Costner revisits ‘Dreams’ diamond
In Iowa for a “Field of Dreams” 25th anniversary celebration, actor Kevin Costner did the obvious. He played a little baseball Friday, this time with his two young sons.
The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier reported that hundreds of onlookers watched as Costner played catch with his boys, 7-year-old Cayden and 5-year-old Hayes. The movie fans clapped when the boys made a play, prompting Costner to note, “We don’t usually have this many people when we do this.”
Costner and other actors traveled to the field near Dyersville in northeast Iowa to celebrate the 1989 movie about an Iowa farmer who carved a baseball field out of his corn crop. About 11,000 people were expected to join in events at the site this weekend.
Lauer re-ups with ‘Today’
With things looking up for the “Today” show after a dark period, Matt Lauer decided to stick around and NBC is happy to have him.
The network said Friday that Lauer had agreed to a contract extension to continue as co-host of the morning show, as he’s been since 1997. The show is trying to recover the dominance it lost to rival “Good Morning America” the past few years.
Lauer’s popularity took a major hit two years ago following the messy departure of co-host Ann Curry. Despite that, NBC’s own research showed that losing Lauer would be much more damaging, and his bosses let him know he was still wanted. He told management last week that he wanted to stay, and an agreement was reached quickly.
Fonda ready to part with N.M. ranch
Jane Fonda is putting her northern New Mexico ranch up for sale. The Swan Land Co. of Bozeman announced Friday that the actress has listed her Forked Lightning Ranch just north of Santa Fe for $19.5 million.
The company said Fonda purchased the ranch near Pecos, New Mexico, in 2000 and spent two years siting the home, known as River House. The 9,600-square-foot dwelling was featured in the March 2014 issue of Architectural Digest.
“Forked Lightning Ranch has been a sanctuary and a place of great joy and recreation for me and my family,” Fonda said in a statement. “Many changes have occurred in my life since 2000 and I am no longer able to spend as much time on the Ranch as I once was. I feel the time has come to pass the Ranch on to a new custodian of this enchanted place.”
The birthday bunch
Actor Jack Bannon is 74. Rock singer Rod Argent (The Zombies; Argent) is 69. Real estate mogul and TV personality Donald Trump is 68. Singer Janet Lennon (The Lennon Sisters) is 68. Rock musician Barry Melton is 67. Actor Will Patton is 60. Singer Boy George is 53. Rock musician Chris DeGarmo is 51. Actress Traylor Howard is 48. Actress Yasmine Bleeth is 46. Screenwriter Diablo Cody is 36.