McMahon fighting foreclosure on home

Los Angeles – Ed McMahon, who for decades appeared as Johnny Carson’s sidekick on “The Tonight Show,” is fighting to avoid foreclosure on his multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills home, according to published reports.

The former “Star Search” host was $644,000 behind on payments on $4.8 million in mortgage loans when a unit of Countrywide Financial Corp. filed a default notice Feb. 28 with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office, The Wall Street Journal first reported late Tuesday.

McMahon, 85, has been a pitchman for the American Family Publishers’ sweepstakes.

However, he has been unable to work as a pitchman for various products since he broke his neck 18 months ago, said his spokesman, Howard Bragman.

“There are plenty of people affected by the weak economy, bad housing market or bad health,” Bragman said.

McMahon has been in “very fruitful discussions” with the lender to resolve the situation, Bragman said. But it’s unclear whether McMahon and his wife, Pamela, will remain in the home.

A telephone message left for Countrywide early Wednesday was not immediately returned.

The six-bedroom, five-bath house is in a hilltop gated community overlooking Mulholland Drive called The Summit and is listed for sale at $6.25 million.

Jolie confidants: ‘ET’ knew source was fake

New York – “Entertainment Tonight” aired a story about the birth of Angelina Jolie’s twins despite being repeatedly told beforehand that the report was based on information from someone impersonating Jolie’s assistant, according to documents and two people with knowledge of the exchange.

The celebrity newsmagazine denied Wednesday that it knew about an impostor before the broadcast. The identity of the impostor remained unknown.

On Friday morning, the show posted a story on its Web site and sent an e-mail alert to media outlets saying it had confirmed the birth of Jolie’s twins. The Associated Press picked up the report.

“Entertainment Tonight” did not name its source at the time. It later revealed that the report was based on e-mails from someone it thought was Jolie assistant Holly Goline.

Shortly after the story was posted but several hours before the broadcast aired, Goline told “Entertainment Tonight” that she was not the person with whom they had been corresponding, a person with direct knowledge of the conversation told The Associated Press. That account was confirmed by another person close to Jolie.

‘X-Files’ star Gillian Anderson is pregnant

New York – Gillian Anderson and her boyfriend, Mark Griffiths, are expecting their second child this fall, her manager, Connie Freiberg, said Wednesday.

The “X-Files” actress and the businessman have an 18-month-old son Oscar.

Anderson, 39, has a 13-year-old daughter, Piper, with ex-husband Clyde Klotz, a production designer. She and her second husband, documentary filmmaker Julian Ozanne, separated in April 2006 after 16 months of marriage.

“The X-Files” ran from 1993-2002 on the Fox network. Anderson reunites with co-star David Duchovny for “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” the second feature film spun off from the paranormal series.

George Takei, partner plan to get married

Washington – George Takei, best known for playing Sulu on “Star Trek,” will never forget the first time he saw Brad Altman, the man he plans to marry, more than two decades ago.

They were working out in a running club and he couldn’t take his eyes off Altman, who had a “lean, tightly muscled” body, the 71-year-old actor told AP Radio in an interview.

Takei said he asked Altman to help him train for a marathon, they fell in love, and now they’ve been living together for 21 years.

Altman said he proposed by getting down on one knee in their kitchen while Takei was eating a sandwich after seeing on TV that the California Supreme Court had legalized same-sex marriage. It surprised Takei, who thought he would be the one who popped the question.

Rascal Flatts guitarist and wife welcome a son

Nashville, Tenn. – Rascal Flatts guitarist Joe Don Rooney and his wife, Tiffany Fallon, have welcomed their first child, a son named Jagger Donovan Rooney.

The baby was born Saturday, the band’s publicist, Jessie Schmidt, announced Tuesday.

Rooney, 32, and Fallon, a former Playboy Playmate, were married in April 2006.

Retired justice developing Web site

New York – Sandra Day O’Connor is developing a free interactive Web program for middle schoolers on the U.S. court system.

The program will be called Our Courts and allow students to participate in realistic government simulations and investigate and argue actual cases.

Arizona State and Georgetown universities are helping the retired Supreme Court justice develop the program.

The Web site will be launched this fall.