Ellen Degeneres News

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on December 12th, 2008, that Hugh Jackman will host the 81st annual Academy Awards. The film and stage superstar spoke to Entertainment Weekly about hosting the legendary telecast, including his sure-fire secret to television success, 'nudity'.

The nominations for the 2009 GLAAD Media Awards have been announced, BILLY ELLIOT and Road Show were among the New York theatre related show nominees. The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation also announced that Tyra Banks will receive the Excellence in Media Award and Suze Orman will be awarded the Vito Russo Award. GLAAD also give honors to comicbooks, advertising and journalism. Ceremonies will be held on March 28 in New York at the Marriott Maquis, April 18 in Los Angeles at the Nokia Theatre and on May 9 in San Francisco at the San Francisco Hilton.

Liza Minnelli was born in Los Angeles and made her screen debut as a toddler in the musical In the Good Old Summertime in 1949. One of the world's best-loved entertainers, she won Tony awards for Flora, the Red Menace in 1965 and The Act in 1978, along with a third for Best Personal Achievement, resulting from her 1974 engagement at the Winter Garden Theatre. Nominated for an Academy Award? for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), she won the best actress prize for her best-known film, Cabaret (1972), which also won her a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA. She won an Emmy for Liza with a 'Z' (1972) and was also the recipient of a Grammy Legend Award in 1989, making her one of the few artists who have won entertainment's top six awards. Liza has also been the recipient of three David di Donatello Awards - for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), Cabaret (1972) and Lifetime Achievement (2002). Film credits include Charlie Bubbles (1968), Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), Lucky Lady (1975), A Matter of Time (1976), New York, New York (1977), Arthur (1981) Stepping Out (1991), and The Oh In Ohio (2006). Liza recently attracted an entirely new generation of fans with her acclaimed turn as 'Lucille 2' on the Emmy-winning Best Comedy Arrested Development, and for her appearance on the chart-topping album The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.

After selling more than 65 million records worldwide as the star of THE MONKEES TV show, Micky Dolenz has continued to make his mark in other areas of the entertainment business, through his varied career as an actor, director, writer, producer and performer. January of 2004 found Micky back on Broadway, co-starring in the Elton John/Tim Rice Tony Award winning musical, 'Aida'. Then, after a short, but exciting, stint as the morning DJ on CBS-FM in The Big Apple, Micky was once again treading the boards in the revival of the Stephen Swartz musical, 'Pippin'.

After selling more than 65 million records worldwide as the star of THE MONKEES TV show, Micky Dolenz has continued to make his mark in other areas of the entertainment business, through his varied career as an actor, director, writer, producer and performer. January of 2004 found Micky back on Broadway, co-starring in the Elton John/Tim Rice Tony Award winning musical, 'Aida'. Then, after a short, but exciting, stint as the morning DJ on CBS-FM in The Big Apple, Micky was once again treading the boards in the revival of the Stephen Swartz musical, 'Pippin'.

Liza Minnelli was born in Los Angeles and made her screen debut as a toddler in the musical In the Good Old Summertime in 1949. One of the world's best-loved entertainers, she won Tony awards for Flora, the Red Menace in 1965 and The Act in 1978, along with a third for Best Personal Achievement, resulting from her 1974 engagement at the Winter Garden Theatre. Nominated for an Academy Award? for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), she won the best actress prize for her best-known film, Cabaret (1972), which also won her a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA. She won an Emmy for Liza with a 'Z' (1972) and was also the recipient of a Grammy Legend Award in 1989, making her one of the few artists who have won entertainment's top six awards. Liza has also been the recipient of three David di Donatello Awards - for The Sterile Cuckoo (1969), Cabaret (1972) and Lifetime Achievement (2002). Film credits include Charlie Bubbles (1968), Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1970), Lucky Lady (1975), A Matter of Time (1976), New York, New York (1977), Arthur (1981) Stepping Out (1991), and The Oh In Ohio (2006). Liza recently attracted an entirely new generation of fans with her acclaimed turn as 'Lucille 2' on the Emmy-winning Best Comedy Arrested Development, and for her appearance on the chart-topping album The Black Parade by My Chemical Romance.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Joan Rivers 'made the rounds' in New York during the '50s, appearing in a few off-off Broadway plays (including one where she played a lesbian opposite an equally unknown Barbra Streisand), surviving sleazy agents, tawdry clubs, and hostile audiences. A 1965 booking on 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson' led to her hosting one of the first syndicated talk shows on daytime TV, 'That Show with Joan Rivers' in 1968. In the '70s Joan wrote the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely To (starring Stockard Channing) and then wrote and directed her first feature film Rabbit Test, casting Billy Crystal in the lead. In 1983 Joan became the permanent guest host on 'The Tonight Show.' Later, she headlined in Las Vegas, sold out Carnegie Hall, produced a Grammy nominated comedy album, and wrote two best-selling books. In 1989 the Tribune Corporation launched Joan in her own syndicated daytime talk show. She won an Emmy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994 she wrote and starred on Broadway in Sally Marr and Her Escorts, for which she received a Best Actress Tony nomination. Since then, Joan has written three more best-selling books, maintains her own jewelry line on QVC, provided fashion commentaries for E! and The TV Guide Channel, and filmed a special for Bravo. Currently, she has two new books on sale (Men Are Stupid . . . And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery and Murder at the Academy Awards). She will be a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice 2 beginning March 1st. Later this year, she will also host the new reality TV series How'd You Get So Rich? on TV Land.

Well known for his film and television appearances, James Earl Jones' acting career is firmly rooted in the theater. He was part of the historic company of Jean Genet's The Blacks, which incubated a generation of future black stars, and his long association with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival saw him in classical plays including Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice and King Lear. Awards for his theater work include Tony Awards for the Broadway productions of The Great White Hope and Fences, a Tony Award nomination for On Golden Pond, and Obie Awards for Clandestine on the Morning Line, The Apple, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and Baal, a Theatre World Award for Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Fences. Additional theater credits include Paul Robeson, The Iceman Cometh,Of Mice and Men and seven different productions in the title role of Othello. He recently starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway.

William H. Macy has a long association with playwright David Mamet, having starred in New York in productions including Oleanna and American Buffalo. He received an Academy Award nomination for his work in the film Fargo. He also appeared in Benny & Joon, Mr. Holland's Opus, Seabiscuit, Magnolia, Pleasantville, Boogie Nights and Air Force One. In 2002, he won Emmy Awards for both Lead Actor in a Miniseries and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries with the TV film 'Door to Door'.

Former New York Times chief theater critic, Frank Rich, who was once known as 'the Butcher of Broadway' will appear on The Colbert Report on Monday Night. Frank Rich became a New York Times op-ed columnist in 1994 after serving for thirteen years as the newspaper's chief drama critic. These days, he covers politics and also serves as an adviser on the paper's overall cultural news report. Two of his previous books are MUST-HAVES for theatre fans everywhere. Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993 contains a collection of all of his New York Times theatre reviews, which provide insight into thirteen years of Broadway including many of its big hits and misses. He is the also author of the childhood memoir Ghost Light, which is filled with many tales of the start of his love of theatre. Rich is married to Alex Witchel, who also writes for the Times.

Born and raised in Brooklyn, Joan Rivers 'made the rounds' in New York during the '50s, appearing in a few off-off Broadway plays (including one where she played a lesbian opposite an equally unknown Barbra Streisand), surviving sleazy agents, tawdry clubs, and hostile audiences. A 1965 booking on 'The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson' led to her hosting one of the first syndicated talk shows on daytime TV, 'That Show with Joan Rivers' in 1968. In the '70s Joan wrote the TV-movie The Girl Most Likely To (starring Stockard Channing) and then wrote and directed her first feature film Rabbit Test, casting Billy Crystal in the lead. In 1983 Joan became the permanent guest host on 'The Tonight Show.' Later, she headlined in Las Vegas, sold out Carnegie Hall, produced a Grammy nominated comedy album, and wrote two best-selling books. In 1989 the Tribune Corporation launched Joan in her own syndicated daytime talk show. She won an Emmy and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1994 she wrote and starred on Broadway in Sally Marr and Her Escorts, for which she received a Best Actress Tony nomination. Since then, Joan has written three more best-selling books, maintains her own jewelry line on QVC, provided fashion commentaries for E! and The TV Guide Channel, and filmed a special for Bravo. Currently, she has two new books on sale (Men Are Stupid . . . And They Like Big Boobs: A Woman's Guide to Beauty Through Plastic Surgery and Murder at the Academy Awards). She will be a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice 2 beginning March 1st. Later this year, she will also host the new reality TV series How'd You Get So Rich? on TV Land.

Well known for his film and television appearances, James Earl Jones' acting career is firmly rooted in the theater. He was part of the historic company of Jean Genet's The Blacks, which incubated a generation of future black stars, and his long association with Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival saw him in classical plays including Hamlet, The Merchant of Venice and King Lear. Awards for his theater work include Tony Awards for the Broadway productions of The Great White Hope and Fences, a Tony Award nomination for On Golden Pond, and Obie Awards for Clandestine on the Morning Line, The Apple, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and Baal, a Theatre World Award for Moon on a Rainbow Shawl and the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Fences. Additional theater credits include Paul Robeson, The Iceman Cometh,Of Mice and Men and seven different productions in the title role of Othello. He recently starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof on Broadway.

William H. Macy has a long association with playwright David Mamet, having starred in New York in productions including Oleanna and American Buffalo. He received an Academy Award nomination for his work in the film Fargo. He also appeared in Benny & Joon, Mr. Holland's Opus, Seabiscuit, Magnolia, Pleasantville, Boogie Nights and Air Force One. In 2002, he won Emmy Awards for both Lead Actor in a Miniseries and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries with the TV film 'Door to Door'.

Former New York Times chief theater critic, Frank Rich, who was once known as 'the Butcher of Broadway' will appear on The Colbert Report on Monday Night. Frank Rich became a New York Times op-ed columnist in 1994 after serving for thirteen years as the newspaper's chief drama critic. These days, he covers politics and also serves as an adviser on the paper's overall cultural news report. Two of his previous books are MUST-HAVES for theatre fans everywhere. Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993 contains a collection of all of his New York Times theatre reviews, which provide insight into thirteen years of Broadway including many of its big hits and misses. He is the also author of the childhood memoir Ghost Light, which is filled with many tales of the start of his love of theatre. Rich is married to Alex Witchel, who also writes for the Times.

Jon Montgomery's Hell's Kitchen The Musical welcomes tap sensation Omar Edwards to the cast in the role of Harlem Gangster, Renny,' The Duke ' Carter. Omar: - Bring In The Noise, Black & Blue, Showtime At The Apollo, Dave Chapelle's Road Show, Ellen Degeneres and much more in his wonderful career.