Shirley Maclaine

“Downton Abbey" is going to look quite different when it returns for a fourth season. On Friday Siobhan Finneran -- better known to fans as O'Brien, Lady Grantham's constantly scheming, severely coiffed maid -- confirmed that she is leaving the beloved costume drama. Finneran follows co-stars Dan Stevens and Jessica Brown Findlay out the door, though it seems likely her character will do so under less tragic circumstances than theirs: In the Season 3 finale, O'Brien was jockeying hard for a new job that would allow her to see more of the world.

"Downton Abbey" doesn't return to PBS until Jan. 6, but fans have been clamoring for all the info they can get ever since it was announced that Shirley MacLaine would be joining the cast. Besides a Season 3 preview shown to TV journalists at the TCA press tour earlier this summer, not much has been seen of MacLaine in action. But now we're finally getting a peek, and of course, she's clashing (ever so politely) with Maggie Smith, the Dowager Countess herself. In the British drama's third season, MacLaine will play Martha Levinson, the wealthy and American mother of Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern)

In her nearly 60 years in show business, Shirley MacLaine has played some unforgettable roles, met some legendary characters and had some memorable meals. And sometimes all three happened at once. Take, for example, her story about her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 dark comedy, "The Trouble With Harry," in which she brought her quirky charm to the role of the feisty young wife of the very dead Harry. Hitchcock made her eat every meal with him. "He knew I was just out of the chorus, so I hadn't eaten for years.

Bernie Millennium, $28.99;Blu-ray, $29.99 Available on VOD beginning Tuesday Based on a true story, the wry docudrama "Bernie" stars Jack Black as a charismatic, dandyish small-town mortician who murders a cantankerous local millionaire played by Shirley MacLaine, and then tries to hide the crime from the authorities, including Matthew McConaughey's dogged district attorney. Writer-director Richard Linklater and his co-writer Skip Hollandsworth (who also wrote the magazine article on which the movie is based)

"Downton Abbey" doesn't return to PBS until Jan. 6, but fans have been clamoring for all the info they can get ever since it was announced that Shirley MacLaine would be joining the cast. Besides a Season 3 preview shown to TV journalists at the TCA press tour earlier this summer, not much has been seen of MacLaine in action. But now we're finally getting a peek, and of course, she's clashing (ever so politely) with Maggie Smith, the Dowager Countess herself. In the British drama's third season, MacLaine will play Martha Levinson, the wealthy and American mother of Lady Cora (Elizabeth McGovern)

Jack Nicholson calls her the Question Machine. Shirley MacLaine calls herself that too. Pondering, probing, darting from town to town, stage to sound stage, she seems in perpetual motion.

Shirley MacLaine and Hector Elizondo are discussing ways of coping with the loss of a loved one -- the four-legged kind. Elizondo still gets choked up when he talks about his late cats, especially Ninja, a pure black Burmese he and his wife once owned. "There was a long period of tangible loss," he tells MacLaine. "I wouldn't for days vacuum her fur. . . . I couldn't let her go that way." The Oscar-winning MacLaine ("Terms of Endearment") is besotted with Terry, her rat terrier who was the subject of her book "Out on a Leash" and is featured prominently on her website.

Hey, you out there. Shirley MacLaine wants to talk with you. "I'm finding I want to break the proscenium more and more," said the Oscar-winning actress, whose new song-and-dance show, "Out There Tonight," opens at the Pantages Tuesday. "Maybe it's a natural evolution of advanced years: feeling the need to communicate, never knowing what I'm going to say, learning to work spontaneously, getting past the fear, the expectation of disaster. There's a lot of freedom in that." And film?

How nice it must be to afford the time to spiritualize while having all the material comforts of life. Shirley MacLaine would see things a little differently if her stomach was empty. What more can I say when she says, "We are not physical beings, we are not mental beings"? If she believes that strongly in reincarnation, then she should stop eating and start living off her soul. Benny Wasserman La Palma

Dale Olson, an elder statesman of the Hollywood publicity corps whose assignments over a four-decade career included representing Rock Hudson during the last months of the actor's struggle with AIDS, died Thursday of complications of liver cancer. He was 78. Olson, who lived in the Hollywood Hills, died at a nursing facility in Burbank, said his spouse, Eugene Harbin. A savvy promoter of Oscar-worthy movies, Olson helped craft campaigns for stars such as Maggie Smith in "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" (1969)

The summer TV press tour where networks promote their upcoming programming kicked off over the weekend at the Beverly Hilton with PBS presenting first - and that meant one thing: a lot of happy discussion about its big hit,"Downton Abbey. " Still beaming Saturday with an Emmy glow - the show took up residence in the drama category, receiving 16 nominations - a few of the actors from the popular British series, including newcomer Shirley MacLaine, took the stage and reflected on the show's somewhat surprising new fame.

"Wait, what is a weekend?" - Oh, Dowager Countess, if you were present Saturday night at the Television Critics Assn. press tour, you'd surely discover it's the period of time when the cast of "Downton Abbey" lets loose. Still beaming with an Emmy glow - the show took up residence in the drama category and received a total of 16 nominations - a few of the actors from the popular British series, including newcomer Shirley MacLaine, took the stage and reflected on the show's fame.

In her nearly 60 years in show business, Shirley MacLaine has played some unforgettable roles, met some legendary characters and had some memorable meals. And sometimes all three happened at once. Take, for example, her story about her film debut in Alfred Hitchcock's 1955 dark comedy, "The Trouble With Harry," in which she brought her quirky charm to the role of the feisty young wife of the very dead Harry. Hitchcock made her eat every meal with him. "He knew I was just out of the chorus, so I hadn't eaten for years.

"Bernie," a quirky tragi-comedy starring Jack Black as a meticulous mortician, a faithful Methodist, a good neighbor and an improbable murderer, is a true-life Texas tale so perfectly told it seems more like eavesdropping than moviegoing. This is writer-director Richard Linklater at his wry, whimsical best, and considering he was the filmmaker behind 1993's "Dazed and Confused," that makes the movie something of a milestone. Always an articulate voice for closely observed stories of ordinary lives and random encounters, the filmmaker has truly come home in"Bernie.

For nearly a decade, Sandra Acosta and Noe Ramirez made a monthly pilgrimage to the Bodhi Tree Bookstore on Melrose Avenue in search of life wisdom. Enveloped in the aroma of incense and the gentle strains of meditative music, the Long Beach couple would explore books on martial arts, women's spirituality, Native American philosophy, Zen Buddhism and whatever else piqued their curiosity. But their visit Friday would be their last. The bookstore will close its doors at 5:30 p.m. Saturday after four decades of serving as a world-renowned spiritual mecca for seekers of all persuasions — including Gov. Jerry Brown, Beatle Ringo Starr and actress Shirley MacLaine, whose memoir chronicled how her metaphysical journey began at the Bodhi Tree in 1983.

EVENTS Huck Finn's Jubilee The folksy Father's Day weekend event provides an escape into a timeless summer, when families pack the camper with kids, banjos and fishing poles. Entertainment includes Mark Twain Live, a Route 66 car show and the California State Arm Wrestling Championships. Mojave Narrows Regional Park, 18000 Yates Road, Victorville. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., 7 a.m.-8 p.m. Sun. Daily admission: Adults, $20; children, $5. Weekend festival pass (includes camping)

MOVIES More than 200 features, documentaries, shorts and music videos will screen during Film Independent's 17th annual Los Angeles Film Festival. The 10-day event opens with the world premiere of Richard Linklater's "Bernie," starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey. L.A. Live. 800 W. Olympic Blvd. (screenings at various venues, check website for full schedule). Tickets $5-13; passes $100-$3,000. Thurs.-June 26. (866) 345-6337. http://www.lafilmfest.com.