Newsmakers for Thursday
Tom Cruise receives Friars Icon award
NEW YORK — Tom Cruise was in Manhattan to collect an award, and, yes, promote a movie.
On Tuesday night, the actor received the fourth Friars Club Entertainment Icon Award. The evening was a toast, not a roast. Alec Baldwin hosted at the Waldorf-Astoria, where speakers included such former co-stars as Cuba Gooding Jr. and Kevin Pollak.
Cruise brought along his 6-year-old daughter, Suri, who not only got to stay up late, but to take in an R-rated tribute. A few f-bombs were dropped, including some on film by Cruise during a highlight reel of his career.
Numerous plugs were worked in for “Rock of Ages,” coming out Friday. Baldwin co-stars with Cruise, and the ceremony included a performance by the cast of the Broadway musical on which the film is based.
‘Young and Restless’ actor to have surgery
LOS ANGELES — The 7-year-old actor best known as the boy behind the Darth Vader mask in a popular car commercial introduced during last year’s Super Bowl is having open heart surgery.
Max Page plays Reed on the CBS soap opera “The Young and the Restless.” CBS spokeswoman Elise Bromberg said he will have surgery Thursday to replace his pulmonary valve and repair a hole in his heart at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
Max was born with a congenital heart defect and has undergone multiple surgeries.
Bromberg said Max told his mother that he didn’t have a choice, and that he “might as well go through it with a good attitude.” He is expected to be hospitalized for about five days.
Streep presents Davis with film award
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — They may have been Oscar rivals earlier this year, but there’s nothing but love between Meryl Streep and Viola Davis.
Streep, who ended Davis’ awards run for “The Help” by winning the lead actress Oscar for “The Iron Lady,” lauded her friend and colleague Tuesday at Women in Film’s annual Crystal + Lucy Awards.
She called Davis “a lion-hearted woman;” a gifted and determined actress who studied at Juilliard, won Tony Awards and captivated Hollywood with her eight-minute performance in “Doubt.”
“She was a newcomer at 45,” Streep joked.
Davis returned the love as she accepted the award.
“I have a confession,” she said, sharing how touched she was when Streep sent her a card after the film wrapped.
“OK Meryl, I framed the card,” Davis said.
“So you can never come over to the house.”
Other honorees at the private ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel were actresses Christina Applegate and Chloe Grace Moretz, NBCUniversal Cable chief Bonnie Hammer, cinematographer Anette Haellmigk and five female executives from Fox.
Compiled from The Associated Press