Hugh flies in to support music hall - Dec 6 2007
Hugh Grant jetted in from America to attend a star-studded party to raise awareness of the plight of the world's oldest surviving grand music hall.

The actor joined guests from the worlds of showbusiness and high society showing their support for Wilton's Music Hall, which has stood in London's East End for nearly 150 years.

Among the other attendees at the party were actresses Dame Helen Mirren, Zoe Wanamaker and Jane Asher, hotelier Rocco Forte and the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort.

On its opening in 1858 Wilton's was described as the "Handsomest Room in Town" and hosted performances by the stars of the day.

But the building has been neglected over the years and is now a "semi-derelict" shell that could be unusable within three years, according to supporters.

In 2004 the Wilton's Music Hall Trust opened the building to the public, offering performances and guided tours.

But millions of pounds are still needed to restore it to its former glory

Some funds have come from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and a steering committee was hoping guests at the party would help make up the rest.

One of the main supporters of the campaign to preserve Wilton's is Candida Lycett Green, daughter of former Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman. Sir John himself helped to have the music hall made a grade 2 listed building to save it from demolition.

Hugh pockets £9m for Warhol - Nov 14 2007
Hugh Grant made more than £9m when he sold an Andy Warhol portrait of Dame Elizabeth Taylor at auction.

The Four Weddings And A Funeral actor sold Warhol’s Liz, a turquoise-background portrait of Dame Elizabeth, at Christie’s auction of post-war and contemporary art at New York’s Rockefeller Centre last night.

The 1962 portrait fetched 23,561,000 dollars (£11,382,126), including the buyer’s premium - five times the price Hugh paid for it in 2001.

The auction also set a world record for British artist Lucian Freud, beating the previous record of £7.86m for Bruce Bernard set at Christie’s in London in June.

Freud’s Ib and her Husband sold for 19,361,000 dollars (£9,353,140).

A Christie’s spokeswoman said Warhol’s Liz was part of the series of portraits the artist executed in the 1960s when his near-obsession with three legendary muses in his life - Dame Elizabeth, Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy - drove him to create "some of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century".

Talking about the Liz portraits, Warhol has said: "I started those a long time ago when she was so sick and everybody said she was going to die.

"Now I am doing them all over, putting bright colours on her lips and eyes."

The new owner of Liz submitted his bids anonymously by telephone.

Hugh, who bought Liz for 3.6 million dollars, is expected to use the profit from the sale to acquire works by newer artists.



Grant escapes ’baked beans’ charge - June 4 2007
Actor Hugh Grant will not be charged over an allegation that he lashed out at a paparazzi photographer with a tub of baked beans, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

The star will also not be prosecuted in connection with claims that he kicked the same photographer near his west London home in April.

Ian Whittaker said he was in the area trying to get pictures of Grant’s former partner Liz Hurley, who lives nearby, when the incident happened.