In new book, Ellen Burstyn reveals the secret that fueled her award-winning career: poetry
HarperOne, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced Wednesday that Burstyn's 'Poetry Says It Better' will be released April 28, 2026. Burstyn, 93, is known for such films as 'The Last Picture Show' and 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,' for which she won an Academy Award; the TV shows 'Political Animals' and 'House of Cards' and the Broadway production 'Same Time, Next Year.'
Burstyn's favorite poets include Maya Angelou, Mary Oliver and William Butler Yeats.
'I've been lucky enough to spend my professional life as an actress: I worked as a model and dancer from the day I left high school and eventually reached a pinnacle in my career and won an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards,' Burstyn said in a statement. 'Nevertheless, it is poetry that has fueled and sustained me throughout my career and has been interwoven with every major life milestone I've ever experienced.'
Burstyn also is the author of 'Lessons in Becoming Myself,' a memoir published in 2006.
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Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
What to know about the killings of an 'American Idol' music supervisor and her husband
Nude photo leak meant to be 'distraction' from political goals, McGregor says What to know about the killings of an 'American Idol' music supervisor and her husband Photo by Matt Sayles / Matt Sayles/Invision/AP Article content Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles police officers conducting a welfare check at a gated home on Monday discovered two bodies inside with gunshot wounds. The victims were identified as Robin Kaye, a longtime music supervisor for 'American Idol,' and her husband, Thomas Deluca. A day later, police arrested a 22-year-old man in connection with the killings. Advertisement 2 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account or Sign in without password View more offers Article content Here's what to know about the case. Article content tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or What to know about the killings of an 'American Idol' music supervisor and her husband Back to video tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Play Video Article content Welfare check Officials said someone who hadn't heard from Kaye and Deluca in several days requested that police check out their residence on a tree-lined block in the upscale Encino neighborhood, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Officers entered the house Monday afternoon and found a man and woman shot to death. Homicide detectives were called. The victims were identified on Tuesday as Kaye and Deluca, both 70. The couple paid $4.5 million for the home in the suburb of the San Fernando Valley, according to public records. Suspect arrested Raymond Boodarian, 22, an Encino resident, was arrested 'without incident' Tuesday afternoon, police said in a statement Tuesday. Your Midday Sun Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. There was an error, please provide a valid email address. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Your Midday Sun will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Article content Advertisement 3 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content Investigators believe Boodarian was burglarizing the home several days earlier while the couple was away. Police had been called to the residence on July 10 but found no signs of trouble or forced entry. Now, detectives suspect that Boodarian managed to get into the house through an unlocked door and was surprised by Kaye and Deluca. 'The victims returned home while the suspect was inside their residence, and a confrontation ensued, which resulted in the suspect taking their lives,' the police statement said. 'The victims succumbed to multiple gunshot wounds, and the suspect fled from the residence on foot.' Officers interviewed friends and family, reviewed numerous surveillance videos, and recovered unspecified evidence at the scene, officials said. Advertisement 4 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The district attorney's office said it expects to be presented with the case on Thursday, with Boodarian's arraignment to follow. Boodarian could not be reached for comment. Messages were sent to the public defender's office inquiring if one of its attorneys was representing him. Court records show Boodarian was arrested in 2024 for alleged battery, exhibiting a deadly weapon and threatening to commit a crime with the intent to terrorize. Charges were later dismissed. A television veteran Kaye had been with 'American Idol,' the hit singing competition TV series, for more than 15 years and was working on the upcoming season at the time of her death. She had also worked in the music departments of several other productions such as 'The Singing Bee,' 'Hollywood Game Night,' 'Lip Sync Battle,' and several Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants. Advertisement 5 Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content 'Robin has been a cornerstone of the Idol family since 2009 and was truly loved and respected by all who came in contact with her,' an 'American Idol' spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. 'Robin will remain in our hearts forever and we share our deepest sympathy with her family and friends during this difficult time.' Her responsibilities included clearing the rights for thousands of songs for broadcast. In a 2009 interview, Kaye told the Hollywood Reporter how she convinced Led Zeppelin's representatives to approve the use of the song 'Whole Lotta Love' to be performed by Adam Lambert during season 8. 'I said, 'This is the time to consider it. If you're ever going to try it, this is the time.' I don't know if Robert Plant knew, but his manager did because his kids were big Adam fans. They watched the show in England,' Kaye said. Nick Fradiani, the season 14 'American Idol' winner, told the Hollywood Reporter that Kaye treated him like a son and called her death a tragedy. 'She was caring and understanding of the stresses of the show, especially with choosing a song. She made each conversation with me feel important,' said Fradiani, who's now starring in 'A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.' Article content Share this article in your social network Read Next
Winnipeg Free Press
4 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Star-crossed singer Connie Francis, whose hits included ‘Pretty Little Baby' dead at 87
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Winnipeg Free Press
5 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Winnipeg goes back in time for cinematic Mob job November 1963
Nicholas (Nicki) Celozzi didn't grow up hearing Mob stories. They came later, in quiet conversations with his uncle Pepe. Over time, Pepe began to open up, sharing memories of people who vanished without explanation, of coded conversations and family ties that ran deeper than most. To the outside world, it was the stuff of true-crime headlines, but to Celozzi — grand-nephew of Mob boss Sam Giancana — it was personal. It was family. ALLEN FRASER / NOVEMBER 1963 Producer/writer Nicholas Celozzi (left) and Kevin DeWalt of Mind's Eye Entertainment Now, decades later, the screenwriter and producer is telling the story he was born into — the kind of story others have tried, and failed, to tell from the outside. His upcoming film November 1963, directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Roland Joffé (The Killing Fields, The Mission), doesn't just revisit a moment in American history. It reclaims it. 'We got tired of people monetizing our family's name. It won't stop unless we put it out there ourselves,' Celozzi says. Celozzi wrote the screenplay and is producing the film alongside veteran Canadian producer Kevin DeWalt of Mind's Eye Entertainment. Production of the independent film began in March, with Winnipeg standing in for 1960s Chicago and Dallas. Post-production is being completed in Saskatchewan, making it a fully Prairie-made project. The film, which unfolds over the 48 hours leading up to the assassination of U.S. president John F. Kennedy, centres not on JFK himself, but on the figures in the shadows — the mobsters, intermediaries and political players whose backdoor dealings helped shape one of the most debated events in modern history. Celozzi doesn't claim to offer a new theory. What he offers is something more elusive: a first-person account shaped by lived experience, family access and deep emotional insight. 'I'm not glorifying anyone, but they were human beings. They were smart, complicated, anxious, and I knew them,' he says. At the heart of the story is Celozzi's uncle Sam — Sam Giancana — head of the Chicago Outfit at its peak. One of the most powerful Italian-American criminal organizations in the U.S. during the 1950s and early '60s, the Outfit, started by Al Capone, had strong links to the Kennedy family during JFK's presidential campaign and presidency. Giancana was the man the government kept tabs on, worked with and, some believe, eventually turned on. 'The Outfit was as powerful as it was because the government helped make it that way,' Celozzi says matter-of-factly. 'They used them to do their dirty work until they didn't need them anymore.' SUPPLIED Sam Giancana was head of the Chicago Mob in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Growing up, Celozzi didn't see any of this as unusual. His childhood was shaped by an unspoken awareness that everyone around him grew up fast. 'It was a strange normality. You just knew not to ask too many questions.' But questions came anyway, especially from the outside. With every poorly researched documentary or dramatized gangster flick — the 1995 film Sugartime stars John Turturro as Giancana — his family became further distorted. 'All these caricatures yelling and swearing, running like football players down a field — that's not them. I wanted people to see the real people behind the headlines,' he says. To do that, he knew he'd have to walk a tightrope. 'The hardest part was being truthful without hurting people. Sam's daughters are still alive. I'm closest to two of them. Bonnie is a creative consultant on the project. Without her, I wouldn't have done this.' That sense of responsibility runs through every line of the screenplay. 'I wrote characters, not caricatures. These men weren't supermen. They had ulcers. They broke down. They second-guessed. They masked their fear. I know that because I saw it,' he explains, DeWalt says he wasn't sure what to make of it when Celozzi first brought him the story six years ago — even though they'd met decades earlier at a social event in Regina. 'I said, 'Really? This is a true story?'' he recalls. ALLEN FRASER / NOVEMBER 1963 The Exchange District is transformed into Dallas for November 1963. But then Celozzi flew him to San Diego to meet Bonnie Giancana. 'She looked me in the eye and said, 'Our family wants the truth told.' That moment changed everything.' According to DeWalt, what makes the project so compelling is its emotional authenticity. 'Nobody in the family is proud of this, but it's a story about loyalty, betrayal and the grey areas of history,' he says. What also sets November 1963 apart is its refusal to retread worn conspiracy theories. It's a story that's never been told. The film moves fast, but its emotional core is nuanced. The decision to use split screens and simultaneous storylines was rooted in how Celozzi first heard the story himself, from his uncle Joseph (Pepe) Giancana. 'He was the fly on the wall. Now the audience gets to be that fly,' Celozzi says. Each of the film's central characters is based on a real person (most of whom are now deceased), giving the cast rare access to historical materials. Actors studied interviews, documents and photos to shape their portrayals. In some cases, they even stayed with relatives of the characters they were playing. 'Roland Joffé spent three days living in one character's actual home, working with the actor to really get inside the role. It's been that detailed, that immersive,' DeWalt says. Casting the right actors to embody such emotionally loaded material was critical. 'I didn't want anyone who thought this was just another gangster movie; these roles come with weight,' Celozzi says. ALLEN FRASER / NOVEMBER 1963 The period cars on set were all locally sourced. 'I was in the room with the actors. I could say, 'No, that's not how he walked. That's not how he looked at you.' And they embraced that.' The star-studded cast includes John Travolta (Pulp Fiction) as Johnny Roselli; Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty) as Jack Ruby; Dermot Mulroney (My Best Friend's Wedding) as Chuckie Nicoletti; Mandy Patinkin (Homeland) as Anthony Accardo; Jefferson White (Yellowstone) as Lee Harvey Oswald; and Thomas Fiscella (The Mysterious Benedict Society) as Sam Giancana. The production team scouted locations in New Orleans and Atlanta before discovering the texture and scale they needed in the Winnipeg. The Exchange District's turn-of-the-century facades are now doubling as Dallas and Chicago circa 1963, complete with vintage signage, authentic period wardrobe and more than 75 classic cars sourced locally. 'It's the only place in North America where you can find eight blocks by eight blocks that look like the 1940s or '50s. The production value is extraordinary. When you see this movie, it will feel like you're standing on the Grassy Knoll in 1963,' DeWalt says. Of course, mounting a project of this scale hasn't been easy. With more than 200 crew members and an estimated 1,500 background actors, it's the largest production ever undertaken by Mind's Eye Entertainment. There's also a strong emotional undercurrent for DeWalt, who still remembers the day Kennedy was shot. 'I was a kid, but I remember the silence in the house, the shock. It was like 9/11 — the world stopped. And to now be helping tell a story that humanizes that moment … it's just a thrill on a human level.' So what will audiences take away? 'I hope they walk out thinking, 'That makes sense.' I'm not trying to control how they feel. I'm just putting the truth in front of them,' DeWalt says. ALLEN FRASER / NOVEMBER 1963 November 1963 is being shot in locations around Winnipeg. Celozzi knows that truth is unsettling. He knows it raises more questions about government complicity, secrecy and power than it answers. He knows there are echoes in today's headlines. But he's not afraid. 'The last person who might've had a problem with this died in 2014. And the rest? They've either gone quiet or given me their blessing,' he says. Weekly A weekly look at what's happening in Winnipeg's arts and entertainment scene. What about his uncles? Would they approve? 'I don't think Sam would be too happy, but I think he knew I'd do it one day,' he says of the Mafia boss, who died in 1975 at age 67 after being shot seven times while in the basement of his home. There are numerous theories and suspects about who killed Giancana and why, but officially his murder remains unsolved. At the end of the day, Celozzi isn't trying to rewrite history, just to correct its tone. To show that the men behind the myths had routines, regrets and love in their lives. That they dressed up for Halloween. That they cried alone after losing a spouse. That they were more than the headlines. 'I'm not saying bad things didn't happen. I'm saying they were human.' arts@ If you value coverage of Manitoba's arts scene, help us do more. Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.
