Frank Sinatra once served as a Mafia courier and narrowly escaped arrest with a briefcase containing $3.5 million in cash, entertainer Jerry Lewis told authors of a new book excerpted in Vanity Fair magazine.
FBI files released seven months after Sinatra’s death in 1998 portrayed the singer-actor as a close friend of reputed Chicago mob boss Sam Giancana.
Lewis said Sinatra was going through customs with a briefcase containing “three and a half million (dollars) in fifties.” Customs officials opened the case but aborted the search when crowds were jostling to see the star.
Pat O’Brien, who usually dishes gossip on celebrities, faces similar scrutiny after entering an alcohol rehabilitation center.
The host of “The Insider” told Dr. Phil McGraw in a CBS special that aired Wednesday night that he did not enter rehab to avoid embarrassing stories about obscene telephone calls he made. “I fled because I was dying,” O’Brien said. “Thank God on some level this happened, and I’m not dead.”
A palimony lawsuit brought against Bill Maher by his former girlfriend, Nancy “Coco” Johnsen, was thrown out by a Los Angeles judge. Johnsen sued for $9 million on Nov. 10, claiming Maher promised her marriage and a mansion after she quit her job as a flight attendant. Maher filed his own motion two weeks later claiming he was the target of extortion.
Will Ferrell is returning to “Saturday Night Live” – as its host May 14. It’s the first appearance since Ferrell left “SNL” in 2002 after seven seasons as a cast member.
Ferrell, 37, stars in the soccer-dad comedy “Kicking & Screaming,” which debuts May 13. He also co-stars with Nicole Kidman in the upcoming “Bewitched,” based on the classic TV show.
Police arrested a man who allegedly threatened “Forrest Gump” co-star Mykelti Williamson with a gun Tuesday while both were driving in Gardena, Calif. Ernesto Diaz, 24, followed Williamson, yelling racial slurs and pointing a gun at the actor before running him off the road and approaching his vehicle on foot, Williamson said.
– Compiled by Greg Henry from wire and Internet reports
