Paul Winfield, the prolific African-American actor who received an Oscar nomination for Sounder and went on to play Martin Luther King Jr. in the highly acclaimed King miniseries, died on Sunday in Los Angeles of a heart attack; he was 62. Coming to prominence in the groundbreaking sitcom Julia, where he played the boyfriend of Diahann Carroll's titular character, Winfield made his feature film debut opposite Sidney Poitier in The Lost Man in 1969. Despite his Best Actor Oscar nomination a few years later for Sounder in 1972, Winfield struggled to find leading man roles, but racked up a huge number of supporting roles in both television and film. From his portrayal of Jim in 1974's Huckleberry Finn to his role as Thurgood Marshall in 1999's Strange Justice, Winfield was a fixture on both the big and small screens, instantly recognizable to audiences; his films included Conrack, Hustle, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, The Terminator, Presumed Innocent and Mars Attacks, among a host of others. Winfield received Emmy nominations for roles in both King, where he portrayed the civil rights leader opposite his Sounder co-star Cicely Tyson, and Roots: The Next Generation, finally winning an Emmy for his guest role on Picket Fences in 1995. His most recent appearances were on Touched by an Angel, Crossing Jordan and a TV remake of Sounder. --Prepared by IMDb staff

News outlets reported today that actor Robert Pastorelli, best known for his role as Eldin the Housepainter on Murphy Brown, was found dead from a possible drug-related death; he was 49. Pastorelli was discovered at 3 p.m. on Monday in the bathroom of his Los Angeles home alongside drug paraphernalia, and an autopsy has been scheduled to determine the cause of death; initial police reports cited it as a "possible accidental death." Starting his career in the mid-80s, Pastorelli immediately found fame on the Candice Bergen sitcom Murphy Brown, where he played irasicble housepainter Eldin, whose neverending work on Bergen's home made him an integral part of the show. Staying with the show from 1988 through 1994, Pastorelli moved on to a number of small parts and TV guest appearances, appearing most notably in the films Sister Act 2, Eraser, Michael and Heist; he also appeared in the 2001 TV adaptation of South Pacific and played the lead in the short-lived but well-received Americanized version of Brit TV hit Cracker. Pastorelli had just completed work on the Get Shorty sequel Be Cool, scheduled for release later this year. He is survived by his daughter with Charemon Jonovich, who died in 1999 in what was determined an accidental shotgun death. --Prepared by IMDb staff

A movie version of hit show Sex And The City will never be made, according to producers. When the series, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, came to an end last month, it was immediately reported that a big-screen version would be made. Reports soon followed that the film was jeopardized by an alleged feud between Cattrall and Parker. But the show's executive producer, Michael Patrick King, now declares, "Nothing we did in the series was altered to save something for the movie. This is exactly the way we wanted to end the series. We're proud of what we did." The HBO series will live on in syndication, which pleases Parker - even if most of the racy episodes are toned down for a broader audience. She says, "I am not sad about a larger audience. Part of me is happy that people who could not afford HBO will now have the opportunity to meet the four women whose love lives were chronicled on the show."

Hollywood hunk Johnny Depp was forced to stay away from the New York premiere of his movie Secret Window last night, after an ear infection stopped him from flying. The Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl star was expected to jet in from his French home to appear at the unveiling of his new film - the location of which was altered especially for him - but his ailment kept him grounded. American TV personality Regis Philbin, says, "Johnny was gonna come. (Film studio) Columbia put the movie premiere here in New York because he lives in Paris and it would be easier for him to fly to New York than fly to LA. He got on the plane and had to leave because he has an ear infection and was afraid to fly. So it turned out that I was the biggest name in the house!"

Ethan Hawke fired off at a nosy TV interviewer when pressed about his feelings after seeing estranged wife Uma Thurman getting romantic with other men. American broadcaster Chris Connolly was granted a candid chat with the Training Day star for a segment on magazine show 20/20, but after answering questions about his failed marriage - which he blamed on movie ambitions - Hawke became agitated when the interviewer probed deeper. After showing photographs taken of Thurman cavorting on the beach with hotelier Andre Balzas at Christmas, Connolly asked if he was hurt by the romance. Upset Hawke fired back, "That's a leading question. How am I supposed to answer that, man? Do you think it's tough? It's very tough." Hawke then calmed down to reveal he misses the "dream" of marriage and is desperately trying to be mature enough to cope with the bitter split for the sake of his kids. He added, "You gotta think about your kids. I love my kids so much that it breaks my heart to have anything negative said about Uma or me. I'd rather it be about me, frankly. What are you gonna do, man? I'm trying to be a grown up."

Movie maker Kevin Smith has given up hope of hitting the number one spot with his new movie Jersey Girl - because Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have given the project the kiss of death. The Clerks director thought he'd landed movie gold when the then-couple agreed to appear together in his romantic comedy, but the huge failure of their last joint screen outing Gigli made him realize people don't want to see the pair together. Smith, a longtime friend of Affleck's, thought they made a great couple in real life, but admits he can only hope that Jersey Girl isn't a flop at the box office. He says, "I had the benefit in the beginning of knowing that the movie wasn't all about them. We kept it real quiet in the beginning because we wanted to have a big surprise but it got punched to the audience with, 'Guess what, she dies.' Once Gigli happened her death became a marketing hook. In all honesty, Gigli did kind of wing us and still kind of stings to this day because when I put the movie together it was Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler and Jennifer Lopez and we had a great shot at being the number one movie the weekend we open. After Gigli opened I realized, 'We'll never be the number one movie and we're handicapped at this point.' " But Smith's still confident it will be a hit: "As long as they hear our picture is a little better, I think people will turn out."

Mel Gibson is delighted young Christians are seeing his harrowing new religious epic The Passion Of The Christ - but he urges parents not to let their kids go alone. The movie has been rated R in America, meaning children under 17 are not allowed to see the film unsupervised. Gibson, who admits the R rating is "fair" for the graphic violence surrounding the last hours of Christ's life in his film, urges adults to think twice before letting their children see the film. He says, "Some people argue that you can take people younger than that to see it, and these are people in churches and stuff, but I would say that kids must have to be under parental supervision because it is hard."

British thespian Patrick Stewart has blasted movies like Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill - for helping to "stereotype violent attitudes of men to women". Speaking at Friday's launch of a new Amnesty International campaign against attacks on women in London, the Star Trek star revealed he witnessed his father beating his mother and claimed movies and TV have helped to perpetuate a nasty new trend. He says, "The entertainment industry has been extremely irresponsible in perpetuating and stereotyping the violent attitudes of men to women. I condemn utterly films like Kill Bill. We are told it is about empowering women. All it does is empower a woman to kill another woman."

Oscar-nominee Naomi Watts is considering taking a break from Hollywood, because she wants to become a mum. The 35-year-old The Ring star, who is dating Aussie hunk Heath Ledger, fears she can't put off her yearning to have a child for much longer. She tells American style magazine W, "(My mother) is dying for me to have children and, quite frankly, I've been dying for it since I was 19, but I hadn't met the right man. It's interesting. At the age of 35, my career couldn't be going better but we all know that fertility slows down at this point, so it's about making choices. I really do want to experience a baby."

Movie hunk Jude Law's incredible public profile destroyed his marriage to wife Sadie Frost, according to the actress-turned-fashion designer. The Cold Mountain hunk is now one of Britain's most acclaimed and famous actors, but Frost says his rise to fame altered their relationship beyond all recognition. And Frost is adamant that she loved the real Law, not the celebrity baggage that he now carries. She says, "I respect him and I couldn't have chosen a better person to be the father of my kids, but things went wrong. I wanted to have more of a private family life, to feel that at home Jude wasn't being claimed by everyone else, and everyone had a piece of him. He was a young unknown who grew into this big personality. I fell in love with him because of who he was inside, not because of all the starry stuff, and that became too much to deal with. I wanted to go back to our simple life, but we couldn't do that."

Movie wildman Colin Farrell has turned down the chance to date sexy rising star Lindsay Lohan - thanks to her age. The Alexander hunk, 27, was stunned by the Freaky Friday actress' beauty when they met at the Paramount lot in Hollywood and when the precocious youngster offered him her phone number, Farrell was delighted. But after a second look at the object of his affections, Irish Farrell became worried she was a little too young for him. According to American website Page Six.com, when Lohan admitted she was just 17, Farrell called off the date saying, "Maybe in a year or so."

No Doubt rocker Gwen Stefani is getting acting tips from Hollywood superstar Leonardo DiCaprio. The "Hey Baby" singer was so nervous about starring in Martin Scorsese's upcoming biopic The Aviator, she turned to the Titanic actor for advice. And hunky DiCaprio - who plays reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes in the film - was happy to help Stefani shape her cameo performance at screen siren Jean Harlow, by taking her out for a drink. Stefani enthuses, "Leo was totally cool. He rang me up and we all had a drink together."