Actress Lea Thompson, “Duck Dynasty” diva Sadie Robertson and NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip are making tracks for the new season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
ABC on Thursday announced the 13 contestants for its fall round of the dancing competition. They also include talk-show host Tavis Smiley, “Pretty Little Liars” star Janel Parrish, Olympic athlete Lolo Jones, actor Antonio Sabato Jr. and fashion designer Betsey Johnson. Other amateur hoofers include comedy veteran Tommy Chong, YouTube star Bethany Mota, Ultimate Fighting champ Randy Couture, “Mean Girls” star Jonathan Bennett and actor-dancer Alfonso Ribeiro.
The new lineup was unveiled on “Good Morning America.”
The 19th season of “Dancing” premieres Sept. 15. Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews return as co-hosts.
Henry Holt has acquired the rights to a biography of the late Robin Williams, to be written by New York Times culture reporter Dave Itzkoff.
“The book will provide the definitive, comprehensive account of Williams’s life and will recount his journey from lonesome youth to indefatigable comedian, and from television sensation to beloved, Academy Award-winning star of ‘Dead Poets Society,’ ‘Aladdin,’ and ‘Good Will Hunting,’” Henry Holt said in a press release.
Williams, 63, died in an apparent suicide earlier this month. Having long battled addiction, Williams was sober at the time of his death, but was suffering the early stages of Parkinson’s disease, family members said.
Itzkoff interviewed Williams several times, most recently for a profile in 2009, when Williams was recovering from open-heart surgery. “You appreciate little things,” Williams told Itzkoff, “like walks on the beach with a defibrillator.”
Henry Holt did not announce a publication date.
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