Liv Tyler | 'The Sopranos' | 'The Aviator' | Larry Bryggman | Carly Simon
Liv Tyler Makes Aerosmith Leader Granddad
Actress Liv Tyler and husband rocker Royston Langdon had their first child today, a bouncing 8-pound boy. The still unnamed healthy baby was born at 4:11 this morning at a New York hospital.
Feel old now? This makes Aerosmith's Steven Tyler a grandpa at age 56.
"He's beautiful and looks like just like his daddy," reported Liv's mom, bestselling author Bebe Buell ("Rebel Heart").
"Mother and baby were glorious and beautiful and doing fine," said Buell, 51, who was the first visitor through the door this afternoon. She's still kvelling after having seen her first grandchild.
"I'm very proud of Liv. She was very brave and delivered him like a champion," Buell said.
What's it like being a rock and roll grandma?
"Thanks to Goldie Hawn we have a new term, Glam-Ma."
Bada bing!
Even though James Gandolfini told me last week he had hopes for a seventh season of "The Sopranos," it's not going to happen.
Creator David Chase tells me that the season he's writing right now is definitely the last.
"No chance of going on?" I asked.
"No chance," he said.
He really means it, too. This is not a negotiating ploy with HBO.
"I'm done," Chase said.
Chase told me he knows how the last show ends, but he wouldn't divulge details and I wouldn't ask. There have to be some surprises left in the world.
My guess is that Tony and Carmela reconcile before the season is over and Tony pays for at least some of his sins.
"The Sopranos," by the way, picked up Golden Globe nominations for best drama, actress, supporting actor and actress, but none, inexplicably, for the mighty, talented Gandolfini. It was one of the few oversights in a year when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association got so much right.
'The Aviator' Makes a Triumphant Landing in New York
What's it like to have 15 Golden Globe nominations and a company that's about to disappear into the record books?
Well, Harvey Weinstein didn't look too unhappy last night at the Museum of Modern Art screening of "The Aviator" or at the following dinner at Osteria del Circo.
And why should he have been? Guests who came to congratulate him, star Leonardo DiCaprio and producers Graham King and Rick Schwartz were all bold-faced names: Alec Baldwin with actor brother Stephen Baldwin; Debra Winger and actor husband Arliss Howard; comedian Robert Klein; director James Toback; famed author Gay Talese and his wife, publishing empress Nan A. Talese; playwright Israel Horovitz; actor-writer-director Mario Van Peebles; ABC News's Bob Jamieson; a very taut and youthful looking Dan Hedaya; Broadway producer Fred Zollo and so on.
DiCaprio, by the way, was in fine form as he met New Yorker magazine editor Rick Hertzberg and discussed politics.
"I tried my best," Leo said, recounting his many trips around the country to support John Kerry.
Hertzberg echoed his sentiments.
"We all did," he said.
DiCaprio is an old man now; he just turned 30, if you can believe it.
What a change from the kid who was nominated for an Oscar at 19 for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." He's matured into a solid citizen, and a fine actor whose talent has finally caught up with his celebrity.
Everywhere you looked at Circo, there was a big name. Indeed, the total dinner count was for 218 people, which was about 70 more than had RSVP'd. What happened?
Well, "The Aviator," directed by Martin Scorsese, picked up five Golden Globe nominations yesterday morning, including best picture, actor (DiCaprio), supporting actress (Cate Blanchett), screenplay (John Logan) and director (Scorsese).
The only big nomination it missed was supporting actor, but expect the Academy Awards to make that right for Alan Alda next month.
It would be "Aviator" celebrations all this week for Miramax, except that Marc Forster's "Finding Neverland" also picked up a bunch of Golden Globe nominations.
So tonight there's a big premiere for "Aviator" with Scorsese, DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Alda, Alec Baldwin et al. And then on Thursday, someone's throwing a fancy lunch for Forster. We should all have these problems.
Miramax also picked up two nominations for "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" and one for "Les Choristes."
Because Disney distributes Miramax movies, it can lay claim to those 15 nominations. Then, of course, there's the nomination Pixar received for "The Incredibles," which Disney also distributed.
Imagine what life will be like for Disney next year when it gets no Golden Globe nominations at all. By then, Michael Eisner will have forced out the Weinsteins and reduced Miramax to a library imprint. Pixar has already said it's holding its next release, "Cars," until 2006.
How will the Disney board explain to the company's shareholders at their annual meeting in March 2005 that a motion-picture company has no possibility of participating in the next round of awards ceremonies?
If Miramax and Pixar had been absent from Disney this year, the company would have had to rely on "The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou," "National Treasure," "The Ladykillers," "The Alamo," "Home on the Range," "King Arthur" and "Around the World in 80 Days" for possible citation.
'World' Stops Turning for Bryggman
Today will mark the final appearance for award-winning actor Larry Bryggman on the CBS soap "As the World Turns."
Bryggman — Al Pacino's favorite acting partner in many stage plays and movies — originated the role of nefarious Dr. John Dixon 35 years ago.
He always had controversial story lines until he became "mature" — he'll turn 64 next week — and was bumped down to only giving knowing looks.
Bryggman only has two Daytime Emmys for best actor (out of eight nominations) and rafts of accolades in Broadway productions such as "Proof" and the current showing of "Twelve Angry Men." He won raves last winter as the star of Paul Weitz's play "Roulette."
Ironically, Hollywood and Broadway will likely continue to call him, while soaps, a dying art form, turn to scene-chewing young people and eschew their veteran performers.
Bryggman was the real thing, though — a rarity these days.
Carly's Caution and De Niro's Velvet Veto
Carly Simon's two landmark shows at the Apollo this Friday and Saturday are with BeBe Winans, not just featuring him.
I'm told that this is indeed a joint effort, even though — let's face it — most eyes will be on Simon in her first shows in about a decade.
Robert De Niro's entrance to the party at Ruby Foo's on upper Broadway following a showing of "Meet the Fockers" consisted of: "Bob's not coming," then, "Bob's here."
De Niro raced through the restaurant entrance, up the grand staircase to the mezzanine, up another flight to the third floor, where he remained hidden.
Velvet ropes went up, gigantic security guards blocked the entrance to the top floor and there was nary a sign of anyone else from "Fockers," except for producer Jane Rosenthal.
De Niro was said to have been upset about getting no nomination this time from the HFPA. He has eight Golden Globe nominations altogether, including two back-to-back for "Analyze This" and "Meet the Parents."
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