Costner headed for wedlock

Los Angeles — Kevin Costner is dancing down the aisle again, this time with his girlfriend of four years, Christine Baumgartner.

The 48-year-old director and star of “Dances With Wolves” and Baumgartner, 29, announced their engagement Thursday. No wedding date was set, publicist Paul Bloch said.

It’s the second marriage for the actor, the first for Baumgartner, a handbag designer.

The couple met four years ago and have been dating ever since, Bloch said, noting they both attended California State University, Fullerton but at different times.

Buddy Ebsen admitted to hospital

Torrance, Calif. — Buddy Ebsen, who portrayed poor mountaineer Jed Clampett on the ’60s TV series “The Beverly Hillbillies,” was admitted to a hospital for an undisclosed illness.

It wasn’t known when Ebsen, 95, was checked into Torrance Memorial Medical Center but hospital spokeswoman Ann O’Brien told The Daily Breeze of Torrance for Thursday’s editions that the actor’s “condition is good.”

Ebsen, who lives in nearby Palos Verdes Estates, began his television career and nine-year stint as Clampett in 1962, when the series premiered. He later took the title role in the CBS detective drama “Barnaby Jones,” which ran from 1973 until 1980.

Osbourne mom feels guilt

New York — Sharon Osbourne said she blamed herself for her son’s alcohol and marijuana abuse.

Jack Osbourne, the 17-year-old son of Sharon and heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne, returned home after two months in rehab on June 18. He entered a Pasadena, Calif., hospital on April 23, saying he “got carried away with drugs and alcohol.”

“The first thing I did was put blame on myself and in a way I always will,” Sharon Osbourne, 50, told Us Weekly magazine for its July 14 issue. “It’s a natural reaction of a mother to think, ‘What could I have done differently? What could I have done wrong?’ I thought I was a cutting-edge mom, and I didn’t even know what was happening.”

The family, which is the subject of the MTV reality series “The Osbournes,” also includes daughters Kelly and Aimee.

Big screen heralds ‘Yankees’

Los Angeles — Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein acquired rights to the 1955 musical “Damn Yankees.”

Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the movie, Miramax said Tuesday. Weinstein had previously tapped the duo for the remake of “Guys and Dolls,” but the baseball musical “Damn Yankees” will come first.

Tony Award-winning “Damn Yankees” is the story of a die-hard Washington Senators fan who sells his soul to the devil so his team can finally topple the New York Yankees and win the pennant.

“I see us updating ‘Damn Yankees,’ modernizing it and really having fun with the role of the devil,” Weinstein said.