People talk 10/01/01

Jennifer Lopez married in private ceremony

CALABASAS, Calif. -- Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez, wearing one of her trademark gowns with plunging neckline and low-cut back, married dancer and choreographer Cris Judd in a very private ceremony.

Lopez, 31, and Judd, 32, were married Saturday night at a home in this Los Angeles suburb, her publicist Alan Nierob said Sunday.

Attorney Barry Hirsch presided over the ceremony, and the couple's longtime friend and Lopez's manager, Benny Medina, was best man, Nierob said.

Arlene Rodriguez, Lopez's best friend from childhood, was maid of honor. About 170 relatives and friends attended the ceremony, Nierob said.

The couple met earlier this year while taping the video for her single "Love Don't Cost a Thing." Lopez appeared with Judd at the Academy Awards in March, one month after she and rapper impresario Sean "P. Diddy" Combs announced their breakup after two years in the spotlight.

Stiller's outrageous mugs 'well-practiced'

LOS ANGELES -- Ben Stiller admits that some of the outrageous mugs made by his character in the upcoming film "Zoolander" were well-practiced -- while brushing his hair in the morning.

"My wife will say, 'Why are you doing that thing with your lips?'" said Stiller, who co-wrote and directed the film, which opened Friday.

The spoof is the tale of a dimwitted male model caught up in international intrigue whose outrageously self-absorbing facial expressions have driven his modeling success.

The joke is that each expression are all pretty much the same cheek-sucking, eyebrow-pinching gaze.

Jones talks about life with Count Basie

NEW YORK -- Super-producer Quincy Jones has laid it all out -- from his days of playing with Count Basie to producing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" album -- in a new memoir that includes chapters by Ray Charles and family members.

In "Q," Jones recalls how in 1964 he and the other black members of Basie's band were expected to enter the Sands hotel in Las Vegas through the kitchen, even though they were playing the main room.

That night, Frank Sinatra, who Jones calls "a brother in disguise," hired a bodyguard for each member of the band.

Jones writes that Sinatra told the bodyguards that "'If anybody even looks funny at any member of this band, break both their ... legs.'"

He writes that Jackson "was so shy he'd sit down and sing behind the couch with his back to me while I sat there with my hands over my eyes with the lights off."

Godfather of Soul returns to musical roots

MACON, Ga. -- James Brown returned to his musical roots at the Macon Music & Heritage Festival, crediting a local radio station's willingness to play his records with helping launch his career.

The Godfather of Soul cited Macon native Little Richard and local promoter Clint Brantley as strong influences of his success, along with Macon radio station WIBB.

"Make a record as soon as you can and get it to these guys," Brown told local musicians Saturday, referring to the station.

One of Brown's first bands, the Famous Flames, was based in Macon and recorded their hit "Please, Please, Please" at WIBB in November 1955.

"This is what made America," Brown said of the music that emanated from Macon and made a legend out of a poverty-stricken boy who once earned money by promoting his aunt's Augusta brothel.

-- From wire reports