Tom Hanks

Susan Lacy's "Inventing David Geffen," which premieres Tuesday as part of the PBS series "American Masters," takes a long look at the agent-manager-record-mogul-movie-mogul (and Broadway producer and billionaire philanthropist). In Los Angeles, he is also a sort of proper noun: "The Geffen," attached here to a playhouse, there to an art museum. As a businessman, Geffen would seem to fall outside the range of the series' usual creative-types subjects. Geffen himself has said, "I have no talent except for being able to enjoy and recognize it in others.

If the lead actress Oscar race already seems fairly settled for Jennifer Lawrence as we argued here , the outcome of the lead actor contest seems even more of a foregone conclusion. The best argument against Daniel Day-Lewis' inside-out, understated genius in "Lincoln" is that academy voters might be inclined to give the respected John Hawkes or the gonzo Joaquin Phoenix a first Oscar before bestowing Day-Lewis a third. Or that magazine covers like this one create a backlash of resentment that might work against the "world's greatest actor.

Halle Berry looks a lot different without her makeup. Just ask Daniel Parker and Jeremy Woodhead, the makeup and hair designers who transformed her into everything from a young German Jewish wife to an old Asian doctor for "Cloud Atlas. " For the epic film set in six time periods, Parker worked with director Tom Tykwer, who handled three of the segments, and Woodhead collaborated with directors Lana and Andy Wachowski on the other three to create multiple looks for each actor. -- What was in your bag of tricks for "Cloud Atlas"?

You've heard of Circus of the Stars. Now get ready for Pool of High Diving Stars. Fox has ordered a two-hour special, "Stars in Danger: High Diving" which will feature celebrities plunging into the sport of high diving. The project is based on an original German celebrity high diving format, and will air in winter 2013. The special will be produced by Bunim/Murray Productions, the producers of "The Real World. " Eight celebrities from music, TV, film and pop culture arenas will complete a crash course in diving techniques, trained and coached by some of the country's most accomplished divers before competing in a series of Olympic-style dives, such as solo high diving and synchronized diving, from heights of 3, 5, 7½ and 10 meters.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that before he started winning lots of Oscars, Tom Hanks was primarily known as a funny man -- something he reminded viewers of Tuesday on "Late Night. " During a visit to promote his latest high-minded, Oscar-baiting film, "Cloud Atlas, Hanks performed a spot-on slam poem about "Full House," the late '80s/early '90s sitcom that unleashed the Olsen twins on the world. Dressed in a simple black turtleneck, Hanks delivered a poem that reimagined "Beach Boy Bingo," the classic episode in which young DJ scores tickets to see Uncle Jesse's favorite band in concert, as a feminist parable about growing up in a patriarchal society.

Tom Hanks detonated an F-bomb on “Good Morning, America.” He clapped his hand over his mouth and apologized all over the place, as did interviewer Elizabeth Vargas. The actor subsequently tweeted: “For GMA, spesh kowtow for Lizzie V for WHAT DID I JUST SAY??? Oops! In character! Sorry! Hanx” The comment had watchdogs doing what they do best: barking. The Parents Television Council was quick to speak up, as the Los Angeles Times reported, saying ABC had “allowed the harshest profanity to be broadcast into every living room and breakfast table in the country.” Shame on Tom Hanks?

"Good Morning America" can't say Tom Hanks didn't warn them. The movie star was on the ABC morning show Friday promoting his new film "Cloud Atlas" when interviewer Elizabeth Vargas asked Hanks to say something in an accent he used for one of the many characters he portrays in the picture. Hanks replied that the character mostly speaks in swear words. Vargas said that if he uses the accent, "they won't know. " You can guess what happened next, and hear it in the uncensored video above, though the audio quality is poor, apparently due to microphone issues.

NEW YORK - As they swept through airports while making their ambitious, risky new movie, "Cloud Atlas," directors Andy and Lana Wachowski got used to answering a surprisingly tough question from customs officials. "They'd say, 'What's your movie about?'" said Andy. "It's about the sum of human experience. They always look up and go, 'Oh, really…'" "Our target audience is customs officials," whispered Lana. PHOTOS: Scenes from 'Cloud Atlas' Actually, their target audience is grown-ups.

Tom Hanks will make his Broadway debut in April in a new play written by the late Nora Ephron. "Lucky Guy" is scheduled to open at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 1 for a limited run. The production, directed by George C. Wolfe, will have a rather long preview period of a month. "Lucky Guy" is based on the life of tabloid journalist Mike McAlary, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998 for his commentary on the Abner Louima scandal that ran in the New York Daily News. Hanks will play the colorful journalist, who died of cancer the same year.

It's early August, and with a day of filming just underway on the set of "The Mindy Project," the show's star, Mindy Kaling, is holed up in her studio office talking to a reporter about a topic that weighs heavy on her heart: the way the show's staff undervalues the brilliance of "You've Got Mail. " "That movie is the best. No, like, I want you to bold, underline and highlight that," she said, sitting just a few feet from an unframed poster of the 1998 romantic comedy starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan that hangs on an office wall.