Movies

Russi Taylor -- the woman who voiced Minnie Mouse for more than three decades -- has died.

Taylor passed away Friday at her Glendale home in Southern California, according to Disney CEO Bob Iger. He says, "Minnie Mouse lost her voice with the passing of Russi Taylor."

Iger went on to say, "We’re so grateful for Russi’s talent as well as the tremendous spirit and great joy she brought to everything she did. It was a privilege to have known her and an honor to have worked with her, and we take comfort in the knowledge that her work will continue to entertain and inspire for generations to come."

He added, "Russi will be sorely missed and our hearts go out to her family and friends, along with our deepest condolences." The circumstances around her death are unclear.

Russi voiced the iconic Disney character consistently since the '80s -- 1987 to be exact, which is when she's first credited for playing Minnie in a TV movie called "DTV 'Doggone' Valentine." She auditioned and landed the coveted role. Hers is the Minnie voice most millennials and kids are familiar with.

She's continued to voice Minnie as recently as 2019, and has a little over 80 Minnie credits to her name over the a variety of Disney projects. Some of the most notable contributions to the Disney canon as Minnie ... "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" "Runaway Brain," "Goofy and the Three Musketeers," "Mickey Mouse Works," "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" and lots of others.

Russi's voice talents went well beyond Disney though ... she's voice other iconic characters too, like Pebbles on "The Flinstones," the Mackleberry Twins and Martin Prince on "The Simpsons" and other characters on "The Jetsons," "Scooby Doo," "The Muppets" ... plus plenty of other Disney favorites.

She was once married to longtime Mickey Mouse voice actor Wayne Allwine, who died of diabetes in 2009. They didn't have any children together, but she's got a whole country of kids who love her.

Brad Pitt STRUGGLED valiantly to make a 3-point turn while he filmed a scene in Quentin Tarantino's new movie ... and, gotta say -- he failed miserably!!!

Brad is behind the wheel of a 1960 Karmann Ghia roadster -- an awesome car back in the day.  Brad was trying to 3-point it on a narrow, Bev. Hills road, with little success as he filmed "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood."

The vid was shot last September ... just a few houses down from the home where Sharon Tate was brutally murdered in 1969 by Manson Family members. The streets in the neighborhood are mostly narrow and scary at night.

The flick opened up this weekend ... and there was already a minor hiccup in promoting the project on a major billboard in Los Angeles.

Azriel Clary and Joycelyn Savage are ready to step out of R. Kelly's shadow and into a spotlight of their own ... in Hollywood.

Sources close to the pair tell us ... Kelly's so-called girlfriends are looking for big-time talent management to put them in a "positive light" as they pursue modeling, acting, and even starting their own business.

We're told a rep for the girls has reached out to several notable talent and PR reps in the entertainment business over the last week, noting R. Kelly's live-in GFs are "high profile clientele."

The rep emailed that Clary and Savage, "just want to get a positive name for themselves rather then [sic] the negative rumors their parents have accused them of."

The 2 women are not abandoning R. Kelly as they attempt to launch careers. They're planning on flying to Brooklyn next week to support him in court at his arraignment.

Both Clary and Savage have fiercely stood by the singer's side through his multiple arrests for various sex crimes.

The adorable kid who played Jonah, Tom Hanks' son, in "Sleepless in Seattle" is getting divorced ... TMZ has learned.

Ross Malinger's wife, Kelsey, filed Friday to end their marriage. She filed without the help of a lawyer.

The couple has no children.

Ross was 8 years old when he played Jonah the matchmaker between Tom's character, Sam, and Meg Ryan's character, Annie. As you know, Jonah flew across country and ended up at the Empire State Building, where Sam and Annie finally met and fell madly in love.

He was nominated in 1994 for an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance for his role in 'Sleepless.'

Ross, who is now 35, followed up by doing voice overs for the Disney show "Recess." He was also featured in the CBS sitcom "The Simple Life." There are no acting credits that we see since 2006.

Chloe Grace Moretz is now fully protected -- at least legally -- from a man who keeps getting busted by cops for hopping her fence.

Chloe and fam just scored a permanent restraining order, which is supposed to keep the guy away from them for 3 years. The restraining order protects Chloe, her 2 brothers, her sister and her mom. The guy can have no contact -- direct or indirect -- with any of them.

The restraining order replaces the temporary restraining order a judge issued at the beginning of the month.

The guy was arrested outside the actress' Los Angeles home TWICE ... after the guy climbed over their private gate and started banging on windows and doors, trying to gain access to the residence. He got arrested, showed up the very next day, and got busted again.

Quentin Tarantino may have just gotten an idea for a sequel.

Somebody went and messed around with a "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" billboard in Los Angeles Friday -- on the day of the movie's release -- by replacing Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio's face with accused pedophiles Jeffrey Epstein and Roman Polanski.

The vandal retitled the flick -- "Once Upon a Time in Pedowood."

Epstein -- a registered sex offender -- is currently locked up in a Manhattan federal jail for sex trafficking for allegedly exploiting a multitude of underage girls in the early 2000s.

Polanski -- who directed films like "Chinatown" and "The Pianist" -- remains a fugitive from justice in Europe for raping a 13-year-old girl 40 years ago in the U.S.

We're no film critics, but the duo would likely not make for good box office draw.

The actual Tarantino movie stars Leo, Brad and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate.

Kobe Bryant's quest to take over the non-basketball world continues ... this time the Oscar-winner (still feels weird) is dipping into J.K. Rowling's pond ... releasing a new series of young adult novels.

Mamba's multimedia company, Granity Studios, is putting out 2 works in the next 12 months, the first centered around a young female tennis prodigy who has to save a magical kingdom.

Both stories were created by Kobe himself, with the first, "Legacy and the Queen," to be written by ex-squash player Annie Matthew, and set to be released in September.

The second book "Epoca: The Tree of Ecof" comes out two months after that -- and it's about two kids from opposite sides of the tracks that form an unbreakable bond.

Here's the thing ... we know how deep Kobe is into the movies, and we also know how successful young adult books converted into movies are ('Hunger Games,' "Maze Runner" etc.) so who knows how big this could be for Mamba?!

Colin Farrell doesn't need a fancy gym with top-of-the-line equipment or the fittest exercise clothes from Under Armour ... just a couple of dumbbells and a pair of khaki shorts work just fine.

The "Dumbo" star pumped it up at a private gym in L.A. Thursday ... despite possibly forgetting his gym bag containing his t-shirt, athletic shorts and tennis shoes.

Instead, Colin went shirtless and showed off his rock-hard dad bod along with his new mohawk-style haircut ... and looked pretty serious about getting his reps in.

We're told Farrell's currently on a break from shooting his new film, "Voyagers," in Romania ... and he's using his free time to stay fit.

Canadian actress Elisha Cuthbert shot to stardom in the early '00s when she took on the role of the neighborhood adult film star, Danielle, who battles living her double life in the cult classic rom-com, "The Girl Next Door."

Elisha Cuthbert shared the silver screen with Emile Hirsch as the naive high schooler, Matthew Kidman who (of course) gets the girl at the end and James Remar as the swingin' male porn star, Hugo Posh.

Elisha was also in "Love Actually," "Old School" and "House of Wax" around the same time as 'TGND.'

Nicole Murphy trying to steal away married men from their wives is nothing new -- so says LisaRaye McCoy, who claims to have personal experience with her ... but NM's calling BS, denying all of it.

We got the 'Players Club' actress Wednesday in L.A. -- shortly after Nicole issued her apology to Lela Rochon after being photographed kissing her hubby, Antoine Fuqua -- and she didn't hold back one bit -- she claims her then-husband and Nicole were hooking up.

LRM was married to Turks and Caicos politician Michael Misick from 2006 to 2008, during which rumors of alleged infidelity between Nicole and Michael surfaced. Well, LisaRaye says they were more than rumors ... she says they were FACTS.

A source directly connected to Nicole tells us, Nicole denies LisaRaye's allegation. According to the source, Nicole says, "It's not true. She's [LisaRaye's] been saying that for years. There's no truth to that."

LisaRaye is also outraged at Nicole for the Antoine Fuqua situation, calling BS on Nicole's initial comment that it was just a family-type kiss and then pivoting, saying she was sorry and didn't know he was still married. LisaRaye says Nicole full well knew Antoine was married, and it was a gross betrayal of trust.

And then there's the subject of homewrecker ... LisaRaye doesn't quite go there, but her accusations are mighty close.

Seth MacFarlane just made a young fan's dream come true ... and the kid's whole family joined in on the Hollywood adventure.

Thanks to Seth and the Kids Wish Network ... Chance Yon -- who has cerebral palsy and suffers from ROHHAD -- got to spend the day with his hero at the animation studios of "Family Guy" in L.A.

We're told Chance and his family were flown out Tuesday and greeted with balloons, welcome signs and MacFarlane himself. They had lunch, and then Seth drew and signed sketches for Chance and even voiced some of his favorite characters for him. Mila Kunis and Seth Green -- voices of Meg and Chris -- also chatted with Chance on the phone.

That's not all -- he got to preview a future episode and spend time with director John Holmquist along with writers and animators, who transformed Chance into his own character to join the Griffins.

And, get this -- Chance and his mom even voiced Chris and Lois for a special video clip just for him.

To top it all off ... this was Chance's first time flying and was a bit overwhelming, so MacFarlane hooked the family up with his private jet for their trip back home.

Margot Robbie's portrayal of Sharon Tate in "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" is so spot-on it's surreal ... according to someone who would know -- Sharon's sister.

Debra Tate tells TMZ ... after attending the premiere of Quentin Tarantino's 9th film Monday, she can officially say Margot nailed it. She tells us Robbie's portrayal actually made her feel like she was visiting her sister, and her only complaint is the visit was too short -- the movie left her wanting more. Ironic, since the flick is 2 hours and 45 minutes.

In fact ... she says she'd absolutely love for Margot to play Sharon in a biopic about her sister's whole life.

Of course, Debra's rave review comes after months of trepidation over how her late sister would be played on the big screen. We broke the story ... she actually met with Tarantino and voiced her concerns to him, and he assured her he and Margot would do Sharon right.

Debra tells us ... "I wasn't disappointed."

She says the famed director did everything he promised her he would do, and she adds ... "It’s the first time ever that I haven’t been lied to or tricked or not given any consideration whatsoever” about how Sharon is portrayed.

As for the movie as a whole, Debra says it's vintage Quentin, and she was impressed by the immense detail and accurate portrayal of 1969 Los Angeles ... right down to the music on the radio. She says it was like a time machine.

Debra also says it never felt exploitative of the Manson Family victims, and she actually hopes the film will remind people of the grisly crimes they committed and how some members could still get parole ... something she fights against to this day.

Eddie Murphy's ex-wife, Nicole Murphy, is now clarifying and apologizing for locking lips with a very married man.

Nicole was spotted kissing director Antoine Fuqua over the weekend while vacationing in Italy, and was photographed doing so on at least two occasions. They were definitely getting cozy and appeared to be interacting romantically.

Nicole initially said they were just "family friends" and had simply exchanged a "friendly hello." She has another version now, telling TMZ ... "Without going into the entire situation, I want to apologize to my family, and to Lela and the Fuqua family for what transpired."

Nicole goes on to explain, "It was not my intention to be in this situation. I do not condone women kissing or interacting in anyway inappropriately with a married man. I too was once married and I would never intentionally undermine another woman, despite what has been written."

As for why Nicole kissed Fuqua, who's been married to actress Lela Rochon since 1999 ... we're told she thought the status of their relationship was ... over.

Sources tell us, Nicole was under the impression that Antoine was divorced, and that's why she engaged with him the way she did. We're told she feels terrible about this and hopes folks can forgive her for the mistake.

It's unclear if Nicole was told by Antoine that he was single -- we're working on getting clarification for that. As for Antoine, we've reached out to his camp ... so far, no word back.

One of the last times the "Training Day" director was photographed with his wife in a public setting was February of this year. It's possible they've separated since then, but there's no indication thus far that's happened.

Rutger Hauer -- the Dutch actor best known for costarring with Harrison Ford in the classic film "Blade Runner" -- has died.

The veteran actor died at his home in the Netherlands last week after a short illness, according to his agent. His funeral was held Wednesday.

Hauer's Hollywood career spanned over 5 decades, and his credits include leading roles in movies like "The Hitcher" and playing Roy Batty in Ridley Scott's 1982 sci-fi film, "Blade Runner."

Rutger won a Golden Globe in 1988 for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in the TV series "Escape from Sobibor," and was nominated again in 1995 for "Fatherland."

His more recent credits include "Sin City," "Batman Begins" and the titular role in 2011's "Hobo with a Shotgun." He also had a notable supporting role on the HBO series, "True Blood."

After several big roles in the Netherlands in the '70s, Hauer made his mark on American cinema in 1981, starring alongside Sly Stallone in "Nighthawks."

He was big in the horror genre, as well -- he played Van Helsing in 2012's "Dracula 3D" to follow up going full vampire in the 2004 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s "Salem’s Lot."

Rutger was 75.

Beyonce's omission of any Kenyan artists on her 'Lion King' album is a slap to the face and a damn shame -- so says a famous East African, who helped coin "Hakuna Matata."

John Katana -- the frontman of the Chakacha Kenyan band, Them Mushrooms -- tells us he and a bunch of other Kenyans noticed Bey didn't include ANY local artists (big or small) in her new 'Lion King' album, "The Gift" ... a self-described "love letter" to Africa.

While the Disney folks tapped tons of other African artists that are hot and poppin' in their own countries -- for example, Nigerian pop star WizKid, Ghanaian producer Shatta Wale, Nigerian singer Burna Boy, South African artists Busiswa and Moonchild Sanelly, Nigerian stars Tekno, Yemi Alade and Mr Eazi -- they excluded Keynans.

Considering a lot of the scenery, culture and language used in '94's and 2019's "The Lion King" appears to come straight FROM Kenya (or at least East Africa) ... John says he and lots of other Kenyan creatives found it puzzling not one of 'em made the cut for "The Gift."

John and music critics alike have noted the omission, and he's super bummed about it ... especially since he says no one from Disney even reached out to the "Hakuna Matata" OGs.

As we've reported ... a petition was started last year that called for Disney to drop its trademark over "Hakuna Matata," which is a well-known Swahili phrase that John and co. claim to have popularized in their '80s platinum hit, "Jambo Bwana."

Lindsey Graham says it SUCKS Tom Cruise's iconic bomber jacket got tweaked just to please the Chinese.

We got the Senator on Capitol Hill Tuesday and asked him about the brewing controversy surrounding "Top Gun: Maverick." ICYMI ... hawkeyed fans noticed in the new trailer that the back of Tom's jacket no longer includes 2 flags from the original 4-flag pattern -- Taiwan and Japan.

If you look closely, the new pattern is replaced by two obscure symbols with similar color schemes. This led to speculation it was done to please China ... given that Chinese tech giant Tencent is one of its film's financiers.

The issue with Japan and Taiwan on the iconic jacket? China's got a tense relationship with Japan in recent years over their fight for islands in the East China Sea. China's also got a complicated relationship with Taiwan ... which the Chinese used to control before Taiwan separated in 1949.

The senator tells us he's still gonna watch the movie cause he's a huge fan -- who isn't?! -- but thinks it sucks China's got this much power in the modern world.