Entertainment Briefs for May 5, 2010
Berry, Aubry split 'some time ago'
NEW YORK - A representative for Halle Berry says the actress has broken up with model Gabriel Aubry.
Publicist Meredith O'Sullivan says in an e-mail Monday that Berry and Aubry "split some time ago."
The statement says the couple remain close friends and are committed to their 2-year-old daughter, Nahla.
The 43-year-old Berry won a best actress Oscar for the 2001 film "Monster's Ball." Other screen credits also include "Die Another Day" and the "X-Men" films.
Actress matriarch Wagner dies at 91
NEW YORK - Actress Helen Wagner, who played mild-mannered Nancy Hughes on the CBS soap opera "As the World Turns" for more than a half-century and spoke its first words, has died at age 91.
She died Saturday, said the show's New York-based production company, TeleNext Media Inc., which didn't say where she died or what was the cause of her death.
Wagner opened "As the World Turns" when it premiered on April 2, 1956, with the words: "Good morning, dear." She held the Guinness World Record for playing the same role on television for the longest amount of time, 54 years, TeleNext Media said.
"All of us at 'As the World Turns' are deeply saddened by Helen's passing," executive producer Christopher Goutman said in a statement. ??She is loved by generations of fans, and while we will miss her greatly Helen will always remain the heart and soul of 'As the World Turns.'"
While Wagner, who was born in Lubbock, Texas, was seen less often in later decades, no other network television performer came close to her run playing a single character.
She was still part of the cast, though with a small presence, in December 2009, when CBS announced that "As the World Turns" was being canceled and its last episode would air in September 2010.
Her final appearance aired April 5, in an episode in which Julianne Moore, a series regular in the 1980s whose two half-sister characters played Wagner's granddaughters, returned for a guest walk-on. The episode was taped in March.
Douglas: Son's sentence 'adequate'
NEW YORK - Michael Douglas believes his son's five-year sentence for dealing drugs could be a lifesaver, he said Monday on NBC's "Today," describing the prison term as "adequate."
Douglas expressed hope that incarceration would give 31-year-old Cameron Douglas the time he needs to kick the drug habit that has plagued him since he was 13.
"He was going to be dead or somebody was going to kill him," Douglas said. "My son was a drug dealer, and he tried to kill himself for a while, and I can't condone his behavior."
Last month, a judge sentenced Cameron Douglas to five years for dealing methamphetamine from a trendy Manhattan hotel.
"It's going to take that amount of time for him to rebuild and start himself afresh," Douglas said.
Douglas said his son's spirit is good but added that the past year's imprisonment awaiting a sentence has been "really, really difficult."
"With all the mistakes and the disease that Cameron has, he is a great young man," Douglas said, "and I wouldn't be supporting him if I didn't feel that way."
The 65-year-old Oscar winner has accepted a major portion of the blame for his son's problems, describing himself as an absentee father during Cameron's youth too concerned with building his career.
Ask by "Today" host Matt Lauer what advice he'd give to other parents whose children might fall prey to drugs, Douglas said, "You have to catch it early. Your options once your children turn 18 are limited."
Singer Wright reveals she is gay
WASHINGTON - Country singer Chely Wright is the latest celebrity to come out.
Wright tells People she's gay and that nothing in her life has been more magical than the moment she decided to reveal her sexuality.
The 39-year-old says she experienced a community in which homosexuality was shunned and she "hid everything" for her music.
Wright is releasing her memoir, "Like Me," and her new album, "Lifted Off the Ground," this week.
An e-mail sent to Wright's record label wasn't immediately returned Monday.