CELEBRITY WATCH
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July 13, 2000
Web posted at: 1:46 p.m. EDT (1746 GMT)

From staff and wire reports

Today's buzz stories:

• No joke: Drew Barrymore to wed MTV's Green
• Smits signs on for 'Star Wars' sequel
• Wife of Danny Thomas dies at 86
• Israel boots ex-Cat out of country
• Li'l Kim reveals big secret on new CD

LOS ANGELES -- In a rare display of decent taste, MTV prankster Tom Green has asked actress Drew Barrymore to marry him.

The "Tom Green Show" host and the actress got engaged earlier this month, Barrymore's publicist said Wednesday. They've yet to set a wedding date.

Barrymore stood by her man as Green, known for his edgy, outrageous stunts, underwent surgery earlier this year for testicular cancer. The twoappear in the movie version of "Charlie's Angels," scheduled to open in November.

LOS ANGELES -- Jimmy Smits is set to play Princess Leia's foster father in the next "Star Wars" installment.

The former "NYPD Blue" star will play Sen. Bail Organa of Alderaan, surrogate dad for Darth Vader's daughter, Variety reports.

Smits joins a cast that includes Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Natalie Portman, Samuel L. Jackson and horror-film fixture Christopher Lee. The untitled sequel is being filmed in Australia.

LOS ANGELES -- Rose Marie Thomas, a former professional singer who was married to the late Danny Thomas, has died, publicists said Wednesday.

Thomas, who died in her sleep at age 86, had her own radio show in Detroit before marrying Danny Thomas, who later gained fame in the sitcom "Make Room for Daddy." She was a supporter of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Tennessee and other charities.

A memorial service for Thomas, whose survivors include daughter Marlo Thomas, is scheduled for Friday in Los Angeles.

JERUSALEM -- The man who once sang "Peace Train" was kicked out of Israel Wednesday for supporting the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Yousef al-Islam -- Cat Stevens, before he converted to Islam -- was held at the airport after arriving from Germany. Officials then sent him back.

Government spokesman Moshe Fogel said al-Islam had "transferred funds" in the past to Hamas, which has been linked to many guerrilla attacks, and could not remain in Israel.

"He knew before he got on the plane that he didn't have permission to come into the country," Fogel said.

NEW YORK -- Li'l Kim once was pregnant by her late mentor, Notorious BIG, the rapper reveals on her new CD.

"I wanted people, especially women, and young women who have kids and who are out there on their own, I wanted them to know they're not alone," she told CNN's Showbiz Today.

Before he was gunned down in Los Angeles in 1997, BIG -- aka Biggie Smalls -- was married to R&B star Faith Evans.

"You would never think that I would get pregnant and have an abortion," she said. "You would never think that I would have fights with other women over a man. I go through the same things people in our generation, out in the ghetto environments, in the Beverly Hills environments, whatever environments -- we go through the same things."

Kim, who appeared in "She's All That" last year, hopes for more film roles, but said rapping remains where it's at.

"Well, that's what got me here," she said. "And one thing in this industry is that you cannot stray away from where you came."