In brief: Affleck is 'sexiest man'

Actor Ben Affleck has been named "sexiest man alive" by US magazine People, following in the footsteps of Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

The 30-year old is the 16th man to receive the honour, and takes over from last year's winner Pierce Brosnan.

But fiancée Jennifer Lopez was not so impressed with the news.

"I don't need them to tell me he's the sexiest man alive - the difference between me and People magazine is that he'll still be the sexiest man alive in my eyes when he's 100 years old."

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Gun lovers honour Heston

American National Rifle Association members paid for a statue of Charlton Heston to be put up at a cowboy museum in Oklahoma.

Heston, who has been the organisation's president since 1998, is depicted in his role in the 1968 western Will Penny.

It shows Heston holding a lasso in one hand and a rifle in the other.

"I'm enormously impressed," said the 79-year-old actor.

"I'm overwhelmed. I hardly know how to go on from here, and for an actor to not know how to go on from someplace is unbelievable."

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Fame show album due

The students of the BBC's talent search Fame Academy are to release an album in time for Christmas.

The album will contain songs from the live showdowns which end in students being evicted, dashing their dreams of winning a £1m record contract.

Meanwhile, student Ainslie Henderson has been named as the third Fame Academy person who will have to sing for survival on Friday's show.

Katie Lewis and David Sneddon are the other two students on probation.

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Rampling honoured in France

British actress Charlotte Rampling has received the prestigious Legion of Honour award in France.

Rampling, who moved to France more than 25 years ago, received the award for her work in films such as The Verdict and The Night Porter.

"I do not think that Napoleon imagined when he created the Legion Of Honour that it would one day be given to an English actress," she said.

The actress received an OBE for services to UK-French relations in 2001

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Censored scenes re-edited into Russell film

Controversial scenes from Ken Russell's film The Devils are to be screened on television for the first time since the picture was made in 1971.

The depiction of nuns being possessed by demons prompted protests more than 30 years ago and were removed before the film hit cinema screens.

The footage was found in vaults and will be screened in a Channel 4 documentary in November.

It was wrongly labelled in archives and was once believed to be destroyed.

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Schwarzenegger's wife 'stalked'

Arnold Schwarzenegger's wife has obtained a restraining order against a man she claims is stalking her.

Journalist Maria Shriver said the man phoned her, tried to get into the news studio near Los Angeles where she works and claimed to have been married to her.

Shriver told the court she began receiving phone calls about a year ago from Bruce Fiorani, who claimed to be a high school friend.

The restraining order was served against Fiorani earlier this month.

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Brandreth hits West End

TV presenter and former Tory MP Gyles Brandreth is to take his hit Edinburgh Fringe Festival show to the West End.

The show, called Zipp!, races through 100 musicals in 90 minutes "or your money back", and opens at the Duchess Theatre, London, on 4 February.

Brandreth said: "We give you the complete works of Andrew Lloyd-Webber in 60 seconds.

"We give you the showstoppers without the tedium of the intervening show. And if you don't like one musical, don't worry. Another will be along in just a minute."

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Sopranos star takes Mrs Robinson role

Sopranos actress Lorraine Bracco will be baring all as she joins the cast of The Graduate on Broadway.

The star, who plays psychiatrist Jennifer Melfi in the mafia drama, takes over the role of Mrs Robinson from Kathleen Turner.

The show, based on the Oscar-winning movie, has attracted a host of established actresses into the role, which has brief nudity included.

Other actress who have appeared in the role in London's West End include Jerry Hall, Dallas star Linda Gray and Amanda Donohoe.

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Office duo battle for awards

The man behind The Office, Ricky Gervais, lines up alongside one of his co-stars in the nominations for this year's British Comedy Awards.

Gervais is up against Martin Freeman - Tim in the dry comedy set in a Slough paper merchants - for best comedy actor.

Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross and Paul Merton will fight it out for best comedy entertainment personality at the ceremony, while Joanna Lumley, Kathy Burke and Ronni Ancona compete for the best comedy actress prize.

The ceremony will take place at the London Studios on the capital's South Bank on 14 December.

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