Oprah

Richardson family attends viewing Liam Neeson looked distraught yesterday as he greeted grieving family members and friends who attended a private viewing for his wife, actress Natasha Richardson. Neeson and sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, attended the viewing at New York's American Irish Historical Society, as well as Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and her sister Joely Richardson. The viewing followed Thursday night's tribute on Broadway, when theaters dimmed their lights for the Tony Award-winning actress, who died from bleeding in the skull caused by the fall she took on a ski slope.

Actress Hilary Swank let Oprah Winfrey chop off a little more than 9 inches of her hair during a taped segment that is to air on The Oprah Winfrey Show today. The TV shearing was done in the name of charity: Swank, 33, donated her locks to Pantene Beautiful Lengths, which works with the American Cancer Society to provide wigs at no charge to women with hair loss caused by their cancer treatments. Swank says she has been growing her hair "for the last six months to donate. I've been taking a lot of vitamins and taking really good care of it knowing that it would go to a woman in need."

Does Oprah Winfrey's endorsement help Sen. Barack Obama? She doesn't hurt. The question seems to be on everyone's lips. Mr. Obama's campaign announced Monday that Ms. Winfrey will join the presidential hopeful next month in the important lead-off states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. I doubt that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, the Democratic front-runner, was thrilled to hear that news. The conventional wisdom holds that celebrity endorsements don't mean much, if anything. But, hey, this is Oprah!

Marilyn Barbara Meyer, an exercise instructor and women's fitness proponent, died Monday at her Cross Keys home of Shy-Drager syndrome, a nervous system disorder. She was 80. Born Marilyn Baylinson in York, Pa., Mrs. Meyer spent her early childhood in that town with her parents and older brother before moving to a nearby dairy farm. She attended school in York while working on the farm. As a child, Mrs. Meyer liked to garden, ride horses and train dogs, said son John Meyer of Owings Mills.

Khartoum's newfound oil wealth set the stage for conflict with the long-neglected region of Darfur in western Sudan, where rebel groups emerged to claim a share of the country's burgeoning wealth. In response, the Sudanese government armed a proxy militia and unleashed the so-called "Devils on Horseback" on the rebels and civilian farmers in a stampede of brutality. Over the past four years, at least 200,000 people have been killed, 2.5 million driven from their homes, and mass rapes have been used as a weapon of war. Now PBS' Frontline asks why the international community and the United Nations has failed to stop the slaughter, in the documentary On Our Watch.

As fashionable as it might be to complain about the sorry state of network television these days, you have to admit the Sunday-night movies have been pretty good this year.Last week, it was James Garner and Julie Andrews in "One Special Night" on CBS, and this week it's Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria in ABC's "Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays With Morrie."The "Oprah Winfrey" part of the title is important, because the film, which Winfrey produced for ABC, is only "inspired" by the best-selling book from Mitch Albom.

With the launch of Oprah Winfrey's Book Club on Sep. 17, 1996, no one single person has done more to nudge a huge segment of the American population toward the land of books.In the 42 months that have passed since Jacquelyn Mitchard's "The Deep End of the Ocean" was upheld as the first Oprah Book Club selection, the publishing industry has undergone a revolution. Every Oprah pick has become an instant best seller. Bookstore owners report more traffic through their stores. Private book clubs have been started across the country.

TUNE IN TO the Oprah Winfrey television talk show and, along with seeing the latest fashions, makeup and performers, you might pick up a bit of philosophy for daily living from the books she introduces and the guests and audience members she interviews.And as the talk show personality -- and former Baltimore television news anchor -- concedes, she's picking up a few nuggets while the rest of us are learning.There's a nugget right here in Severna Park that Oprah ought to consider: Talk to Carol and Jeff Stevens, who have a lot to teach us all about the fine art of generosity.

"Tell me your diamonds."This is one of many memorable lines in "Beloved," the film adapted from Toni Morrison's book that opens in theaters on Friday. The title character, a strange, otherworldly girl, is asking her mother, played by Oprah Winfrey, to tell the story of a long-lost pair of shiny crystal earrings.But when Winfrey - who has spent 10 years bringing Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel to the screen - recently met with the press in Chicago, she was not wearing crystal. She was wearing very real, very big diamonds that dangled voluptuously from her ears.

DO YOUNG women care more about their bodies than their brains? Time magazine recently answered "yes." In a cover story titled "Is feminism dead?" Time reported that young women today equate power with glamour and beauty. Said one 18-year-old: "Girl power means you wear hot pants and a bra with some sequins on it."Yet the very same week, another piece of news made quieter headlines. According to the Census Bureau, for the first time in history, more women than men ages 25-29 are earning college and graduate degrees.

The Rev. Bill Minson was in New York visiting his mother on Sept. 11, 2001, and he did what came naturally: He made his way to Ground Zero. The Baptist preacher, who founded a youth ministry in Baltimore three decades ago and maintains close ties to the city, volunteered as a chaplain, consoling and advocating for survivors of the deadliest attack ever on U.S. soil. Eight years later, he's still at it. Minson has emerged as a leading voice for the Ground Zero responders - the 50,000 workers and volunteers who were exposed to toxins at the site and now are suffering disproportionately, advocates say, from breathing ailments and cancers.

Oprah Winfrey shows up at Baltimore-D.C. Emmy event Former WJZ newsman Richard Sher's lifetime achievement honor at the area Emmy Awards dinner in Washington on Saturday night brought a surprise visitor: Oprah Winfrey. Winfrey, who once worked at WJZ-TV in Baltimore as co-host with Sher of a local talk show, arrived at Washington's Ritz-Carlton Hotel on Saturday night to help present the award to Sher. Winfrey postponed a trip to Africa in order to make the presentation to her former People Are Talking co-host.

Miss California keeps crown Miss California USA can retain her crown even though she failed to reveal she had posed in her underwear as a teenager, pageant owner Donald Trump said Tuesday. Carrie Prejean appeared by Trump's side as he made the announcement at New York's Trump Tower. Trump also defended the answer that Prejean gave at last month's Miss USA pageant when she was asked her view of marriage by judge Perez Hilton, a celebrity blogger. She said she believes marriage is between a man and a woman.

Jennifer Hudson looked radiant but guarded sitting across from Oprah Winfrey, perhaps the only other TV personality besides Barbara Walters who's "warm" enough to get celebrities to open up. The Academy Award-winning performer had just returned to the spotlight after the tragic October murders of her mother, brother and nephew in Hudson's old south side Chicago neighborhood. Though Winfrey made no direct reference to the killings, she concluded her rather vapid interview by pointedly asking Hudson how she was doing.

Richardson family attends viewing Liam Neeson looked distraught yesterday as he greeted grieving family members and friends who attended a private viewing for his wife, actress Natasha Richardson. Neeson and sons Micheal, 13, and Daniel, 12, attended the viewing at New York's American Irish Historical Society, as well as Richardson's mother, Vanessa Redgrave, and her sister Joely Richardson. The viewing followed Thursday night's tribute on Broadway, when theaters dimmed their lights for the Tony Award-winning actress, who died from bleeding in the skull caused by the fall she took on a ski slope.

How's your diet doing this holiday season? Not so well? Neither is Oprah Winfrey's. In case you haven't heard, Oprah has gotten hefty again and gone public about it. In the January issue of O magazine, you'll never guess who's on the cover. Give up? OK, it's Oprah! Again! The talk-show diva says she's "fallen off the wagon" with her eating habits and now weighs 200 pounds. She says she's gained 40 pounds in the past two years. And she's "embarrassed" and "upset" by it. "How did I let this happen again?"

Winfrey to film show in D.C. before inauguration Ms. Winfrey is going to Washington. Harpo Productions says Oprah Winfrey will host a live episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show from the Kennedy Center Opera House on Jan. 19, the day before Barack Obama takes the presidential oath of office. Winfrey has been a prominent Obama supporter, appearing with him at campaign rallies, donating money and cheering him at the Democratic National Convention. A Harpo spokesman says at least two shows are planned in Washington that week, the second on Wednesday.

Judge in Britney Spears' trial tells deadlocked jurors to deliberate more Jurors at Britney Spears' driving-without-a-license trial said that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict yesterday morning, the Los Angeles Times reported on its Web site. But Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Steele told them to try again after he read them additional legal instructions. The jurors deliberated less than two hours yesterday at a San Fernando Valley courthouse. They also spent about two hours on the case Friday.

NBC's '30 Rock' lures Oprah Winfrey for Nov. 6 guest-star role Oprah Winfrey will guest-star on the Nov. 6 episode of NBC's 30 Rock. People magazine reported the network's plans yesterday on its Web site. Winfrey, 54, filmed her role Saturday at the Silvercup Studios in Queens, N.Y.; it is being billed as a one-shot appearance. Though she didn't say whether or not the talk-show host plays herself or some other part, 30 Rock's creator, executive and star, Tina Fey, did add: "Oprah is very funny in the episode, and we are beyond grateful to have her. Also, I would like to announce that we are officially best friends."

Oprah show highlights bill targeting child predators CHICAGO: A few weeks after cheering presidential candidate Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention, Oprah Winfrey will take up a different kind of political activism. Today's episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show will be dedicated to a Senate bill targeting child predators, according to a release issued Friday by Chicago-based Harpo Productions. During the show, which will detail the "extent and pervasiveness of child pornography trafficking in America," Winfrey will ask viewers to contact their senators about U.S. Senate Bill 1738, the Protect Our Children Act, Harpo said.