Tomorrow is May 4th, and that’s “Star Wars” Day – May the FOURTH be With You. But celebrations may be a little muted this year, after word came down yesterday that PETER MAYHEW died on Tuesday. He was 74. There’s no word on the cause of death, but at least one source is claiming it was a heart attack. Peter was the original Chewbacca. He was a 7-foot-3 hospital orderly when he tried out for the original “Star Wars” in 1977. He also appeared in “The Empire Strikes Back”, “Return of the Jedi”, and “Revenge of the Sith”. He returned for “The Force Awakens” in 2015, but because of his age and declining health, he had to share the role with another guy who has since taken it over.
Now people can actually tell you how to get, how to get to Sesame Street. It’s at the intersection of West 63rd Street and Broadway in New York City. To honor the show’s 50th anniversary, the city made “Sesame Street” a real intersection. Mayor Bill de Blasio was joined by Big Bird, Elmo, Bert, Ernie and others at the ceremony on Wednesday. He said, “Fifty years of extraordinary programming, 50 years of making people’s lives better, 50 years of helping children believe in themselves.”
JOE JONAS and SOPHIE TURNER got married in Vegas Wednesday night after the “Billboard Music Awards” . . . by an ELVIS IMPERSONATOR. It just happened to be the 52nd anniversary of the real Elvis’ marriage to PRISCILLA PRESLEY. They had this planned a week in advance, because that’s when they booked the Little White Wedding Chapel. But in order to keep it on the down-low, they didn’t say who was getting hitched. It was pretty low-key. They didn’t even have real rings. Instead, they exchanged RING POPS. NICK and KEVIN JONAS were there to act as groomsmen, but their wives didn’t show. DAN + SHAY sang Sophie down the aisle, .
JERRY SPRINGER is being sued by the family of a man who took his life after being on “The Jerry Springer Show” last May. The man’s name was Blake Alvey, and his family says that his death was a direct result of the “extreme emotional distress” caused by the “negligent and intentional acts” of those involved in the taping. Alvey was ambushed by his then-fiancé, who’s also named as a defendant. She brought him on the show to tell him she’d been unfaithful, was breaking off their engagement, and had sold her ring. Back in 2002, Jerry was sued by the son of a former guest, who was killed by her ex-husband hours after their episode aired. The couple was part of a show on love triangles. In 1995, Jenny Jones was sued when a man murdered a guy who revealed he had a gay crush on him.
BLAKE LIVELY and RYAN REYNOLDS are expecting. This will be their third child. They already have two daughters, 4-year-old James and 2-year-old Inez.
KELLY CLARKSON had her appendix out after hosting the “Billboard Music Awards”. It sounds like the surgery was planned, so it wasn’t an emergency. But she was still in agony during the show “I may or may not have broken down in tears after the show from pain.” Speaking of Kelly, her animated movie “Ugly Dolls” is out this weekend as is the Seth Rogen and Charlize Theron romantic comedy “Long Shot” is out this weekend.
WOODY ALLEN reportedly tried to shop a memoir to four major publishing houses late last year, and they all turned him down.
“People” has a rundown of celebrities explaining how they got their stage names.
- Queen Latifah: She said ‘Latifah’ means “delicate and very kind” in Arabic.
- Travis Scott: He said his name was inspired by his two heroes: His uncle Travis, and Kid Cudi, whose real name is Scott Mescudi.
- Post Malone: He said he was 14 and he needed an alias . . . so, “I ran [Austin Post, my real name] through a random rap name generator, and I got Post Malone.”
- Cardi B: She was born Belcalis Marlenis Almánzar, which actually IS a unique name, but Cardi B came from a nickname she picked up as a kid. “My sister’s name is Hennessy, so everybody used to [call me] ‘Bacardi.’ I shortened it to Cardi B.
- Brie Larson. She was born Brianne Desaulniers . . . but no one could pronounce it, so when she was nine she changed her name, and Larson was inspired by her favorite American Girl doll, Kirsten Larson.
- Whoopi Goldberg. She was born Caryn Elaine Johnson. But she wanted a FUN name. She said, “If you get a little gassy, you’ve got to let it go. So people used to say to me, ‘You’re like a whoopee cushion.’ “And that’s where the name came from.” As for her last name, her mom thought she’d get further in Hollywood with a Jewish surname.
- Lorde. She was born Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O’Connor, but wanted a more ‘special’ name. She said, “I wanted a name that was really strong and had this grandeur to it. [And] I always liked the idea of having, like, a one-named alias.”
- Snoop Dogg: He was born Calvin Broadus, but his family called him Snoopy, because they thought he bore a resemblance to the “Peanuts” character.
- LL Cool J: His real name is James Todd Smith, but when he was 16 he began calling himself ‘LL Cool J’ for ‘Ladies Love Cool James.’
- Iggy Azalea: ‘Iggy’ was her dog’s name, and ‘Azalea’ was the street name that her family lived on. .
LUKE COMBS recently became the first country artist to have his first five singles go #1. Struggling artists in Nashville want to know what his secret is. He says the secret is to just be yourself. “What matters is that you’re making the music you want to make. As soon as you try to change your sound based on what somebody else is thinking, that’s when music gets watered down.” He was asked for his take on the Lil Nas X – Billy Ray Cyrus song, “Old Town Road”. “I feel there’s a little bit of sarcasm there I don’t necessarily appreciate. I feel like I’m being poked fun at. Country music is near and dear to my heart, and one of the things that’s most important to me is that the music should be taken seriously.” In completely different Luke Combs news. He and his fiancée Nicole Hocking adopted a puppy on Wednesday.
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY is pregnant with her second child.
JUDE LAW got married in London.
LITTLE BIG TOWN will be hosting the “2019 CMT Music Awards”. It’ll be their second year in a row. The nominations come out next Tuesday. CARLY PEARCE will do the honors on “The Today Show”. The CMTs are going down June 5th. Speaking of Carly, she’d love to stretch her creative muscles by hosting her own healthy lifestyle cooking show someday. She says it would be a hybrid of “clean eating” and “fitness” . . . two things she’s passionate about.
TYLER HUBBARD’s baby daughter Olivia recognizing him on TV. Hayley Hubbard posted a clip of the little girl in her high chair with food all over her face, and when she sees Tyler and Brian Kelley on the “Billboard Music Awards”, she says, “Dada.”
KANE BROWN and his wife Katelyn revealed the gender of their baby on the red carpet at the “Billboard Music Awards”. It was during an interview with a producer from the “Ellen DeGeneres Show”. Kane said, quote, “We’re having a baby girl.”
JASON ALDEAN and his wife Brittany posted another one of their homemade Carpool Karaoke videos. If you’ve never seen one, she drives, he complains . . . and they whip through songs so fast you can barely tell which ones are playing.
Here’s why you should never mix golfing and drinking. Wait, let me re-phrase that: Never mix golfing, drinking, and driving a golf cart. GARY ALLAN posted a photo of his cart that’s tipped on its side, and resting in a sand trap. He captioned it, “Maybe too much to drink on the course today.
OLD DOMINION shared a taste of a new song last night on their socials. It’s called “Some People Do” and it’s kind of a departure for them. They describe it as “very emotional and personal.” It’s one of the songs on their upcoming third album. No word yet on a title or release date.
Saturday 2:30 p.m. on NBC: “The Kentucky Derby”.
Saturday 11:30 p.m. on NBC: Adam Sandler hosts “Saturday Night Live”, Shawn Mendes – music guest.
Sunday at 9:00 p.m. on HBO: The third-to-last episode of “Game of Thrones”
Cheryl Burke is 35. Eric Church is 42. Frankie Valli is 85. He was the leader of The Four Seasons. “Jersey Boys” is about them
