PEOPLE
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Country superstar Dolly Parton is still working “9 to 5,” and doing what she loves as she celebrated her 50th anniversary as a Grand Ole Opry member.
The 73-year-old actress, singer and songwriter, who first played the Opry when she was just a teenager, played the long-standing radio show Saturday night in Nashville in front of sold-out crowds. Hank Williams Jr., Lady Antebellum and Toby Keith performed in her honor as well.
She joked to reporters before her performance that when the Opry approached her about the anniversary, she told them, “I don't want people to think I'm 50 years old.”
Parton said she was grateful to still be chasing her dreams and said she's got more film, TV and music projects on the way.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Music artist and actress Queen Latifah is among the honorees being recognized by Harvard University this year for their contributions to black history and culture.Harvard is set to award the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal to Queen Latifah and six other recipients on Oct. 22, according to the Cambridge, Massachusetts, school's Hutchins Center for African and African American Research.Other honorees include poet and educator Elizabeth Alexander, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution Lonnie Bunch III, poet Rita Dove, co-founder of Black Entertainment Television Sheila Johnson, artist Kerry James Marshall and Robert Smith, founder, chairman and chief executive of Vista Equity Partners.The award is named after Du Bois, a scholar, writer, editor, and civil rights pioneer who became the first black student to earn a doctorate from Harvard in 1895.
NEW YORK — Jane Fonda was arrested at the U.S. Capitol on Friday while peacefully protesting climate change.The actress and activist was handcuffed on the east side steps and escorted into a police vehicle. Video of the arrest circulated online.Fonda was one of 16 people arrested for unlawfully protesting and was charged with “crowding, obstructing or incommoding.” She was released hours later.Before her arrest, Fonda in a speech called climate change “a collective crisis that demands collective action now.”
LAS VEGAS — Records show that Wayne Newton's former home Casa de Shenandoah has been sold.KTNV-TV reports Clark County records indicate the crooner's former 36-acre ranch sold for $5.56 million in July.The ranch, which includes the “white house” mansion and six other homes and stables, was sold to the Las Vegas-based Smoketree LLC.The properties were sold by the Texas-based ICSD LLC, owned by Newton fan Lacy Harber.Newton originally purchased the property in 1966. He has been performing in Las Vegas for around 60 years.
