Movies

The actress who played Violet in "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" recently suffered a stroke that's left her in critical condition ... and her family in dire straits.

A Facebook group has been started to help support Denise Nickerson, who's recovering from a stroke she suffered in late June. The FB group has been offering updates on her health status for about a week now, and is also offering autographed items for cash so they can stay by her side.

Sources close to the family say Denise is in the ICU, but are adamant -- she is a fighter. Denise will be having a procedure later Wednesday.

Our sources say she's had a pacemaker put in and is being fed through feeding tubes.

In addition to her 'Wonka' fame, she also appeared in an episode of "The Brady Bunch," and was a regular in the series "Dark Shadows" and "The Electric Company."

The family's raised $2,492 so far for health care fees and other costs.

Demi Moore is the victim in a major credit card fraud case -- way over $100k worth -- according to federal prosecutors.

According to the criminal complaint, obtained by TMZ, 35-year-old David Matthew Read reported Demi's AmEx card lost or stolen in March, and when the new one was delivered through FedEx ... he somehow managed to pick it up.

The feds say he went on a spending spree, hitting a handful of Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue stores in the L.A. area. Not exactly low-profile, kinda like his final tab. He allegedly ran up $169k over several weeks!

Read was spotted on surveillance cameras -- at the FedEx and also inside the retail stores -- according to the feds, who say he confessed to the caper when they nabbed him in April.

Good to know even Sylvester Stallone does the Leo in "Titanic" thing when he's on a boat, but most of us can't compete with the view he has right now -- namely, his beautiful wife, Jennifer Flavin!

Sly and the family Stallone are vacationing in Saint-Tropez to celebrate his recent 72nd birthday. While he was playing Jack on Tuesday ... Jennifer and their daughters, Sophia and Sistine, were on paddle boards, attempting what looks like some yoga positions.

The fam's already enjoyed some top-deck time -- sunbathing in their bathing suits -- and now they're looking to enjoy the Mediterranean waters.

Surveillance video shows George Clooney on his scooter smashing head-on into a sedan, and how terrifyingly high he was launched into the air.

TMZ broke the story ... George was doing 60 mph when the Mercedes-Benz cut him off, but this video -- recorded by a nearby surveillance cam -- shows the Oscar winner was thrown nearly 20 feet straight up above the Benz.

You can see Clooney come smashing back down to the ground after the collision. He landed just inches from the front of a truck waiting at the intersection. The video shows something else that's new -- a second scooter. Someone riding next to George narrowly dodged the car, just milliseconds before he wrecked.

As we reported, George was briefly hospitalized for bruising on his arm, leg and pelvis.

Jennifer Flavin and her 20-year-old daughter, Sistine, are a lethal combination ... especially in bikinis.

Sly Stallone's wife and his middle daughter slipped into bikinis aboard a fancy yacht sailing off the South of France. This family affair wasn't just about soaking up the sun and enjoying the views. There was also important business, like ... selfies!

It would be pretty easy to mistake Mom for one of Sistine's 2 sisters ... who are also on the trip, btw.

Dan Rather says he can handle a little Hollywood interference to make a Thailand cave rescue movie, because the story is just that great.

We got the CBS News legend Tuesday in NYC hours after it was announced that all 12 boys from a youth soccer team and their coach were successfully saved from a flooded cave after being trapped for more than 2 weeks. Dan had 1 word for it this AM ... any guesses?

Our camera guy also asks what he makes of Hollywood types rushing to crank out a movie about the rescue, which Dan acknowledges is definitely going on and seems to frown upon.

Johnny Depp is throwing out all the rules on exes and tattoos, 'cause he's changed his Amber Heard-inspired knuckle ink yet again ... and added a dash of chaos.

Fellow Hollywood Vampires bandmember Tommy Henriksen posted a photo of Depp's infamous tat last week, showing the actor's changed his previously reworked SLIM-to-SCUM message to now read SCAM. He used the anarchy symbol for the 'A.'

What's kinda creepy about it is, the tat is still fresh and the scarring makes the red ink seem like a scab. You'll recall ... Johnny already changed the OG tat -- which initially read SLIM (his old nickname for Amber) -- to SCUM in the wake of their divorce.

Anyway, it's clear Johnny's still willing to bleed over Amber -- and over his art too.

Johnny Depp attacked a member of the crew on a movie shoot, telling the crew member he'd give him $100k to punch him in the face ... and now the crew member wants his money in the form of a lawsuit.

Gregg "Rocky" Brooks was hired as a location manager last year for the movie "City of Lies" -- a story about Biggie Smalls' murder. Depp plays LAPD detective Russell Poole, who investigated the killing.

Brooks claims Depp hired 2 of his friends for a scene in downtown L.A. on April 13, 2017. Brooks says the scene wasn't working well, and he informed the director they could only have one more shot at finishing it.

Rocky went to Johnny and told him he only had one more shot. According to the lawsuit -- filed by Baker, Olson, LeCroy & Danielian -- Rocky was concerned about Depp's volatility and went to get an LAPD officer for protection. Before Rocky reached the officer, he claims Depp attacked him and angrily screamed, "Who the f*** are you? You have no right to tell me what to do."

Rocky says Depp punched him twice in the rib cage. Rocky says he didn't react, and that's when Depp screamed, "I will give you $100,000 to punch me in the face right now."

Rocky claims Depp continued his tirade and his bodyguards then removed him from the area.

Rocky says during the altercation Depp's breath reeked of alcohol.

The suit seeks unspecified damages.

1950s heartthrob actor Tab Hunter died Sunday night ... according to his Facebook page.

Tab, known for his surfer boy looks and roles in "Damn Yankees" and "The Burning Hills," was also famous for remaining closeted during Hollywood's Golden Age.

Publicly, he had studio setup relationships with his female co-stars, like Natalie Wood, but in his 2005 autobiography, 'Tab Hunter Confidential' ... he revealed he was actually having affairs with male actors. Most notably, he and "Psycho" star Anthony Perkins had a long relationship.

The Facebook post didn't reveal details about his death, and simply asked fans to "Please honor his memory by saying a prayer on his behalf. He would have liked that."

Sylvester Stallone turned 72 years old this week, and got proper action hero birthday wishes from some of the best in the biz.

Sly made an appearance Friday at London's O2 arena -- the same day he hit the big 7-2. While answering questions from the crowd, a video message was played to honor his born day ... with well-wishes from A LOT of his old action flick buddies.

Guys like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Michael B. Jordan, Al Pacino and Dolph Lundgren (the Russian in 'Rocky IV') all gave a shout out to Rocky Balboa for hitting a new milestone in his life ... and continuing to punch back.

You'd think this would be the greatest gift ever ... but, apparently, not for Sly. He told the audience that the best present he'd ever gotten was his three daughters, who were present.

Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver may get in the Guinness Book of World Records, because they just crossed the 7-year mark in their divorce case with no end in sight.

Maria filed for divorce July 1, 2011 ... this after she learned Arnold fathered a child -- Joseph Baena -- with their housekeeper.

There was never any real custody beef ... of their 4 kids, two were minors at the time -- 17-year-old Patrick and 13-year-old Christopher -- and they both quickly agreed on joint custody. Well, Christopher's now 20, so there hasn't even been a theoretical custody issue for years.

As for a property settlement ... we reported at the time there was a pot of around $400 million to split. The couple, that reportedly started dating in 1982 and married in 1986, did not have a prenup.

Sources connected to Arnold and Maria say there were bumps along the way in hammering out a settlement but, since the split is 50/50, there are no serious roadblocks.

Our sources say Arnold has not shown interest in making the divorce final. As for Maria, she's waffled ... sometimes pushing for a divorce but other times just letting it ride. Everyone we've spoken with says Arnold and Maria are not getting back together ... yet, when push comes to shove, they both seem unwilling to pull the trigger.

Tyler Perry went and pulled an Oprah ... he bought Tiffany Haddish a brand spanking new caaaaaar!

Tyler says Tiff had been talking about buying the new ride -- a Tesla Model X -- but complained there was no time in her schedule to do the whole car shopping thing. Well, that's what friends are for, apparently ... 'cause TP did the dirty work for her. Or more likely, an assistant did it for him, for her.

Anyway ... Tiffany wins!

Tiff is known for being frugal ... her love of Groupon deals landed her a gig as their spokesperson, and she once said she'd never own a nice handbag till she could keep it full with as much cash as it was worth.

Leonardo DiCaprio got patriotic on the 4th of July by serving his country ... as well as serving his guests during a volleyball game that he was REALLY into.

The Oscar winner co-hosted an Independence Day shindig Wednesday in Malibu with his pal, Sean Penn, and got down for a save during a friendly match. Sean appears to have stayed out of the sand, but it's all good -- Leo had it under control. Kind of ...

He gets off to a rough start by knocking the ball into the net, but eventually finds his groove and makes a wicked dive to keep the rally alive. It ends up going out, unfortunately, but dude definitely gets an A for effort.

Lee Daniels was so enamored by Cardi B when they first met, he asked for a selfie vid with her ... and he claims it's the reason she caught her big break that propelled her career.

The acclaimed director told us -- not only is the rapper his favorite hip-hop artist, but she's been a fave of his since she auditioned for a role on his TV show, "Star" ... almost 3 years ago!

Don't believe him? Check it out.

That's not all -- Lee tells Raquel on this previously unseen clip from "Raq Rants" ... Cardi was cast on 'Love & Hip Hop' season 6 because Mona Scott-Young saw his IG video and also believed she was a star.

Clearly ... Daniels was right about his "next discovery."

As if you haven't seen Josh Brolin enough on the big screen this summer, here he is again for the 4th of July ... getting his cornhole on with pro surfing legend Laird Hamilton.

The actor -- who's been in 3 blockbusters so far this year -- was out at a beach in Malibu Wednesday celebrating Independence Day with a good old-fashioned game of throw-this-sack-in-that-hole. Based on how damn happy he looks, we're guessing he scored well.

Laird was spotted on the beach alongside Thanos/Cable/Matt Graver too ... but he eventually made his way into the water and did what he, quite literally, does best -- surfed his heart out. This time, on an electric surfboard!

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding" star Nia Vardalos has filed for divorce from her husband, Ian Gomez.

Vardalos filed divorce docs in an L.A. County court Tuesday ... the couple has one daughter together and got married back in 1993. She lists the date of separation as June 29, 2017 and requests both joint legal and physical custody.

Vardalos wrote and starred in 'MBFGW,' playing Toula Portokalos in the 2002 film along with John Corbett who played the groom. Gomez was also in the movie, but had a smaller role.

Nia's gone on to write and star in 'MBFGW2,' and appear in a few episodes of 'Law & Order: SVU' and a spinoff series, "My Big Fat Greek Life" which only lasted one season.

Gomez's career has included appearances on "The Drew Carey Show," as well as "Fresh Off the Boat" ... and he spent 6 years on the show "Cougar Town."