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Zelda Rubenstein, perhaps best known for her role in the 80’s blockbuster Poltergeist, has died nearly a month after being taken off life support at Cedars Sinai hospital in Los Angeles.

Rubenstein, who was known for embracing the differences that later made her a star, died of natural causes at the hospital today, her agent confirms. Rubenstein had been hospitalized for two months following a mild heart attack, he says:

“She had ongoing health issues and unfortunately they finally overtook her,” he said.

Rubenstein worked as a medical lab technician into her forties, before making her debut in the 1981 Chevy Chase flick Under the Rainbow. Rubenstein’s transition to acting was not an easy one, and she quickly learned to steel herself against typecasting and industry biases after being sent on a series of auditions for typical “little people” parts:

“I couldn’t and wouldn’t do those parts, which would have been degrading for anyone,” she told The Times in 1982. “I began to emotionally armor myself for what I knew I had to do, and how very lonely out there it was going to be.”

Rubenstein has no immediately apparent surviving kin, and a funeral service is not planned for the actress. It is expected that a “celebration of her life” will be held at a later date.

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Penelope Cruz says winning an Oscar was like getting the best toy ever.

The ‘Nine’ star scooped the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress last year for her performance in ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ and admits receiving the gold statue was one of the happiest moments in her life.

Penelope is proud to show off her prize at her home and once even took her Oscar to the beach.

She said, “My Oscar lives in my house, but it changes rooms all the time. I’m looking at it in different places to make the final decision. I even took it to the beach one day. It’s like being five when you finally get a toy you’ve been asking for.”

Since winning the prestigious prize, the 35-year-old actress insists she doesn’t feel any extra pressure when making her films, because she has always worked hard.

Penelope, who is believed to be engaged to Javier Bardem, added to Stylist magazine, “I’ve always felt under pressure and had a lot of insecurity, so that doesn’t change and I don’t want that to alter. I don’t want to get to the set and feel too secure. I’ve worked for so many years feeling a lot of respect and healthy fear of the work and I don’t feel I can change that now.”

Paula Abdul has been offered a $1 million deal to appear on ‘Dancing With The Stars’.

The 47-year-old singer and choreographer has reportedly been offered the huge sum as a Development Deal by network ABC.

If she agrees to be part of the ballroom show, they will then also allow her to become a judge on the US version of ‘The X Factor’.

The former ‘American Idol’ judge, who controversially left the show’s panel last year after seven series, is said to have met with media mogul Simon Cowell about joining his stateside version of reality show ‘The X Factor’, which is a direct rival to her previous programme.

Simon was also a judge on ‘American Idol’ but announced earlier this year he is leaving to start his new project.

It is not yet clear whether Paula will compete on ‘Dancing With The Stars’ or appear in another capacity, such as a judge, but ABC have reportedly been trying to get the 80s idol on board for a number of years.

A source close to Paula told website MSN.com, “She’s been wanting to make her mark on a network long term.

“She’s had reality shows and such, but she hasn’t had one place to develop the Paula brand. If ABC were to give her that chance, she’d probably do it, even if being on ‘Dancing With the Stars’ was the trade-off.”

Paula has until March 22, when ‘Dancing With The Stars’ begins, to make up her mind.

James Cameron has beaten his own box office record after ‘Avatar’ was named the highest-grossing film of all time.

The director will have been celebrating this week after film company Twentieth Century Fox confirmed the 3-D movie had earned a staggering $1.859 billion worldwide cinema sales – passing the $1.843 billion record which he set in 1997 with his blockbuster ‘Titanic’.

‘Avatar’ – which stars Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver and Sam Worthington and features brand new motion-capture filming effects – has also been named as the highest-grossing film internationally.

However, ‘Titanic,’ which starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio as tragic lovers on board the iconic ship’s ill-fated maiden voyage, remains the highest-earning movie in the US with takings of $600.8 million since it opened.

But ‘Avatar’ is only just behind with $554.9 million and was the top box office movie for six weeks in a row.

Cameron has been heavily praised for ‘Avatar,’ which he wrote, produced and directed, and the movie has already started winning a number of awards.

Earlier this month, ‘Avatar’ scooped the Best Director, the Best Original Score and the Best Film – Drama gongs at the Golden Globes.

Anne Hathaway will announce this year’s Oscar nominations.

The ‘Devil Wears Prada’ star, who was up for the Best Actress Academy Award last year for her role in ‘Rachel Getting Married,’ will join Academy President Tom Sherak to announce the names of those put forward for the acting world’s most prestigious honors.

Sherak and Hathaway will reveal nominations in 10 of the 24 categories at a news conference at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Beverly Hills headquarters on February 2.

While the 27-year-old actress will announce the names of the those who are nominated, the presenting duties of the main ceremony fall to Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin.

The comedians will be the first people to co-host the event as a pair since the first Oscars show in 1929.

Steve joked, “I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin.”

Steve, who has presented the show twice before, earned an Emmy Award nomination for his first turn in 2001, but it will be the first time ‘30 Rock’ star Alec has taken on hosting duties.

Referring to Steve’s musical abilities, Alec joked, “I don’t play the banjo but I’m thrilled to be hosting the Oscars – it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”

Among the actors expected to receive nominations at the 82nd Academy Awards – which take place on March 7 – are Meryl Streep for ‘Julie and Julia’, Christoph Waltz for ‘Inglourious Basterds’ and George Clooney for ‘Up In The Air’.

Critically acclaimed drama ‘Precious…’ – which stars Mariah Carey – is being widely tipped to receive the nod for Best Picture.

Jon Voight has branded rumors of an impending split between daughter Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt as “nonsense”.

The Oscar-winning actor, who has a notoriously difficult relationship with Angelina, insists the couple are staying together and there is no truth in the recent claims suggesting otherwise.

When quizzed about the break-up rumors, Jon replied, “Nonsense. It’s all made up stuff.”

At the weekend, it was claimed Brad and Angelina, who raise six children together, were set to separate after signing legal papers which equally split their $330 million fortune and custody of the kids.

However, sources say that while the couple, who have been dating for five years, did sign the papers, they only did so as a precaution.

One source told Life and Style magazine: “Brad and Angelina had a meeting with a top law firm in Los Angeles in December, where they worked out terms of a legal document similar to a pre-nup. The couple signed the document in early January. They agreed to share their money and assets and custody of their six children, all of whom would live with Angelina in the event of their parents’ break-up.”

But those close to the couple are adamant they have no intention of separating.

Simon Cowell’s charity single will be performed at the BRITs.

The music mogul’s all-star cover of REM’s hit ‘Everybody Hurts,’ which is being released to raise funds for earthquake-stricken Haiti, will now take center stage at the music awards 30th anniversary ceremony on February 16, after bosses reorganized the evening’s line-up to clear a space for the song.

A source said, “A special production meeting was called to reconsider the running order to include the song. It’s something that has never happened before. But the events in Haiti have made everybody sit up and take notice.”

The news comes at the same time as Bon Jovi have confirmed they are adding their talents to the record.

The rock band, consisting of singer Jon Bon Jovi, guitarist Richie Sambora, drummer Tico Torres, bassist Hugh McDonald and keyboardist David Bryan, will join some of the world’s biggest stars to appear on the single.

The female line-up of performers for the song includes Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Leona Lewis, Cheryl Cole, Alexandra Burke, Susan Boyle and Miley Cyrus.

The girls are joined on the track by Robbie Williams, Take That, Rod Stewart, James Blunt, James Morrison, Joe McElderry, Mika, Michael Buble and boy bands Westlife and JLS.

The song will be the first time ‘Bodies’ hitmaker Robbie has featured on the same record as his old band Take That since he left the group in 1995.

At the moment, it is unclear whether the musicians will all be present to perform together at the BRITs, or if a video will be aired instead.

The artists have been recording their parts at different venues around the world and their musical contributions are all being edited into one track.

The single is due for release on February 8.

Pierce Brosnan has never watched Daniel Craig as James Bond.

The handsome actor, who played the suave spy in four movies until 2002’s ‘Die Another Day,’ hasn’t seen Daniel take on the role of 007 in either ‘Casino Royale’ or ‘Quantum of Solace’ even though he has tried to see the films.

Pierce said, “I haven’t seen Daniel in the role. I tried watching it on an airplane. I thought 37,000 feet was a good distance to watch it from and it broke down right at the beginning. The attendant came and changed it and it broke down a second time, so I figured, ‘OK. The Gods must be saying something…’ So I never went near it! I just thought, ‘Let sleeping dogs lie.’”

After his disastrous attempt to watch one movie, he decided to not even open the box when he was given a copy of ‘Quantum of Solace’.

He added, “I got the Academy screener for the last one and I turned it on for my boys and I left them to it. I didn’t go near it.”

Amanda Seyfried is moving to New York for the sake of her love life.

The ‘Mamma Mia!’ star, who is dating British actor Dominic Cooper, has bought a property in the Big Apple as it’s closer to London than Los Angeles.

She told Britain’s OK! magazine, “I bought an apartment in New York but I can’t move in until April because it needs renovating. I was hoping to move there now. But it’s OK. It’s worth it. And I have my relationship overseas, too. So New York’s just so much easier than Los Angeles as I’m always going to London. It’s nice to be closer – even if it’s still a long flight. 11 hours is different from seven.”

The blonde beauty has previously said she and Dominic, who she met on the set of ‘Mamma Mia!’ were well suited because they were so similar in both looks and personalities.

She said, “We both look like frogs, with our wide-set eyes, we’re both indecisive and neither of us has a lot of willpower. When we met, I just found him funny. It was like we were the same person – except he’s British and a man!”

Danny DeVito refuses to look in the mirror.

The ‘Matilda’ star, who is just 5ft tall, doesn’t like seeing his reflection as it makes him over-analyze his looks, especially when it comes to his facial hair.

He said, “I took all the mirrors in my house down, because I would always ask myself if I have to shave or not. Sometimes I stay like this for three, four days, till I am overgrown, so I can’t see anything anymore.”

Although he is one of Hollywood’s smallest actors, Danny insists he isn’t worried about his lack of height.

He said, “I always played the 1m 52cm metre-character, from Penguin in ‘Batman’ to ‘Twins’ with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Whatever, I was always that tall. But I don’t have a problem with my height.”

The 65-year-old actor also revealed he is an over-protective father.

Danny, who has two daughters, Lucy, 26, and Grace, 24, and a 22-year-old son Jacob with actress wife Rhea Perlman told newspaper Bild am Sonntag, “I am very calm now, very balanced. OK, now I am lying. I am totally crazy and not dependable in reality.

“I’ve got an Italian heritage! I have a very close look at the boys who come near my daughters.”