Rylance gives away his Tony Award

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:59 GMT Mark Rylance said Micky Lay "deserves" the Tony award Actor Mark Rylance has given his Tony Award for his role in the Broadway hit Jerusalem to the man who partly inspired it.

The actor said Micky Lay, from Pewsey, Wiltshire, had helped him research his character Johnny "Rooster" Byron.

Jez Butterworth set his play in the small town of Flintock - which is based on Pewsey, where he lived in the 1990s.

Rylance has had his Tony engraved with the words: "To Micky and Scotty Lay from Mark Rylance".

It will be presented to the pair later in a pub in Pewsey.

Butterworth's play focuses on Byron - a charismatic character who lives in a run-down caravan on the edge of Flintock and is facing eviction by the council.

In June Rylance, the Bafta award-winning actor, beat Al Pacino to win the 2011 Tony Award for best actor in Jerusalem.

In an interview, he told broadway.com he wanted to give the Tony "to the guy in Wiltshire [Micky Lay] who very much inspired Jez to write the play".

He said: "I think he'd really like it. He was very generous with me and invited me into his house and talked with me for six hours or so on different occasions about his life as a Romany Gypsy man in England.

"And I think without those interviews I wouldn't have found such a thing.

"So I think he deserves it."

Last week, the award was handed over to a "surprised" Jerry Kunkler, who runs Mr Lay's local pub, in New York.

Mr Kunkler, landlord of the Moonrakers, in Pewsey, had been watching the Broadway production of the play when he was invited backstage to meet the cast.

"I went to America to watch the play and Mark Rylance gave it to me then," he said.

Award 'a secret'

"He gave it to me in a bag and said it was a present for Micky and he'd had it engraved for him.

"I was terrified going through customs with it."

Until now, Mr Lay has had no idea he is to be presented with the award.

"I couldn't say to him - here have a pint, oh and by the way here's a Tony," said Mr Kunkler.

"So I've kept it quiet and told him to make sure he's around on Thursday."

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Franco 'back at General Hospital'

29 July 2011 Last updated at 14:06 GMT James Franco first appeared on the soap in 2009 James Franco, star of 127 Hours, is to return to US daytime soap opera General Hospital, it has been reported.

US network ABC confirmed the Oscar-nominated actor would be reprising his role as the serial killer artist Robert "Franco" Frank, TheWrap.com said.

It will be the fourth time the Spider-Man star has appeared in the soap since 2009.

The character will return to the show from 20 September, as part of a long-term storyline.

'Frank' will return to the show as the object of his character's affection - hit man Jason Morgan - prepares to marry fiance Samantha McCall.

An ABC spokesman said it would be the character's "most twisted plan yet".

Franco first appeared on the soap for two months in 2009 and was last seen in February, in a two-day stint which coincided with him hosting the Oscars with Anne Hathaway.

It is not known how long Franco will star in the soap during his forthcoming run.

The actor is due to appear on Broadway this autumn opposite Nicole Kidman in a revival of Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird of Youth.

Franco will next be seen on the big screen in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which is released in the UK on 12 August.

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US film producer Polly Platt dies

29 July 2011 Last updated at 09:50 GMT Platt was married to director Peter Bogdanovich Hollywood producer Polly Platt, who was nominated for an Oscar for art direction, for Terms of Endearment, has died aged 72 in New York.

Platt, who was formerly married to film director Peter Bogdanovich, produced a string of successful movies including Broadcast News and War of the Roses.

Her daughter, Sashy Bogdanovich, said Platt died on Wednesday of a form of motor neurone disease.

Platt leaves two daughters and three grandsons.

Born in Illinois, she studied art at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, before she began her career as a costume designer for the stage.

She worked with husband Bogdanovich, as a set designer, on films including The Last Picture Show, but they separated following his affair with the film's star Cybill Shepherd.

After the divorced in 1971, however, they maintained a working relationship on hit films such as What's Up Doc?, starring Barbra Streisand, and Paper Moon.

Platt was also known for her long professional association with Terms of Endearment director James L Brooks, and was executive vice-president of his production company, Gracie Films.

In the early 1980s she presented Brooks with a cartoon strip written by the then-unknown Matt Groening - who would later go on to create The Simpsons. Brooks went on to become a long-standing writer and developer on The Simpsons series.

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Madonna film to screen at Venice

28 July 2011 Last updated at 10:42 GMT Madonna previously directed the 2008 comedy romance Filth and Wisdom Madonna's film about King Edward VIII's romance with American divorcee Wallis Simpson will have its world premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival.

W.E, which the singer directed, screens out of competition at the event, which runs from 31 August to 10 September.

British actress Andrea Riseborough plays Mrs Simpson in the film, which contrasts her scandalous relationship with a contemporary romance.

In all, 21 titles will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion award.

The new film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - starring Gary Oldman as John le Carre's legendary spy George Smiley - features in the competition line-up.

It is joined by Andrea Arnold's new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Roman Polanski's new film Carnage, and Shame, the latest film from Turner Prize winner-turned-director Steve McQueen.

Other titles in contention include A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg's new film about the conflict between the psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.

Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender play Freud and Jung, while Keira Knightley plays a troubled patient who comes between them.

Fassbender also appears in Shame, a family drama about a wayward brother and sister in which he stars opposite Carey Mulligan.

Polanski's and Cronenberg's films are both based on plays, by Yasmina Reza (God of Carnage) and Christopher Hampton (The Talking Cure) respectively.

Newcomer James Howson plays Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights

Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster appear in Carnage, about two sets of parents who come together after their children fight at school.

New works from Abel Ferrara, Exorcist director William Friedkin and 'indie' film-maker Todd Solondz further swell the diverse line-up.

As previously announced, this year's festival will open with The Ides of March, a political drama which Venice regular George Clooney directs, produces, co-writes and appears in - also in contention.

Actor Al Pacino will be honoured at the event, while Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky will chair the competition jury.

Pacino's film Wilde Salome - an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's notorious 1891 play - will receive an out of competition screening, as will Steven Soderbergh's virus-based thriller Contagion.

The festival will close with Damsels in Distress, the latest feature from US film-maker Whit Stillman - his first film as writer-director since 1998's The Last Days of Disco.

The festival in Venice, together with the Toronto Film Festival - which runs concurrently - are often used as launch-pads for films hoping to triumph during the forthcoming awards season.

Last year's festivities saw Sofia Coppola - daughter of US film-maker Francis - receive the Golden Lion for her semi-autobiographical drama Somewhere.

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Ronson dedicates gig to Winehouse

By Greg Cochrane
Newsbeat music reporter Mark Ronson has paid tribute to Amy Winehouse by performing a number of her songs at a show in London.

In his first gig since her death, the British producer and songwriter invited members of her backing band on stage for a version of Valerie.

Mark Ronson played the same song at the start of the gig with The Zutons' singer Dave McCabe, who originally wrote the song, on vocals.

"She made brilliant music, more than I'll make in my entire life," he said.

He co-produced Winehouse's successful second album Back To Black and peppered the gig with references to the singer.

He played her hit single Rehab during a short DJ set in the middle of the concert and was joined by Charlie Waller, lead singer of The Rumblestrips, for a full band cover of Back To Black.

'Genius'

"It's really lovely getting to play some music here for you tonight," Mark Ronson, 35, said from the stage. "That's what makes everything better.

"I went to her service yesterday (Tuesday) and there was a rabbi that spoke and he said that somebody's life is measured in deeds and not years and that's the best thing I heard yesterday.

Dave McCabe (right) from The Zutons sang Valerie with Mark Ronson

"The genius in that woman and what she shared with us is pretty special.

"I'm not going to get all morbid on you. It's just nice to be playing music to people who like good music. She is my sister, wherever she is."

The concert was held as part of the Greenwich Summer Sessions festival.

Fans who made it to the gig said Mark Ronson had got the tone just right.

"I thought he was quite respectful of her and her family," said Sasha Waxman from Lincolnshire. "It was quite emotional."

Neely Hannah from Skegness added: "The mood was sombre to start but he did well with it. When her former band members came on, that was really nice. It wasn't upsetting, it was quite uplifting."

Mark Ronson attended Amy Winehouse's funeral on Tuesday in north London with her family and close friends.

Police will have to wait up to four weeks for the results of toxicology tests to find out her cause of death.

The singer had recently cancelled all European tour dates after a concert in Serbia where she was booed off stage.

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Back to basics

29 July 2011 Last updated at 12:00 GMT By Fiona Bailey Entertainment reporter, BBC News Adam Ant found fame in the 1980s with his band Adam And The Ants.

For a short period, striding the stage in his brocaded Hussar jacket and facepaint, he was ubiquitous. His string of top 10 hits included three number ones: Stand and Deliver, Prince Charming and Goody Two Shoes.

But in 1982, just two years after their first major hit, the group disbanded.

Ant went on to launch a solo career and turned his hand to acting.

However in 2003 his career took a nosedive, following two arrests - one for pulling a replica gun in a pub, and another for stripping off in a cafe.

The singer was subsequently sectioned under the Mental Health Act.

Eight years on, he has put all that behind him and has returned to his roots, concentrating on music.

"People might ask 'what does the guy with the stripe over his nose look like 32 years later?'," he says.

"He's a bit more rough and ready, a bit madder, and a bit wiser."

Forthcoming reunion

The 56-year-old singer - real name Stuart Goddard - is currently writing a new album, in preparation for the Ants reuniting.

"That's in the pipeline now. I own the name and the brand, and it's my baby. I am going to take certain members of the original band and release our fourth album."

But unlike the first time around, when Ant claims that he was underpaid - this time he maintains he will be banking all the profit.

"Back then I was working for a ridiculously low percentage for the record company. I was getting 9% - which is not enough - and I was financing everything out of that.

"I was financing the video, the tours... and you get deeper and deeper in, because I didn't want to just stand in front of a brick wall and do a video.

"So every time a record sold for ?1, I'd get 9p. Now I've got 100% of the company shares."

However, the star still has his reservations about the music industry.

"It's all got a little bit lazy," he says.

"It's gone a little bit Opportunity Knocks and kids get the idea that you go on a TV show and six weeks later you're a star."

With his latest record, Adam Ant Is The Blueback Hussar In Marrying The Gunner's Daughter, he is going back to basics.

"I'm not going to do downloads on my album. I'm doing vinyl, CD and cassettes," he reveals.

"I want to make a point, because I don't get paid when people [illegally] download my records.

"Personally, I want something tangible in my hand. I also think vinyl is going to come back in a very big way in the future."

This weekend, the star is preparing to play The Vintage Festival, which takes place at the Southbank Centre in London.

The event, now in its second year, was set up by designer Wayne Hemingway to celebrate the history of music and fashion - and open the doors to people who embrace the Rockabilly era.

Adam Ant had several big hits in the early 80s

Following a 30-day tour of the UK, Ant - who has come to cherish his downtime after the intensity of the 80s - will play just two songs at the event.

"I took 11 days off in three years with Adam And The Ants," he recalls. "Now I'm back, I'm not going to do things that I don't think are necessary."

The twice-divorced star completely withdrew from the music industry for five years to help bring up his daughter Lilly.

"I think 30 years of non-stop work catches up with you," he says, in an oblique reference to his battles with depression.

The musician has talked in the past about having bipolar disorder - but his take on his health issues is typically idiosyncratic.

Having previously described himself as "physiologically allergic" to anti-depressants, he says he no longer takes medication because he believes prescription drugs "literally take away the highs and the lows".

He goes on to say he believes the medical approach to dealing with mental health is "unutterably archaic", although he concedes that medication is necessary in some instances providing it is "monitored very, very carefully by your GP".

Instead, he chooses to use homeopathic methods: "I need to be up and down - I'm an artist," he insists.

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ITV to pilot online 'pay trial'

28 July 2011 Last updated at 12:26 GMT Online users won't be charged for catching up on shows like Coronation Street ITV is to trial charging online viewers for bespoke content and archive material from the new year.

The proposed charges could come into play for downloading things from the channel's back catalogue of drama, and for special "webisodes" of shows like Coronation Street.

However, viewers will not pay to catch up on weekly shows on the ITV Player.

Chief executive Adam Crozier has said the network is to "diversify its revenue streams".

ITV are understood to be trying to establish what viewers would be willing to pay for. Any trial could involve a one-off payment or a subscription fee.

The trial will start privately, before being rolled out to the public.

On Wednesday, the broadcaster said its advertising revenue had fallen 6% in the three months to 30 June, having risen 12% in the previous quarter.

However it experienced a rise in pre-tax profits from ?97m to ?181m for the first half of the year.

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