People in the news

Berry named 'sexiest woman alive'

LOS ANGELES — Alongside a photo spread that shows her in little more than a T-shirt, Halle Berry talks about being the sexiest woman alive, a title Esquire magazine gives her in its November issue.

"I don't know exactly what it means, but being 42 and having just had a baby, I think I'll take it," says Berry, who gave birth to her daughter, Nahla, in March.

"Sexiness is a state of mind — a comfortable state of being," she says. "It's about loving yourself in your most unlovable moments."

But Berry, who won an Oscar for her role in "Monster's Ball," couldn't claim the sexiest-woman honor all to herself.

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"I share this title with every woman, because every woman is a nominee for it at any moment," she says.

A-list Hollywood women celebrate

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — In the year of Sarah Palin and "Sex and the City," perhaps it's no surprise that an event honoring women drew some of the biggest names in Hollywood.

Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda, Jennifer Lopez, Diane Keaton and Halle Berry joined dozens of other stars at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on Monday for Elle magazine's 15th annual Women in Hollywood tribute, honoring seven noteworthy women in entertainment.

Elle's annual dinner pays tribute to women "who are telling our stories" in Hollywood, said editor Roberta Myers. This year's honorees included Berry, Fonda, Kidman, Anne Hathaway, Sigourney Weaver, Isla Fisher and director Catherine Hardwicke — all of whom are featured in the magazine's November issue.

Chelsea Handler, the evening's host, cracked a few jokes at the Republican vice presidential candidate's expense.

Said Handler: "We are more than just a great set of legs, ladies. Except for Sarah Palin. That's where she peaked."

Broderick returns to Broadway

NEW YORK — Matthew Broderick will return to Broadway next spring in a revival of "The Philanthropist," a comedy by English playwright Christopher Hampton.

The Roundabout Theatre Company production, directed by David Grindley, will open April 26, 2009, at the American Airlines Theatre, Todd Haimes, the Roundabout's artistic director, announced Monday. It will begin preview performances April 10.

Broderick, in his first Broadway appearance since the 2005 revival of "The Odd Couple," portrays Philip, an insular college professor. Other casting will be announced.

AFI to honor Michael Douglas

HOLLYWOOD — Actor-producer Michael Douglas has been chosen to receive the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award, 18 years after the same honor was bestowed on his father, Kirk Douglas.

Douglas, 64, who won an Oscar for "Wall Street" and also starred in "Fatal Attraction," "Romancing the Stone," "Basic Instinct," "The China Syndrome" and "Wonder Boys," will receive the award at a ceremony in Los Angeles on June 11.

"Michael Douglas is the rightful heir to the throne of the royal family of American film," Howard Stringer, chair of the AFI board of trustees, said Monday in making the announcement.

He praised Douglas as both an actor and as the producer of films including "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "Starman" and "Face/Off."

Douglas will be the 37th recipient of AFI's Life Achievement Award.