Tom Hanks

? Jeff Bridges, who won the lead actor Oscar last year for "Crazy Heart," is up in the same category for his performance as Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit. " Only two actors have won Academy Awards in the lead actor category two years in a row ? Spencer Tracy won for 1937's "Captains Courageous" and 1938's "Boy's Town," and Tom Hanks earned Oscars for 1993's "Philadelphia" and 1994's "Forrest Gump" ? Two lead performer nominees ? Jesse Eisenberg, 27, ("The Social Network") and Jennifer Lawrence, 20, ("Winter's Bone")

From onstage at the 32nd Carousel of Hope, emcee Jay Leno surveyed the crowd before him, describing the gala as one where "the audience is more famous than you. " The Oct. 23 affair at the Beverly Hilton had no shortage of star-power onstage or off. Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson and Randy Jackson came to present awards to Maria Shriver and Quincy Jones; Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony, Gladys Knight and the rapper Akon performed; and the audience included Raquel...

Lots of past Emmy favorites are back this year with notable programs in the miniseries, TV movie and variety show categories, including actors Doris Roberts and Al Pacino, miniseries producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks, plus telethon organizer George Clooney. But most noteworthy are Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno competing for best variety series with rival versions of "The Tonight Show." You can almost hear Ed McMahon yelping, "Eow!" TV MOVIES Front-runners "A Dog Year," HBO "Georgia O'Keeffe," Lifetime "The Special Relationship," HBO "Temple Grandin," HBO "When Love Is Not Enough: The Lois Wilson Story," CBS "You Don't Know Jack," HBO Spotlight: HBO has had a stranglehold on this category for the last 17 years, winning 15 times, including the last six consecutive contests.

Before the two best-actor Oscars, the hit movies and other distinguished projects that catapulted him into Hollywood's elite ranks, Tom Hanks was an un-pretty woman. In 1980, Hanks got one of his first breaks with "Bosom Buddies," an ABC show in which he and Peter Scolari played bachelor ad men who move into an all-female apartment house after their building is condemned. The actors donned wigs, bras, pantyhose, wigs and skirts as they hung out with their neighbors, including a blond bombshell (Donna Dixon)

Some Hollywood star power is lighting up local film production. Topping the list is Tom Hanks, whose production company, Playtone Productions, is about to begin shooting "Larry Crowne" next week in various locations around Los Angeles. Hanks directs and stars in the comedic drama opposite Julia Roberts, with whom he paired in the 2007 Universal Pictures film "Charlie Wilson's War." Adam Sandler also is starring in and producing a romantic comedy with Jennifer Aniston called "Just Go With It" that has been filming for several weeks around town, including scenes last week at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The 82nd Oscars most likely will not win an award for smoothest-running show. More than a few stumbles clouded the gala ceremony, drawing angry tweets and complaints from viewers. Many noted that Farrah Fawcett was omitted from the "in memoriam" tribute saluting Hollywood figures who have died in the last year. Veteran film critic Roger Ebert noticed the snub almost immediately. "No Farrah in the memorial," he tweeted. "They have a lot of 'splaining to do." The night's most surreal moment came during the presentation of the short documentary award to "Music by Prudence," about an African singer who has been successful despite her crippling disability.

Actor-producer-director Tom Hanks has purchased the contemporary Pacific Palisades home of veteran producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, according to area real estate agents. The sales price was listed at slightly more than $26 million at Blockshopper.com, a news and market data service. Property records show that the 14,513-square-foot house, built in 1996, has four bedrooms and five bathrooms. Hanks did not respond to requests for comment. Hanks, 53, won Oscars for his work in "Forrest Gump" (1994)

Charlie Wilson, the fun-loving Texas congressman whose 1980s campaign to rid Afghanistan of Soviet influence was memorably captured in a Hollywood film that bore his name, died Wednesday. He was 76. Wilson died of cardiopulmonary arrest at Memorial Medical Center in his hometown of Lufkin, Texas. He had collapsed earlier in the day. Wilson was a charming, handsome rogue of a congressman who thrived in an era when the media spotlight shone less brightly on the private lives of elected officials.

"All this -- it's a lot of fun," maestro Gustavo Dudamel said Thursday night at the inaugural gala for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, regarding all the hoopla surrounding his arrival. It wasn't just Saturday's free concert at the Hollywood Bowl, his picture on city buses and the free Bravo Gustavo app for iPhone users. The pieces of confetti that rained down on concertgoers following the event at Walt Disney Concert Hall had his name printed on them in boldface capital letters.

Tom Hanks is Hollywood's go-to Mr. Nice Guy, and he has no bigger fans than the surviving veterans of Easy Company, America's most celebrated fighting unit of World War II. This past week Hanks, who helped immortalize historian Stephen Ambrose's account of the company's war in the HBO series "Band of Brothers," accompanied the surviving vets to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of D-day, attended by the presidents of the U.S. and France among others.