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Talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and her wife, actress Portia de Rossi, have bought a 13-acre estate in Montecito that had been listed at $26.5 million. The purchase price has not yet appeared in the public record. There are nine fireplaces, five bedrooms and seven bathrooms in 10,500 square feet of living space. The grounds include a swimming pool and guest house. DeGeneres, 55, and De Rossi, 40, own several properties in Southern California.
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The house band for NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon” is living large in its hometown of Philadelphia.
Members of The Roots are now depicted on a multistory mural on the back wall of a school. The group attended a dedication of the project on Friday. The mural is called “Legendary.” It uses a colorful collage of images to trace the history of the Grammy Award-winning hip-hop group.
Roots drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson says it’s difficult to believe how far the band has come since its founding in the city in 1992. The art project was created by the city’s Mural Arts Program. There are more than 3,600 murals in Philadelphia.
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Johnny Depp has left a planned film biography of notorious Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger, reportedly over salary issues.
The Hollywood Reporter said Thursday that Depp, 49 - who was announced in February to star in the crime thriller by director Barry Levinson - exited after being asked to accept half his standard quote of $20 million. The trade magazine said this was part of a budget cut for the estimated $65 million to $70 million film following lower-than-expected sales of the movie internationally at the Cannes Film Festival. A production source disputed this, telling the Reporter sales were in the projected range.
UTA, the talent agency representing both the star and the director, had no comment. The film is based on Dick Lehr and Gerald O’Neill’s 2001 bestseller “Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob.”
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Queen Elizabeth II has paid her respects to slain British soldier Lee Rigby by meeting with personnel at the barracks where he served in southeast London.
The meeting with officers and soldiers who worked with Rigby was added to a previously planned visit to the barracks.
Rigby was killed by Islamic extremists last week as he was walking back to the barracks after a works shift at the Tower of London.
Buckingham Palace said Friday the queen talked privately with personnel who had coordinated the response to the slaying and with some of Rigby’s officers.
The meeting was part of a visit to the new home of the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery, a mounted ceremonial unit.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Singer Pat Boone is 79. Actor Morgan Freeman is 76. Actor Rene Auberjonois is 73. Guitarist Ron Wood of the Rolling Stones is 66. Actor Jonathan Pryce (“Evita”) is 66. Actor Powers Boothe is 65. Country singer Ronnie Dunn of Brooks and Dunn is 60. Actress Lisa Hartman Black is 57. Bassist Simon Gallup of The Cure is 53. Actress Teri Polo (“Meet the Parents”) is 44. Model Heidi Klum is 40. Singer Alanis Morissette is 39. TV host Damien Fahey (MTV’s “Total Request Live”) is 33. Singer Brandi Carlile is 32. Actress Willow Shields (“The Hunger Games”) is 13.
associated press
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