■UNITED STATES
Henry Gibson dies aged 73
Henry Gibson, the veteran comic character actor best known for his role reciting offbeat poetry on Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In, has died. He was 73. Gibson’s son, James, said Gibson died on Monday at his home in Malibu after a brief battle with cancer. Gibson — born James Bateman in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1935 — for three seasons on Laugh-In delivered satirical poems while gripping a giant flower. Gibson went on to appear in several films, including The Long Goodbye and Nashville, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. His most memorable roles included playing the menacing neighbor opposite Tom Hanks in The ’Burbs, the befuddled priest in Wedding Crashers and a neo-Nazi leader in The Blues Brothers.
■UNITED STATES
Reynolds finishes rehab
Burt Reynolds has been released from a drug rehabilitation center where he was being treated for an addiction to painkillers, his manager said on Wednesday. The star of Smokey and the Bandit, Deliverance and Boogie Nights began struggling after recent back surgery and “realized that he was in the prison of prescription pain pills,” his manager Erik Kritzer said in a statement.
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