Beck/Smith Hollywood

Mary Murphy

Mary Murphy, enjoying her return to the “So You Think You Can Dance” judges’ table after a year away, would like to perform again herself.  However, since surgery to remove a thyroid tumor in December, she candidly tells us, “My body has changed dramatically…I’m still navigating the whole hormonal change thing. I would still like to exit dancing, but I just don’t think it’s going to happen this season until we situate my hormones, you know?”

The champion dancer and choreographer, who successfully battled thyroid cancer while away from the show, points out that the thyroid regulates one’s metabolism, among other things. Thus, she reveals, “I cannot get my body.  I’ve been working so hard.  I’m fighting for it every day with a few hours of exercise — exercising like a crazy person, and nothing is happening with this body. I would love to come out at the finale and dance one more time to top it off, but I don’t think that will happen.”

Murphy is glad she was able to dance on Broadway last Fall in Burn the Floor, “and in my home town of San Diego. So, if I never get to dance again, you know, I ended it in a place where I felt really great, in my own home town.

“But I am going to really fight to dance at least one more time.”

Ryan Dunn MTV photo

It’s sad, but it could be that the late “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn’s greatest legacy might be as an anti-role model. The daredevil, whose Porsche is said to have been traveling between 132 and 140 miles per hour when it crashed, killing Dunn and passenger Zachary Hartwell last week, had a stunning blood alcohol content of .196, according to a preliminary toxicology report. With an estimated 11 drinks in him before he got behind the wheel, he automatically becomes the poster celebrity for what can happen to you when you drink and drive.

Indeed, Roger Ebert’s notorious tweet — “Friends don’t let Jackasses drink and drive” — over a photo of the horrific remains of that car could serve as an effective public service billboard.

Recent years have, unfortunately, brought us an phalanx of
anti-role model celebrities — who teach us by example what NOT to do.

Two years after Michael Jackson’s death of acute propofol intoxication, his doctor, Conrad Murray, is due to go to trial in September on involuntary manslaughter charges. But certainly, details of Jackson’s gargantuan prescription drug usage that set the stage for the overdose have given people pause.

The same is true of Heath Ledger, who seemed destined to become one of the greatest film actors of our time, until his life was cut short by what the New York City coroner’s office determined was an accidental overdose of  painkillers, sleeping pills and anti-anxiety drugs: oxycodone, hydrocodone, diazepam, temazepam, alprazolam, and doxylamine.

Look out, because, as the late Jeff Conaway pointed out, getting addicted to pain pills can creep up on you.

Lindsay Lohan and Charlie Sheen are just two among the current crop of celebrities who have all but destroyed their careers with wild and sometimes violent behavior — behavior that’s landed each of them behind bars more than once. Lohan and Sheen have each demonstrated how even the most prodigious talents can be thrown away. Let us hope not their lives.

Their poster would have to say something along the lines of “Here’s what excessive partying can do to you, kids.”

Anti-role model celebrities show us so many things — how NOT to divorce (e.g. Madonna and Guy Ritchie), how NOT to parent (Britney Spears), and how NOT to utilize cosmetic surgery (Joan Rivers). The idea of actually looking up to stars sometimes seems positively quaint.

Brooke Elliott Lifetime photo

“Drop Dead Diva” star Brooke Elliott says viewers will find her character “becoming more comfortable in this new life, and becoming flirtier” as the just-launched third season unfurls.  “DDD,” of course, follows the unique saga of a vapid model whose spirit has mistakenly been dumped into the body of a brilliant plus-sized attorney.

Brooke says “I had no idea” the Lifetime series would wind up lasting this long

– with an ardent following and critical kudos.  “You never know which thing is going to hit and which one isn’t — and then to have the show continually picked up and continually supported by Lifetime is amazing,” says the Broadway veteran.

“DDD” also has a list of guest stars to die for, a particularly impressive feat considering they have to travel to the town outside Atlanta where the show shoots.  This year’s list includes LeAnn Rimes,  Kathy Griffin, Wendy Williams, Mario Lopez, Amanda Bearse, Tony Goldwyn, Howard Hesseman, Sharon Lawrence, Faith Prince, Jennifer Tilly and Louis Van Amstel.  Appearing in the forthcoming “gay prom” episode are Wanda Sykes, Lance Bass and Clay Aiken.  Brooke says she didn’t have scenes with Bass and Aiken, but loved working with Sykes.  “I think she had a really good time doing

her scene.  Her timing is impeccable.  Working with her was such a fun day.”

Taylor Gray, Dillon Lane Nickelodeon photo

Nickelodeon hasn’t even launched their “Bucket & Skinner’s Epic Adventures” series yet, and already teen stars Taylor Gray and Dillon Lane are getting their first tastes of fame, going out and being recognized by fans.

“We were surprised. They know about our show before it’s even aired,” notes Dillon, who plays the carefree surfer, Skinner, on the July 1-debuting series. “Of course that shows Nickelodeon is doing a good job of advertising it, and we’re also lucky enough to have some friends with successful shows who are giving us some help.” Ashley Argota of “True Jackson, VP” is actually in the cast of “Bucket & Skinner,” he adds, and “She has a very big Twitter following, like, 90,000 followers, and she’s helped us.”

Taylor says the subject of fame has definitely come up around the set. MTV expects good things; the network saw the first few “Bucket & Skinner” episodes and upped its order of the show from 13 to 26.

Has he thought about dealing with fans, press, parties, etc.?

“I should probably put more thought into that,” answers the actor who plays the relatable everyday high schooler, Bucket. “Everyone’s talked to us about it. But no matter what you hear, it’s hard to know what to expect. There’s always that aspect of it — the unknown. It’s pretty crazy to think about, to be honest. As long as I continue to be the person I am, with my same close friends and my family, I think I’ll be okay.”

Says Dillon, “I’ve definitely thought a lot about it. With all the cool opportunities and hopefully, the success I could retain from this series, if I’m lucky enough to gain a voice, I’d like to use it to help people. That’s one of my goals.”

Okay, they’re adorable. Let’s see how they are in five years.

 ”Operation Repo’s” Lou Pizarro is parlaying his reality show fame and fortune into a slew of TV and film projects as a producer, director and star.   

Lou Pizarro TruTV photo

Already in the can is his indie feature “Operation Repo: The Movie,” and according to Lou, a distribution deal is already in place for next year. 
 Now he has a big screen comedy set to start shooting in August — “Lou Goes Back to Boot Camp” — at the former Marine’s old stamping grounds, Camp Pendleton north of San Diego.

 ”I’m the star and it’s insane.  I start off in Afghanistan, out there doing standup comedy for the troops.  Stuff happens, I lose my memory…”  And the comic winds up becoming a grunt all over again.  “It has a lot of parodies of films like ‘Full Metal Jacket,’” Lou reveals.

The part about performing for the troops is quite true to life, since  Pizarro has taken his comedy out to the military numerous times.  Also, with his TruTV “Operation Repo” airing via the Armed Forces Network, “I get so much love from those guys, so much respect.  I get phone calls from Afghanistan – I give guys my number and tell them to keep in touch, and they do.”

“Operation Repo” returns to TruTV with new episodes tomorrow night (6/29).  U.S. English-language viewers were introduced to the fascinating show in 2008, but its Spanish-language precursor has been a hit longer.  Lou (http://www.facebook.com/loupizarro) has done more than 500 episodes, and they’re syndicated globally.  His other productions include the first Spanish-language tattoo-themed reality show and first Spanish-language bounty hunter reality show.  “Now I’m attacking the mainstream English  market,” he happily declares.  TruTV has several more of Lou’s shows in the pipeline, “but they don’t want me to talk about them yet.”

With all that going on, he’s probably not doing any more reposession work in real life, right?  “Only the higher end stuff,” says Pizarro, a one-man PR machine for the $1 billion reposession industry — which, he wants us to know, makes it possible for average Americans to finance cars because without it, nobody could afford the staggering interest rates.  He’s out to  change the old repo man stereotypes, he says.  “You have to be educated and a thinker — smarter than the next guy,” in addition to having nerve.

By “higher end,” he means reposession of things like yachts and private jets.  Lou tantalizes us with hints of celebrities and politicians whose expensive stuff has been taken back due to failure to make payments.  He says he can’t name names for legal reasons, dash it all. “You could do a completely different repo show — hint, hint.  Maybe 747 jumbo jets, cruise liners,interesting things like that.  Yes, it takes a lot of work, but it’s done all the time.  You know, older 747′s and 757′s are leased to different countries, and then they don’t pay.  The companies have to have someone go and get ‘em back.”  Sounds like a movie.

George Clooney

Suave, talented, sophisticated, confident, cool under pressure, handsome….Sigh.  Those are some of the attributes of movie king George Clooney, who just turned 50 in May — and just went on the market again, with the announcement last week of his and long-time girlfriend Elisabetta Canalis’s parting of ways.  Much was made over George’s new AARP eligibility, but he need not fear.  There’s no question that the Oscar-winning super star is aging sexy – something a number of Hollywood’s prime-of-life actors are showing they can do quite well.

With our life expectancy lengthening, and with 40 being the new 30 and so on, these guys have it even better than their predecessors of 25 years ago – and leading men have ALWAYS had it better than leading ladies when it comes to career longevity.

Denzel Washington

Obviously, two-time Oscar-winner Denzel Washington is still looking great and making big movies at age 56. The strikingly handsome 6-foot-1/2 Denzel recently addressed the graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania (where son Malcolm is a junior), daring them to dare.  “I’ve found that nothing in life is worthwhile unless you take risks. Nothing,” said the actor, who is reportedly close to signing for the lead role of the alcoholic hero pilot in Robert Zemeckis’ “Flight.”  Wed for 28 years to wife Pauletta Washington and the father of four, Washington proves that you can be a family man and still be tres sexy.

Jimmy Smits

Jimmy Smits has said he doesn’t see himself as sexy. That makes one person who doesn’t. Ever since he came into the public eye as lawyer Victor Sifuentes in “L.A. Law,” Smits has made hearts race across the land. He was born July 9, 1955 in Brooklyn, New York, stands 6-foot-3 and holds an MFA from Cornell University. The actor who played both “Star Wars’” Senator Bail Organa and the President of the United States (“The West Wing”) keeps proving his versatility with surprising turns like his villain role in “Dexter” a couple years back.  Next up:  hosting A Capitol Fourth, the 4th of July concert in D.C..         

And if we’re talking sexy older men of “Star Wars,” well, you can’t leave out Samuel L. Jackson, 62; Ballymena, Northern Ireland’s own sexiest leading man, Liam Neeson, 59;  and obviously Harrison Ford leads the way.

Liam Neeson

Samuel L. Jackson

Ford certainly seems younger than his age, which is a vigorous and vital, helicopter-piloting, Calista Flockhart-marrying 69. The movie icon who gave us Han Solo is about to get his Indiana Jones hat back on for a fifth Indy movie, according to his younger leading man cohort, Shia LaBeouf.  Shia told MTV News at the 2011 MTV Movie Awards that Ford is staying in the gym because he knows George Lucas is “out there looking for a MacGuffin.” 

Harrison Ford

Fifty-nine-year-old Mark Harmon was People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” back in 1986, when the football star-turned-actor was a mere lad of 34, and he’s still got “It” as his “NCIS” reigns among network dramas. 

Mark Harmon

Richard Gere, 61, got the “Sexiest” title in ’99, at age 49.  You can argue for your Dennis Quaid, 57, Bruce Willis, 56, Jeff Bridges, or several others as sexiest leading man age 50 and over.  Not bad.  It’s something for Johnny Depp, who is now but a mere two years away from HIS AARP eligibility, to aspire to.

Lea Thompson in "The Cabin" Hallmark Movie Channel photo

Lea Thompson, just wrapping the first 10 episode season of her hit ABC Family Channel “Switched at Birth” series, reports she’s going to get in some quality rest and relaxation time before diving back into work.

“My daughters and I going to rush off to Europe.  I’ve been planning it for hours and hours,” says Lea, whose 20-year-old daughter, Madeline, just graduated with honors from The New School university in New York.  “We’re going to Spain, France and England.  We’re really excited,” she says.

It’s been an intense stretch of work for Lea over the last couple of years.  She’s done a string of big and small screen movies — including a role in Clint Eastwood’s forthcoming “J. Edgar” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and her own Hallmark Movie Channel original, “The Cabin,” a romantic comedy coming up July 30.

And then there’s “Switched at Birth,” with its record-breaking premiere and subsequent high ratings.  “We were really surprised by how well it did,” she admits.  Despite what could have been a campy or cheesy premise — rich and poor teenage girls discover they were given to the wrong parents when they were born — Lea stresses, “It’s not pandering.  There’s a class struggle.  There’s a racial struggle.  There’s a struggle with a child who has a disability, who is deaf — and people are really signing on the show.  People have to think a little bit more than they might have expected.”  And they must like it.  Fancy that.

About the finale segment they’re just finishing now — she says it’s a cliffhanger.

MEANWHILE:  Lea also has her “Mayor Cupcake” comedy coming out on DVD next month.  She executive produced the romp, in which she plays a homemaker who becomes the mayor of her small town.  “It really is cute.  My daughter Maddie gets to sing in it, a song from ‘The Breakfast Club,’ actually.”  The scene became an unplanned tribute to late “Breakfast Club” creator John Hughes, she says.  Lea’s leading man is none other than “Breakfast Club” alumnus Judd Nelson.  She and her husband, director Howard Deutch, met on another Hughes movie, “Some Kind of Wonderful.”   The day of Maddie had to sing the song, Hughes had just died, “and we were all crying,” Lea recounts.  Lea’s 16-year-old daughter, Zoey, is in the movie as well.

Songstress Rondi Charleston sets off on a club tour next week that will take her to cities including Boston, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, Atlanta “and a few other places,” she says –with stops at a number of Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Gang camps for seriously ill children as well as hospitals all along the way.  She plays L.A.’s Catalina Jazz Club on June 30th, for instance, and the next day will perform at the Painted Turtle Camp.

Charleston has been neighbors with Joanne Woodward and the late Paul Newman in Westport, CT for years, and “They’ve had a big influence on me when it comes to how to live a good life.  They’re my role models,” she explains.  “What I try to bring to the kids is a moment of relief of their pain and suffering.  Music really can uplift the spirit and the body as well.  Recent neuroscience shows the connection between music and the brain is very powerful.  It can help restore speech to people with Parkinsons, lift people out of depression, calm and help organize thoughts for people who have Alzheimer’s.”

 The contemporary jazz singer, who has won rhapsodic praise fromThe New York Times, Downbeat and an array of other music publications, was formerly a network news producer for Diane Sawyer’s “Prime Time Live” and other shows.  Now, with her Motema “Who Knows Where the Time Goes”album, she’s being extolled as a songwriter with great storytelling gifts as well as for her plush voice.  One example:  “Land of Galilee,” which tells of a true incident of harmony in the Middle East.  Small wonder her work is en route to being used in a film, details of which will come later.

IN ANOTHER LIFE:  Speaking of fabulous female jazz singers, casting is underway now for Melinda, “a dazzling ’40s jazz singer with an incredible voice” in Harry Connick, Jr.’s Broadway revival of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.”  Interesting.  If you’ve been following plans for this new version of the 1965 musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Burton Lane (which, of course, begat the 1970 Barbra Streisand film), you know big changes have been made.  Instead of a woman who has esp and is a reincarnated spirit, now the central character is a man — a male Barbra? — who was a female jazz singer in a past life.  (Harry is playing his/her psychiatrist, Dr. Bruckner.)  The show is  being produced by Tom Hulce with a fall debut planned.   

HE’LL BE THE JUDGE:  Cedric the Entertainer is trying his hand at a new untitled courtrom comedy, with a pilot soon to be shot.  It has the King of Comedy as a judge in that unique land of the crazy, the weird and the artistic:  Hollywood.

Guy Fieri, Ryan Dunn NBC photo

Among the friends of “Jackass” star Ryan Dunn reeling over news of his death in an automobile accident Monday is celebrity chef and “Minute to Win It” host Guy Fieri.  It was Guy, a long-time pal of Dunn’s, who suggested his recent guest appearance on “Minute to Win It” to the show’s producers.  Dunn played on behalf of  the Teammates for Kids Foundation that raises funds for children’s charities.  Guy was particularly glad to let people know that there was a caring, stand-up kind of person behind Dunn’s crude and reckless “Jackass” facade. 

“Let me tell you something.  Here’s one of the things that everyone should understand.  It’s always hard for people to separate who celebrities are and what they really do from the kind of images they have,” Fieri said, speaking of the guest appearance.  “Ryan is a great dude.  I have great respect for him and Steve-O as artists, and as performers, but now it’s quadrupled for them as people.”

Kyra Sedgwick

After decades of juggling motherhood and her career, “The Closer” star Kyra Sedgwick says she’s getting used to life as an empty nester with husband Kevin Bacon.

“You know, it’s been okay so far,” observes the actress, whose son, Travis, turns 22 this week, and whose daughter, Sosie, is 18 years old.  “For one thing they come home a lot, on spring break and such, which is great.  My son is actually done with college now so he’s around.  They’re home, but they’re not really home.  It’s a little confusing.  But you know, once they actually leave, go away to school, it’s never quite the same.  It’s a huge transition, to no longer be a day-to-day parent.  That’s done forever.”

Kyra acknowledges, “It’s a loss, but you also get to figure out, I guess, what fulfills you as a solitary person, and in being in a marriage without the children there.  It can be a time for growth, but that doesn’t mean it’s super easy.”

As for more romance?  “Oh, for sure!” she answers with a laugh.  “Absolutely.”

Right now, Kyra is six epsiodes into shooting the final 21 of her acclaimed show, which returns to the TNT lineup July 11 — with a promise, according to her, of this being the most dramatic season ever.  The reason she agreed to additional episodes in the final year?  Creator James Duff, she says, “really wanted to end with an epic journey.  I wanted to be supportive of that.”