Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem Welcome First Child

One of Hollywood's most high-profile couples has just become a trio.

Actress Penelope Cruz, 36, and Javier Bardem, 41, welcomed their first child on January 25, reports El Pais newspaper.

According to an account in the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the child was born at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. The name and gender of the child have yet to be made public.

Cruz first publicized her pregnancy last September while filming the latest edition of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Bardem and Cruz were secretly wed in July of 2010 in the Bahamas in front of a small group of family and friends.

Bardem was just nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for his role in Biutiful. He previously won a Best Supporting Actor award for playing killer Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men. Cruz also has her own Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

Author Tells of First Meetings of Famous Lovers

"And the Rest Is History: The Famous (and Infamous) First Meetings of the World's Most Passionate Couples" (Perigee, $18.95), by Marlene Wagman-Geller: Not all the lovers sailed to first meetings in gilded barges filled with rose petals as Cleopatra did when she met Mark Antony, and for many, the end of the relationship was more memorable than the beginning. But Marlene Wagman-Geller tells nice stories about all the couples in "And the Rest Is History: The Famous (and Infamous) First Meetings of the World's Most Passionate Couples."

Some of the couples will be better known than others — Antony and Cleopatra, Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles, Elvis Presley and Priscilla Beaulieu — but some of the most interesting, Charles Parnell and Katharine O'Shea, for instance, are among the lesser known.

Parnell, a 19th-century Irish politician and confirmed bachelor, said that on meeting O'Shea, he knew she was his destiny even though she was a married woman. The relationship, which continued devotedly for decades, finally cost Parnell his political popularity and his career.

Some of the couples chosen as the "most passionate" might be questioned — Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis or Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Popular history has it that Victoria was so repressed, she ordered the legs of the pianos in her castles to be covered so they wouldn't be suggestive and advised her daughters to "lie back and think of England" on their wedding night.

The royal couple did, however, produce nine children.

Wagman-Geller's book is filled with nuggets such as Aristotle Onassis, who dumped Maria Callas to marry Jacqueline Kennedy, hugging the red Hermes blanket that was Callas' last gift to him as he was dying.

Each of the short stories that has an ending also has a "Postscript," revealing what ultimately happened to the lovers.

It makes for a different kind of history and a pleasant read.

'No Strings Attached' Grabs First Place with $20.3 Mil

Girls ruled the weekend, as the new romantic comedy No Strings Attached attracted an audience that was 70 percent female while topping the box office with $20.3 million, according to studio estimates. The R-rated Ivan Reitman movie, starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as “friends with benefits,” was Portman’s first No. 1 picture since 2006′s V for Vendetta. CinemaScore moviegoers handed it an overall “B” rating, with women giving the modest $25 million-budget film better marks than the men they dragged along. With no upcoming romantic comedies until Adam Sandler’s Just Go with It arrives three weeks from now, Paramount is hoping that Strings can hold on to its young female base and generate a nice little run for itself.

The rest of the top five consisted of holdovers that held up, for the most part, rather well. The superhero comedy The Green Hornet fell a mild 46 percent for $18.1 million, bringing its two-week gross to $63.4 million. In third was the Vince Vaughn-Kevin James comedy The Dilemma, which followed Hornet‘s lead and dropped 45 percent for $9.7 million. The King’s Speech, which halted The Social Network awards train by winning the Producers Guild of America’s top prize Saturday night, slipped a microscopic 0.2 percent this frame. Earning $9.2 million for the weekend, the $15 million historical drama has so far collected a regal $58.6 million. And True Grit added $8 million to its box-office barbecue. The Coen brothers film has tallied $138.6 million, and the only Western ahead of it remains 1990′s Dances with Wolves, which gathered $184.2 million.

In limited release, the Peter Weir drama The Way Back, about seven World War II prisoners who escape from a Siberian labor camp, debuted to a disheartening $1.5 million from 650 theaters — a mediocre per-site average of $2,254. And the corporate-downsizing drama The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Chris Cooper, Kevin Costner, and Tommy Lee Jones, made $767,000 at 106 theaters for a more potent per-location average of $7,236. Check back next week as the 2012 Oscar race commences with the Jason Statham remake The Mechanic and the Anthony Hopkins horror thriller The Rite.

1. No Strings Attached — $20.3 mil
2. The Green Hornet — $18.1 mil
3. The Dilemma — $9.7 mil
4. The King’s Speech — $9.2 mil
5. True Grit — $8.0 mil

Cher Lloyd's first interview after X-Factor

Love her or loathe her, the kid from the council house in Malvern, Worcs, is definitely looking - and acting - like an international pop star. And all this before she has even released a single. The Sun caught up with Cher on the famous Sunset Strip in LA for her first interview since The X Factor.

She was still breathless with excitement after meeting Lil Wayne - a controversial rapper, real name Dwayne Carter, who has been charged for drugs and weapons offences in the past.

Cher said: "Meeting Lil Wayne was actually the best day of my life. I'll never ever forget it. "The same people who took the mickey out of me at school loved Lil Wayne and now I am chilling with him in the studio."

The skinny teenager has also been recording with Lady GaGa's producer RedOne - real name Nadir Khayat - who has made Cher his No1 priority for 2011. RedOne said: "There are created stars and creative stars. Cher's a creative star - she's amazing."

The only negative for Cher is that she can't seem to put on any weight - even in the US, where the portions are super-sized. Cher is very sensitive about her tiny size 6 frame and is desperate to fill out to silence her critics.

She said: "My big insecurity is that I am too small. I see girls with curves and I'd do anything to be like that. I'm trying. I eat all the time. "I like a full-on Chinese, everything covered in sweet and sour sauce - with chips! I could eat that every day.

"But I think it's bad people criticise me, a 17-year-old girl, about my figure."

On a more reflective note, she continued: "If I could have done one thing differently I'd have waited until I was older before getting into this industry. I'd get so frightened of people saying hurtful things I'd put up a barrier, saying, 'I don't care and then they can't hurt me'. But I do care and it does hurt. Because of my style, I come across as hard and in your face. But I'm not like that."

Cher remains very grateful to Simon Cowell for giving her a chance on the show and signing her to his Syco label.

And she denied reports the pair have clashed over her artistic path, adding: "I wouldn't be here without him. Simon gets me and he's got my back. He knows me too well to give me rules - he likes the fact I'm a bit rebellious!"

It is amazing just how self-confident Cher appears in the super-slick surroundings of LA.

Her current lifestyle is a million miles away from her pre-X Factor existence in the backwater of Malvern with mum Dina and dad Darren. Cher admits her drive is fuelled by the childhood bullies who branded her a "gippo" and mocked her dream to become a rapper.

She said: "I grew up in a council house. We were outcasts because we were poorer. I have Romany roots and I'm proud of that. I walked everywhere because I didn't want to get in dad's car because it was like a tin can. People would call me council girl or gippo. I never hit them back but I always said to myself, 'One day... '.

"Now I feel like my day is coming. When I first arrived in LA I was in the penthouse suite at the Mondrian hotel. It was just ridiculous. I wanted my mum and dad here so they could experience it with me."

Talking about her distinctive look - featuring Dr Martens boots, lumberjack shirts and red hair - she insists she is High Street rather than haute couture. Cher said: "I'd rather wear Primark than Prada. I'd rather spend my money making my family happy. I'm saving everything I've got to move my family away."

X Factor viewers watched as Cher clung on to get into the finals despite voting controversies. But the public's criticism was the least of her concerns when she was hit by a family tragedy.

During the live shows Cher's uncle Edward died aged just 34. She said: "I had to go on stage the next day - I sang Shakespears Sister's Stay for him.

"I was really close to him. Before I even auditioned for The X Factor he would say, 'Here's our little Cheryl Cole'. He collected all of my newspaper cuttings and framed them all. I am still hurting a lot."

Cher was dealt another blow earlier this month when she read in The Sun that her boyfriend Karim Roundi, 20, had been cheating on her. She revealed: "It was very hurtful. It made me aware I can't just jump into a relationship and trust people - not now.

"Whenever I meet a boy I take them home to my dad. It made it more hurtful as he got my dad's approval."

When it comes to romance, Cher still has her eyes on fellow X Factor contestant Aiden Grimshaw, 19. The pair were rumoured to have got together during the show and she admitted: "Aiden is my perfect guy. I'd get married to him. He and I are two very different people but he is so quirky." (oh girl :/)

"He makes me laugh all the time - and my dad loves him!" The pair keep in touch and Cher can't wait to join him on the X Factor tour next month - but the same can't be said of all the contestants. Laughing, she said: "I'm not looking forward to seeing Wagner again - I want an injunction against him! He creeps me out. Hopefully he will fall off stage and not be able to perform his latest Pavarotti impression."

But Cher is just excited to not have to perform alone in her bedroom any more. She said: "I always wanted to rap but never really had the guts to do it because I'm just a skinny white girl. Then aged 13 I started rapping secretly because I didn't know whether people would accept me - some people still don't."

Ivanka Trump Expecting First Child

Ivanka Trump is expecting a child with her husband, New York Observer owner Jared Kushner.

The model-turned-entrepreneur announced the good news on her Twitter this morning.

"I have been wanting to share some amazing news with you all for some time... I'm pregnant! Jared and I couldn't be more excited," she wrote.

Trump, 29, married the 30-year-old media mogul in 2009 after dating for two years.

Kushner says of impending parenthood, "We're very excited."

Prior to the ceremony, Trump converted to Judaism for Kushner, the son of Orthodox parents.

This will be the first child for both Trump and Kushner. The baby will be the third grandchild for Ivanka's father, Donald, whose son, Donald Jr. has two children with wife Vanessa.

The 'Apprentice' host tells Gossip Cop, "I am very happy for Ivanka and Jared. They are wonderful young people!"

ABC Finds First New ‘Charlie’s Angels’ Beauty

ABC has its first “Angel” for the upcoming “Charlie’s Angels” reboot.

Annie Ilonzeh – best known for her role as “General Hospital” beauty Maya Ward — has been tapped as the first of three female leads for the new pilot, according to Deadline.

The reboot – from Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films and Sony Pictures TV – is a modern-day take on the iconic ‘70s franchise, which originally starred Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith as the first “Angels.”

The new series, set in Miami, will follow three sexy female detectives – Kate, Abby and Marisa – who work for a wealthy mystery man, this time around, voiced by Robert Wagner, according to Entertainment Weekly. John Forsythe was the original voice of the perennially unseen Charlie.

Annie will reportedly play Kate, a smart and athletic martial arts master and ex-cop.

In addition to her role on “General Hospital,” Annie has also appeared in The CW’s “Melrose Place,” HBO’s “Entourage” and CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother.”

Tracing Lost Steps of Grauman's First Footprints

It's an iconic event known throughout the world. For the past 85 years, only the biggest stars in Hollywood have been immortalized with their hands and feet in cement at Grauman's Chinese Theatre.

But NBCLA has discovered a critical piece of Hollywood history is missing from the theater's famous forecourt.
The original footprints that started it all have been hidden for decades. In fact, not even the company that owns Grauman's Theatre knew about these potentially priceless footprints.

"I was not aware that the ones we have in the forecourt are not the originals," said Peter Dobson, CEO of Mann Theatres, the company that owns Grauman's Chinese. "If they are missing and we just got the practice slabs in there, I'm devastated to know that."

"I have no interest in giving them back to Grauman's," said Nick Olaerts, a former Hollywood developer who claims to own the slabs.

"Decades ago, I had wanted to give them back to Grauman's, a donation in the name of my children, but the theater's owner at the time, Ted Mann, wasn't interested in taking them back."

Instead, Olaerts gave the slabs to his friend Larry Buchanan, an airplane mechanic who put them in storage at his airport hangar east of Los Angeles. Over the years, Buchanan and Olaerts have tried numerous times to sell the slabs, Buchanan even at one point put them on eBay.

"Grauman's knows I have them and they are not interested in that era; it's an era gone by," said Buchanan.

"That's based without foundation," said Dobson, who said he has never been contacted about the original footprints.

The men are just three players in the forgotten footprints' long and mysterious journey from Hollywood Boulevard to that airport hangar.

The iconic hand-and-feet-in-cement tradition began by accident in the spring of 1927, when Sid Grauman asked silent film stars Douglass Fairbanks, Mary Pickford and Norma Talmadge to take a short walk from the Roosevelt Hotel, to come check out his still under construction theater, located across the street on Hollywood Boulevard.

"When they stepped up off the curb, they accidentally walked on wet cement and left a trail of footprints from the street to the front doors of the theater," said Marc Wanamaker, of Hollywood Heritage Museum. "The stars, seeing what they had done, grabbed a nail on the ground and signed their names next to their footprints, Pickford even dated it."

Wanamaker adds, "These slabs are so important to Hollywood because if that accident didn't happen we wouldn't have the forecourt ceremonies at the Chinese Theatre."

A tradition was born. Grauman kept the original "accidental" slabs at the curb. And a few months later on May 18, 1927, he held the first official ceremony in the now famous forecourt, with Pickford, Fairbanks and Talmadge taking part.

The original slabs stayed on the sidewalk for decades, until 1958, when they were jacked up to make way for the Walk of Fame. No one knew they were missing until 1981, when then Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley received a letter from a woman in Arizona.

She was the widow of a man named J.W. Nicks, a building contractor who was in charge of the Walk of Fame's construction. Nick's widow informed Mayor Bradley that she was in possession of three of the four slabs: Pickford's, Fairbanks' and Grauman's. It's unclear what happened to Talmadge's footprints.

In the letter, Nick's widow informed Mayor Bradley that it was part of her husband's job to remove all existing pavement and cart it away. She also said that her husband took the footprints as keepsakes because no one wanted them at the time. And she was writing to see if the city wanted to buy them back.

"Mayor Bradley asked the newly formed Hollywood Heritage group to get them back," said Wanamaker. "There was a collector named Richard Brian, who bought them for a few hundred dollars and paid to transport them back to the Hollywood area."

But they never made it back on display at Grauman's. Instead they ended up in the possession of Olaerts, who stored them in the basement of a building he owned across the street. That building now hosts "Jimmy Kimmel Live!"

NBCLA anchor Chuck Henry literally stumbled upon the slabs in mid-December at that local airport. He went to see Buchanan and noticed the cement slabs covered up by a tarp in a corner of his airport hangar.

"It's a fluke, 10 million to one that Chuck Henry would have happened on this storage place where the slabs are kept," said Wanamaker. "It's not really a secret; they've just been forgotten."

After nearly two months of research, NBCLA was able to verify the authenticity of the slabs.

Olaerts tells NBCLA that he hopes renewed interest in the footprints will flush out a potential Hollywood memorabilia collector to buy them from him. But the people in charge at Grauman's Theatre are holding out hope that Olaerts will change his mind and return the slabs.

"I'd like them donated to the Chinese Theatre," said Dobson. "And I would like the three slabs put in front of the forecourt, back to where they truly belong."

How Many First-Place AP Votes Will TCU Get? Not That Many...

And so, the 2010-2011 college football season comes to an end. Despite what Bill Hancock will surely tell you on Tuesday, the BCS did not "work." Here we are with an undefeated Auburn and an undefeated TCU at the end of the season, unable to take to the field and settle things like any sane sport would have them do.

You can argue whether or not TCU could beat Auburn all day because we'll never know. Auburn will be named the BCS National Champion and that will be that.

Or will it? What about the Associated Press? Last bastions of integrity, honesty and objectivity...surely if anyone will take a stand to right the egregious wrong that is the BCS, it's these muck-racking journalists. Right?

Eh...probably not.

And you can't really blame them. There's just not enough incentive to vote for TCU unfortunately. Furthermore, not enough compelling data to prove they were the best team. Say what you will of Auburn's boring win, they did beat a better opponent.

So far, I've seen a handful of AP voters proclaim their ballots and only one was even considering placing TCU at No. 1. Even then, it had more to do with how bad Auburn looked compared to how good TCU did.

The entire reason the AP got out of the BCS business is because they're here to report the news, not make it. It's going to take someone else to fix this broken system.

Tatyana Ali Talks 'Love That Girl,' Her First Sitcom Since 'Fresh Prince'

Tatyana Ali returns to TV tonight for the first time since her days as Ashley Banks on 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.' After an interim spent putting out a gold-selling album in the late '90s, earning a bachelor's degree at Harvard in the early 2000s and lending a hand to Barack Obama's presidential campaign, Ali sounds happy to be knee-deep in a new show.

'Love That Girl' is a big deal for the 31-year-old actress, marking her first sitcom since 'Fresh Prince' and network TV One's first original scripted program. With executive producers Martin Lawrence, Grammy-winner Raphael Saadiq, 'Full House' creator Jeff Franklin and 'Jamie Foxx' show-runner Bentley Kyle Evans, Ali's ensemble comedy has odds stacked in its favor.

Ali spoke with PopEater about life since 'Fresh Prince,' stepping back onto a TV set, the pressure of being the girl on 'Love That Girl' and how much she loves former co-star Will Smith's daughter Willow and her jam 'Whip My Hair.'

What can you tell us about 'Love That Girl'?
My character, Tyana Jones, got married young. She's divorced now but still pretty young, and she decides to move back to LA to start her life over and sort of become independent for the first time, figure out who she is. She's foiled by her brother Latrell, played by Alphonso McAuley, an amazing comedian. He's an out-of-work stand-up comic; he asks if he can sleep on her couch, and he doesn't leave. She also ends up working for her father in a real estate firm. You see her trials and tribulations of figuring out who she is, dating, the difference between wrong and right, and you have a conflict between her family and her friends. But at the end of the day, they always have each other. They stick together.

What attracted you to the show? It's been such a long time since you were on TV.
I really loved what the creator, Bentley Evans, was trying to do. I thought it was really smart and cool. I also loved that he had never done a female-driven show before. I love the character -- I haven't seen anybody like her, especially on a sitcom, in a while. She's strong, but she's still fragile. Sometimes she's a grown, independent woman, but sometimes she's just a girl. She fights really hard for what she believes in, she has a lot of integrity, but sometimes she's totally confused. She actually fights when she's confused, which I think is most assuring about her. [laughs]

What's it like being back on a TV set?
I feel more pressure than I've ever felt before because I'm the girl in 'That Girl,' but it's very much an ensemble. Everybody involved in it -- all the writers, the crew, the cameramen -- they're all seasoned, real professionals. It's been amazing. We ad lib a lot on set. We laugh a lot.

Will people tuning in for the 'Fresh Prince' factor be into this?
I definitely think so. They might tune in for the Martin Lawrence factor, or for Bentley's Jamie Foxx ties -- but people tuning in are gonna laugh. It's a really funny show and it has a lot of heart. It's really creative. The characters are pretty special; I don't think they're characters we've seen before.

Is the goal to top 'Fresh Prince' in some sense?
To top it? No. 'Fresh Prince' has become so iconic. It's such a part of American history almost, in people's lives, people growing up with the show. I know that sounds crazy, but ...

Not at all. You're speaking to someone you just described.
Right. I'm blessed because I did 'Fresh Prince' when I was young, and I'm still young and I can do more things. It's not so much topping 'Fresh Prince' as personally, as a performer, I don't feel like I've reached the best of what I can do. I still think I can do more. That's what I want to top.

What's the 'Fresh Prince' legacy on your life?
It's amazing. People recognize me wherever I am -- I think it's because I look very similar to when I was younger. That could be a negative thing, but on the other hand, people treat me with so much love and affection because of the character and because they love her and loved the show. I really do believe that if I was destitute, if something happened and I was on the corner somewhere, I think someone would give me a sandwich. It's the amount of love ... it's really genuine, and it's really amazing.

Can we expect more music from you someday? Your album 'Kiss the Sky' was a big hit back in the late '90s.
Yes, I hope so. I'm working on that now and figuring it out, trying out some different sounds. I love singing. I want to say expect something. It's been a really, really long time. It's kind of scary to do something you've been away from for so long -- are people gonna care, is it gonna matter? But my best girlfriend sent me a YouTube clip of a young girl, probably 16 or 17; her friend's in the front seat doing beatbox, and her other friend's in the backseat with a guitar, and they're doing 'Daydreamin.' It made me cry!

What's new in your non-Hollywood life? Seeing anyone? Any exciting news lately?
Oh, what's going on with that. That is ... what's the Facebook choice you could write? It's complicated. You could put that. I'm happy. Everything is good. I can't announce "I'm engaged, I'm getting married!" But yeah, I'm happy.

Last thing -- what do you think of Will Smith's daughter Willow and her song 'Whip My Hair'?
I knew that she was singing; Will told me about it. Then 'Whip My Hair' was my anthem when it came out, for a long while. I'm a huge Willow Smith fan -- I think she's amazing. When I first heard the single, my jaw just dropped. First of all, she sounds amazing. She looks -- she is -- a rock star, but she was a rock star at birth, anyway. The other thing that makes me really proud, even though I had nothing to do with it, is that her song is so empowering. I mean, how old am I, and I'm like, "Yeah, I wanna whip my hair!" I love that it's so positive and cool and showing little girls what strength is. That's amazing