The Associated Press
LONDON Ä Bono paid top dollar for a bit of Charlie Chaplin.
The lead singer of U2 paid $55,500 for the military costume Chaplin wore in his 1940 movie "The Great Dictator." Chaplin was Adenoid Hynkel, a parody of Adolf Hitler.
The Irish rocker bought the costume Tuesday at a Sotheby's auction. He plans to display it in a restaurant he owns in Dublin.
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BURBANK, Calif. Ä Bobcat Goldthwait's no-contest plea for setting fire to "The Tonight Show" set is now official, and he has handed over TV spots he was ordered to make on behalf of a burn center.
The comedian also must pay $3,888 in fines and restitution, including $698 to NBC for damage to the chair he set on fire with lighter fluid May 6. Jay Leno and guest Lauren Hutton doused the fire with cups of water.
Goldthwait, 32, was in Municipal Court on Wednesday to make final the plea bargain, which also includes six months' probation.
"We don't think there was maliciousness here,"saidDeputy City Attorney Robert Walters. "It was reckless. It was a joke gone bad."
Goldthwait gave Walters the public service messages. They warn of the dangers of playing with fire.
"We're pleased," defense attorney Karen Brodkin said. "We'd like to get everything behind us."
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LOS ANGELES Ä Country singer Trisha Yearwood learned two things in college.
"I knew to get a lawyer first and never sign anything," she said. "Whether we like it or not, the creative side and the business side have always clashed."
The banker's daughter, raised in a tiny Georgia town, got a business degree at Belmont College in Nashville, Tenn.
"I was raised to believe in getting an education," Yearwood said in a recent interview. "My whole objective was to learn as much about the business as possible. My major gave me an overview of all the different aspects of the business, so when I tried to make a name for myself, I knew what questions to ask."
Yearwood, who turns 30 Monday, was nominated last month for the Country Music Association's female vocalist award. The winners will be announced Oct. 5.
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CERRITOS, Calif. Ä Shirley MacLaine doesn't mind being ribbed about her cosmic beliefs. Just make it funny.
"I'm used to the jokes," she said. "If they're bad jokes, I hate them. If they're good jokes, I laugh harder than anybody. In fact, comedians phone me up and I help 'em."
The actress and singer has written books and lectured on her beliefs in reincarnation and the supernatural. She tours regularly with her musical variety show and believes humor is essential to her philosophy.
"My show involved a lot of joking Ä humor through music, that kind of thing. And the audience jokes back," MacLaine said.