... "Last night the Oscars dismayed many and cheated Abe Vigoda by not paying tribute to the immense professional energies and talents that he brought to the industry."

She added, "Let's not forget the personal and family sacrifices that were willing made to achieve that essential devotion. The Oscars fell short in many ways and as my father Abe Vigoda said the Oscars have earned, 'one demerit.'"

Carol's also not going to buy the excuse that Abe -- who starred in "The Godfather," "Look Who's Talking" and countless other films -- was omitted because he died too recently (Jan. 26, 2016) because David Bowie was included ... as was Alan Rickman.

Carol says there's a "hole in my heart that needs to be filled."

Leo DiCaprio is a seasoned actor, but he's a neophyte when it comes to Oscar etchings ... so he proved when he took his trophy upstairs to get it engraved.

You gotta watch the video -- there's wonderment in Leo's eyes as the woman burns his Best Actor title onto the prize.

Feels like an odd word to describe it, but this is kinda ... adorable.

Michael Rapaport perfectly captured what all of us were feeling when someone other than Sylvester Stallone won the Best Supporting Actor award Sunday night ... "WHAT THE F**K IS GOING ON?!"

You gotta watch the video ... Rapaport goes off when Stallone was upset by someone named Mark Rylance.

"YOU MOTHER F**KERS! WHO THE F**K IS THIS?!"

Hilarious.

By the way, Sly's friend Arnold Schwarzenegger also had a message for the actor -- but there's not as much yelling and cussing.

Chris Rock went all in on the #Oscarssowhite controversy during his Oscars monologue, but perhaps no one got it worse than Jada Pinkett Smith.

Rock was responding to Smith's video last month in which she stated she was boycotting this year's Oscars, but Rock was quick to point out ... she wasn't close to getting nominated anyway.

Damn.

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter -- a new Universal Studios Hollywood park -- is 2 months from launch, and there's a problem ... it makes people barf.

The ride is supposed to be a carbon copy of the one that's already up and running at Universal in Orlando. It takes thrill seekers on a 3D broom ride through Hogwarts Castle and other iconic locations from the book.

Problem is ... something about the Hollywood ride is different and makes people hurl. The guinea pigs, aka Universal employees, who have jumped on the broom haven't been able to handle the adventure, and the engineers are trying to figure out what's different from the Orlando ride.

We reached out to Universal for comment ... so far, no word back.

Check out the video below from the Orlando version of the ride -- as you can see, it's definitely on the trippy side.

Tony Burton, one of only a handful of actors to appear in the 1st 6 installments of the 'Rocky' franchise, has died.

Burton played Duke, Apollo Creed's trainer, and also trained Rocky in the 4th movie. Prior to acting Burton was himself a professional light heavyweight boxer and football player.

Burton was apparently ill and unable to see 'Creed.'

The actor also starred in "The Shining" and "Stir Crazy."

'Rocky' co-star Carl Weathers confirmed the death in a tweet, "RIP Tony Burton. intensity and talent helped make the Rocky movie successful #BePeace."

Burton was 78.

R.I.P.

Jamie Foxx thinks people have gotten way too serious about the Oscar protests ... and thinks everyone's just got to laugh more.

Jamie took some heat for joking about #WhatsTheBigDeal and #ActBetter recently at the American black film festival awards. The Oscar winner is firing up his new comedy act, and thinks people have got to start exercising their funny bones more.

In other words, #ItsJustTheOscarsDude

Taryn Manning got a visit from the ghost of movies past -- her former co-star Brittany Murphy -- right in the middle of her DJing gig ... or at least she thought so.

Taryn was spinning for an H&M party in Toronto when she played Eminem's "Lose Yourself" from "8 Mile" ... which, of course, co-starred Taryn and Brittany.

Watch what happened when she shouted out Brit, who died in 2009. Manning seems convinced spirits are a thing.

Then again ... someone just coulda tripped over a power cord.

"Straight Outta Compton" got big props on Wednesday night, winning big at the All Def Movie Awards, but the biggest winner was Ice Cube.

The ceremony was held in Hollywood, clearly a response to the lily white, upcoming Oscars. 'Compton' won Best Picture. Most Quoted Movie went to "Friday" (Ice Cube got the award), and Best Black Survivor in a Movie went to Ice Cube for "Anaconda."

Michael B. Jordan won best actor for "Creed," Will Smith got the Lifetime Achievement Award, and Norman Lear snagged the Vanguard Award.

Our favorite ... the "Most Likely to Steal Your Girl Award' went to Amber Rose.

Tyrese told our photog it's not really the "black" Oscars ... it's for everyone.

Chris Pratt says he's not as fit as you think, but the secret will soon be out because he may just go back to being fat Pratt.

We got Chris out at LAX Wednesday afternoon and he was super excited about "Guardians of the Galaxy 2." But he's also a little bummed about his favorite alcoholic drink that's not on the diet.

Christian Slater destroyed his father's acting career by going public with allegations his dad is suffering from mental illness ... according to a new defamation lawsuit.

Thomas Knight Slater -- who's acted under the name Michael Hawkins -- says his son did an interview last year where he described his father as suffering from "manic-depressive schizophrenia."

Hawkins denies the comment and points out his son has no medical creds to make such a diagnosis.

In the suit -- filed Wednesday in L.A. and obtained by TMZ -- Hawkins says the article resulted in him being "blacklisted" in Hollywood. He says he was hoping to land more roles in the "autumn of his life," but that won't be possible after Christian's lies.

Hawkins had roles in soap operas like "Ryan's Hope" and "As the World Turns" in the '70s. He's also had small roles in some big movies -- 'Amityville Horror,' "Midnight Run" and "Mommie Dearest."