DAVID BIRNEY DIES AT 83: According to The New York Post, Bridget Loves Bernie star David Birney died on Friday (April 29th) at his home in Santa Monica, California, at the age of 83—after battling Alzheimer’s disease for five years. Birney married his Bridget Loves Bernie costar Meredith Baxter in 1974, and they had three kids together before divorcing in 1989. Baxter accused Birney of emotional and physical abuse in her memoir Untied: A Memoir of Family, Fame, and Floundering, accusations that Birney called an “appalling abuse of the truth.” In addition to Bridget Loves Bernie, Birney held roles in shows and films such as The Adams Chronicles, Serpico, and St. Elsewhere.
VIOLA DAVIS IN TALKS TO STAR IN PEACEMAKER SPINOFF: Deadline reports that HBO Max is in talks with Viola Davis to star as Amanda Waller in a Peacemaker and Suicide Squad spinoff. Watchmen writer Christal Henry is expected to write and executive produce the series.
THE TRAILER FOR THE AL YANKOVIC STORY IS RELEASED: TVLine reports that Roku released the first trailer for The Al Yankovic Story on Tuesday (May 3rd). See Daniel Radcliffe play the singer in a film that, as the logline reads, will explore “every facet of Yankovic’s life, from his meteoric rise to fame with early hits like ‘Eat It’ and ‘Like a Surgeon’ to his torrid celebrity love affairs and famously depraved lifestyle.”
MEG RYAN TO STAR IN WHAT HAPPENS LATER: According to Today, Meg Ryan will return to the rom com in What Happens Later, a film that she will star in and direct. David Duchovny is set to star opposite her as part of a couple that reunites decades after they break up due to being “snowed in, in-transit, at an airport overnight.”
