House rented by Pitt, Jolie for sale | 'Slumdog' child star gets new home
Published Tuesday July 7th, 2009
Hollywood star Ben Stiller paid a visit to seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong before Monday's third stage of the Tour de France.
Stiller went into the Astana team bus in Marseille just before the start of the race and was thrilled by his chat with the Texan.
"I'm a big Lance fan," Stiller said. "It's my first time on the Tour. It's the real deal here. I'm very excited."
Stiller arrived at the bus when Armstrong and his teammates were discussing the day's strategy before a 196.5-kilometre ride to La Grande-Motte.
"I tried to give him some pointers, but I don't think it was very helpful," the actor said, as he came out of the bus with his wife Christine Taylor. "He is incredible and he is so loose in there now."
Armstrong had a brief role in Stiller's hit comedy Dodgeball.
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The owners of a lavish home, once rented by actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie during a movie shoot in Alberta, couldn't buy these kinds of memories.
But they are hoping someone out there is willing to pay just under $1 million for the whiff of celebrity that surrounds their five-bedroom former love nest, complete with a beach volleyball court, wine cellar and rock climbing wall.
The Hollywood royal couple rented the home west of Edmonton for two weeks while Pitt filmed The Assassination of Jesse James in the fall of 2005.
Now, current homeowners Theo and Angela Psalios have decided to sell what they call their "one-of-a-kind paradise" after the birth of a baby.
"It's pretty awesome (living where Pitt and Jolie stayed). You just walk around the house, stand in the kitchen and reach into the fridge and think Brad Pitt was doing the exact same thing right here," said Theo, who owns a Greek restaurant in Edmonton.
The couple bought the home two years ago, and the sale came with a tantalizing tidbit about one of the stars.
Theo said he heard the movie icons brought their own toilet seats for the duration of their stay at the home near Spruce Grove, Alta.
Neighbours still talk about the couples' stay.
"Neighbours in the area said it was pretty crazy around here when Brad and Angelina were over. Lots of action, lots of paparazzi," Theo said.
Drivers scoping out the former celebrity house still occasionally creep up the driveway.
Surrounded by five acres and old spruce trees with an outdoor pool, hot tub and a sauna in the pool house the pad is fit for a movie star, Theo said.
"It's a bittersweet situation (selling the house). We are so attached to it," he said.
At least a dozen people have called the realtor since the listing went up six days ago, more than usual for a $990,900 listing, said Steve Leddy, an agent with Re/Max River City.
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One of the impoverished child stars from Slumdog Millionaire will move from his shanty home in one of Mumbai's more wretched slums into a new apartment, his mother said Sunday.
"On Friday we got the keys," said Shameem Ismail, the mother of child star Azharuddin Ismail, who played the young Salim in the Oscar-winning hit.
The family started moving in over the weekend, bringing pots and pans, a television set, and their bird cage. They planned to fully relocate by today, she said.
Both Azhar and his co-star Rubina Ali lost their homes in May after civic authorities demolished parts of the slum where they lived.
Within days of the demolition, Azhar's family rebuilt their home - a shanty of corrugated metal, wood, and blankets, meagre protection against the pounding monsoon rains sweeping across Mumbai.
But the filmmakers bought Azhar a one-bedroom apartment on the ground floor of a building in the Santa Cruz neighbourhood of Mumbai, not far from where he now lives and attends school.
The $50,000 apartment will be transferred to Azhar's name when he turns 18, provided he finishes school, said Nirja Mattoo, who helps oversee the Jai Ho trust set up by Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson. The fund is meant to secure an education, housing and a living allowance for the two children.
Mattoo said Sunday that the trust is still looking for an apartment for Rubina, who has lived with relatives in the slum since the demolition.
Slumdog Millionaire has grossed over $350 million (U.S.) worldwide.
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Dane Cook's half brother is facing new charges in Massachusetts that he allegedly stole more than $11 million (U.S.) from the comedian.
Prosecutors say 43-year-old Darryl McCauley has been indicted on an additional 20 counts of larceny over $250 for allegedly stealing from Cook between March 2004 and December 2008.
Authorities say McCauley wrote company cheques to himself and transferred funds into his personal bank accounts while being paid $12,500 a month to act as business manager for Cook's company, Great Dane Enterprises.
Prosecutors announced the new Middlesex County grand jury indictment Monday. McCauley, who lives in the Boston suburb of Wilmington, pleaded not guilty in March to eight counts. His wife, Erika, also has pleaded not guilty to charges that she helped her husband steal millions from Cook.
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James Frey is writing for young people and Hollywood has signed on.
Frey, a former screenwriter best known for his discredited memoir A Million Little Pieces, is collaborating on a four-book series of teen science fiction novels that HarperCollins will publish. Screen rights for the first novel, I Am Number Four, have been acquired by DreamWorks and Transformers director Michael Bay.
Frey's co-author is Jobie Hughes, a recent graduate from Columbia University.
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