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Taking Names

By | Monday, July 21, 2008

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Engagement canceled

In March 2007, Mexican actress Salma Hayek and her French billionaire businessman Francois-Henri Pinault canceled plans to wed; their daughter, Valentina, was born that September. Now they have called the whole thing off, Agence France-Presse reports.

"We are sad to announce the engagement ... has been canceled. There will be no further comment," said Cari Ross, Miss Hayek's spokeswoman in New York.

Miss Hayek was nominated for an Oscar in 2003 for her portrayal of Mexican painter Frida Kahlo.

Mr. Pinault heads the PPR luxury-goods group.

GIs react to Sylar

Milo Ventimiglia, who plays power-absorbing Peter Petrellicq on NBC's "Heroes," recently was part of a USO tour of U.S. bases in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait, where he met many soldiers who were familiar with his show and had strong opinions about his character's nemesis, Sylar (played diabolically by Zachary Quinto).

"When I was over in Iraq and Afghanistan, a lot of soldiers were like, 'Dude, will you just kill Sylar already? Will you just get rid of him?'" Mr. Ventimiglia told AP during a telephone interview. "And I'm like, 'Man, I don't know if you're gonna want that just yet. I think you're going to be very surprised as to what happens.'"

Joel a hit at Shea

"Good evening, Shea Stadium. Is this cool or what?" Billy Joel said to the sold-out crowd Friday night in Shea Stadium, the baseball field - until the end of the season - of the New York Mets.

"They're gonna be tearing this place down, but I wanna thank you for letting me do the best job in the world," Mr. Joel said. A new stadium will be built across the street.

He was joined by an all-star lineup of friends, including Paul McCartney who told Mr. Joel, "Came here a long time ago. We had a blast that night, and we're having another one tonight."

riday's show came 43 years after the Beatles' legendary show at Shea, which demonstrated the power of rock 'n' roll and the Beatles: To have 55,000 screaming fans at a U.S. ballparkW was virtually unheard of at the time, according to Associated Press.

McMahon's new suit

Ed McMahon has sued a hospital, two doctors and an investment tycoon over a neck injury he has said has left him unable to work. He has blamed that circumstance for recent money woes, including being $644,000 behind on mortgage payments on his Beverly Hills home.

The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount, claiming negligence, battery, elder abuse and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court against Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, two doctors and the owner of a home where he says he fell in March 2007. A Cedars-Sinai spokesman said the hospital had not been served the lawsuit and therefore had no comment.

Compiled from wire reports