Celebrity

Long before TMZ, Perez Hilton, "Access Hollywood" and "Entertainment Tonight" invaded Hollywood, there was "Miss Rona." With her distinctive voice and fashionably short hairdo, Rona Barrett was one of the first celebrity journalists to become a celebrity herself. She broke ground in the 1970s by pioneering the concept of in-depth, one-on-one TV interviews, inviting stars to share intimate and sometimes painful details of their lives. Barrett interviewed Cher as they both sat on her bed and gossiped about Sonny Bono.

Update: Actress Missi Pyle and her husband, grizzly bear expert and naturalist Casey Anderson, have sold their Beachwood Canyon home for $659,000. The bungalow of about 880 square feet sits in the hills below the Hollywood sign. Built in 1926, it has an open-plan dining and living room, a wood-burning fireplace, two bedrooms and one bathroom. There are outdoor living and dining areas, a spa and gardens with fruit trees and wisteria. Pyle appeared on "Grey's Anatomy" this year and is shooting a pilot, "How to Be a Better American," for ABC. She stars in the film "Miss Nobody," which premiered in June at the Seattle International Film Festival.

It was like an Oscar flashback with all the Giorgio Armani gowns, Harry Winston bling and Veronica Lake waves on the red carpet Sunday. Then there was a Sharon Stone Gap turtleneck moment, when Helen Hunt revealed that her navy blue gown was from none other than cheap chic retailer H&M. (Apparently it was a custom job; Hunt worked closely with H&M designers exchanging sketches, fabrics and samples, according to the retailer.) PHOTOS: Oscars 2013 best dressed on the red carpet Back to Armani, though.

Christina Aguilera has put her 11,500-square-foot gated mansion in Beverly Hills on the market at $13.5 million. Set on nearly two-thirds of an acre, the Mediterranean-style home has a grand foyer with a sweeping staircase, a fanciful children's room, a gym, a game room, a gift-wrapping area, a movie room, a beauty salon, a guesthouse with a recording studio, and a total of six bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The master bedroom suite contains a lounge, a fireplace and dual bathrooms and closets.

Actor Corbin Bernsen and his wife, actress and interior designer Amanda Pays, have purchased a 1936 Tudor in Valley Village for $900,000. The home, which was on the market for the first time in more than 60 years, is in need of a complete renovation. Corbin and Pays, who try to bring back old homes' original grandeur, plan to do the same with this house. The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home has 2,415 square feet of living space and sits on a quarter-acre corner lot. Although Bernsen, 56, is often remembered for his years on "L.A.

A Playa del Rey house built for Oscar-winning 1930s film star Ronald Colman has sold for $1.6 million. The Mediterranean, constructed in 1927, sits on an ocean-view lot in a hilltop area known as Palisades del Rey. Original details include a carved beam ceiling, arched doorways and Malibu tile. Four bedrooms and three bathrooms lie within the 2,500 square feet of living space. Colman, who died in 1958 at 67, won his Academy Award as the leading man in "A Double Life" (1947)

A Short History of Celebrity Fred Inglis Princeton University Press: 312 pp., $29.95

Want to look and feel younger? Click on Dr. Oz's website. Seeking an alternative treatment to what ails you? Visit Andrew Weil's daily blog. Aren't sure whether it's OK to spank your kid? Ask Dr. Phil. Society has revered famous physicians for years, swallowing their directives like vitamins. Dr. Benjamin Spock helped parents raise a generation. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop pushed the nation to kick, or at least curb, its smoking habit. Ruth Westheimer, a.k.a. "Dr. Ruth," encouraged us to talk about sex without squirming.

The holidays provide an opportunity for comedians and other celebrities to let loose their funny on social media. In honor of Thanksgiving 2012, here are Ministry of Gossip's hand-picked top 10 Turkey Day celebrity tweets: -- "Happy Thanksgiving, everybody! I'm grateful for each & every one of the 3,354,714 of you. (Except @KrazyMike15)" --  Rainn Wilson ("The Office," "Super," "Juno") -- "I bet those pilgrims didn't shower before Thanksgiving dinner either. " -- Jim Gaffigan ("My Boys," "It's Kind of a Funny Story")

The Los Angeles Police Department announced Thursday that it would take the unusual step of no longer issuing press releases or immediately confirming instances of celebrity "swatting," saying intense media coverage seems to be fueling more incidents. Cmdr. Andrew Smith, who oversees the LAPD Media Relations Section, said the procedural change keeping celebrity swatting calls a secret, was necessary because of concerns about the privacy of the victims as well as the belief that publicizing such incidents targeting individual celebrities was emboldening copycats.