Australian actress Cate Blanchett has become a mother for the first time. The Oscar-nominated star gave birth to a boy at an undisclosed hospital in London. Blanchett and screenwriter husband Andrew Upton named him Dashiell John. They chose the unusual first name after the author of classic crime novel The Maltese Falcon, Dashiell Hammett. A spokeswoman for the actor said mom and baby were doing well. She also said Blanchett was not releasing details about the birth date but said the baby was born in the past three days.

After one of the most public marriage bust-ups in Hollywood history Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee are preparing for another court battle - this time over their two sons. Anderson has filed a motion against Lee for full custody of Brandon, 5, and three-year old Dylan - which would overturn a joint-custody agreement set up after their divorce in 1998. Pam - who is now dating Kid Rock - also wants the court to monitor Lee's visit's with the boys and order him to take anger-management classes. According to the New York Daily News, Pammy's 15-page filing includes a string of allegations against her former husband - including her concerns about his bad-behavior. But a spokesman for Tommy has slammed the claims, saying, "They are old and totally without merit. "As recently as two months ago, Pam has been quoted as raving about what a wonderful father Tommy is." And friends of Lee's accuses Anderson of launching a smear campaign against the drummer, because he asked for greater custody privileges. A pal fights back saying, "Tommy is going to take the gloves off. Who's she to talk about being a good parent when she and Kid Rock are talking in Spin Magazine about tubing with the boys while drinking Cristal and Budweiser?"

Prankster George Clooney's favorite practical joke was a two-year gag at the expense of Spin City star Richard Kind. The movie hunk, who is famous for his practical jokes, convinced his pal that he was a great painter after signing his name to a canvas he found in someone else's trash. Kind was so taken by his friend's talents, he hung the piece, which Clooney gave him as a birthday present, in his lounge. Clooney recalls, "The picture was being thrown away in the garbage and it was outside this guy's garage and so I took it home in the middle of the night and I signed my name to it and put it in the closet. It was this horrible heavy woman naked with bright pink and aqua and for about a year I told my buddy Richard I couldn't play golf because I had art class and I'd make him come into art supply shops and make him feel brushes. A year into it, for his birthday, I said `I've done a lot of paintings but this is the first one that my art teacher and I are really proud of and I want you to have it. It'll go so great over your couch.' Everyone knew but him and people would go over to his house and say, `That piece is incredible.' I let that ride for perhaps another year. It was fun."

Oscar-winning star Nicolas Cage is preparing to step behind the camera in his directorial debut - a movie about prostitution. Cage has been eager to make the break into directing for years, and has finally chosen a project to make his movie-making debut. Pony Rides is a drama based on the true story of a man who inherits the family business - prostitution - and services rich women until an unlikely younger woman saves him. Reports suggest the cast will include two young members of 1999's critically-acclaimed suburban masterpiece American Beauty, namely Thora Birch and Wes Bentley, who played teen lovers. Is is understood that finance is not yet is in place for the project, but Cage has been scouting locations in New Orleans nonetheless.

Sean Penn has been hanging out with mentally disabled adults as he prepared to play a retarded parent in his latest film. Penn plays a father desperate to regain custody of his daughter in I Am Sam. He became a regular visitor to L.A. Goal, a center for adults with development disabilities, during the shoot. He says, "I wanted to go there to observe and be around people who face the kinds of challenges that the character of Sam encounters in the story. I have a relative with Down's syndrome but I hadn't spent any social time with other men of my age who were mentally disabled. There was an increasing comfort level in both directions with each visit to L.A. Goal as we began to realise that there's just not that many really big differences between us about the important things in life." Two of the residents of the center are in the film, portraying Sam's friends. Michelle Pfeiffer co-stars as his lawyer.

Veteran actor Michael Caine is recovering at his London home after undergoing an emergency operation on his shoulder. Caine, 68, had surgery to remedy acute pain in his shoulder - which is thought to have been caused by a life- long love of tennis. A friend of the star says, "He found it difficult to move his arm and pick things up." Caine, who is convalescing in his swanky Chelsea home, is hoping to travel to Los Angeles later this month to film Goldmember, after doctors hailed the operation a success.

Russell Crowe is snubbing a posh London hotel - after a pair of his underpants were stolen. The last time Oscar-winning actor Crowe stayed at the plush Park Lane hotel in central London, two pairs of his knickers were nicked. So during his current stay in London to promote his new film A Beautiful Mind, Crowe has decided to take his business elsewhere. But the theft had nothing to do with any female admirers eager to get their hands on his smalls - in fact, those responsible were male. A friend of the actor says, "A couple of queens in the laundry room fancied Russell and stole his shorts."

Robert De Niro's kidney stone is being sold live on British TV, according to Auction World Dot TV. The digital channel hopes to raise more $4,500 when it auctions the one centimeter wide stone, which they claim was passed by the Taxi Driver star in a Los Angeles hospital in 1981. However, the 58-year-old's agent Stan Rosenfield has cast serious doubt upon the authenticity of the movie memorabilia. He says, "We know Mr De Niro passed a stone in 1981, whether this is the stone is debatable." The stone was found by the channel's founder George Spitaliotis during a trip to Las Vegas. He says, "It's a real gem, very weird yes. But this seems to be the reputation we're getting here in Britain, and we're happy with that. I don't know whether we can sell it on the show just yet, that remains to be seen. It's a very weird item for someone to want."

Tom Cruise and Penélope Cruz are set to face the wrath of the Australian nation when they arrive in Sydney this month for the premiere of new movie Vanilla Sky. When married to Nicole Kidman, Cruise was the darling of down under and made an honorary aussie by Australians. But Tom's relationship with the Antipodes soured this year when he and Kidman divorced in August and he began dating Cruz - his co-star in Vanilla Sky. According to Peoplenews.com - Australia still hasn't forgiven Cruise for splitting with one of their most famous daughters - and it's people are preparing a hostile welcome for the couple when they arrive in Sydney for the screening on December 19th. A source told the site angry cinema-goers have been booing Cruise and Cruz every time they appear on screen. The source says, "It could get pretty nasty - Aussies feel very protective of Nicole and Tom is not a popular man."

Actress Jennifer Aniston has blasted reports she has reconciled with her mother Nancy and says the pair are still estranged. The Friends star cut off her relationship with her mom after Nancy publicly humiliated her daughter on a TV show five years ago. Jen was embarrassed further when her mother, who she once described as, "a chunk of disease," wrote a book From Mother And Daughter To Friends in 1999. In August it was reported the actress had made up with Nancy, after she once sobbed during an interview, saying how sad it was that Nancy hadn't met her husband or been to the wedding. But Jennifer has denied any reconciliation. She says, "There's been no discussion and I don't know where that came from. So no, not right now. But eventually I'm sure that'll happen."