Clark’s recovery continues

Malibu, Calif. — Three months after a stroke, Dick Clark continues to recuperate at his beachfront home and doctors are pleased with his progress, Clark’s publicist said.

“He is continuing rehabilitation. He is walking and talking, not to the extent that we would like to see it, but he’s progressing. The doctors are happy with his progress,” Paul Shefrin said Thursday.

Clark, 75, suffered a stroke Dec. 6 and was hospitalized for more than seven weeks at a Burbank hospital, forcing him to cancel as host of the “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” TV show from New York’s Times Square.

“Doctors are telling him he will be there for the countdown this year. He expects to be there,” Shefrin said. “Is Dick 100 percent? No.”

Shefrin has refused to discuss the effects of the stroke or whether there was any paralysis.

Vanity Fair best-dressed listing no sweat for Winfrey

New York — Oprah Winfrey’s La Perla sweats — and the rest of her self-described “classic, fun and relaxed” look — have earned her a spot on the Vanity Fair best-dressed list for a second year in a row.

“The key to elegance is not just wearing beautiful things but making what you’re wearing come alive,” she tells the magazine for its April issue.

Also on the list again are Sofia Coppola, Kate Moss, Queen Rania of Jordan and actress Sienna Miller. Miller says her style is “a little Gypsyish.” Edie Sedgwick is her fashion icon and she picks Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and fiance Jude Law as the most stylish men.

Law, who says he looks like a “messy schoolteacher,” also made the list, along with Andre 3000, newscaster Anderson Cooper, musician Charlie Watts and director Wes Anderson.

George Clooney’s signature look is “no tie, collar open, beautiful suit” and he says his favorite shoes are Tod’s. The actor is also on the list for a second time.

Jury deliberations begin in Blake’s murder trial

Los Angeles — Jurors began deliberating Friday in the Robert Blake murder trial after his lawyer ridiculed the evidence in the case and urged them to “end this nightmare” by clearing the actor’s name.

The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before going home for the weekend. They will return Monday.

In his closing argument earlier Friday, defense attorney M. Gerald Schwartzbach portrayed the prosecution’s key witnesses as liars and said police rushed to judgment while bungling the investigation. “They convicted him that night,” Schwartzbach said.

Blake is accused of killing Bonny Lee Bakley, 44, on May 4, 2001, outside his favorite Italian restaurant in Studio City. The 71-year-old actor is charged with murder, two counts of solicitation of murder and a special circumstance of lying in wait.

If convicted, the former “Baretta” star could be sentenced to life in prison.

Gibson stalker convicted

Los Angeles — An Idaho drifter who claimed he was on a mission from God to pray with actor-director Mel Gibson was convicted of felony stalking Friday.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before finding Zack Sinclair guilty. Sinclair, 34, faces up to 16 months in prison.

Sinclair, a fan of Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ,” was arrested in September after repeatedly going to the gate of the actor-director’s Malibu estate and asking Gibson to pray with him.

Gibson also testified Thursday that he was attending church services in September when he got up briefly and returned to find Sinclair sitting in his seat. Sinclair moved within a few inches of his face, Gibson said, telling him, “Hi, I’m here to pray with you.”

The actor noted that Sinclair “wasn’t scary or overtly threatening,” but he still feared for his family’s safety.

Cher seeks unpaid royalties

Los Angeles — Singer and actress Cher is suing Warner/Chappell Music Inc. for breach of contract on claims that it failed to pay royalties estimated at more than $250,000.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleges the music publisher has not paid song and performance royalties for the last four years.

The other plaintiffs include Chastity Bono, the daughter of Cher and her late husband Sonny Bono, and Christy Bono, Bono’s daughter from his first marriage.

Singing duo Cher and Sonny Bono had reached written agreements in 1965 and 1966 for recording services with York Records and Atlantic Recording Corp. that required them to pay royalties and provide an accounting of the payments, the suit said.

Warner/Chappell, which acquired Atlantic, breached those contracts, the suit said.

Jackson accusers’ video: ‘God worked through Michael’

Santa Maria, Calif. — A family now accusing Michael Jackson of child molestation was seen by jurors Friday in a video praising him as a father figure, and the sister of the accuser testified under cross-examination that she had accused her own father of molesting her after her mother made the allegation.

Prosecutors showed jurors the video, which they claim was a staged and scripted response to a damaging documentary about Jackson.

“God worked through Michael to help us,” the mother of the accuser said in the video. “When we saw no hope, Michael said there was hope. … We were broken and Michael fixed us.”

The video was played during testimony by the accuser’s 18-year-old sister, who told jurors that Jackson’s associates had the family make the tape. It was made about two weeks after a 2003 TV documentary in which her brother appeared with Jackson, who said he allowed the boy to sleep in his bed while he slept on the floor.

Birthdays

Actor James Noble is 83. Actor Michael Warren is 59. Singer Eddy Grant is 57. Violinist Eugene Fodor is 55. Magician Penn Jillette is 50. Pop singer Teena Marie is 49. Rock singer Craig Reid is 43. Actor Kevin Connolly is 31. Actress Jolene Blalock (“Enterprise”) is 30. Model Niki Taylor is 30. Actress Eva Mendes is 27. Actor Jake Lloyd is 16.