Actor Robert Hegyes, best known for playing sweathog Juan Epstein in the 1970s television series Welcome Back, Kotter has died at 60.

After complaining of chest pains at his New Jersey home on Thursday morning, the actor was taken to hospital where he passed away. Hegyes had suffered another heart attack a few years ago and had not been in good health prior to his death.

Welcome Back, Kotter also featured John Travolta as a fellow classmate in the story of a man who returns to his former high school to teach a group of troublesome students. Hegyes stated that he based his skirt-chasing character on Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. He also went on to appear as a regular in the detective series Cagney & Lacey.

For trivia buffs out there, Robert was a cousin of singers Jon Bon Jovi and Mario Lanza.

He leaves behind four children. Rest in peace.

Didn’t Darren Criss just replace Daniel Radcliffe? His stint went by so fast!

Nick Jonas made his debut in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Tuesday evening in NYC!

He looks excited proud. I’m hearing that he’s actually quite good in this role (don’t even get me started on how awful he was in Les Mis!) so hopefully the public embraces him!

At least she looks better than the actual movie does!

Katherine Heigl stepped out on the red carpet for the premiere of her film One For The Money looking stunning in a red dress that hugged her curves beautifully.

Her new movie looks awful, but she never disappoints on the red carpet!

I’ve been fortunate to see the pilot of the new musical series Smash! Let me tell you, it is one! It’s my favorite pilot of the year thus far!

At first glance, it seems a bit like Glee, but that’s not what the final product is like at all. The musical numbers are exciting and fresh, as is the cast: especially Megan Hilty! She will be a household name very soon!

It’s a great premise, and I can’t wait to see where the rest of the season goes!

Smash Debuts Feb 6!

After a call to paramedics, Demi Moore was rushed to the hospital on Monday night!

While her reps say that she will be heading to rehab shortly to deal with exhaustion, sources have claimed that it is related to substance abuse.

Considering her past history of alcohol and cocaine addiction (she was dealing with that back in the 1980s), this doesn’t come as a surprise to some, even citing it as a contributing factor to the breakup of her six year marriage to Ashton Kutcher.

Well, I can certainly understand being stressed by the end of a marriage! Let’s hope that she gets whatever help she needs.

The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced this morning and there were a few surprises, including the highest number of first-time nominees ever!

I’m excited!

Leading the nomination count are Hugo with 11 nominations and The Artist with 10. Here’s how it looks in terms of number of nominations:

11 nominations:
Hugo (including Picture and Director Martin Scorsese)

10 nominations:
The Artist (including Picture, Director Michel Hazanavicius, Supporting Actress Bérénice Bejo)

6 nominations:
Moneyball (including Picture, Actor Brad Pitt, Supporting Actor Jonah Hill)
War Horse (Picture)

5 nominations:
The Descendants (Picture, Director Alexander Payne, Actor George Clooney)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Actress Rooney Mara)

4 nominations:
The Help (Picture, Actress Viola Davis, Supporting Actresses Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer)
Midnight in Paris (Picture, Director Woody Allen)

3 nominations:
Albert Nobbs (Actress Glenn Close, Supporting Actress Janet McTeer)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Actor Gary Oldman)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life (Picture, Director Terrence Malick)

2 nominations:
A Separation
Bridesmaids (Supporting Actress Melissa McCarthy)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (Picture, Actor Max von Sydow)
The Iron Lady (Actress Meryl Streep)
My Week with Marilyn (Actress Michelle Williams, Supporting Actor Kenneth Branagh)

Competing in separate categories (drama, comedy) at the Golden Globes, Streep and Williams are now pitted directly against each other!

It was interesting to see Gary Oldman and Max von Sydow in the Best Actor list, as they had been overlooked for other awards and nominations so far this year.

Other races to watch will be Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress, especially with the multiple acting nods for The Help. I would like to have seen Shailene Woodley being nominated for her performance in The Descendants.

Good friends George Clooney and Brad Pitt are competing against each other in the Best Actor category and while their films (The Descendants, Moneyball) are vying in the Adapted Screenplay category. This could be a very good year for Clooney; he’s also up for an Adapted Screenplay writing award for The Ides of March!

Of course, I have to mention a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film for Canada’s Monsieur Lazhar!

The Oscars will be presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on Sunday February 26th. Billy Crystal will serve as host for the ninth time! I know I’ll be tuned in!

Who do you think will win?

I get it, the first season was a success so of course a second season of The Glee Project is coming.

However, that being said, I feel that Glee is an absolutely joke now anyways. It has jumped the shark so many times, it’s practically a chore to watch, yet I still do for some reason.

Last seasons winner, Damian Mcginty has barely said two words and has sung one song in his entire run so far. So really, so we need a second season?

What do U think? 

Congrats to Bryce Dallas Howard and her husband Seth Gabel on the birth of their second daughter Beatrice Jean Howard-Gabel on January 19.

Beatrice is a sweet name. Not many people carry that name anymore. Can’t wait to see the first pictures!