People in the news

‘Bronze Fonz’ statue dedicated in Milwaukee

Milwaukee – His hair will always be in place, he doesn’t mind if you touch the leather and he’s far too heavy to jump the shark.

Thought Arthur Fonzarelli couldn’t get any cooler? Meet the bronze Fonz.

Dozens of people lined the Milwaukee River on Tuesday to cheer the unveiling of a statue of the “Happy Days” character, including Henry Winkler himself. The man who was cast as the Fonz – then cast in bronze – pretended to comb the statue’s hair and put his arm around the smiling, life-size likeness, which is giving two thumbs up.

“To see it in real life and that it exists it’s just, it’s just unbelievable. It really is,” Winkler told the invite-only crowd and others gathered nearby trying to hear.

Though no scenes were filmed here, “Happy Days” took place in Milwaukee during its TV run from 1974 to 1984. Most of the cast was on hand Tuesday, along with the show’s creator, director and producer Garry Marshall, and actors Penny Marshall and Cindy Williams from the spin-off “Laverne & Shirley.”

Ron Howard, who played Richie Cunningham, was filming a movie and wasn’t able to make it.

Applegate: Mastectomy was a ‘tough’ choice

New York – Christina Applegate is taking the long view of her battle with breast cancer – the really long view.

Speaking on ABC News’ “Good Morning America” in her first interview since announcing her diagnosis earlier this month, the “Samantha Who?” star said she had a double mastectomy three weeks ago. She’ll undergo reconstructive surgery over the next eight months.

“I’m going to have cute boobs ’til I’m 90, so there’s that,” she joked in the interview, which aired Tuesday. “I’ll have the best boobs in the nursing home. I’ll be the envy of all the ladies around the bridge table.”

The 36-year-old actress elected to remove both breasts even though the disease was contained in one breast. She said she is now cancer-free.

Applegate called the operation a logical decision. Her mother battled breast cancer, and she tested positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation linked to breast and ovarian cancer.

“I just wanted to kind of be rid of it,” she said. “So this was the choice I made, and it was a tough one.”

Applegate’s cancer was detected early through a doctor-ordered MRI. She said she’s starting a program to help women at high risk for breast cancer to meet the costs of an MRI, which is not always covered by insurance.

Dave Matthews Band’s saxophone player dies

Los Angeles – A publicist for the Dave Matthews Band says saxophone player LeRoi Moore has died of injuries suffered in an all-terrain-vehicle accident in June.

Publicist Ambrosia Healy says Moore died Tuesday at Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles.

He was initially hospitalized in late June after the accident on his farm outside Charlottesville, Va.

Moore had recently returned to his Los Angeles home to begin physical rehabilitation when complications forced him back into the hospital.

Moore was 46.

Roger Moore: Being Bond could be scary

New York – It’s not easy being Bond.

Roger Moore, who starred in seven Bond films in the 1970s and 1980s, recounts his days as the dashing super-spy in his upcoming memoir, “My Word Is My Bond,” and says things weren’t always as they seemed.

“Jimmy Bond had a big jet boat chase in ‘Live and Let Die,”‘ writes Moore, now 80. “I did quite a few run-throughs to practice and whilst banking on one such run, the engine cut out. I had no steering! I therefore continued in a straight line : directly into a wooden boat house.”

He instantly catapulted from the boat into a wall, cracking his front teeth and twisting his knee.

“There I was, as a fearless 007, hobbling on a cane to my boat and then pretending to be indestructible for the cameras. Who says I can’t act?”

Moore replaced Sean Connery in the 007 franchise in 1973. His films include “The Spy Who Loved Me,” “Live and Let Die,” “The Man With the Golden Gun” and “A View to a Kill.”

The book is due out Nov. 4.

Gary Glitter released from Vietnamese prison

Bangkok, Thailand – British glam rocker Gary Glitter was refused entry into Thailand, officials said today, a day after the convicted child molester was freed by Vietnam following nearly three years in prison.

The 64-year-old Glitter arrived at Bangkok, Thailand’s international airport after Vietnam deported him. But he failed to board a connecting flight to London, and officials denied him entry into Thailand, a senior immigration official told The Associated Press.

A police spokesman did not know Glitter’s next destination.

Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted in March 2006 of committing “obscene acts with children.” He served 2 years and 9 months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.