Bruce Jenner involved in fatal car crash

Elizabeth Weise
Lead photo by Ray Tharaldson
Former Olympian Bruce Jenner was in one of the cars involved in a three-car crash that killed one person in Malibu, Calif, Saturday afternoon, 

Los Angeles Police say.
Jenner's publicist, Alan Nierob, says Jenner was unhurt, but offered no additional details.

Police deputies added that Jenner was not being chased by paparazzi at the time, contrary to earlier reports.

The crash occurred at approximately 12:12 pm Pacific time in the town of Malibu, at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon Road, said Sgt. Matthew Dunn of the Los Angeles Police Department."

There was one fatality," Dunn said. The crash is currently under investigation, he said.
City News Service reports that as many as seven people may have been injured.

A rescue helicopter landed at Pepperdine University, 2 miles east of the crash, to pick up one victim. It isn't clear if that was the person who has been declared dead.

Veronica Bermudez works at the Malibu Roadhouse restaurant, very close to the site of the accident."

There are still one, two, three, four cars out on the road, they've got it all blocked off," she said, looking out the window of the restaurant just after 2 pm."

It happened so fast, it was pretty bad," she said.

She didn't know what might have caused the crash as the roadway is generally not very busy, "there's not a lot of traffic here," she said.

She did wonder whether paparazzi following Jenner might have been involved.

"They were here right away, how could they have gotten here that fast otherwise?" she said.

After the accident they "just stayed on Pacific Coast Highway, taking pictures," she said. "I don't know why they have to follow him and not just leave him alone," she said.

"There were three or four cars involved, it was a big accident," said Shakeen Rahamal, who works at the 76 gas station close to the site of the crash.

Jenner has been much in the news in the past months because of speculation that he is transitioning from male to female.

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Family Gathering to Say Goodbye to Bobbi Kristina Brown

By Steve Helling
Bobbi Kristina Brown remains on life support after being found unconscious in a bathtub – were drugs involved? Subscribe now to get instant access to the troubling new details.

It wasn't the news that Bobbi Kristina Brown's family wanted to hear.

On Wednesday, four days after the 21-year-old was found unresponsive in her home, a doctor told her family that nothing more could be done. "Everyone is coming to the hospital to say goodbye," says a family member.

The news was especially devastating to her father, Bobby Brown. "Bobby has been crying nonstop since yesterday," says the source. "We are grieving."

A second family member went by the hospital overnight to say goodbye – and admits that the devastating news is hard to believe.

"If you saw her, you'd think she was just sleeping," says the source.

A source close to the family says they've been keeping a bedside vigil since the weekend and despite the grim news, "is hopeful."

But even with the bleakest prognosis, the family is still clinging to some hope. "It's sinking in that this is it," says the second family member, "but we're all still praying that God will intervene and heal her body."
 
Reporting by LIZ MCNEIL

Noted Guitarist Neil LeVang Passes

Neil LeVang, the noted studio guitarist whose list of credits includes dozens of television and film soundtracks as well as a 23-year stint with the Lawrence Welk Orchestra, died January 26. He was 83.

Born in Adams, North Dakota, in 1932, LeVang was a child when his family moved to Bemidji, Minnesota. From a very young age, he was fascinated with music he heard on WLS radio, as well as the violin and guitar played by his father and older brother. He started learning to play both instruments and was just 10 years old when he began playing in a band with a kid from the local high school.

Featured by Rich Kienzle in the December ’09 issue of Vintage Guitar magazine, LeVang recalled how, in 1945, his family moved to Riverside, California, where he would play violin at jazz jams, which led to stints in bands in various cities over the next several years.

In the mid ’50s, he returned to Hollywood and began to focus on a career as a guitarist. He replaced Barney Kessel on Jimmy Wakely’s weekly CBS radio show, and earned a spot as a regular in the studios. In ’59, he was tapped to replace Buddy Merrill, who was leaving Lawrence Welk’s band to join the Army. The gig occupied one day each week, giving LeVang ample time to continue expanding his studio efforts, which eventually included work with noted arrangers Neal Hefti, Nelson Riddle, Don Costa, and Billy May, as well as Hoyt Curtin at the Hanna-Barbera animation studios.

Other sessions included with the original Tijuana Brass with Herb Alpert, Frank Sinatra (with Hefti as arranger), Liberace, Eddie Fisher, Carol Burnett, Frank Zappa (on the Mothers of Invention debut album, Freak Out!), Bobby Darin, Bobbi Gentry, David Clayton Thomas, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, and Noel Boggs. He also worked extensively on television-music sessions including a “Beverly Hillbillies” cast album for Columbia, the themes for “Green Acres” and, on his Fender Bass VI, “Batman” (also with Hefti) and alongside guitarists Howard Roberts and Al Hendrickson.  He accompanied orchestral arrangers including John Williams, Patrick Williams, Marty Paich, Artie Butler, and Henry Mancini, as well as Frank DeVol, who did the themes for “The Brady Bunch” and “Family Affair.” Other television-related work included “The Ed Sullivan Show,” “The Monkees,” “Highway to Heaven,” and “Petticoat Junction.” His list of movie-soundtrack work included All the President’s Men, At Long Last Love, Valley Of The Dolls, Dick Tracy, Good Morning, Vietnam, Disney’s Herbie The Love Bug series, Rosemary’s Baby, and Smokey and the Bandit. He played mandolin on the Godfather soundtrack.

LeVang helped Leo Fender create the Bass VI, based in part on a de facto prototype created when LeVang installed bass strings on a Telecaster. He later used it on Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman.”

LeVang stayed with the Welk orchestra until ’82, when Welk discontinued the program. That year, he was nominated for best artist on a specialty instrument (mandolin) at the Country Music Association awards. Throughout his career, he played instruments including the Bass VI, Fender Precision Bass, Dobro, a Gibson L-5, a Fender King, a Tarrega classical, the mandolin, as well as four-string tenor and five-string banjos.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy, son Mark, and daughters Coral, Sonja, Erika and Tanya.

Bobbi Kristina Brown's Family Reportedly Told to Prepare for the Worst

Getty Images
by Rosalyn Oshmyansky

It's a quiet Sunday outside of the hospital in Roswell, Ga., where Bobbi Kristina Brown's family is by her side as she lies in a medically induced coma.

A source close to the family tells ET that her father Bobby Brown, husband Nick Gordon and others have been advised to prepare for the worst and that the longer the 21-year-old remains in the coma, the more likely it will be that she will not regain consciousness. They are praying for her recovery but have also started to discuss how they would handle funeral arrangements.

"Privacy is requested in this matter. Please allow for my family to deal with this matter and give my daughter the love and support she needs at this time," Bobby said in a statement.

The daughter of the late Whitney Houston was found in a bathtub unconscious after an apparent drug overdose on Saturday morning at 10:25 a.m. Another source told ET that she was in "bad shape" when she was first found unconscious. She was taken to North Fulton Hospital and placed on a ventilator.

Local police have a search warrant and have swept the house for drugs as they continue their ongoing investigation into what happened in Brown's home.

It has been almost three years since Houston died of accidental drowning on Feb. 11, 2012. The effects of heart disease and cocaine use also contributed to her death. Brown's incident comes two weeks after Lifetime aired the Angela Bassett-directed biopic, Whitney.

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"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" wins top prize at Sundance

By Michael Thurston
 Los Angeles (AFP) - "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl," a moving drama about a teenager who befriends a classmate with cancer, won the top prize at the Sundance Film Festival Saturday.

Sundance winners regularly go on to critical and awards success at Hollywood's main prize-giving ceremonies. Last year's top winner, "Whiplash," is nominated for best picture at this year's Oscars.

The US documentary award meanwhile went to "The Wolfpack," while in the non-US categories the main prizes went to a Scottish filmmaker and a movie about Ukraine's ongoing struggle in the shadow of its former Soviet masters.

"Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon took the Grand Jury Prize for a US drama at the end of a two-hour awards ceremony in the Utah mountain resort Park City.

It also took the US drama audience prize -- the third year in row that the top US film has won both Grand Jury and audience awards, following "Whiplash" last year and "Fruitvale Station" in 2013.

The best director for US drama was named as Robert Eggers for his horror movie "The Witch."

- Stiff competition -

The win for "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" came against what was considered strong competition this year from other entries that stirred considerable buzz at Sundance, including "The Witch" and the coming-of-age hip hop drama "Dope."

Among US documentaries, "The Wolfpack" by Crystal Moselle took the Grand Jury Prize, while best director went to Matthew Heineman for "Cartel Land" about drug wars in Mexico.

In the world cinema categories, the Grand Jury Prize for a drama went to "Slow West" by Scottish filmmaker John Maclean, which follows a teenager on a journey across 19th century frontier America in search of the woman he loves.

"Thanks to dad for taking me to see Westerns when I was a wee boy," he said in a message to the festival. The movie co-stars Michael Fassbender.

The world documentary Grand Jury Prize was given to "The Russian Woodpecker," which takes a stab at Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a story about the revolution in Ukraine and the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

Director Crystal Moselle (R) and Megan Delaney (L) of "The Wolfpack" pose with actress Win …

"I don't think we can stop Russia with bombs, but I think with a little bit of art and truth maybe we can make some progress," said the movie's American director Chad Gracia.

The 2015 Sundance Film Festival opened on January 22 and officially ends on Sunday.

Here is a full list of prize winners from Saturday's awards:

- US DRAMA -

Grand Jury Prize: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

Directing: Robert Eggers, "The Witch"

Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: Tim Talbott, "The Stanford Prison Experiment"

Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Brandon Trost, "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"

Special Jury Award for Excellence in Editing: Lee Haugen, "Dope"
Special Jury Award for Collaborative Vision: Jacqueline Kim and Jennifer Phang, "Advantageous"

Audience Award: "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl"

 

Kalani Queypo of "Slow West" accepts the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize, on behalf of direc …

- US DOCUMENTARY-

Grand Jury Prize: "The Wolfpack"

Directing: Matthew Heineman, "Cartel Land"

Special Jury Award for Social Impact: "3 1/2 Minutes"

Special Jury Award for Verite Filmmaking: "Western"

Special Jury Award for Breakout First Feature: "(T)ERROR"

Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Matthew Heineman and Matt Porwoll, "Cartel Land"

Audience Award: "Meru"

- WORLD CINEMA DRAMA -

Grand Jury Prize: "Slow West"

Directing: Alante Kavaite, "The Summer of Sangaile"

Special Award for Cinematography: Germain McMicking, "Partisan"

Acting: Jack Reynor ("Glassland") and Regina Case and Camila Mardila ("The Second Mother")

Audience Award: "Umrika"

- WORLD CINEMA DOCUMENTARY -
Grand Jury Prize: "The Russian Woodpecker"

Directing: Kim Longinotto, "Dreamcatcher"

Special Jury Award for Unparalleled Access: "The Chinese Mayor"

Special Jury Award for Impact: "Pervert Park"
Special Jury Award for Editing: Jim Scott, "How to Change the World"

Audience Award: "Dark Horse"