People in the news

Winslet, Mendes split

London — British movie star Kate Winslet has separated from her film director husband Sam Mendes after nearly seven years of marriage, their law firm said Monday.

The surprise split puts an end to a golden couple of Britain’s show business world, buttressed by matching Oscars and a host of commercial successes and artistic accolades. The pair’s law firm, Schillings, said the split was “entirely amicable and is by mutual agreement.”

Winslet, 34, shot to international stardom on the back of her appearance opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in James Cameron’s “Titanic,” and sealed her reputation with an Academy Award for best actress for her role in “The Reader” in 2009.

Mendes, 44, was already an acclaimed stage director by the time he won an Oscar for directing “American Beauty” in 1999.

The pair married in a small, low-key ceremony in the Caribbean in May 2003. It was Winslet’s second marriage. Her first, to British director Jim Threapleton, ended in divorce in 2001.

Winslet has an 9-year-old daughter, Mia, from her marriage to Threapleton and a 6-year-old son, Joe, with Mendes. Schillings’ statement said Winslet and Mendes were “fully committed to the future joint parenting of their children.”

Genesis, ABBA inducted into Rock Hall

New York — English progressive rockers turned 1980s pop stars Genesis were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday, joined by two other acts that thrived in second lives: ABBA and The Hollies.

Genesis was inducted by Trey Anastasio of Phish, whose band paid tribute to both incarnations of Genesis by performing “Watcher of the Skies” and “No Reply at All.”

The new inductees were missing Peter Gabriel, the theatrical lead singer whose departure was the dividing line between the band’s two styles.

Former bandmate Mike Rutherford said Gabriel wanted to send his apologies for missing the event.

“He has a very legitimate and genuine excuse,” Rutherford said. “He’s actually starting a tour.”

Other inductees at the annual ceremony at The Waldorf-Astoria hotel were reggae superstar Jimmy Cliff and the raucous Iggy Pop and the Stooges.