‘A Minecraft Movie’ has biggest opening ever for video game filmMovies
Category: BUSINESS
-
Beyoncé hair products now at Ulta, ‘Cécred Sundays’ coming soon
Beyoncé released ‘Cowboy Carter’ album one year ago: A look back
It’s been one year since Beyoncé released her eighth studio album, “Cowboy Carter.” Here’s a look back at the album’s impactful year.
- Beyoncé’s Cécred hair care line is now available at Ulta Beauty stores nationwide.
- Seven thousand stylists at Ulta Beauty salons will be trained to offer Cécred hair services.
- A “Cécred Sunday” event will be held weekly at select Ulta Beauty salons starting May 18.
Beyoncé’s Cécred hair care products are now available at Ulta Beauty stores nationwide, and fans can also look forward to a new, weekly salon experience in-store.
Fans can now shop Beyoncé’s entire Cécred collection at Ulta Beauty retail stores and online. Some of the products include Cécred’s hydrating shampoo and conditioner, its fermented rice and rose protein ritual, and restoring hair and edge drops, which fans have been raving about online.
Additionally, 7,000 stylists across all 1,400+ locations will be trained on all things Cécred and will begin to offer hair services, including a scalp revival, protein treatment and hydration treatment at The Salon located inside the Ulta Beauty stores.
Beginning May 18, fans will also have the opportunity to experience a true “Cécred Sunday” during a weekly salon event that will take place at 200 Ulta Beauty locations and feature exclusive services. Of course, Beyoncé has showed off her own wash day routine, and it seems the brand is bringing the same energy to Cécred Sunday. Each customer will also receive a mini Temple Oud candle with the hair services.
The beauty brand announced it would be expanding into retail stores as it celebrated its first year in business in February. Beyoncé first released her Cécred hair care line Feb. 20, 2024, and it has become a celebration of all hair types and textures.
She first teased the new business venture in May 2023 on Instagram while opening up about the impact of growing up in her mom’s hair salon.
“I saw firsthand how the ways we nurture and celebrate hair can directly impact our souls,” Beyoncé wrote. “I watched her heal and be of service to so many women. Having learned so much on my hair journey, I’ve always dreamed of carrying on her legacy.”
Follow Caché McClay, the USA TODAY Network’s Beyoncé Knowles-Carter reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @cachemcclay.
-
Brooks & Dunn concert cut short, Ronnie Dunn unexpectedly exits stage
Kelsea Ballerini stops to tell fans to quit bashing ex, Morgan Evans
Country singer Kelsea Ballerini asked fans at her concert to stop the hateful comments about her ex-husband, Morgan Evans.
Brooks & Dunn fans were left wanting more Thursday when the band unexpectedly cut their encore short.
In a video posted to TikTok, Ronnie Dunn, one-half of the renowned country music duo, can be seen exiting the stage midway through a performance of the group’s hit “Boot Scootin’ Boogie” at the end of their concert. The group is currently traveling for their Neon Moon tour, which is set to wrap up at the end of April.
Dunn tells the Indianapolis crowd to “sing it if you know it,” before walking away from the microphone himself, gesturing to a bandmate that he is done performing and shaking his head. He taps his chest a few times and points to the audience before leaving the stage for good.
“Feel better, Ronnie!!! Thanks for giving us all you could,” the video, posted by radio host Matt Malone, is captioned.
“Ronnie wasn’t feeling well from being sick, but Saturday night’s show went on as planned,” a rep for the band shared in a statement with USA TODAY Monday.
Dunn, 71, is one of two vocalists for Brooks & Dunn, a country music combo responsible for much-loved hits like “Neon Moon” and “Cowgirls Don’t Cry.”
The duo, rounded out by fellow singer-songwriter Kix Brooks, 69, rose to popularity in the early 1990s and enjoyed widespread success for over a decade.
In 2009, Brooks & Dunn announced they would stop performing together after finishing one more tour.
They both performed as solo artists for five years before reuniting in 2015. They’ve performed together ever since and released the album “Reboot” in 2019.
In 2024, they followed it up with “Reboot II,” a greatest hits cover album padded with guest vocals from some of country music’s biggest modern acts. Kacey Musgraves and Morgan Wallen, who teamed up for a newly imagined “Neon Moon,” are among in the featured artists.
“Good music is good music and hearing how country — especially Brooks & Dunn songs — fit into the DNA of what defines ‘good music’ for this generation is exciting,” Dunn told the Nashville Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network, in 2024.
Contributing: Shad Powers, The Desert Sun; Marcus K. Dowling, Nashville Tennessean
-
Jay North passed away aged 73Entertainment
Jay North passed away aged 73Entertainment
-
‘RHOA’ airs Kenya Moore, Brit Eady ‘revenge porn’ incident
Phaedra Parks returning to Real Housewives of Atlanta
Phaedra Parks is returning to Real Housewives of Atlanta after being gone for 6 seasons.
Fox – 5 Atlanta
Months after “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star Kenya Moore was booted off the show, viewers are finally getting a look at the stunt that led to her exit.
Moore was originally set to appear throughout Season 16 but was suspended indefinitely from filming after an altercation with Brit Eady and, later, departed the series following claims that she displayed “revenge porn.” Now, “RHOA” is airing the revenge porn incident in question.
On Sunday’s episode of the Bravo series, “RHOA” vets Porsha Williams, Cynthia Bailey and Drew Sidora, and new castmembers Shamea Morton Mwangi, Eady, Kelli Ferrell and Angela Oakley attend Moore’s hair spa grand opening.
Eady and Moore went back and forth earlier this season, with Eady at one point saying she had a “pistol.” Eady later expressed remorse to other cast members for her actions and threatening Moore. Attending the grand opening, the insurance agent brought Moore flowers and a card as a peace offering, which Moore made a show of rejecting.
Eady then left the event, opening the floor for Moore to slam Eady for “looking for a moment,” saying, “I’m going to pay you dust.” The former Miss USA then revealed explicit photos of Eady – which she obtained via an investigator, she claimed – on poster boards, which Bravo blurred.
Immediately, Ferrell leaves, and the other women and guests in attendance express shock and disappointment at the act, saying Moore went “too far,” which she immediately dismissed.
“I am mortified,” Williams said in a confessional, later seen leaving, followed by Morton Mwangi and Oakley. “I didn’t want to stand there and seem like I was in agreement. I don’t support this.”
“I didn’t like that,” said Bailey, who stood with Sidora in disbelief.
“I wasn’t there, I didn’t see what happened. I’m getting to know Brit, but I know you,” Bailey told Moore. “I really hate that you let that (end) this way. I think you’re bigger than this, and I think you’re better than this.”
“I am,” Moore replied. “I’m glad everybody came, and I love you.” She added: “I’m not gonna tolerate people blatantly disrespecting me anymore.”
Outside, Williams told production, “We’re ready to go right now. You can just act like I was never even at this event.”
The episode ended with a disclaimer: “Based on Kenya’s behavior, the decision was made to cease filming with her this season.”
How to watch ‘RHOA’
“The Real Housewives of Atlanta” Season 16 airs Sundays at 8 p.m. EDT/PDT on Bravo. New episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.
-
Season 6 premiere date, cast, how to watch
Need a show to binge? These are the must watch shows this spring.
USA TODAY’s TV critic Kelly Lawler breaks down the best TV shows you don’t to want to miss this spring.
“The Handmaid’s Tale” returns for its sixth and final season.
In the final season of Emmy-winning drama series, June (Elisabeth Moss) fights to take down Gilead as Luke (O-T Fagbenle) and Moira (Samira Wiley) join the resistance, according to Hulu. Serena (Yvonne Strahovski), meanwhile, “tries to reform Gilead while Commander Lawrence (Bradley Whitford) and Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd) reckon with what they have wrought, and Nick (Max Minghella) faces challenging tests of character.”
“This final chapter of June’s journey highlights the importance of hope, courage, solidarity, and resilience in the pursuit of justice and freedom,” the season’s synopsis says.
Adapted from Canadian author Margaret Atwood’s 1985 novel of the same name, “The Handmaid’s Tale” tells “the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was formerly the United States,” according to the series synopsis.
Offred, one of the few fertile women in the oppressive Republic of Gilead, known as Handmaids, “struggles to survive as a reproductive surrogate for a powerful Commander and his resentful wife” in society.
We’ve got room on the couch! Sign up for USA TODAY’s Watch Party newsletter for more recaps of your favorite shows.
Here’s what to know about Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” including release date and cast.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 release date
Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” will premiere on Tuesday, April 8 at 12 a.m. ET / 9 p.m. PT April 7 with the first three episodes.
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’: Stream on Hulu | Watch on Sling
Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle
How to watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6
“The Handmaid’s Tale” will be available to stream on Hulu starting April 8 at 12 a.m. ET / 9 p.m. PT April 7.
Hulu offers membership options ranging from $7.99 a month to $17.99 a month for normal streaming services and $75.99 a month to $89.99 a month for plans with streaming and live television. New users can also sign up for a free trial.
Watch every season of The Handmaid’s Tale on Hulu
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 episode schedule
Season 6 of “The Handmaid’s Tale” will have 10 episodes. Here’s what the schedule looks like:
- Episode 1 “Train”: April 8
- Episode 2 “Exile”: April 8
- Episode 3 “Devotion”: April 8
- Episode 4 “Promotion”: April 15
- Episode 5 “Janine”: April 22
- Episode 6 “Surprise”: April 29
- Episode 7 “Shattered”: May 6
- Episode 8 “Exodus”: May 13
- Episode 9 “Execution”: May 20
- Episode 10 “The Handmaid’s Tale”: May 27
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 cast
Cast members for “The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 6, as per Hulu, include:
- Elisabeth Moss as June Osborne / Offred
- Yvonne Strahovski as Serena Joy Waterford
- Bradley Whitford as Commander Joseph Lawrence
- Max Minghella as Commander Nick Blaine
- Ann Dowd as Aunt Lydia Clements
- O-T Fagbenle as Luke Bankole
- Samira Wiley as Moira Strand
- Madeline Brewer as Janine Lindo / Ofwarren / Ofdaniel / Ofhoward
- Amanda Brugel as Rita Blue
- Ever Carradine as Naomi Putnam
- Sam Jaeger as Mark Tuello
- Josh Charles
Watch ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Season 6 trailer
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.
-
Harvard Business Review book dives into strategic genius of Taylor Swift
The Harvard Business Review is publishing an in-depth, all encompassing book on Taylor Swift’s business acumen perusing her power moves as a fearless leader since she was 13 years old.
Author Kevin Evers came up with the idea in early 2022 and finished two years later.
“The more I researched her, the more impressed I became,” he says over Zoom from his New York home.
Evers writes in his book, “There’s Nothing Like This,” her success didn’t happen overnight — or by happenstance. A determined, pavement-pounding 13-year-old used her charm, sass, confidence and innate talents to set the foundation of a long-standing career. He notes she once told a veteran songwriter, “I’m not sure my demographic would say something like that.” She told her record label she would stay hours after meet-and-greets and shake hands with 100,000 fans. She used Myspace and vlogging to her advantage.
“It was not a shoo-in for her to be successful,” Evers says. “If anything, it’s actually unbelievable that she found success in country music at the time.”
Era-by-era, Evers takes readers through the time period of each album, cataloging the challenges Swift faced and putting her work into context. Take her debut album.
Long live the Eras Tour with our enchanting book
He writes country music “became dominated by male artists in Stetson hats and trucker caps, making it particularly challenging for female singers like Swift to break through.”
Swift met Scott Borchetta, a Universal Music executive planning to leave and start his own label Big Machine. Borchetta promised her a record deal but asked her to wait a year. She agreed, and the two grew each other’s brands for six eras. Then in 2017, Swift wanted control of her masters and Borchetta wanted to keep the market value of his business owed in part to her discography.
“Giving up Swift’s masters meant giving up the thing that made Big Machine most valuable,” Evers writes, “like putting land up for sale but telling buyers they can’t have the mansion on it.”
No one had ever rerecorded all of their masters. Swift took the risk, and her decision paid dividends. Although Evers likens Swift’s success to Beatlemania, Evers would argue the pop star has had a steeper hill to climb.
“There’s a lot of parallels between what the Beatles did, but I will say you can’t necessarily compare the two,” he explains. “The Beatles were operating in a monoculture, and the industry that Swift has been operating in has gone through radical disruptions and changes.”
Those disruptions include navigating digital and streaming, and jumping genres while staying true to herself.
“I would put her at the top of the music pantheon because of that,” Evers says. “It’s almost like comparing quarterbacks from different eras.”
The senior editor at Harvard Business Review pored over legal documents, articles and books to compile research. The millennial dad wrote alongside Swift’s record-shattering Eras Tour, attending two of the shows with his daughter Maisie.
“I could see my daughter’s fandom grow and her love of Taylor Swift grow, and I understood how [Swift] engages with fans,” he says. “I understand how she forges personal relationships, seeing it in my daughter’s eyes.”
When asked to sum up Swift’s career in one word, Evers says “antifragility.”
“Resilience is a great word,” he says. “When I think of resiliency, I think of something that can withstand pressure. Antifragility is almost a step above. Not only can I withstand that stuff, but I can actually grow stronger from those things.”
Swift went full pop with “1989.” She bounced back from public cancellation in 2016 with “Reputation.” She showed off her literary prowess in “Folklore” and “Evermore.” And she rerecorded her masters. Evers documents it all and spells out how the “unicorn” kept rising to the top.
The title “There’s Nothing Like This” is a nod to her song “Miss Americana and the Heartbreak Prince.”
“I thought it needed to be a lyric,” Evers says. “It had to thematically fit the book, and I think ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ hits the nail on the head for a generational artist. There will be no other Taylor Swift.”
Order the book here.
Don’t miss any Taylor Swift news; sign up for the free, weekly newsletter This Swift Beat.
Follow Bryan West, the USA TODAY Network’s Taylor Swift reporter, on Instagram, TikTok and X as @BryanWestTV.
-
‘White Lotus’ Season 3 finale recap: Who died, what happened
‘The White Lotus’ star reveals why her storyline can be triggering
“The White Lotus” star Michelle Monaghan talks to Ralphie Aversa about how the female friendship story line is so relatable and toxic.
Spoiler alert! This story contains plot details of HBO’s “The White Lotus” Season 3 finale.
The mystery of who dies in “The White Lotus” Season 3 is finally over.
The much-awaited finale showed that the gunshots, previewed in HBO’s Feb. 16 season premiere, were brought on by the tragic Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins). Rick’s misguided actions led to five deaths in a gunfight at Thailand’s White Lotus Resort — including his own and his innocent girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).
There is heartbreaking tragedy in the finale (now streaming on Max), along with a nearly-avoided Ratliff family tragedy, friendship reborn, a Bosch blender and one hell of a of a satisfying $5 million payout for visiting White Lotus Maui spa manager Belinda Lindsey (Natasha Rothwell).
Here’s what happened:
Rick seemed to have exorcised his demons meeting with Jim Hollinger (Scott Glenn), the hotel owner whom Rick thought had killed his saintly father decades ago (his body was never found). Rick threw Jim to the floor at their first meeting in Bangkok in last week’s episode, but ran off. In the finale, Rick happily embraces his beloved Chelsea and is ready to follow her hopeful spirit. But Jim collars Rick at the resort and informs him that his mother had lied. “She told you a fairytale, kid. Your father was no saint,” he snarls.
Rick is enraged, and finds Jim happily taking a photograph with his wife, Sritala (Lek Patravadi), and the three galpals on vacation. Rick yanks the gun out of the holster hidden in Jim’s jacket and shoots him in the chest. It’s only after Jim is dead that Sritala screams at Rick, “He is your father! He told me.”
Without even having time to process that tragic whopper, Chelsea gets shot in the ensuing firefight that kills two bodyguards. Rick grabs Chelsea and runs for help, holding her limp body in his arms. But Sritala yells at arriving security guard Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong) to shoot. After hesitating, Gaitok shoots Rick twice in the back. The dead lovers fall into the water.
During a Sunday night “White Lotus” press panel, Wood said she had been sad about creator Mike White’s choice to kill Chelsea. “It’s been like ‘Mike kills hope!’” Wood said. “Because Chelsea is hope.”
We’ve got room on the couch: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Watch Party newsletter for film & TV news.
The Ratliff family has a tragedy averted: No one died from the blender
Many “White Lotus” fans were sure the resort blender, beloved by Saxon Ratliff (Patrick Schwarzenegger), would factor into the finale deaths. It did not. But it was close. Besieged businessman Timothy (Jason Isaacs) had planned to kill his entire family, except for son Lochlan (Sam Nivola), with a batch of pina coladas blended with the poisonous seeds of a Thai fruit. Timothy wanted the family dead rather than have them live less-rich and shamed for his financial scandal. Just as Saxon, daughter Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook) and wife Victoria (Parker Posey) start to sip, Timothy changes his mind and destroys the lethal cocktails.
Unknowingly, Lochlan uses the blender leftovers to make a next-day smoothie. Posioned Lochlan collapses next to the pool, but pulls out of going to the light and vomits as his horrified father runs to hold him. “I think I just saw God,” Lochlan tells his father.
Belinda gets her $5 million payout from guilty Gary in ‘White Lotus’
Belinda was wrecked when multi-millionaire heiress Tanya McQuoid (Jennifer Coolidge) pulled out of bankrolling her dream spa near the end of Season 1.
In Season 3, she discovers that Tanya died in a suspicious yacht incident (as seen in the Season 2 finale). Tanya’s husband, Greg (Jon Greis), who goes by Gary in Thailand, is hiding from Italian police who want to question him about his rich new wife’s suspicious death.
Gary/Greg offers Belinda $100,000 to keep quiet about his secret identity. She’s repulsed, at first. But visiting son Zion (Nicholas Duvernay) convinces his long-suffering mother to take the cash, perhaps to start her dream spa after all. Belinda and Zion negotiate to make the bank transfer a reality. The $5 million drops into her online account. Belinda uses virtually the same words to weasel out of opening a spa with her sort-of boyfriend Pornchai (Dom Hetrakul) that Tanya used to stiff Belinda in Hawaii.
Belinda and Zion are Season 3’s last joyous images. They are shown departing the island, very happy and very rich, to Billy Preston’s “Nothing From Nothing.” As Gary/Greg tells Belinda in their final talk, “It’s what Tanya would have wanted.”
The frayed childhood friends reunite, freeze out Valentin
The longtime friendship between Kate (Leslie Bibb), Laurie (Carrie Coon) and TV actress Jacyln (Michelle Monaghan) came apart through much of Season 3. The married Jacyln secretly spending the night with hunky wellness guru Valentin (Arnas Fedaravičius) is the final straw for Carrie — after Jaclyn had outwardly been pushing for a Carrie-Valentin spa hook-up.
In the finale, the three learn to appreciate their decades-long bond despite their growing differences. “I’m just happy to be at the table,” the tearful Laurie says. The reunited trio gleefully ice out the visiting Valentin. The finale could have been much worse for the Russian. At least security guard Gaitok will not report on the connection between Valentin and his childhood friends from Vladivostok. The Russians were involved in the great White Lotus Resort jewelry heist.
Gaitok and Mook come together in ‘White Lotus’ finale
Gaitok was already struggling with the growing conflict of his security job and his Buddhist principles before shooting Rick. However, the devastatingly bold action that goes against his spiritual beliefs has immediate real-world benefits, including the bodyguard job he once sought. Gaitok beams as Sritala’s new personal driver. A bigger victory: Gaitok wins back Mook (Lalisa Manoban), who is impressed with his heroic ambition. Contributing: Charles Trepany
-
Crossword Blog & Answers for April 7, 2025 by Sally Hoelscher
There are spoilers ahead. You might want to solve today’s puzzle before reading further! Has the Final Say
Constructor: Bill Conner
Editor: Anna Gundlach
Random Thoughts & Interesting Things
- BEST (4A: The “B” of BFF) BFF stands for BEST friends forever.
- OREO (14A: Twisted-apart cookie) Today our crossword friend OREO is making its second appearance of April, and its tenth appearance of 2025.
- PIANO (15A: Instrument played by Tori Amos) Tori Amos is a singer-songwriter and PIANO player. She has been composing pieces on the PIANO since she was five years old. Earlier this year, Tori Amos released a surprise album, The Music of Tori and the Muses, as a companion project to her illustrated children’s book, Tori and the Muses.
- MEME (16A: Tariq Tull singing “It’s Corn,” for example) In August 2022, a young boy named Tariq Tull was interviewed about corn. The interview quickly went viral, as Tariq’s enthusiasm was hard to resist. This led to the creation of multiple MEMEs, including a song by The Gregory Brothers that remixes portions of the interview.
- MATISSE (23A: “The Green Stripe” painter Henri) Henri MATISSE (1869-1954) was a French painter and sculptor. The Green Stripe is a 1905 oil painting Henri MATISSE did of his wife, Amélie Noellie Matisse-Parayre. The title is a reference to a vertical green stripe that runs down the middle of the face of the painting.
- OAHU (41A: Honolulu’s island) OAHU is Hawaii’s third-largest island. The state’s capital, Honolulu, is located on OAHU.
- RAINIER (50A: Washington mountain also called Tahoma) Mount RAINIER, also known as Tahoma, is the centerpiece of Mount RAINIER National Park in Washington. Mount RAINIER is the tallest mountain in the Cascade Range.
- ANNE (64A: “Interview With the Vampire” author Rice) and ERIC (5D: “Interview With the Vampire” star Bogosian) ANNE Rice (1941-2021) was the author of The Vampire Chronicles series of books. The first book in the series, Interview with the Vampire (1976) was her debut novel. It was adapted into a 1994 movie of the same name starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. The TV series Interview With the Vampire premiered on AMC in 2022. ERIC Bogosian portrays journalist Daniel Molloy (who interviews the vampire).
- LEDS (67A: Energy-efficient bulbs) and DIODES (44D: Plural of the “D” in 67-Across) LEDS are light-emitting DIODES.
- MAMMAL (1D: Mole or vole) There are many MAMMALs. I appreciate that the examples chosen for this clue are two burrowing MAMMALs whose names rhyme.
- TOMCAT (3D: Male meower) My cat, Willow, is not a TOMCAT, and is too busy being cute to comment on this entry.
- NAOMI (20D: Tennis star Osaka) I’m always delighted when I know the answer to a sports clue without the help of crossing answers. I admire NAOMI Osaka not only for her sports ability, but for the way she uses her platform to raise awareness and advocate for others. During the 2020 US Open, at the beginning of each of her seven matches, Naomi Osaka wore a mask displaying the name of a Black person that was a victim of police or racist violence. In 2022, NAOMI Osaka joined forces with Modern Health to raise awareness of and destigmatize mental health care.
- SHE’S (24D: “___ Gotta Have It”) SHE’S Gotta Have It is a 1986 movie directed by Spike Lee. A 2017-2019 TV series of the same name was based on the movie.
- LEE (39D: “To Kill a Mockingbird author Harper) Harper LEE (1926-2016) wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel To Kill a Mockingbird (1960). She also wrote Go Set a Watchman, which was published in 2015.
Crossword Puzzle Theme Synopsis
- MAC AND CHEESE (19A: Boxed dinner with a packet of orange powder)
- NO GIFTS PLEASE (36A: Note on a birthday party invitation, maybe)
- NOT IF BUT WHEN (54A: Phrase of inevitability)
HAS THE FINAL SAY: The FINAL word of each theme answer can be paired with the word SAY to form a new phrase: SAY CHEESE, SAY PLEASE, and SAY WHEN.
This is an enjoyable set of theme answers, and a fun theme. The phrase “SAY WHEN” is especially fun, even though it doesn’t rhyme with SAY CHEESE and SAY PLEASE. (To be clear, it’s fine that it doesn’t rhyme; it’s just interesting that the first two do rhyme). Thank you, Bill, for this excellent puzzle.
For more on USA TODAY’s Crossword Puzzles
-
‘Dennis the Menace’ star dies at 73
Jay North passed away aged 73
Former child star Jay North, who starred in the title role of “Dennis the Menace” in the late 1950s, has died at the age of 73.
Bang Showbiz
Actor and former child star Jay North, best known for his starring role on the family sitcom “Dennis the Menace,” has died. He was 73.
North’s friend, writer and producer Laurie Jacobson, revealed in a Facebook post that the actor died “peacefully at home” Sunday afternoon following a battle with cancer. Jacobson later confirmed to USA TODAY that North’s family notified her and her husband, actor Jon Provost, of North’s death.
“As many of his fans know, he had a difficult journey in Hollywood and after…but he did not let it define his life,” Jacobson wrote on Facebook. “He had a heart as big as a mountain, loved his friends deeply. He called us frequently and ended every conversation with ‘I love you with all my heart.’ And we loved him with all of ours.”
North’s “Dennis the Menace” co-star Jeannie Russell told The Hollywood Reporter that North died at his Lake Butler, Florida, residence and that he suffered from colon cancer.
Born in Hollywood in August 1951, North got his start in television at the age of 6 when his mother Dorothy née Cotton, who worked as a secretary at the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, arranged for him to appear on his favorite show, the local children’s series “Cartoon Express.” Talent agent Hazel MacMillan spotted North and offered to represent him.
Working simultaneously as a child model and actor, North scored small roles on several NBC variety shows during the 1950s, such as “The George Gobel Show,” “The Eddie Fisher Show” and “The Milton Berle Show.” North’s big break came in the summer of 1958 when Screen Gems held a nationwide casting call for a TV adaptation of cartoonist Hank Ketcham’s comic strip “Dennis the Menace.”
Although North’s first audition didn’t go well, a second tryout helped the burgeoning actor land the role of Dennis Mitchell in 1959. Ahead of production on the show’s debut season, North appeared in several series and feature films, including “Wanted: Dead or Alive,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “Rescue 8,” “The Miracle of the Hills” and “The Big Operator.”
We’ve got today’s top stories: Sign up for USA TODAY’s Everyone’s Talking newsletter.
“Dennis the Menace” premiered on CBS in October 1959 and ran for four seasons. Despite the show’s success, North later revealed the emotional turbulence that colored his on-set experience.
In a 1993 interview with the Los Angeles Daily News, North said his aunt Marie Hopper — who served as his guardian when his mother was working — was physically and emotionally abusive.
“If it took me more than one or two takes, I would be threatened and then whacked,” North told the outlet. “Even if a delay wasn’t my fault, she would find a way to blame me and punish me. She was also very possessive and isolated me from the rest of the cast. I couldn’t even eat lunch with everybody else. She made me eat it in the dressing room by myself.”
Following the cancellation of “Dennis the Menace” in 1963, North took to the silver screen with starring roles in the comedies “Zebra in the Kitchen” (1965) and “Maya” (1966). North returned to TV for a short-lived adaptation of “Maya,” which ran for 18 episodes from 1967 to 1968.
North turned to voiceover work in the late ’60s and early ’70s, appearing in animated series such as “Arabian Knights,” “Here Comes the Grump” and “The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.”
North’s final role was a self-referential appearance in 2003’s “Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star,” a child stardom spoof starring David Spade and Alyssa Milano.