People in the news

Julia Roberts gives birth to third child, publicist says

New York – Julia Roberts has welcomed her third child, a boy named Henry Daniel Moder.

Henry was born Monday in Los Angeles. He weighed 8 1/2 pounds, said Roberts’ publicist, Marcy Engelman.

“All of the Moders are doing great,” Engelman said in a statement.

Roberts, 39, and her husband, 38-year-old cinematographer Danny Moder, have 2-year-old twins, Hazel and Phinnaeus.

The couple were married in July 2002 at Roberts’ home in Taos, N.M.

Roberts won the best actress Oscar in 2001 for “Erin Brockovich.” Her screen credits also include “Steel Magnolias” and “Pretty Woman.”

Roberts voiced the wise spider in the 2006 film adaptation of “Charlotte’s Web.” She’ll next be seen in the drama “Charlie Wilson’s War,” directed by Mike Nichols, which is scheduled for release later this year.

Academy adds to list of Oscar voters

Hollywood, Calif. – Jennifer Hudson, the former “American Idol” contestant who won the Academy Award for best supporting actress in the movie musical “Dreamgirls,” has joined co-star and fellow Oscar nominee Eddie Murphy among the list of actors invited to become Oscar voters, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Monday.

Also selected were Jennifer Aniston, Daniel Craig (the new James Bond) and Steve Carell (star of “The 40 Year-Old Virgin”).

The actors are among an eclectic list of 115 artists, studio executives and others who work behind the cameras who have been invited to become voting members, the Academy said.

Ringo ringtones, song catalog soon to be available online

Los Angeles – Ringo Starr has signed a deal to release his Capitol/EMI catalog online.

Downloads of his hit 1970 album, “Beacoups of Blues,” and 1973’s “Ringo” will be available Aug. 28, along with a compilation album, “Photograph: The Very Best of Ringo Starr,” his publicist said.

The best-of collection, with tracks such as “It Don’t Come Easy” and “Sentimental Journey,” will also be released on CD and as a collector’s edition CD/DVD package featuring a film and video clips.

Six Ringo Starr ring tones will also be offered.

“Liverpool 8,” a solo album by the 66-year-old ex-Beatle, is planned for a January 2008 release.

Michael Jackson settles $48M lawsuit as trial start nears

New York – Lawyers for Michael Jackson settled a lawsuit Monday brought by a New Jersey financial company that was seeking $48 million.

The lawsuit by Prescient Acquisition of Hackensack, N.J., was settled just as jury selection was set to begin in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

Terms of the settlement weren’t released.

Steven Altman, a lawyer for Darien Dash, who owns Prescient, said Dash was owed the money for helping Jackson refinance a $272 million bank loan and secure $573 million in financing to buy Sony Corp.’s half of the Beatles’ song catalog that Sony co-owned with the pop superstar.

Jackson, 48, had claimed he never heard of Dash and didn’t remember signing an agreement.

‘Two and a Half Men’ star marries TV Guide Channel host

New York – Jon Cryer married entertainment reporter Lisa Joyner this weekend in Mexico.

Cryer and Joyner, host of TV Guide Channel’s “InFANity,” were wed Saturday in Cabo San Lucas, Cryer’s spokeswoman, Karen Samfilippo, said Monday.

He co-stars with Charlie Sheen in the hit CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” Cryer also starred as the nerdy outcast Duckie in the 1986 teen movie classic “Pretty in Pink.”

Cryer, 42, has a 6-year-old son, Charlie, from a previous marriage.