Former 'Today' Co-Host Jim Hartz Has Died at 82

More than 20 years in the making, Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis has set its star cast. Adam Driver, Forest Whitaker, Nathalie Emmanuel (Game of Thrones and Fast X), Jon Voight and Laurence Fishburne have been set for the main roles. Fishburne began his career with Coppola at the tender age of 14 in Apocalypse Now. Legend has it he was of legal age when the film got released.

NEW YORK -- American Ballet Theatre has named its first new artistic director in 30 years, and she's a former top ballerina at the company.Susan Jaffe, who was a celebrated principal dancer at ABT for more than two decades, takes over from Kevin McKenzie in December. McKenzie announced last year that he'd be retiring in 2022 after 30 years at the helm.The former ballerina, who has been serving as artistic director at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater since 2020, noted in a statement that this would be her seventh role at ABT, starting as a student and moving up through dancing, teaching and other roles.“What a profound honor it is for me to come back home to lead the artistic helm of American Ballet Theatre,” Jaffe, 59, said in a statement.In addition to her 22 years as a principal dancer at ABT — one of the top classical ballet companies in the world and, along with New York City Ballet, one of America's two leading ballet troupes — Jaffe danced as a guest with companies like the Royal Ballet, the Kirov, the Stuttgart Ballet, La Scala and many others.

Puck’s Dylan Byers.The former Fox News journalist began hosting the interview show at the launch of CNN+, before the streaming service was shut down 30 days after it launched by parent company Warner Bros. Discovery.After a nearly two-decade run at Fox News, Wallace left the network in December 2021 for a job at CNN, where he was then positioned as an anchor for CNN+.Byers reports that in addition to hosting his show on HBO Max, Wallace will continue to do work for CNN as new CNN head Chris Licht begins to sort out where to deploy talent at the networks under the Warner Bros.

Karine Jean-Pierre, a former political analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, will step to the podium as White House Press Secretary when Jen Psaki exits next week. She had been the principal deputy press secretary and deputy assistant to President Joe Biden.

His ultimate fate. This Is Us finally revealed Miguel’s history in the Tuesday, May 3, episode, and actor Jon Huertas exclusively told Us Weekly that “one of the most beautiful” scenes he’s ever filmed made the final cut. Plus, he teased what his ending means for Rebecca’s story.

PRAGUE -- Meda Mladkova, a Czech arts collector, patron and historian who was an impassioned promoter of Frantisek Kupka and supported artists in communist Czechoslovakia while she was in exile behind the Iron Curtain, has died. She was 102.The Kampa Museum, a modern arts gallery that Mladkova created in the heart of Prague, announced she died on Tuesday.“Meda, although she lived a large part of her long life abroad, was always a great patriot and loved the Czech nation,” the museum said.“All her life she believed in the idea: ‘If culture survives, the nation will survive,’” said Jiri Pospisil, the chairman of the museum’s board.Mladkova, born on Sept.

Celebrating fashion or past romances? As celebrities stepped out at the 2022 Met Gala, many of the attendees shared a history that couldn’t be ignored.

Regine, who claimed to have invented the term “discotheque” as she ran a nightclub empire that stretched from Paris to Los Angeles, has died. She passed on Sunday at age 92, according to her granddaughter. No cause was given.

Saying goodbye. After playing beloved husband and grandfather Miguel Rivas on all six seasons of This Is Us, Jon Huertas has completed his last-ever scenes as a member of the Pearson family.

As the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard trial continues in Fairfax, Virginia, Wednesday brought testimony from Christian Carino, Depp’s former agent with Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

A number of Republicans have claimed not to remember various phone calls and text messages they engaged in around the incident at the Capitol on Jan. 6, and “The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah called them out Monday night.Noah played footage of GOP members including Jim Jordan, who didn’t remember calls on Jan. 6 with former President Donald Trump, and Kevin McCarthy, who recently denied the New York Times report that he suggested in the days following that Trump should resign as president.

A New York judge has found Donald Trump in contempt of court for failing to comply with a subpoena to turn over documents to Attorney General Letitia James as part of her investigation into the business dealings of the Trump Organization.

Out on the town. Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson enjoyed a date night in Washington D.C., where the comedian took part in an event honoring Jon Stewart.

his wife, Alexandra Dickson Hartz, told Deadline.Hartz joined the morning news show in 1974 when he was 34.The broadcaster replaced previous “Today” host Frank McGee, who died at 58.Before Hartz became a part of the NBC network, he was a reporter for WNBC, covering local news.Several key events he reported throughout his two-year “Today” show career include President Richard Nixon’s resignation, the beginning of the Apollo 15 spacecraft, the conclusion of the Vietnam War and the American Bicentennial in 1976.Walters, 92, gushed over her co-host to the New York Times in 1974, saying: “Jim, doesn’t mind sharing the stage with me. He isn’t offended when I try to help him.” She left the show in 1976 for a job at ABC.In the same interview, he noted how much he enjoyed being a part of the “Today” show and wanted to honor McGee’s legacy.“I realized ‘Today’ would mean a lot.

WASHINGTON -- A host of celebrities and comedy royalty will gather Sunday night at the Kennedy Center as comedian, talk show host and political influencer Jon Stewart receives the Mark Twain Prize for lifetime achievement in humor.Stewart, the 23rd recipient of the prize, will be honored by testimonials and skits from fellow comedians and previous Mark Twain recipients. Stewart himself spoke during Dave Chappelle’s Mark Twain ceremony in 2019.The 59-year-old Stewart — born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz — rose to prominence as a standup comic and host of multiple failed talk shows before taking over Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” in 1999.

Jim Hartz, who hosted the Today show with Barbara Walters in the mid-1970s, died April 17 in Fairfax County, Va. He was 82 and passed from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to his wife, Alexandra Dickson Hartz.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorCynthia Albritton, a.k.a. Cynthia Plaster Caster, the legendary artist and “recovering groupie” renowned for the plaster casts she took of many top musicians’ erect penises and other body parts, has died after a long illness, her rep confirms to Variety. She was 74.Her collection included Jimi Hendrix, Wayne Kramer of MC5, Pete Shelley of the Buzzcocks, Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys as well as female breasts from the likes of Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab, Sally Timms of the Mekons, Peaches, Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and many others.

told GQ that he was astonished to be cast in the series, based on Paul Schrader’s 1980 film starring Richard Gere.Focused on a male escort who becomes entangled in a murder, the movie became iconic for Gere showing off full-frontal nudity.“I do not believe that I possess any kind of natural sex appeal,” Bernthal told the outlet. “I’ve always looked at myself as this weird-looking guy.”The “Wolf of Wall Street” alum went on to say that his costume included “a fancy suit and some shoes that hurt my feet,” a “goofy” shirt and many gold chains.“It’s crazy to me,” Bernthal said. “But it scares me — and that’s why I’m gonna see it through.”Bernthal is also starring in Lena Dunham’s 2022 Sundance film “Sharp Stick.” However, he said he took on both scandalous roles with “a real palpable sense of, ‘I’m the wrong guy for this.