Daily Briefing: Michigan's latest abortion rights fight; Tigers opener; DTE seeks rate increase; more
CELEBRITIES

Pacino: If I wasn't an actor, I might be slinging hash

Free Press news services

Al Pacino has been acting for nearly half a century and during that time, he says he has never really considered what other job he might be suited for — until now.

Actor Al Pacino takes part in a SiriusXM Town Hall on Wednesday in New York City. He was on the show with director Barry Levinson; they worked together on “The Humbling,” which opened Friday.

Pacino says he thinks he'd be a good short-order cook.

He does have experience. Pacino played an ex-con who works in a diner in the 1991 film "Frankie and Johnny." "I could do this, be a short-order cook," he remembers thinking at the time.

In a recent interview to promote his new film "The Humbling," about an aging actor who is questioning his career, Pacino said being a cook was "really fun to be for the lunch hour or two when you're working back there; very creative and the time just flies by."

The actor notes he never finished high school or went to college and says he "got educated through acting," picking up skills from playing doctors, lawyers, and a cook.

Bradley Cooper heading for London

Bradley Cooper is swapping Broadway for London's West End. Producers announced Friday that a Cooper-led production of "The Elephant Man" will open in London in May.

The actor — a three-time Academy Award nominee, most recently for "American Sniper" — has won praise for his performance as John Merrick, an extremely disfigured but indomitable man who becomes a celebrity in Victorian London.

Bernard Pomerance's play, based on a true story, has been frequently revived since its 1979 New York debut. John Hurt starred in David Lynch's 1980 film adaptation.

The current production also features Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola. It closes at New York's Booth Theatre on Feb. 21, and runs at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket from May 19 to Aug. 8.

Photographer sues Nike over photo

A photographer is accusing Nike of violating the copyright of his 1984 image of Michael Jordan soaring toward a basketball hoop by continuing to use the image to market shoes and clothes.

Jacobus Rentmeester of New York City filed the lawsuit against Oregon-based Nike Inc. on Thursday in federal court in Portland. He is seeking unspecified monetary damages, profits generated from the image, and an injunction preventing further copyright infringement.

Rentmeester staged and shot the photo for Life magazine as part of a special section published for the 1984 Summer Olympics. As a freelancer, he retained rights to the copyright. Nike later paid him $150 for temporary use of two transparencies of the photo.

According to the complaint, Nike then produced a nearly identical photograph of Jordan and reproduced it on billboards, and when Rentmeester threatened litigation, the Oregon company paid him $15,000 for a limited license to use the image for two years.

The complaint says Nike continued to reproduce the photo after that period and used it to create the distinctive "Jumpman" logo, a silhouette of the leaping Jordan inspired by the photograph. The company went on to create the Jordan Brand division, which markets products using the photo and the logo. The lawsuit says Nike has earned millions as a result of these marketing campaigns.

Nike is not commenting on the lawsuit. It's unclear why Rentmeester waited nearly three decades to file a claim. He registered the Jordan photo with the U.S. Copyright Office in December 2014.

Briefly

Rick Forman, the founder and CEO of Forman Mills, a $250-million national discount warehouse clothing and accessories manufacturer with 35 stores in 10 states — including two in Detroit and five total in Michigan — will appear on the CBS television show "Undercover Boss" on Sunday. He didn't work disguised in any of the Michigan stores, though. He worked alongside employees as a trainee in Philadelphia, Chicago and New Jersey.

■ Comedian Bill Cosby, who is facing numerous accusations from women who say he drugged them and sexually abused them, has postponed his appearance in Charlotte, N.C. National Artists Corp. announced Friday that Cosby, 77, is postponing the performance scheduled for Feb. 22 in the Belk Theater. A statement from National Artists said scheduling conflicts led to the postponement. Accusations by more than 15 women have led to the cancellation of Cosby's projects at NBC and Netflix.

Stan Irwin, a Las Vegas producer and manager for such celebrities as Johnny Carson, has died at age 94. Irwin's friend and business partner George Michaud says Irwin died Wednesday of natural causes in Los Angeles. Irwin guided the careers of such celebs as Don Rickles, Buddy Hackett and Pearl Bailey. He was credited for bringing artists like Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Marlene Dietrich, Paul Anka, Bobby Darin, Brenda Lee, Bob Newhart and the Beatles to perform Las Vegas. Irwin also served as executive producer of "The Tonight Show" in 1962, which was the first year of Carson's tenure.

Compiled from Free Press news services