Mickey Rudin

It is a court battle over what has been sardonically dubbed "libel by 'thank you.' " In one corner stands Mickey Rudin, for four decades one of the most powerful entertainment lawyers in Hollywood, with a star-studded client roster that has included Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, George Burns, Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Taylor, Cher and Liza Minnelli.

Frank Sinatra has always done it his way. But which way did the producers of the upcoming "Sinatra" TV miniseries do it? Did they tell the real story of the performer's long, legendary career, or did they create a sanitized version, minus the Mafia associations, the marital infidelities and the ties to various politicos? With the imprimatur given the project by Sinatra--he cooperated in its production and has sanctioned it as an "official" biography, in lieu of a book--and with the presence of his youngest daughter, Tina, as executive producer, skeptics could be excused for expecting a fawning tale, a whitewashed rendering of the controversial entertainer's life story.

A high-powered Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer on Monday won permission to continue his lawsuit against celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, who he claims libeled him when she thanked him for acting as a source for her unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan. In her controversial volume on the former First Lady, Kelley listed attorney Mickey Rudin as one of 612 sources--the people she said made "the most important contribution to this book."

A high-powered Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer on Monday won permission to continue his lawsuit against celebrity biographer Kitty Kelley, who he claims libeled him when she thanked him for acting as a source for her unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan. In her controversial volume on the former First Lady, Kelley listed attorney Mickey Rudin as one of 612 sources--the people she said made "the most important contribution to this book."

Frank Sinatra has always done it his way. But which way did the producers of the upcoming "Sinatra" TV miniseries do it? Did they tell the real story of the performer's long, legendary career, or did they create a sanitized version, minus the Mafia associations, the marital infidelities and the ties to various politicos? With the imprimatur given the project by Sinatra--he cooperated in its production and has sanctioned it as an "official" biography, in lieu of a book--and with the presence of his youngest daughter, Tina, as executive producer, skeptics could be excused for expecting a fawning tale, a whitewashed rendering of the controversial entertainer's life story.

James Bates, executor of the Conrad Hilton estate, charged Tuesday that a suit by the California attorney general is aimed at pressuring him to sell a controlling block of Hilton Hotels stock to Golden Nugget. In papers filed for a crucial court hearing today, Bates and Hilton Hotels alleged that Golden Nugget lawyers "instigated" a petition by Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp last week that asks the Los Angeles County Superior Court to bar Bates from voting the estate's 27.

A Los Angeles federal judge has dismissed an unusual libel suit by a high-powered Beverly Hills entertainment lawyer who charged that celebrity author Kitty Kelley defamed him when she thanked him for acting as a source for her unauthorized biography of Nancy Reagan. In Kelley's controversial 1991 book on the former First Lady, she listed attorney Mickey Rudin as one of 612 sources--the people she said had made "the most important contribution to this book."

Milton A. "Mickey" Rudin, a colorful and powerful entertainment lawyer whose name popped into Variety and mainstream news media regularly, along with such stellar clients as Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe, has died at the age of 79. Rudin, who practiced law and made Hollywood waves for more than 50 years, died Monday of pneumonia at the Rehabilitation Center of Beverly Hills, according to publicist Lee Solters.

The County Museum of Art managed two splashy, artsy parties two nights running this week--closing down the "Treasures of the Holy Land" Tuesday night, opening the "Russia, the Land, the People" exhibit Wednesday. Although the legendary Dr. Armand Hammer made it only on Wednesday night (he has been slowed down slightly by some broken ribs), lots of art mavens made it on both go-rounds.

The question of whether Frank Sinatra was or wasn't a jazz singer will probably be argued by jazz fans forever. But did Sinatra think of himself as a jazz artist? Bill Miller, his longtime accompanist, thinks the answer is "yes." "I think he did, without saying it," says Miller. "He never said it, that I remember. But then he never called himself a pop singer either.

It is a court battle over what has been sardonically dubbed "libel by 'thank you.' " In one corner stands Mickey Rudin, for four decades one of the most powerful entertainment lawyers in Hollywood, with a star-studded client roster that has included Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe, George Burns, Lucille Ball, Elizabeth Taylor, Cher and Liza Minnelli.

Of all the gigs in all the world, the last one Tom Dreesen ever expected to do was Frank Sinatra's funeral. How he adored that man. Sinatra was a surrogate father to him. Tom will tell you flat out, "Frank Sinatra gave me far more advice than my own father ever did." He was at home in Sherman Oaks when a call came on the night of May 14 that Sinatra was dead. Tom didn't sleep for the next 40 hours. Every time he checked his telephone answering machine, the tape would be full.

Eunice Murray would say later that she was not sure what prompted her to awaken that night, step from her bedroom and notice a telephone cord leading under Marilyn Monroe's bedroom door. The housekeeper, who said Monroe was a light sleeper who usually kept her phones under a pillow outside the room at night, found the door locked. She grabbed a fireplace poker, walked outside and pushed back the drapes on an open bedroom window that was protected by security bars.