people and celebrities

TORONTO -- No kissing. No nudity. No talking to himself onscreen.Those were among Ricky Gervais' ground rules for "Ghost Town." Director and co-writer David Koepp said the British comedian told him, "I don't kiss anybody. Nobody wants to see that. If you can't handle that, then we shouldn't do the movie."

When CBS's "Big Bang Theory" (8 p.m. EDT Monday) began last year, it immediately seemed like a sitcom success. Through its first season that proved to be the case, largely thanks to the performance of actor Jim Parsons and the direction the writers took his character, Sheldon.

The voice on the phone is unmistakable -- unhurried and whiskey-smooth.It's urbane and gracious, and you can still hear a slight edge from growing up poor in Queens, N.Y.Tony Bennett quit high school in the early '40s and sang to help support his family. In the ensuing seven decades, Bennett has sold more than 50 million albums and won 14 Grammy awards.

Most directors' first film disappears only to pop up on Netflix. Not so with Neil LaBute. His first feature, "In the Company of Men," caused quite a stir when it came out in 1997. LaBute wrote and directed this controversial film about two misogynist businessmen who play a cruel joke on a deaf woman in their office by pretending to have romantic feelings for her.

TORONTO -- Leading-man roles are good for the ego, concedes Brad Pitt, whose ego would seem to need no enhancement these days. Wherever he goes, hysteria follows.

Ludivine Sagnier is a major French actress who is sure to become even more major as time goes on.

BURBANK, Calif. -- The set of NBC's "Tonight Show" was abuzz with pre-broadcast preparations: host Jay Leno rehearsing his monologue, guests getting hair and makeup done, producers and crew scurrying.

Best known for playing the strong wife in the 1987 thriller "Fatal Attraction," Anne Archer gave a scene-stealing performance that earned an Oscar nomination. In the CW's "Privileged," she plays a widowed cosmetics mogul raising unruly granddaughters.

Toward the end of the Depression in 1939, movie audiences were treated to a lush drama about adultery and female friendships in which almost all of the female characters were fabulously wealthy and flaunted their riches by dressing in silk and satin. The men stayed in the background -- very far in the background.

Don't even get a tween girl started on the Jonas Brothers unless you're prepared to giggle about the No. 1 topic: Who's the cutest? Nick, 15, Joe, 19, or Kevin, 20?