Winehouse in wax

People

Madame Tussauds unveiled a waxwork of Amy Winehouse on Wednesday complete with her signature beehive, black eyeliner and a bright-yellow minidress. The singer's parents, Mitch and Janis Winehouse, attended the unveiling, but the soul diva did not. Winehouse has become an international star but her music has been overshadowed by reports of drug use, her run-ins with the law and her tempestuous relationship with husband Blake Fielder-Civil, who was sentenced on Monday to 27 months in prison for assault and obstruction of justice.

Getty and wife split

Actor Balthazar Getty says he's separated from his wife Rosetta, with whom he has four children, and is embarrassed by recent photos of him kissing a topless Sienna Miller in Italy. "In light of the fact that many pictures have surfaced in print and on the Internet, which has caused myself and my family great embarrassment, I felt it necessary to at least acknowledge publicly that, yes, indeed my wife and I have separated and I will not be commenting any further," Getty, 33, told The Associated Press.

Rapper DMX indicted

Rapper DMX, 37, has been indicted on felony charges by a grand jury in Arizona for allegedly trying to get out of paying a hospital bill. Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas said the singer, whose real name is Earl Simmons, has been charged with one count of theft and one count of taking someone else's identity. Authorities said Simmons went to Scottsdale's Mayo Clinic in April, said his name was "Troy Jones," and received care with the intent of not paying the bill.

It's a girl for Hawke

Actor Ethan Hawke, 37, and wife Ryan Shawhughes are the new parents of a girl, Clementine Jane Hawke, who was born Friday in New York City. Hawke also has two children from his marriage to Uma Thurman.

Honors

Russert gets a highway

President Bush signed a bill honoring the late NBC newsman Tim Russert by naming a stretch of highway in New York after him. The portion of U.S. Route 20a is close to Buffalo, the hometown of Russert, longtime host of NBC's "Meet the Press" and its Washington bureau chief, who died of a heart attack June 13. Designated the "Timothy J. Russert Highway," the span runs near the home of the Buffalo Bills, of which Russert was an avid fan.

Law & disorder

Skinny fugitive arrested

Police in Houston said a murder suspect who lost weight so he could escape from jail by squeezing through a vent was caught taking a dip in a motel swimming pool. Police said Darryl Layne Norris, who escaped Saturday from the Waller County Jail in Hempstead, about 50 miles northwest of Houston, was back in custody Wednesday.

Stalking charges upheld

A judge upheld charges against a Long Island, N.Y., man accused of stalking "Saturday Night Live" producer Lorne Michaels, 63. A misdemeanor complaint says Evans Pidhajecky, 31, of Oyster Bay, claimed Michaels overheard his conversations and singing and used his thoughts on the "SNL" show without his permission. The complaint says an "upset" Pidhajecky tried to contact Michaels several times at NBC's studios and at his home to "chat." Police arrested Pidhajecky in December and charged him with stalking and resisting arrest. He is free on $1,500 bail.

Passages

Larry Haines, 89, a successful Broadway actor and a two-time Daytime Emmy winner for his 35-year role as Stu Bergman on the soap opera "Search for Tomorrow," died July 17 at a Delray Beach, Fla., hospital.

Dr. Victor McKusick, 86, a key architect of the Human Genome Project and a winner of the National Medal of Science, died Tuesday in Towson, Md., of complications from cancer.

Today in History

1847: Mormon leader Brigham Young and his followers arrived in the Great Salt Lake Valley in present-day Utah.

1937: Alabama dropped charges against four of the nine young black men accused of raping two white women in the Scottsboro Case.

1959: During a visit to Moscow, Vice President Richard Nixon engaged in his famous "Kitchen Debate" with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.

1974: The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that President Nixon had to turn over subpoenaed White House tape recordings to the Watergate special prosecutor.

Today's Birthdays

Actor John Aniston, 75. Political cartoonist Pat Oliphant, 73. Comedian Ruth Buzzi, 72. Actor Dan Hedaya, 68. Actor Chris Sarandon, 66. Comedian Gallagher, 62. Actor Michael Richards, 59. Actress Lynda Carter, 57. Movie director Gus Van Sant, 56. Actor Kadeem Hardison, 43. Actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, 40. Actress Laura Leighton, 40. Basketball player-turned-actor Rick Fox, 39. Actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth, 38. Actor Eric Szmanda, 33. Actress Rose Byrne, 29. Actress Elisabeth Moss, 26. Actress Anna Paquin, 26. TV personality Bindi Irwin, 10.

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