The Mega Book of Useless Information. Noel Botham
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Warren Beatty, who had lost out for Heaven Can Wait. ‘I want to use this opportunity to say how proud I am of my little brother. Just imagine what you could accomplish if you tried celibacy!’ He was not amused.
• A low-cut gown worn by Elizabeth Taylor in 1969 fetched £98,000 at auction.
• The youngest actor to win an Oscar was 29-year-old Adrien Brody in 2003 for The Pianist. Shirley Temple is the youngest actress. She won a special award in 1934 aged six.
• The song ‘When Irish Eyes Are Smiling’ was written by George Graff, who was German and was never in Ireland in his life.
• Talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey and legendary singer Elvis Presley are distant cousins.
• The estates of 22 dead celebrities earned over £2.6 million in 2004. These celebrities include Elvis Presley, Dr Seuss, Charles Schulz, J R R Tolkien and John Lennon.
• CBS’s fine for Janet Jackson’s ‘wardrobe malfunction’ in the 2004 Super Bowl show was £286,000. This could be paid with only 7.5 seconds of commercial time during the same Super Bowl telecast.
• Kill Bill star Vivica A Fox ruined a diamond-encrusted dress worth $1.5 million with red wine.
• In 1938, Walt Disney won one full-sized Oscar and seven miniature Oscars for his classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
• Actor Gary Lucy thought he had paid £6,000 for one of Paul Weller’s guitars at an auction, but got rugs belonging to Madonna instead.
• Nicole Kidman says when she was younger she used to pray she would be turned into a witch.
• Al Gore’s roommate in college (Harvard, class of 1969) was Tommy Lee Jones.
• The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.
• Lenny Kravitz says he’s happy Courtney Love is his neighbour – because she runs around naked.
• Britney Spears has more hate websites than Saddam Hussein.
• Calvin Klein model-turned-actor Travis Fimmel had to audition nine times before landing the title role in the new TV series Tarzan.
• Three Oscars have been refused by winners, including Marlon Brando in 1972, who rejected his second Oscar for The Godfather.
• The Strokes star Nikolai Fraiture once shamed his dad when he was caught trying to steal a Luke Skywalker doll from the Macy’s store where his father worked as a security guard.
• Actress Rosie O’Donnell’s lover Kelli Carpenter has founded a new travel company that helps gay and lesbian couples seek out the perfect getaway. R Family Vacations will specialize in gay cruises.
• The first Oscar went to Emil Jannings in 1929 for Best Actor. He didn’t turn up for it.
• US singer Shania Twain has started the day off the same way for the past ten years – with a fruit smoothie made with grapes and ginger.
• Pop hunk Justin Timberlake’s links with McDonald’s have paid off for the fast-food chain – profits are up 12 per cent since the *NSYNC star started endorsing the company by letting them use his ‘I’m Lovin’ It’ tune for TV commercials.
• Posh frocks at the Oscars can mean huge publicity for designers. Valentino estimated that Erin Brockovich star Julia Roberts’s appearance in one of his designs generated some £13 million worth of publicity.
• Jet-setting pop svengali Simon Fuller, creator of Pop Idol, spent £9 million on two aeroplanes and a helicopter because he was sick of flying 90,000 miles a year on commercial airlines.
• Hollywood veteran Jack Nicholson became addicted to baked beans on toast after discovering the snack when serving it to his son, Raymond.
• Malnourished magician David Blaine’s first public meal after his self-imposed 44-day incarceration in a plastic box was a plate of chicken satay at Mr Chow’s restaurant in Knightsbridge, London. He followed this with a big helping of dessert.
• Former basketball ace Dennis Rodman claims the police have visited his Newport Beach, California, home over 80 times because of noise complaints.
• The first Oscar went to Emil Jannings in 1929 for Best Actor. He didn’t turn up for it.
• Dennis Rodman claims he’s pierced his penis three times.
• The Strokes star Julian Casablancas doesn’t own a mobile phone, a computer or a watch.
• During a one-day shopping spree in Japan, US rapper Lil Kim spent £25,000 on clothes – and Barbie dolls.
• Hollywood stars Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher spent the Halloween of 2003 dressed as rival supercouple Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.
• Model-turned-actress Jerry Hall has appeared on stage 536 times in plays.
• It takes 12 people 20 hours to make one Oscar statuette.
• Indie rockers Coldplay like to keep in touch with their family and friends when they’re touring – their backstage requirements include eight ‘stamped, local postcards’.
• Disney’s The Lion King has become the most successful re-release ever, after three million copies of the new DVD sold in its first two days on release.
• Rocker Sting is Titanic star Leonardo DiCaprio’s next-door neighbour in Malibu, California.
• Dustin Hoffman had to pass up the chance of appearing in a jury for the first time because he had to publicize his film Runaway Jury, in which he plays a lawyer.
• Friends star Courtney Cox is scared of dogs – unless they’re her own. The actress owns three pooches.
• Pop star Jessica Simpson used to keep photographs of missing children under her pillow and pray for them every night when she was a teenager. She also tried to adopt a Mexican baby found in a dumpster when she was 16.
• Ex-pop couple Jessica Simpson and Nick Lachey had a television mounted in their shower.
• When Orson Welles won the Screenplay Oscar for his classic Citizen Kane in 1941, it wasn’t a popular choice. The audience booed.
• American Idol star Clay Aiken is allergic to mushrooms, shellfish, chocolate, mint and coffee.
• There was havoc on the shoot for Atomic Kitten video ‘Ladies Night’ – the British trio hired famous drag queen Lily Savage, real name Paul O’Grady, to star, but Savage stormed out when he discovered he was to be appearing alongside a troop of unknown female impersonators.
• Gravel-voiced singer Macy Gray has puffer fish pets named Justin Timberlake, Muhammad Ali and R Kelly.
• Rap mogul Sean ‘P Diddy’ Combs spends £625 on each of his haircuts. His personal barber sketches out styles before even touching Diddy’s dome.
• Bad-boy rapper Eminem’s two favourite places to tour are Amsterdam, The Netherlands, because of its liberal laws, and London, England, because of its food.
• Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is studying German, as she endeavours to conquer European languages. She’s already fluent in Spanish, Italian and French.
• Super-rich movie beauty Cameron Diaz recently bought a £1.25 Californian lottery ticket – and won £3,125.
• Oscar winner Holly Hunter used to be a poultry judge in her native Georgia.
• Austin Powers creator Mike Myers has two streets named after him in his native Toronto, Canada.
• Crooner Harry Connick Jr. quit smoking when his idol Mel Torme told him he’d never speak